Sweetie Belle just ran out of the castle with a wide smile on her face, in the direction of Sweet Apple Acres. The conversation she had with Twilight motivated her greatly. Now that she knew what exactly her feelings were, she just wanted to go out there and tell Apple Bloom about them, face to face. She just kept running, not looking at anything around her, only focused on getting to Apple Bloom as fast as she can.
But her determination fell at an alarming rate with every step she made, and not even halfway out of the town, Sweetie Belle stopped. The smile vanished from her face and she got a little bit panicked again as a very important problem appeared in her head again - What if she doesn't love me back?
As Twilight said - she wouldn't find out unless she asks Apple Bloom herself, but she was too afraid to do that. What she needed to do was ask somepony else who Apple Bloom might have told. The first pony she could think of was Applejack, but then she realised that would be out of question, as Applejack and Apple Bloom lived in the same place, and there was a chance that her crush would see her before she was able to ask. She tried to think of someone else Apple Bloom could've told if she had a crush on anypony.
A great idea suddenly appeared in her head. "Scootaloo!" - she accidentally screamed out loud from the realisation. Sweetie didn't know why hasn't she thought of this before. The three Crusaders have been friends for more than a year now, and they know each other almost perfectly. Scootaloo would be one of the first ponies Apple Bloom or even herself would confess to if they felt the need to tell someone about their feelings. "Of course!"
"Of course what?"
Sweetie gasped in surprise, looking around to see the source of the sound that interrupted her thoughts, and calmed down quickly when she saw it was the very pony she was thinking about."Oh, hi, Scoots, didn't see you there," she said.
Scootaloo tilted her head. "What? You just called my name."
"Oh no, don't mind that, I was just.. talking to myself." Scootaloo gave her a weird, concerned look, but even if Sweetie noticed, she would ignore it, being lost in thought. For a while, Sweetie didn't say anything, instead thinking of what she should say, and a short moment of awkward silence fell upon the two of them.
"So, uh, what are you up to?", Scootaloo attempted to stop that silence.
"Oh, I was just gonna, um, go visit-- uh, I mean, er.." She was going to say 'visit Apple Bloom', but then she realised Scootaloo would probably take this opportunity to go there with her to play and crusade for cutie marks, which was obviously not what Sweetie Belle wanted to do. Sweetie Belle really hated lying, but she didn't want to offend her friend by telling her she can't go with her. Sweetie quickly avoided the question by changing the subject to what she wanted to ask.
"Hey, Scoots, can I ask you something?"
Scootaloo looked at her confused. "Uh, sure, what is it?"
Sweetie hesitated for a while and then finally opened her mouth. "Do you.. do you maybe happen to know if, uh, if.. Apple Bloom, maybe, has a crush on m- on somepony?", she said, stuttering.
Confused even more by the suddenly asked question, Scootaloo stood still for a while, just staring at her friend, and then finally said pretty casually, "I dunno, she never told me. Why?"
"Oh, it's.. it's nothing. I was just, um, curious.. i guess," Sweetie Belle said, disappointed. "Well, I, uh, have to go now, so.. bye," she said, and quickly started walking away. Once again, she was out of ideas for ponies she could ask about Apple Bloom's crush, so she just headed in the direction of Sweet Apple Acres to go and confront Apple Bloom herself, though silently hoping she would meet somepony else worth asking on the way.
But before she could get too far, she was stopped by Scootaloo's hoof. "Hey, don't pretend I'm some kind of idiot, okay? I know. You're mad for her."
"Wh-what? H-how? How did you--" Sweetie Belle's entire face turned red.
"You're really not hiding it too well. Pretty much everypony figured it out, though Apple Bloom doesn't seem to want to believe it. If you ask me, she feels it back, but I guess you can't be sure 'till you ask, right?"
Sweetie Belle's stunned expression turned into an exprssion of despair, as she grabbed her friend with her front hooves. "Oh, Scoots, what should I do? What do I do?"
"Well, I guess that's none of my buisness, but if I were you I'd just tell her. It doesn't hurt, does it?"
But Sweetie just looked at the ground. "It does hurt if she says 'no'.."
"I'm just saying what I'd do," Scootaloo said, "The longer you wait, the more it will hurt."
Sweetie Belle just stood there, taking her time to analise what her friend has just told her, until she finally realised how true that was. Sweetie realised the only way to find out was not trying to ask somepony else, but to just go on, forget about the bad things that could happen and just tell her crush these three words.
Grateful for Scootaloo's help, she suddenly hugged her very tight. "Oh, thank you, thank you, thank you so much! I don't know what I would have done without you!" After thanking her a couple more times, she gave her a quick, friendly, full of gratitude, kiss on the cheek, and without a second thought, she once again stormed off in the direction of Apple Bloom's home.
Her determination didn't fall that quickly this time, and Sweetie Belle made it all the way to Sweet Apple Acres. As could be expected from an apple farm, apples and apple trees were everywhere around her, easily turning everyone who went through here very hungry. But instead of doing that, the red apples just reminded Sweetie of Apple Bloom's cute red mane, and for a short moment, she just stared into the air, dreaming about her friend. The scent of apples that could be felt everywhere didn't help it either, making Sweetie smile involountairly as she imagined she's standing close to Apple Bloom, hugging her, nuzzling her face into that red mane, feeling that scent coming from all over her beautiful, beautiful body.
Her dreams were interrupted by the object of her dreaming itself, as Sweetie Belle opened her eyes to see that the pony she couldn't stop thinking about all day is standing right in front of her, smiling at her, and suddenly she couldn't see anything besides Apple Bloom's face. She just stared at her for a second or two, but Sweetie felt like hours were passing as they were looking into each other's eyes.
"Hey, Sweetie Belle!" Sweetie didn't know if it was her friend's cute little accent, or her beautiful voice that made her heart skip a beat every time she said anything to her.
"H-hi, Apple Bloom.." Usually she was able to talk with her normally, but the reason she came here for made it difficult to speak, especially to Apple Bloom.
Apple Bloom ignored her stuttering completely. "So, why'd ya come?"
"Oh, I just.. thought I'd come in for a visit. I mean, you don't mind, do you?" Sweetie Belle tried to remain as calm as she could, but the inevitable revelations that were to come today were making her pretty embarrassed.
"No, of course not! Come right in!"
Sweetie Belle complied instantly, following Apple Bloom through the gate into the farm, quickly forming a plan of what she will do in her head. Of course, she was not going to just yell "I love you" at her right now, or Apple Bloom might think she's some kind of weird. First, she was just going to spend some nice, friendly time with her, like she does very often, and then, when it gets late, when a more calm and serious moment comes, she will finally tell her. That seemed like the perfect plan.
So, just like planned, the two of them spent the day together, talking, laughing, playing, doing all the fun things two fillies can do, and that made Sweetie Belle happy like she nearly never was before. There was no crusading, no Scootaloo, none of the usual things they liked to do all the time, there was just the two of them, sharing the day with each other and having fun. Of course, it's not like Sweetie disliked Scootaloo or all the things the three of them did together, but when she was only with Apple Bloom, it all just felt different. It felt almost magical, just her and the one filly she loved more than anything.
And it didn't matter to Sweetie what were they doing, as long as they were close. It was a Saturday, so Apple Bloom didn't have many chores, and the ones she had were already taken care of before she arrived, so they had the whole day just for each other. They spent their time not as the Cutie Mark Crusaders, but as friends, or in this case, something more than friends. They were chatting, running, playing the usual games fillies play, like tag or hide-and-seek, or even dress-up, which Sweetie liked the most, not only because she herself liked to make herself look pretty, but also because it gave her the opportunity to see Apple Bloom wearing cute outfits, they also were drawing, singing, even reading together a little. The farm was big, so they had a lot of space to play. Sweetie Belle wished she could spend every day like this.
After a few hours spent on having fun together like this, the two fillies, tired with laughing and playing, they both sat down on a log somewhere near the barn, to rest a little bit and talk with each other. The conversation they had was skittering down at a quick rate, and many moments of silence arose, and though Sweetie didn't really mind them, but she figured that might be a good time to finally tell Apple Bloom what she feels for her. Talking with Twilight and Scootaloo really helped her, and now she didn't feel scared at all. She knew it had to be done, and what happens next didn't matter for now. Sweetie Belle took a few deep breaths and started talking .
"Sweetie Belle? ", she was interrupted by Apple Bloom before she even opened her mouth to speak, but then her friend realized her mistake and said," Oh, sorry, did ya wanna say somethin'? "
"No, it's okay, " Sweetie said because everything Apple Bloom said was worth listening to for her, but also because she didn't think it was very polite to interrupt her friend like this. "you can speak first."
For a short moment Apple Bloom hesitated of she should not just let Sweetie speak first anyway, but seemed to have decided against it. A blush appeared on her cheeks as she slowly opened her mouth and asked a question, the one Sweetie completely didn't expect her to ask.
"Who am I to you? "
At first, Sweetie Belle couldn't believe her ears. For more than a year , she wondered who she was too Apple Bloom, and she was just about to find out, when suddenly she was asked the very same thing, except opposite - who her crush is to her.
And the answer to that was simple - her crush is her crush. But it wasn't the kind of crush little colts and fillies usually have, it was something much, much bigger. If was the kind of love that could last forever. Only now has Sweetie Belle realized that Apple Bloom was the most important thing in her little life, and even if she didn't love her back, she would never forget about these feelings. That thought made Sweetie Belle almost cry from all the emotions, while Apple Bloom was just standing there, waiting, blushing, worried of what answer she might get. But Sweetie knew the answer, only it was so big, so complicated, so beautiful, Sweetie couldn't put it into words. She didn't know what she should say. But she said this :
"You're everything to me, Apple Bloom. I know we were always just friends, but I always felt so much more for you, and today I'm finally sure what it is. I love you, Apple Bloom, I love you with all my heart, and I know we're both fillies, but I don't care what anypony thinks or says, I will never stop loving you. I want to see your face, your smile, I want to be next to you all the time, and I.. I just.. " Sweetie Belle started crying from the overdose of all the different feelings before she could finish, but she added through her tears these words:" I just love you so, so much! "
Apple Bloom simply stood in front of her, listening to what Sweetie was saying, also getting closer to crying with each one of her words, but to crying of joy. And when Sweetie was finally done, Apple Bloom burst into tears shortly after her, extended her hooves, and pulled Sweetie into a tight hug. That gave Sweetie Belle the answer to ask the things she just said. But, just in case she didn't understand, she said to Sweetie Belle quietly , through her crying,
"I love you too. "
And so, on a log near the barn, at Sweet Apple Acres, there were two fillies hugging, crying for no reason.