Rumble's Secret, Part 1

Thunderlane carried a smile on his face as he walked into his house, appreciating the still silence of an early work day completed. Even though he wouldn't have minded getting a couple extra hours of work on his shift before the weekend, the dark grey Pegasus could appreciate having a longer weekend with his little brother. Of course, after he put down his saddlebags and looked around, Thunderlane wondered if Rumble was home yet.

Ever since their parents left for a big business opportunity in San Pransisco, Thunderlane agreed to be Rumble's caretaker since Ponyville was a much cheaper option. And despite how cool San Pransisco could've been, Rumble never seemed that upset about not needing to leave his hometown or his friends. However, in the past few weeks, Thunderlane started to notice that his brother has been acting a bit stranger. Nothing too weird, but the colt's distant behavior and seclusion was beginning to worry Thunderlane a bit. However, given the fact that they've been running out of paper towels a lot recently, Thunderlane had a slight suspicion what was going on.

Nevertheless, Thunderlane poked his head up the stairway and called out "Rumble?"

No response was heard, which made the Pegasus shrug. However, before he could walk away, he heard a light shuffling upstairs. With his ears perked up slightly, the stallion tilted his head in suspicion. Wondering if Rumble just didn't hear him, he slowly trotted up the stairs, being careful not to clamber up the steps like he had a few nights when he accidentally woke up his brother. When he reached the top, he saw that Rumble's bedroom door was slightly open, and more rustling could be heard from the other end. Even though he had no idea what his brother was doing, he didn't see any harm in opening the door to ask what he wanted for dinner.

"Hey, Rumble!" said Thunderlane as he opened the door with a smile. "I was wondering wha..."

Thunderlane's question stopped as he froze in front of the doorway. Rumble, who was sitting on his bed, had his eyes wide open with a completely mortified look on his pale grey face. The colt was seated on the bed for only a split second, but before he could rush to the bathroom, Thunderlane saw that his brother had what looked to be half a roll's worth of paper towels wrapped and taped around his waist and rump. Rumble let out a panicked scream as he flew off the bed and into his bathroom as fast as he possibly could.

The heavy slam from the door was enough to jolt Thunderlane out of his stupor, and he quickly rushed to the bathroom door. "Rumble?" asked his brother as he knocked, not wanting to freak him out. "Rumble, it's oka--"

"GO AWAY!!" cried out Rumble from the other side of the door. A couple of sobs could be heard as well, which just made Thunderlane reel back a little with a worried look on his face. Even though he had no idea what his brother was doing, he didn't want him to be crying because of it.

The sound of ripping could be heard between Rumble's sobs, which was most likely him taking off the paper towels, Thunderlane knocked again and said in a more caring tone, "Rumble, come on, don't be like this. There's nothing to be crying about."

More sobbing was the only response he could hear, which prompted him to sigh and continue speaking. "Listen to me, Rumble. I'm not mad at you, okay? I mean, I don't know why you've been taking my paper towels, but you're not in trouble. I swear."

The sobbing stopped, but Thunderlane could still hear his brother sniffling from inside the bathroom. After waiting for almost a minute, the stallion put his hoof against the door and said, "Rumble, please... can you please just open the door? I promise I'm not going to make fun of you or anything. And whatever it is, I doubt it's something to be crying about. But I'm sure I can help you if you want."

Again, Thunderlane waited, oping for his brother to give some kind of response. After another long bout of silence, he heard the lock to the door turn, and he stepped back so Rumble could come out. When the door opened, the little Pegasus colt's eyes were visibly reddened, with matted fur underneath his eyes. Before anything could be said, Thunderlane walked towards him and have his brother a tight hug, hoping to alleviate his nerves. After a second or so, Rumble hugged him back, but it was noticeably weaker than Thunderlane would've wanted.

After he walked his brother over to the bed, Thunderlane sat down beside him with a warm smile. Even though he considered making a sly comment about him stealing his paper towels, the stallion knew better than to say anything to upset his brother. So instead, he wrapped his foreleg around the colt's back before asking, "So... can you tell me what's going on?"

Rumble's lips pursed shut as he winced, and turned his head away from his older brother. "It... it's nothing, okay?" he said weakly.

Thunderlane scoffed and replied, "Well, the fact that you ran into the bathroom like that says otherwise."

Rumble's head slumped down as he looked more shameful, but his brother tightened his grip around him and said, "Hey, it's alright, Rumble. I already told you I'm not gonna mess with you. There's nothing to freak out about."

A heavy sigh escaped the colt as he moved his head down even lower, with his muzzle pointed towards his waist. A couple of sniffs could be heard before he said apologetically, "I'm... I'm sorry I used your paper towels..."

Thunderlane pulled him in for a sideways hug and assured him, "Hey, hey, hey... it's alright, Rumble. I'm not upset at you or anything, I promise." After waiting another minute for Rumble's sniffles to subside, Thunderlane looked down at him and asked, "So... would you mind if I asked what you were doing?"

Rumble immediately tensed up and tried to pull away from Thunderlane's hoof. "It-it's nothing!"

"Hey, hey!" Thunderlane strengthened his grip so his brother wouldn't try to get away. "I'm just asking, alright? There's nothing to worry about."

With the way the colt pouted while looking down to the floor, it seemed like he was about to start crying again. Thunderlane sighed and tried to lighten the mood. "You know, I once got in trouble with Mom and Dad by using all the toilet paper to make myself into a mummy. I mean, it was kinda dumb, but it was something I did because I thought it would be fun. So I can understand if--"

"N-no..." Rumble's voice was still weak when he interrupted his brother, but was slightly more firm as he replied, "I... I wasn't doing that, okay?"

Thunderlane shrugged, figuring that may have been one of the reasons. "Alright then," he said in response. "So... what was it?"

Rumble winced again with his face away from Thunderlane's. "I... I can't..."

"Oh, come on," Thunderlane said more playfully as he held his brother close. "I'm not gonna judge you! What was it? Like, being a sumo wrestler?"

Rumble pursed his lips as his face turned more frustrated and ashamed. "N... no..."

"Okay, ummm..." Thunderlane tried to think of what else it could've been, but he was drawing a blank after those two ideas. He shrugged before turning his attention back to his brother. "Well, whatever it is, I doubt it's that big of a deal."

Rumble clenched his eyes shut, and breathed in shakily as he tried to get out of this conversation. "B-but... it IS a big deal."

"Oh, come on!" said the stallion sympathetically while looking down at him. "I highly doubt that. You know you can tell me, right?"

"But I..." Rumble began to sniffle again while his eyes were closed. "I can't..."

"It's just paper towels, Rumble. I'm not upset at you."

"I... I know, but..."

"Is it like, clothing or something?"

Rumble paused for a moment before shaking his head. "Well, n... no..."

"A sleeping bag?"

"N-no. I..."

"Rumble, come on. You know you can tell me."

Rumble's tone started to turn more hoarse. "B-but... but I can't..."

"Yes you can. I won't make fun of you."

"Y-yes you will!" he cried with his face pointed away from him. Tears started to come from his clenched eyes.

"No I won't!" shouted Thunderlane as his tone started to turn more insistent. "Rumble, you know me better than that! I would NEVER make fun of you for anything! And if this is really making you so worried, then I want to know what it is!"

"I c-can't!"

"Yes you can."

"N-no, I can't!!"

"Rumble, please! I promise I won't get mad."

"I... but I..."

"I'm serious, dude! I'm not going to make fun of you, but I'm also not gonna let you go until you tell me what's going on!"

"It-it-it-ITWASADIAPER!!!"

Thunderlane only sat in stunned silence, his face frozen in a wide-eyed state as he tried to process what his little brother just said. Meanwhile, Rumble was equally frozen in his seat, with his wettened eyes now wide-open in sudden realization and regret of what he just said. He quickly tried to jump off of the bed, but Thunderlane grabbed him before he could escape. "Hey, wait!"

"NO!!" Rumble's eyes clenched shut as more tears escaped, desperately trying to break from his brother's clutches. "L-Let me go!!"

"Whoa, Rumble wait!!" After strengthening his grip around Rumble, he waited until the colt's resistance started to weaken before sitting down on the floor with him. With the colt's back being held tightly against his chest, Thunderlane waited to make sure Rumble wasn't going to break free again. And after closing his eyes, Thunderlane turned his grip into a more calming hug, keeping Rumble in his hold while propping his chin against the colt's shoulder.

"See?" said the stallion calmly. "I'm not making fun of you, am I?"

Rumble was still crying a little, but it was silent as he stayed limp in his brother's embrace. After a brief moment of silence, he felt his older brother start to turn him around. Even though he knew it was a good time to escape, the colt didn't do anything as he sat face-to-face across from his brother. Thunderlane had a warm, albeit slightly skewed smile on his muzzle, and he looked down at his brother for a moment before asking, "So, ummm... what... what was that you said?"

Rumble winced as he tried to close his eyes and look down again. However, Thunderlane's hoof went under Rumble's chin and pulled his brother's head back up. With his eyes still closed, Rumble sniffed hard before saying in a hushed tone. "It... it was a..."

Thunderlane waited silently, his face carrying nothing but a look of patience and slight worry.

Rumble exhaled weakly, and and his eyes clenched shut as he made his admission. "It was a... d-diaper."

Thunderlane bit his lip in uncertainty, having never thought that would be the answer his little brother would've given him. But after a couple seconds, he pulled Rumble into his chest to give him a tight hug. With his chin propped on top of the colt's head, Thunderlane could feel Rumble's muffled sobs against his chest. "Ssshhhhh..." Thunderlane closed his eyes and whispered in a calming tone. "It's alright, Rumble."

"N-No it's not!!" cried Rumble as his grip around his older brother became tighter. "I'm a freak!"

"No you're not," said Thunderlane in a slightly more firm tone of voice. "There's nothing wrong with you."

"Y-Yes there is!!" Rumble's cried became louder as he kept sobbing into his brother's dark grey chest. "I can't stop thinking about it!! No matter what I do, I keep thinking about doing that!! About w-w-wearing them! And about... about..."

As his voice began to dissipate from guilt, Rumble could feel his brother's hug becoming warmer as he said, "Rumble, it's okay. You can tell me. And I promise... I PROMISE... I will never judge you."

Rumble's muzzle quivered while in his brother's grasp, feeling like he was about to completely lose it. Even though he wanted nothing more than to tell him the truth, the colt felt absolutely helpless against his own mental restraints. With his eyes clenched shut, he heard Thunderlane say in a sincere tone, "Rumble, I'm always going to love you, alright? And I'll do whatever it is to help you, so please... please don't be afraid..."

With that statement, Rumble finally gave in. With his face pressed hard against his brother's chest, the colt bawled against Thunderlane as he cried out. "I... I wanna be a foal!!! I wanna be a little foal again!!! I want to wear diapers!!! I want to be treated like a baby!!! I know I'm a big colt, and I know I don't need to, but... BUT I WANT TO BE A WIDDLE FOAL!!!"

As Rumble sobbed loudly, Thunderlane didn't let go of him for a second as they sat within the colt's room. While the stallion had absolutely no idea what to do, he knew that his brother meant more to him than anything else. And if this was what Rumble really wanted, he wasn't going to make him feel like a freak because of it. So, with his eyes closed shut, Thunderlane strengthened his grip around his brother, and kept his chin atop Rumble's head as be began to gently sway back and forth. Even though Rumble was still sobbing, he becan to realize what his big brother was doing for him.

He was rocking him.

Thunderlane began to hum under his breath while rocking Rumble, and the colt took a second before he realized it was a lullaby. Right now, his brother was rocking him and humming a lullaby. As his mind kept racing wildly, Rumble could only hug his brother as tightly as he could while Thunderlane continued to hum.

For a long while, Thunderlane continued to rock his brother, humming to him sweetly like he had when he was around Rumble's age. Maybe a part of him missed doing that, because he felt absolutely no regret or hesitation as he felt the colt settle against his tear-matted chest. And by the time the sun began to set outside, Thunderlane was smiling as he sat on the floor with his sleeping brother. He looked down at his little colt, who was now sleeping soundly as the room became darker. While he was still unsure what he could do, Thunderlane knew that his brother needed him right now. So, after carefully lifting his brother, and placing him into bed as slowly as he could, the stallion sighed as he looked around, realizing what he needed to do while Rumble slept. When he finally left Rumble's room, and closed the door as quietly as he could, the Pegasus had one thing in mind as he slowly crept down the stairs to leave the house.

Rumble wasn't going to need to use paper towels anymore.