//------------------------------//
// IX// Story: What You Can't Tell Anypony Else, or Rumble's Reluctance// by The Elusive Badgerpony//------------------------------//

He awoke to pain.

His stomach throbbed, his throat ached, he could feel his bones moving, burning sensations traveling through his form with every movement. Bruises gave shrill cries of agony when Rumble rolled over them. He raised a hoof to his face, grunting as he did so, and groaning as the hoof trailed over the cuts and bruises now etched into him. He hadn’t even opened his eyes yet, and his world was a white noise of physical pain. Rumble opened his eyes, blinking as small particles of what must have been dried blood fell into his eyes, like a rough dust of the proof of his punishment.

After all, that was what the previous evening was. Punishment. He was a dirty, rotten, traitorous coward, and he deserved to be punished. He deserved the beating he received. He hadn’t just betrayed a friend, he betrayed the filly he loved. He was comfortable in saying that now- he loved her. He loved Scootaloo.

The sheets were damp.

Rumble was still groggy. Whether he was nursing a concussion, blood loss, or still waking up, Rumble had only just noticed that the sheets underneath him were damp. Was he still bleeding? The pain was practically unbearable, moans and grunts of the most unpleasant kind forced from his lungs whenever he even tried to move. It wasn’t impossible. How long was he out?

Light, muted by the winter’s cloud cover, filtered through the windows. Peering out, Rumble could see snowflakes flurrying about, covering the windowsill in a powdery white coating. Prescense of mind started to come back to him, and Rumble gritted his teeth as he slowly pulled himself up, looking himself over. He wasn’t bleeding. There were patches of darkened, crusty red in between the islands of purple bruises, but the bleeding was over. At least there was that relief.

Did he get what he deserved?

What did he deserve?

Rumble closed his eyes again. Of all the things that hurt, the fact that his head was beginning to ache was just a cherry on top of the cake. What he needed was a little while to-

Hooves.

His ears had slowly phased back into working condition, and he could hear hooves. His eyes opened wide as the door opened, the hooves pattering towards the bed. Panic overtook Rumble, and he threw the blanket over himself, as if it would block out whatever evil would come for him. The bed shifted as the weight of a heavily-breathing form hopped up, poking him through the blankets.

“Rumble, c’mon, get up.”

Rumble thought of Thunderlane at first, but this was a different voice. Scratchy. Stressed. And yet still... Girly. It was Scootaloo, he knew.

Rumble held the sheets closer to himself.

“Rumble...”

“No.”

Scootaloo sighed.

“I’m not gonna hurt you, Rumble.”

He giggled, then groaned in pain. He had no reason to trust her. She had taken him off guard. Well, he did have one reason.

He loved her.

That was why he came here. He loved her, he trusted her, he wanted, no, he needed her help. And he was only going to get it if he listened. Rumble swallowed. He had to trust her. For all that she had done to him, he had done worse. Rumble wasn’t a minion anymore, he knew that much. He wasn’t a villain either.

He was a monster.

Rumble held the sheets closer.

“Rumble, c’mon.”

Tears formed at the edges of his eyes. He was a monster. What he had done was monstrous. He couldn’t-

“Rumble, come on. We can’t stay here!”

Scootaloo nabbed the covers between her hooves and pulled them off of the flailing, squealing colt that was hiding underneath them. Quickly recovering, Rumble tried to make himself as small as he possibly could, curled up into a fetal ball. Despite the groans from his bones and the feeling of blood oozing from reopened wounds, Rumble stayed curled up.

“Rumble...”

“No!”



“Rumble, I didn’t stay up all night cleaning you up so that you’d chicken out!”

Rumble was quiet for a moment.

He then uncurled the slightest bit, and, slowly but surely, he allowed Scootaloo to pull him back up.

“Can... Scootaloo, I’m so-”

“Not now,” she murmured, putting a hoof to his lips. “You have no idea how mad at you I am right now, Rumble...”

Rumble choked up. “You’re still-”

“Of course I’m still mad, idiot!” Scootaloo grunted, scowling. “I just... I can’t believe you! You... Rumble, I thought you loved me! Why would you even think about other mares that way?! Wh-wh-why...”

Scootaloo was tearing up, and Rumble raised a hoof to help her. Said hoof was pushed away, said tears sniffed up.

“Doesn’t matter. We need to get out of here.”

She hopped off of the bed, looking behind herself with the slightest tinge of disdain.

“Can you walk?”

Rumble let out a small groan as he rose up to all fours, and a little yelp as his hooves hit the floor, but he stayed upright. He gritted his teeth as he forced his tired bones to move, forced a walking motion from them. Despite a small limp, and tremendous pain, it seemed to be enough to satisfy Scootaloo. It had to be enough to satisfy Scootaloo- if Thunderlane was looking for them, or worse, Miss Cheerilee, or even worse, Social Services...

He half-walked, half stumbled to Scootaloos side.

“Yeah,” he murmured.

She left the room with a nod.

><><

Early Saturday morning in Ponyville’s living districts was generally quiet. The children either slept, played video games, or had gotten up early to watch the morning cartoons, and the adults slept in, making the most of their day off in a busybody town such as theirs. It was therefore no surprise that Rumble and Scootaloo were able to escape notice from the vast majority of the population, but as Rumble’s physical damage was still pretty visible after Scootaloo’s efforts to clean him up, they took no chances. The pair dodged into back alleys, snuck across lawns and yards, dashed through the streets, taking cover when they could to avoid the possibly prying eyes.

Rumble had no idea where they were going.

But he had to trust her.

He decided it would be best not to think about it. Scootaloo had done the thinking, now all he had to do was follow. Follow, and hope that she forgave him.

Even if this was all her fault.

If she hadn’t taken him, none of this would have been happening. Rumble grunted- he had taken to gliding from cover to cover as opposed to walking, his wings a less painful option of dragging his worse-for-wear corpse, and he had made a bad landing. This was all her fault. And it was Dinky Doo’s fault for being so pretty. And it was Thunderlane’s fault for being a douchebag. And it was Cheerilee’s fault for being a hypocrite. And it was Social Services fault for being Social Services. And it was Cloudchaser’s fault, Rainbow Dash’s fault, Fluttershy’s fault, Ponyville’s fault.

It was anyone’s fault but his own, but she still needed for forgive him. But he knew well enough that he didn’t need to forgive her. Why bother? It was her fault, not his. She was a terrible lover, an even worse friend, and she had a plan.

He didn’t even know what the plan was, but-

Scootaloo stuck out a hoof, stopping Rumble from moving forward. Silently, Scootaloo slipped into a bush beside them, the leaveless branches rattling against her frame. Rumble winced in advance, doing the same, despite his body’s screams of horrific, outright...

“Aaagh.”

He couldn’t help but let it out. Scootaloo looked back, pulling him towards her, making him whimper.

“Hey.”

There was a moment of silence, Scootaloo holding Rumble close, Rumble both in too much pain and too riddled with anxiety to respond.

“I love you,” Scootaloo said. “And... I... I’m really sorry. For all of this.”

Rumble didn’t respond.

Scootaloo pulled away.

“We’re almost there, Rumble. C’mon.”

Behind the bush was a wall, about two heads high, made of brick. Scootaloo hopped up, her wings buzzing, and grabbed onto the edge of the wall with her hooves, pulling herself up. Rumble did the same, although his wings were a bit less useless, pulling his body up by themselves. Dropping in on the other side-

Rumble’s mouth dropped.

A massive manor was a few hundred yards from them, a huge, Victorian relic, off-grey, some of it’s framework made of marble. Intricate patterns and murals intermittently broke up the massive, sandy-grey expanse. Even more impressive was that they were overlooking a yard that almost an entire neighborhood could fit into, filled to the brim with meticulously cut but leafless hedges, large, shimmering blue pools now frozen, statues of varying size and wonder covered in snow.

This was the edge of town, Rumble realized.

This was the Rich residence that they had just broken into.

He was about to say something, but Scootaloo pulled on his wing, dragging him from his wonder and into their current situation, the pain welling back into his brain.

“C’mon...”

><><

Scootaloo trotted towards a shack in one of the gardens, Rumble in tow, making a small noise of pain with every step. Compared to the building it belonged too, it was in a state of ill repair. The shack looked several decades old, a patchwork of tin sheets and wooden planks, a lonely, foggy window on one side of the dilapidated door. Scootaloo raised a hoof to knock, but seemed to hesitate.

She put her hoof down and sighed, a puff of hot air visible in the frigid morning cold.

“What is it?” Rumble asked, gently trotting to her side.

“Listen. Do you hear that?”

Rumble’s ears perked up, searching for any out-of-place sound.

They found it.

“Mmmm!”

Someone moaning, someone whispering, a few slick noises-

No.

“Mmmm! Ah!”

No. It couldn’t be. Rumble knew it couldn’t be...

Scootaloo was looking in through the window, and Rumble could see the redness in her cheeks. No. It couldn’t be. It absolutely couldn’t be... His hooves moved on their own, dragging his throbbing form up to the window, rearing up, resting his hooves on the windowsill-

It was.

Silver Spoon was lying on her back on the cold concrete floor, Diamond Tiara’s head stuffed between her lithe, grey legs. Silver’s glasses were askew on her head, but they seemed long forgotten. Whatever Diamond Tiara was doing, it was send Silver Spoon onto cloud nine, her head rolling on the floor, soft mewls of pleasure and the occasional moan or yelp escaping her lungs.

It was happening.

Rumble felt sick to his stomach, and this time he knew it wasn’t injuries, and the nagging arose again. Look at them, it seemed to say. Look at that. That is love. What you have with Scootaloo isn’t. It isn’t even close to love, it isn’t even a shadow of love. And yet, as much as he was trying to force himself to look away, Rumble couldn’t. He was transfixed by this- seeing Diamond Tiara love anything was a sight to behold...

The Crusts, the class bitches, were more in love than he would ever be.

The sickness grew.

Silver Spoon was holding Diamond Tiara’s head to her soaking marehood, eyes screwed shut, and her moans bounced around Rumble’s head, moans he could never hope to hear or replicate. Lustful cries of “Diamond,” “yes,” “oh there please mmmmm.” Incomprehensible babbling, the occasional swear blurted out in the throes of passionate lovemaking.

And then Diamond Tiara pulled away.

“Spoony...”

Silver Spoon was a panting puddle at this point, looking up with bleary eyes at her love, at the only thing she could ever love in the world, that loved her in the world. Diamond gave her belly a quick smooch, before shooting her a sultry smirk.

“Spoony, you wanna get to the good part?”

All Silver Spoon could have the presence of mind to do was nod.

Scootaloo let out a quiet moan, and Rumble finally tore his eyes away from the lovers to see his... Whatever she was. His eyes widened- Scootaloo had a hoof between her legs, rubbing idly, her eyes half shut as she watched the pair of lovers clamber over each other, watched as Diamond traced little kisses up Silver Spoons body...

Rumble shut his eyes. He couldn’t. They couldn’t.

“Rumble.”

Scootaloo had whispered to him.

“Y... Yeah?” The response was automatic, almost.

“Rumble, I need you. Now.”

His eyes traveled back to the lovers.

Silver Spoon was squealing underneath Diamond Tiara, Diamond messily kissing Silver’s cheek, her chin, her neck, occasionally her lips, and she ground their marehoods together, juices meeting in the middle, dripping down Silver’s flank, a small puddle on the floor. Pink flesh on top of pink flesh, nubile clitorises... Clitori? Clitoria? Rumble didn’t know, but they were rubbing together, Silver Spoon lost in pleasure, lost in the heavenly sensations filling her entire form...

“...No.”

He could never be like that for Scootaloo, and Scootaloo could never be like that for him.

They could call what they had love, but all it was was an obsession. Like Thunderlane. Rumble was like Thunderlane. No, he couldn’t... But he was. It burned into his mind like a hot iron. Rumble was like Thunderlane. He... He was just like Thunderlane...

Scootaloo nuzzled into his neck, and for a moment it didn’t seem that way.

“Rumble... This might be the last chance we get. Please...”

She nuzzled again, harder.

“Please, I love you so much, I need you so much...”

He wanted to say it. Good Luna, he wanted to say it. He wanted to tell her that what they had wasn’t love, what they had was fake, was nothing, nothing compared to the spectacle before them, the two fillies squeaking and squealing, their marehoods mashed against one another, kissing, snuggling, grinding, cumming, Silver Spoon was cumming, but Diamond Tiara didn’t relent, even as filly juices squirted across the ice-cold cement of the floor-

He was hard.

Scootaloo needed him.

He couldn’t say it then.

“Okay.”

He hopped down from the windowsill, his head low as he moved behind her, Scootaloo adjusting her position. Her back was arched, her butt in the air- good Goddess, her butt, whatever did Rumble see in...

No.

Couldn’t think about that.

Rumble licked a cheek of her flank. It was ice cold, and Scootaloo shivered as his tongue slipped away, back into his mouth. He licked again, and again, every time getting closer, every time... Was it a prize?



There was another life inside her, another life that he had created, and he wasn’t afraid anymore.

Rumbled noticed how the juices tasted sweeter than usual. Usual being the last time he did it... He resisted the urge to shake his head, instead flicking his tongue from side to side, Scootaloo letting out breathy moans above him. Just a few days ago, he would have been disgusted by this. Before-

He wasn’t going to think about it.

He was going to enjoy his mare, he was going to pretend for just a moment that she loved him, that he loved her, that they loved each other like the lovers in the shack. Speaking of which...

Rumble pulled away for a moment, a string of potent filly-juice dripping between his tongue and her marehood.

“Scootaloo...”

“Mh!” She scooted her butt backward, but Rumble kept his head back. “What? Wh-what, Rumble? Why’d you stop?”

Rumble swallowed.

“Tell me what they’re doing.”

With that, he dove back in, and Scootaloo started giving a play-by-play, her eyes struggling to keep open, her tongue hanging out at times, Rumble, Rumble was so good, his tongue was...

“Th... They’re l-licking each other! Mmh! They’re... Silver Spoon is going to town and aah, mh, Diamond Tiaraaah! She’s... She’s a bit more relaxed, she... She’s just encouraging her I think! Ah! Mh! There, Rumble, keep licking theeere... Aah... Okay, Diamond’s rolled them over, she’s on top now! Aaaahn! Yes! That’s... Mh... More... She’s sitting up on Silver Spoons face and... And... Oh sweet Celestia Ruuuuuummmmbllllllleeee!”

Rumble’s entire world soon became filly juice.

Scootaloo was pent up, and she released with great gusto onto her companion, his muzzle positively drenched, dripping with filly juice, getting into his nose, his open mouth, his chin, even his eyes weren’t safe from the torrential pour of Scootaloos frustrations, finally mounting and releasing all over. He pulled away, licking around his lips, his face very cold, his length very hard, his eyes half-shut, as a hoof absently traced it’s way down.

“And? And?!”

Scootaloo was left breathless, leaning onto the windowsill for support, her eyes gently shut, little puffs of vapor rising, Rumble moving up to mount her.

And when she opened her eyes, they were met with indignant robin’s egg blue, Diamond Tiara staring out the window at other pair of lovers, visibly flustered and yet also enraged.

“...And she’s looking right at me.”

Rumble opened his eyes, and they too met the rather pissed filly on the other side of the glass.

“...Oh.”

><><

“W-we just didn’t want to interrupt, is all-”

“That would have been better than spying on us, loser!”

“Tia!”

Diamond Tiara faltered underneath the stern glare of her partner, and backed off. Slightly.

“What happened to him?”

Scootaloo’s expression became visibly hurt. “I...”

“I fell down the stairs,” Rumble said with a little chuckle, nudging Scootaloo in the ribs.

“Wh-wha... I mean, yeah. Yeah. Clumsy ol’ Rumble...”

She nuzzled his cheek quickly, before turning her focus back to the Crusts.

“Clumsy ol’ Rumble made a mistake, and we need to execute the plan today.”

The Crusts shared an anxious look, before turning their focus back to Scootaloo.

“Really?”

“Would I lie to you after the deal we made?”

They shared the look again.

Diamond spoke for them both, slowly, picking her words carefully for once.

“Well... I mean, everything’s ready, but... This is really sudden, is all. What happened?”

Scootaloo shook her head, and Rumble swore that her eyes turned towards him, filled with murder. He shuddered.

“I already told you, Rumble made a mistake. That’s all.”

“Musta been a pretty big mistake if he’s running away with us,” Silver Spoon quipped, but it was silenced by a glare from Scootaloo.

“Right. Does he know the plan?”

Scootaloo cleared her throat, pulling Rumble aside, murmuring to him, and it was enough to tell the Crusts that no, he didn’t know the plan, although his bewildered expression didn’t help.

“Rumble, here’s the thing. They’ve got a few weeks worth of supplies in a little cave that we found in the Everfree. There’s wood for a fire, there’s books on survivalism and herbalism and all sorts of stuff. Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon were gonna run away in a few days, when Social Services came by to pick up Silver Spoon. They were gonna run into the Everfree, drop a few scraps of clothing, and make a break for the cave, so that when ponies got searching, they’d guess they got eaten by timberwolves. Nopony to bother Silver Spoon ever again, she’d never have to go to an orphanage.”

She gave a small cough. “So I talked with them. They know about us, Rumble. Sort of. They know we’re in love and that a lot of ponies might have a problem with that. I talked them into storing some extra supplies in case we ever need to pull the same stunt. And we need to pull the same stunt, especially because Miss Hooves is probably gonna be in cahoots with Social Services. We need to do this now, Rumble.”

Rumble looked at the ground.

“So... We’re running away? Like, forever?”

Scootaloo nodded.

Rumble finally let himself remember. Let himself remember Dinky. Remember her lovely voice, her lovely flanks, how he had pressed into them, how he had forced himself onto her...

How Scootaloo had beat him up. How he deserved it and more, but more could wait for later.

And then he remembered everything before.

His happy, smiling parents. His brother, when he wasn’t being a douchebag. Miss Cheerilee, handing him tests, smiling all the way, complimenting his achievements and softening his failures. Nurse Redheart, looking out for everypony. The Princess Twilight Sparkle. Everypony he had ever met who didn’t know what he knew, what he couldn’t tell anypony else. And now he had to throw it all away, for a filly he didn’t know that he loved, living with a pair of ponies that he only knew as bullies.

The alternative was prison.

It was a rock and a hard place, for certain.

“Scootaloo, I...”

She held his face in her hooves, giving him a pleading look.

“Rumble, make a decision now. We don’t have time for this.”

He closed his eyes.

Life in eternal hiding.

Life in prison.

They were both prisons, either way. Either way, he had backed himself into a corner fate-wise. It was his fault either way. Either way, he would be remembered as the quiet colt who violently and suddenly snapped, and took one of the town’s precious little children, and corrupted them in his vile influence. Either way, there was no path but death, but one path...

One path had Scootaloo.

“I’ll go,” he muttered.

“Hm?”

“I’ll go.”

He said it with conviction, the way somepony who was to be executed first would. A voice laden with tragic bravery, with fear and yet also anticipation, for on either side there was no future, but no future alone was worse than no future with Scootaloo. Scootaloo, her strength, her power, it gave him something still.

Maybe he couldn’t love her like Diamond loved Silver Spoon.

Maybe he didn’t need to.

“I’ll go. Let’s go.”

All Scootaloo could do was hug him tightly, hold him close, thank him forever.

All Diamond Tiara could do was sob, as she left behind the life she once had for a new one with the one she loved.

><><

They had torn through the Everfree, leaving behind scraps of cloth, little bits and pieces. Rumble had brushed by so many branches, he was certain that his wounds had reopened again. For the better- the blood would further suggest that something terrible had happened.

Rumble, Scootaloo and the Crusts had just made their way out of the forest, panting and gasping for air. Even if nothing dangerous had truly been chasing them, it certainly felt that way. Technically, if Social Services was already on their tails, that much might have been true, but even an ornery pegasus wouldn’t follow them into the Everfree...

They walked across a frozen river, then along the length of it, never speaking, only moving. There was too much to talk about. Rumble’s injuries were most definitely not from falling down the stairs. Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon were being surprisingly nice. Scootaloo was pregnant, how were they going to deal with that? Where were they going to deal with that? Could they somehow get to Canterlot? They couldn’t sneak back into Ponyville...

Ponyville was the past.

This was now. This was their life now.

“We’re here,” Silver Spoon said simply, and Rumble pulled himself from his mind. There was a cave, more like a small cavern, that cut into the side of the hill, a small wooden door haphazardly built over it. Silver Spoon gently nudged the door open, shivering as cool air from the inside of the cave wafted over the already cold foals.

“I’ll get a fire going, you guys get comfy.”

They shuffled inside. The interior was simple- four sleeping bags, a fire pit, a pile of books on the cavern floor, a cooler filled with, presumably, vegetables and fruits, maybe even apples. Rumble shuffled onto one of the sleeping bags, curling up into a ball.

This was their life now.

This was his life now.

His life with Scootaloo.

Somehow, it made him sad, or angry, or something. He couldn’t tell anymore.

All he could do was cry.
