//------------------------------// // Chapter 7 // Story: The Apple Ran Away With The Spoon // by gwg //------------------------------// Old habits are typically hard to break, despite the effort put into it. Applejack found this statement to be very true as she once again awoke at the crack of dawn. She wished that she could go back to sleep, considering that she needed to be well rested for the harvest today, but she just couldn’t. It didn’t help that her traitorous mind provided her with a reason to get up this early: there were a few more buckets that could be placed under the zap apple trees, the ones just beyond what she was certain she could buck in time. There was only one obstacle: her wife. Through all the years that the two had been together, Applejack found a certain quality of the fashionista to be both adorable and confusing. Whenever they slept together, the unicorn would always cling to the farmer, as if she was afraid of waking up without the orange mare there. Whenever Aj asked about why she did it, Rarity would always claim that it was an accident, but the Element of Honesty knew she was lying. It didn’t really bother her that much but it made getting up rather difficult. “Hey Darlin’, ya mind gettin’ offah me?” She nudged the unicorn awake, who yawned before responding. “Why yes, I do mind. Why can’t you just go back to sleep like normal ponies do so I may continue to have my pillow?” The apple farmer smiled at her wife’s usual antics, unsurprised at the prim unicorn’s usual refusal to budge. “Come on Rares, Ah need tah get up!” The alabaster mare remained silent as she nuzzled into Applejack’s chest, acting as though she didn’t hear, though Aj knew otherwise. “Seriously, Rarity, Ah have work tah do!” An off-white hoof rose to her lips as a shushing noise came from her sleeping partner, informing the earth pony that she needed to change tactics. “Look, we’ll both be free this weekend, we can snuggle as much as ya want then. Is that alright with you, Sugarcube?” “Oh, we shall do more than snuggle,  My Love. With how much frustration is building up in this past week alone, you’ll be lucky if I let you out of the house at all this weekend.” With eyes half-lidded, Rarity dismounted Applejack and returned to her side of the bed. “Ah look forward to it, Darlin’.” The apple farmer winked as she was applying her mane and tail ties, before she placed her stetson upon her head. She kissed her wife’s cheek, who had already fallen back to sleep, before stepping out into the hallway. As she walked slowly past the room where Big Mac and Fluttershy were sleeping, she considered rousing her brother so that he could help out, but determined to let him sleep in and that she could handle this task on her own with no problem. She made it to the stairs and carefully made her way down, mindful to avoid the few steps that creaked, certain that the noise would wake up Jonny and uncertain if it would disturb Silver Spoon’s slumber. Once she reached the bottom, she made her way to the front door, though she didn’t make it past the living room when she heard a grunt and some rustling. Curious, she investigated the couch, only to find her sister laying there tossing and turning, with some muttering that Applejack couldn’t quite make out. Concerned, she chose to act. “Apple Bloom, wake up!” With a hoof she shook the cushion supporting the architect’s head. “Hmm, wazzat?” Bleary bloodshot eyes scanned the room for her assailant before focusing on the orange and gold blur in front of her, taking a moment to discern the object to be in fact her sister. “Whatchu want, sis?” She inquired irritably while rubbing her eyes with a hoof. “Why are ya sleepin’ on the couch?” “Ah, uh, Ah couldn’t sleep last night. Went fer a walk around the farm before crashin’ here.” “Did you and Silver have a fight or somethin’?” Bloom shifted her eyes to the side, letting Applejack know that she was hiding something. “N-no, we didn’t fight.” Her tone turned indignant as she began to glare at her older sister. “What’s it matter tah ya, anyway? Ah’m a grown mare, Ah don’t need ya checkin’ up on me!” “Ah’m only askin’ cause fer the past couple days, you’ve been happier than Ah ever seen ya in a long time, and now it looks like yer worse off than normal. It looks like ya’ve been cryin’, o’ course Ah’m concerned.” Bloom rubbed her eyes and cheeks furiously in an attempt to get rid of the evidence, but the damage had already been done. “Ah just been havin’ some bad dreams is all.” The young mare responded weakly, once again omitting the full truth. Applejack sighed, knowing that if she didn’t change tactics now, Apple Bloom will clam up and remain angry at her for the rest of her stay. She remembered her task she set for herself and found a solution. “Alright. Hey ya wanna help me for a bit? Ah need tah set up a few more buckets before the harvest starts. If ya help, we can get it done in less time.” Bloom looked at her sister, glad that the subject was dropped for now. In fact she was happy that her sister was giving her something to do, anything to get her thoughts off the beautiful mare upstairs in her bed. Stop it! Ah don’t wanna think about that! Ah already spent all night thinking about that. Some good ol’ farm work should keep my mind off of that beautiful flowing silver mane and those amazing violet eyes that just suck me in and Ah just want to kiss- NO! Stop! “S-sure, Ah’ll help ya out. Let’s go.” Bloom tried to give her sister her most winning smile, but she knew that it wouldn’t fool Applejack. However, she also knew that Applejack was only dropping the issue for now, so for the time being at least she was safe. The Apple sisters made their way down to the edge of the zap apple trees, Applejack pulling the cart with the ten buckets they would need. They spent most of their journey in mutual silence, Applejack trying to figure out a way to talk to her sister about the issue, and Apple Bloom trying to find the best way to avoid being alone with Silver today. This was the harvest day, and that meant that there wasn’t anything to be done for jam preparation, since that was handled in the last couple of days. She knew she couldn’t just hang out here, with Applejack and Big Mac mostly just resting and stretching for the main event and Rarity and Fluttershy making sure that their spouses don’t overexert themselves before it was time. Without stuff to do at the farm, her thoughts will certainly head towards somepony she shouldn’t be thinking about. As much as she didn’t want to, that meant that she had to seek company from a certain couple. She would have continued to think on this, except that they had already arrived at the zap apple orchard. The sisters each grabbed a bucket and placed them at the base of each tree. They were each on their third bucket when Applejack cleared her throat. Bloom stopped what she was doing to give her sister her full attention. “Ya know, when Ah have somethin’ botherin’ me, it really helps to talk about it with somepony Ah trust.” “Please...don’t…”Please, this was helpin’ me not think about it. This was workin’. Please don’t ruin it. Ah don’t wanna think about it. Ah don’t wanna think about her. “Look, Ah know ya prefer tah keep yer problems tah yaself, but that just causes it tah eat away at ya. And when that happens, ya end up gettin’ mad or upset at somepony and ya have no idea why. Just let it out.” “Ah don’t wanna talk about it.” Bloom began to grit her teeth, growling slightly. Shut up, just shut up. Stop talking about this. You’re not helping. Ah’m trying to forget about this, and you keep bringing me back to it. Just stop it. Stop it. Stop it stop it stop it stop it stopitstopitstopitstopitshutupshutupshutupshutupnononononononoNONONONONONO- “Ah’m just tryin’ tah help, and Ah can only do that if ya ta-” “AH SAID NO! Go buck yerself Applejack and LEAVE ME ALONE!” With that, Bloom bucked the nearest bucket, shattering it to pieces, before she bolted away from her sister, heading back to the farmhouse. Applejack sighed, knowing that she pushed too much and now had to deal with the consequences. “And it’s only Wednesday.” She said as she went to grab the next bucket, finishing off the task with very little enthusiasm. -GWG- Silver awoke to the smell of apple based foodstuff, wondering if she would ever get tired of it. She noticed that once again she had turned over in her sleep, but she also noticed that the other side of the bed did not look slept in. Even when Bloom wasn’t in the bed when she woke up the first day, Silver could tell that she had slept there. Now there was no indentation in the pillow, no slight warmth on the bed, none of the usual signs were there. She grew concerned but knew that she wasn’t going to find answers lying up here. Silver put on her glasses at least and headed down stairs, ready to get some answers and some breakfast. When she arrived at the dining room, she was surprised to see that none of the Apple siblings were cooking the meal she was smelling since they were all seated at the table. Another thing that caught her attention was the fact that Bloom appeared to be making an effort to avoid looking at Silver or Applejack. She would have started her inquiry but was interrupted by a certain pegasus exiting the kitchen with breakfast. “Um, soups on everypony. Please dig in. If you don’t mind, I mean.” Fluttershy placed the stack of prench toast on the table before Rarity came in with a pot full of apple cinnamon oatmeal. The food smelled delicious but Silver noticed that there was still some tension in the air and hoped a pleasant distraction would help. “So Fluttershy, where did you get that chef’s hat?” Rarity glanced at her friend and sister-in-law with a look of worry, but Silver had no idea as to why her question would get that response. “O-oh, this?” Fluttershy looked up in an attempt to see the aforementioned hat. “This was a gift from...Pinkie. I was baking with her years ago and she said I needed to wear this. When we were done she told me to keep it. I wear it every time I cook.” Silver was confused. The words suggested that this was a happy memory, but her tone bespoke of sadness and regret. Big Mac got up and nuzzled his wife before they all sat down at the table, with Fluttershy removing her hat and staring at it for a moment before putting it down. Despite the lack of enthusiasm at the table, the meal was indeed delicious, with everypony giving Fluttershy and Rarity their praise verbally. As Fluttershy and Big Mac headed out to take Jonny to school, Applejack and Rarity headed upstairs to rest, leaving Silver and Bloom at the table. Bloom would not look at the only other pony in the room, choosing instead to stare at her hooves on the table. This worried Silver to no end, seeing as this felt worse than after Discord broke the news about the planned nightclub. She had to do something, not because she had a crush on the obviously distraught mare, but because she was her best friend. Silver brought a hoof to Bloom’s shoulder, feeling shudders for a moment before Bloom shifted away from the touch. “Are you ok, Bloom?” “It’s nothin’ tah worry about.” Bloom continued to avoid eye contact, which really started to get Silver to panic a bit. “Why won’t you look at me?” The sadness in her tone gripped at Bloom’s heart but she knew she couldn’t do anything for it. Because Ah’m afraid of gettin’ lost in your eyes, afraid of what Ah might do then. “Let’s just drop this, ok? We need to get ready to head out.” Silver wanted to get to the bottom of this, but she knew from experience that sometimes the best thing to do is to let them be, it might settle itself later on. “Where are we going?” For the first time this morning, Silver saw something that she was beginning to hold as precious. “We’re going to see some friends.” Bloom smiled. -GWG- The young mares were approaching their destination in town. At this point Bloom decided to fill Silver in on the plan. “We’re gonna spend the day with Sweetie and Scoots. We were gonna do the normal get together but Ah figured we could make a day of it. Watch Scootaloo do her stunts, get lunch at Sugarcube Corner, see a movie, and get dinner at some restaurant to end the day. It’s perfect!” Silver enjoyed the enthusiasm shown as opposed to Bloom’s earlier mood, though she knew that the problem was far from resolved. “Are you sure they will be able to do that? What if they’re busy or what if they don’t want to hang out with each other? They may want some space from each other.” Bloom found her concerns humorous. “Pfft, please, like that would ever happen.” “What makes you so sure?” “Because those lovebirds are inseparable. There is absolutely nothin’ that will make them not want to see each other. Nothin’.” Little did Bloom realize, but this statement was about to be tested. They were just about to step on the porch of Scootaloo’s home when they heard what sounded like a large bubble bursting followed shortly after by a shrill shriek, most likely emanating from a certain singing unicorn. They heard a smoke detector going off, which summoned shouting from a raspy voice. Moments later Sweetie Belle came barreling out of the house, her fur slightly singed and smoke coming out the door. Shortly after Scootaloo came out with a fire extinguisher, spraying inside the house a few more times before setting it down. She walked over to Sweetie Belle to check her for any injuries. “Are you ok?” Scootaloo’s hoof held up Sweetie’s chin so that the unicorn looked her in the eyes. “Y-yeah, I’m fine. Nothing a shower and a brush won’t fix.” She smiled at her paramour, but that smile slowly faded as Scootaloo’s concerned expression turned to one of anger. Scoots removed her hoof from Sweetie’s face. Even though she knew she wouldn’t get violent, she did not want to take any risks, not when it came to Sweetie’s safety. “What the buck, Sweetie!? I thought we agreed that you shouldn’t cook. After all the pots and pans we had to throw out because of your monstrosities, I thought that it would be clear!” “I wasn’t cooking.” “Oh so you were intentionally lighting my kitchen table on fire!?” Scootaloo’s wings were flared in agitation, something Silver was rather familiar with. She did not envy Sweetie’s position. “No, I had made oatmeal. You know I can make oatmeal, I make it all the time!” Sweetie had been inching further and further back from the pegasus, tears forming in her eyes. Now though she decided to make a stand and stood still, trying to explain. “So what happened!?” “I boiled the water, poured the mix into the bowl, and when the water was done I poured that in too.” “How’d it catch fire!?” Seeing Scootaloo’s harsh interrogation was picking up in intensity, Bloom tried to intervene but was met little success. “Scoots calm down, Ah’m sure it was just an-” “My house almost burned down. I want some answers dammit!” The enraged pegasus turned her gaze back to Sweetie Belle. “W-when I tried it it was too cold, so I tried to heat it up with my magic.” Scootaloo dragged her hoof down her face, her aggravation quite apparent. “I’m sorry about the table. How was I supposed to know that would happen?” “Because everything you touch that is food related goes up in smoke and flames.” “I said I was sorry! I don’t know why you’re getting so upset over a table.” “No, I’m not mad about the table. I’m mad because you nearly burned my house down!” “But I didn’t!” “You didn’t because I stopped that from happening. If I didn’t react as quickly as I did, we would be looking at the charred remains of my house, or better yet, we would have both been dead!” “I said I was sorry…” It pained Silver and Bloom to see Sweetie’s defences crumbling while quiet sobs began to rack her body. “Yeah, well,” Scootaloo couldn’t stand to look at her defeated marefriend, if they were still even that, and instead looked towards the field where she practiced her stunts. “I’m going to go practice for this weekend. You should probably see about staying at Rarity’s place tonight. We’ll talk tomorrow.” With that she took off flying towards her practice field. Silver tried to reach over to comfort Sweetie, but before she could make contact, the suffering mare took off towards another part of town, opposite the direction of Scootaloo. The metallic mare was about to give chase when Bloom grabbed her shoulder. “Shouldn’t we go after her?” “No, she’s headin’ to Vinyl and Octavia’s place. They’ll take care of her.” The architect looked towards the practice field. “We have to go show a certain chicken that she just did somethin’ really stupid. Come on.” It didn’t take very long for the two to make it to the field, though what they saw was not what they expected. They thought they would catch the stunt mare already practicing her trade. Instead they found her sitting on her haunches, staring vacantly at a spot a few feet away from her. If they looked closely, they could see building tears in the corners of her eyes. They shared a look and Silver could see that Bloom’s anger over the situation was dissipating, quickly being replaced with concern. Though that was not going to stop them from getting answers. After another moment Bloom cleared her throat. “Scoots.” The architect said as she stepped closer to the usually brash mare. Scootaloo looked up at her friend briefly before going back to looking at the ground. She sighed before she responded. “I really bucked up didn’t I?” She shuddered slightly as she looked down at her hooves, trying hard not to break down. “I bucked up the best thing in my life, and why? Because of some stupid shit!” “Well I admit you overreacted a bit but a fire is still rather serious.” Silver offered diplomatically. This only earned her a glare from the pegasus. “This isn’t about the fire!” Scootaloo rubbed at her now bloodshot eyes. “Buck, this isn’t even about Sweetie Belle! She...she just happened to be the pony I snapped at. She didn’t do anything wrong. No, it’s all on me. What kind of marefriend am I?” Apple Bloom stomped over to the blubbering pegasus and smacked her across the face with her hoof, earning the attention of all present. “Oh, hush up! Ya didn’t ruin nothin’. Ya had a fight, sure, but all couples fight. My sister and Rarity have their fair share of screaming matches. Luna, there are times when Fluttershy will refuse to even speak to Big Mac because of something he did. And nopony can forget the great Daring Do incident.” “‘Daring Do incident’?” Silver was quite perplexed as to what said event entailed. “Long story short, Twi and Dash got in a huge fight over a book.” Scootaloo provided the details for the incident since she was in the library at the time, though ponies outside the library had no issues hearing the argument. “How’d it get resolved?” “Spike used his magical dragon fire on Twilight and sent her straight to Princess Celestia. Twilight and Dash later grilled him for doing that, since he didn’t know for sure that would work and there was an equal chance that he could have lit her on fire.” “...Wait, what?! Why did-how would-” Silver found herself cut off by her crush before she could make any sense out of what Scootaloo said. “We’re gettin’ sidetracked! Listen, your relationship isn’t over, ya just hit a bump is all. Ah’ll admit, that was all on you but that’s ok. All ya need tah do is talk tah her, say you’re sorry, and then everythin’ will be back to normal. Alright?” Bloom watched as Scootaloo stared at her hooves for a few moments before smiling and nodding. “You’re right. I’m going to go find her and apologise.” The stunt mare announced before taking off. She was hardly two feet off the ground when she returned to earth. Looking for the source of her forced stop, she found that her tail was presently occupying her architect friend’s muzzle. She shook her head and spat out the tail before addressing the confused flyer. “Oh no you don’t. You may be determined to apologise and make things right immediately, but you still need tah cool off and work on what tah say when you meet up again. Besides that, Sweetie is most likely still upset over what happened and needs to be calmed down before you two can have a chance to talk. Why don’t ya just practice your stunts for a bit, think about what Ah said, and we’ll go find Sweetie Belle in a little while. Ok?” Instead of a verbal response, the stunt mare saluted her friend before taking off to begin her practice routine. Silver chose this time to approach her crush so that they may have a quiet conversation. “I’m surprised that you are so good at diffusing situations like this.” “If ya ask Sweetie Belle, she’ll tell ya about all the times me and her had tah be cutie mark crusader mediators, or else we’d have tah rescue Rarity from a tree or pull sewin’ pins outah Aj’s flank.” Bloom shuddered slightly. “And Ah didn’t diffuse nothin’. They still fought, and they split on their own.” “Yeah, but Scootaloo thought that their relationship was finished after their spat, and you were able to convince her otherwise. The only other pony that I think could possibly do that is Rainbow Dash. You have done a great deal.” Silver watched brash pegasus fly around a bit, before noticing something odd. “Is something wrong with her? She isn’t flying so gracefully.” Bloom watched her flying friend and could indeed notice that she wasn’t flying as she normally would. Her movements were more jerky, and there were times when performing a corkscrew would make her dizzy. “She’s distracted. She isn’t fully there right now, causing her to slip up some. She should be fine as long as she doesn’t try to do the S-SCOOTALOO DON’T DO THAT YA COULD GET HURT!!” Her concerns fell on deaf ears as Scootaloo flew to higher altitude. Silver began to notice that Bloom was fidgeting nervously and her breathing was slowly increasing in speed. The metallic mare could start to hear muttering coming from her friend, at first unable to make it out, but slowly it was becoming clearer. “...nonononononononononononono.” At her last utterance Scootaloo passed through the sound barrier, successfully pulling off one of her signature stunts, the Super Nova. Seeing the waves of orange and purple and hearing the explosion allowed Bloom to relax in her stance, not that Silver noticed, as she was too absorbed in the show. Scootaloo began to arch up when a noise distracted the spectators. Off towards the farmstead, a thunderstorm could be heard, despite the fact that the weather was scheduled to be clear. This storm only covered a portion of the orchard, where magical fruit were growing. The storm cleared up just as quickly as it formed, which Bloom knew from experience meant that a rainbow was now shooting through the zap apple trees. Everywhere the rainbow touched, the fruit would shift, from grey and rounded, to rainbow colored and rigid. The final sign would finish with an aurora with the colors of the rainbow, signifying the start of the harvest. Bloom knew that Applejack and Big Mac would now be bucking trees left and right in order to get the most zap apples before they disappeared, but that did not concern the architect. No, what concerned her made her body lock up in place as she stared, knowing that she was too late to stop the inevitable. Scootaloo had told her before that when she is flying above the practice field, she could see Sweet Apple Acres clearly. At the time, Bloom thought that was pretty cool, but now she wished that it wasn’t true. As Scootaloo was entering the second cone, ready to breach the sound barrier again, she took a quick glance to look at the farm, curious as to what the aurora was about. Much to the terrified mare’s fears, that quick glance was all it took to launch Scootaloo out of the cone. When performing the Sonic Rainboom or the Super Nova, being bounced back out of the cone launched the pegasus up into the air, where they have time to regain control of their flight, the most serious injury being to their pride. The Big Bang, however, requires that the pegasus comes from below. Being bounced back from this position, Scootaloo was quickly learning, only gave her a few seconds to limit the impact to her body, as she was shot back down to earth. The resulting lesson was met with a sickening pop. “SCOOTALOO!” Silver screamed as she ran to the injured flier. She was surprised to see that Bloom was not right behind her, but instead a ways behind her, shivering intensely and her movements mechanical even as she moved forward. “Come on, Bloom, we have to help her!” Silver was concerned for Bloom, but she remained focused on the bigger issue. Her call for aid got the petrified pony moving faster, if only marginally. They both made it to the crash sight to find a groaning pegasus, thankfully alive. Silver was about to question if Scootaloo was ok when a frantic architect pushed her aside. “Oh no, Scoots! This is all mah fault! Ah shouldn’t have let ya fly like that. Now yer all broken and won’t be able to fly again and it’s all mah fault!” The twitching mare began to hover over the fallen stunt flier, pressing lightly with pokes and a few prods in vain attempts at moving and assessing her injuries. “We gottah get ya to the hospital quickly before ya-” “Silver, can you shut her up!” Scootaloo shouted to the earth pony who wasn’t failing in her attempts to help and metallic mare complied by grabbing the nearly sobbing Bloom and pressing a hoof to her mouth. “Thank you. Now to see how bad it is.” The pegasus reached a hoof towards her head and winced at the contact. “Head injury, possibly concussed,” she then touched her left fore hoof to her right and applied pressure, grimacing as she did so, “sprained ankle, surprised it wasn’t worse than that.” Finally she brought her probing hoof to her right wing, which was hanging limp from her side as opposed to her left which was folded in. “Dislocated wing. Crap, well at least it isn’t broken.” It was at this time that Bloom broke out of the hold, her panic rising from the combination of the fear of the situation and being held by Silver. “How do ya know for sure? You could be worse off than that! We need tah get ya tah the hospital, now!” Bloom’s behavior was really concerning Silver, noticing that her pupils were dilated and her breathing was so rapid, she worried that the yellow mare was not getting enough oxygen. Bloom continued to struggle to pick Scootaloo up only to drop her due to her shivers and weak limbs while Scootaloo continued to resist. At last she snapped. “Apple Bloom, stop, you’re not helping!” She took a breath when that got the frenzied mare to halt in her attempts. “Alright now listen carefully. Bloom, I need you to head to town and find Sweetie, bring her to the hospital. If you see Rainbow Dash along the way, tell her to go to the hospital, but don’t waste time looking for her. Silver will help me to the hospital.” Bloom was about to protest but the injured pegasus cut her off. “Get going! We’ll see you there.” With that, the architect ran towards town, off to to complete her task. “Alright, help me up. I need to put my leg around your shoulder and my wing over your back.” When both limbs were in their proper positions, they set off at a slow pace. Silver was uncomfortable with the silence between them and sought to rectify that. “How were you able to tell what your injuries were?” “When I joined the weather team, Dash also wanted me to become rescue certified. Part of the training was identifying injuries. Not called too often, but often enough that I get a lot of practice. The thing I am unsure of is whether or not I have a concussion, but we’ll find out soon enough. Definitely wasn’t going to figure that out with Apple Bloom hovering like that.” Being reminded of her crush made Silver remember her odd behavior. “What was with that? She was acting really strange; I would have thought that she would have been more calm.” “Apple Bloom…” Scootaloo hesitated, uncertain if it was her right to discuss her friend’s condition, but decided that Silver will find out anyways and she will be better able to help Bloom if she knew the truth. “She has a phobia of injuries. She isn’t afraid of being injured herself but of other ponies getting injured.” “That doesn’t make sense, she was laughing about what happened to Rainbow Dash.” “Dash and her aren’t that close, treats her like a family friend than an actual friend. Bloom is terrified of the idea of ponies close to her being injured and not being able to do anything about it. When she is like that, she is next to useless, which is why I sent her to get Sweetie Belle. Sweetie should be able to calm Bloom down enough that she won’t have a scene at the hospital.” “How’d she get the phobia?” Silver wanted to know everything about what afflicted her crush, hopeful that knowledge would be helpful in aiding Bloom. “Applejack broke her leg once while bucking a tree. Bloom was there but she was too small to be of any help. Big Mac found them and took Aj to the hospital, but that is when Bloom developed her phobia according to Twilight.” Once more the two were silent, and in this time Silver noticed that Scootaloo was brooding. Silver had an idea about the reason and thus tried to get answers. “So what made you snap at Sweetie earlier? You said it was for some stupid reason.” “Because it is stupid.” Silver looked at her to continue, but nothing was forthcoming. “Care to explain what it was?” “It...I...I-I snapped because…because of…” Scootaloo let out a sigh, a sign that she didn’t want to talk about this. But she knew she had to, if she wanted to avoid this happening again. “I snapped because of you. Well, not you, but my thoughts on you. When you showed up here at the beginning of the week, I worked myself up thinking you were up to no good. I wanted to warn Ab, to convince her that you were nothing but trouble. Then I would remember my promise, to you, to Bloom, to Sweetie, that I wouldn’t try to break you guys up. This just wound me up tighter and tighter until I snapped at the love of my life. It’s stupid how much you affect me, and you’re not even doing anything. It’s not fair to you, cause I can see that you have turned your life around, but a part of me refuses to accept it. I really want us to be friends so we can all hang out together without me trying to ruin everything. Really I do.” A defeated sigh escaped the injured pegasus. “I am going to try harder to accept you. Being hostile towards you is just costing me my friend and my love. So I am going to try to be your friend.” Scootaloo paused for a moment before looking to the mare carrying her pleadingly. “That is if you’ll have me as your friend.” Silver smiled wide before nuzzling the nervous stunt mare. “Of course I’ll have you. And don’t worry if it takes time for you to be comfortable with this, I understand that it is easier said than done to become friends with somepony who bullied you in the past. And no matter what, I’ll still hold you to your end of our agreement.” “Good good. That makes me feel a bit better. And you’re right, it’s going to take some time for this to work.” Scootaloo closed her eyes and a content little smile adorned her muzzle. When she opened her eyes again, the two had arrived at the front entrance of the hospital. “Finally! Now for the docs to fix me up and give me good drugs!” Silver giggled at her friend’s enthusiasm despite the circumstances. -GWG- “Apple Bloom, relax! I’m sure she is fine!” Despite her current emotional state wanting her to worry about her lover, Sweetie Belle knew that she needed to calm down her distraught friend. She was happy to notice that she was making some progress. “Ah know...it’s just...ya know how Ah am. Ah can’t be rational when that happens. Ah know Scoot can identify her injuries better than anypony else, and that Ah wasn’t helpin’ any. But in that moment, it’s like Ah forget all that and Ah’m a helpless filly again.” The distressed earth pony took a shuddering breath before continuing on. “Ah’m probably gonnah have tah explain all that tah Silver.” “I’m sure Scootaloo already explained everything to her. Knowing you, you probably put on quite a show that she was bound to ask questions when she could. Besides it’s better that she knows, that way she can help you while Scootaloo and I...talk.” The singer’s apprehension was very obvious to Bloom; even if she couldn’t hear it in her voice, she could see it plainly on her face. “Ya have nothin’ to worry about, Sweetie. You and Scoot are fine. Ya had a hiccup is all.” “How do you know? How do you know that this isn’t the end of us? What if she doesn’t want to see me again?” “That’s just silly. Why would she want you to come to the hospital if’n she didn’t want tah see ya again?” “I don’t know. Maybe she wants to call it off now so she isn’t worrying about it while she is in the hospital. Maybe-” “Sweetie Belle, you are bein’ ridiculous! Remember Ah talked tah her: she feels awful for snappin’ at ya and she wants tah apologize. If ya don’t believe me, ya can ask her yerself in a few moments; we’re here.” Indeed they had arrived at the hospital, where they quickly found out where the third crusader was being kept. Both mares were glad to find that she wasn’t in intensive care. Once they arrived at the room, they came upon the tail end of a conversation between Scootaloo and Rainbow Dash, who bolted to the hospital after Bloom told her the situation. Silver was sitting in one of the chairs by the wall, obviously pleased to see her friends. “So yeah, don’t worry about the show this weekend, squirt. Just focus on getting better. Listen to what the docs say and you’ll be better in no time.” The wonderbolt gave one of her patented winning grins. She was extremely happy to find that the injuries weren’t too severe, though she did lecture the younger mare about the dangers of supersonic stunts and promised that Twilight would have one for her as well. It was then that she noticed the new visitors in the room. “Well looks like you have other ponies checking up on you. Twi and I will come by some time tomorrow alright? Later.” She left the room, but not before acknowledging Bloom and hugging Sweetie; the chromatic flier had started referring to the singer as her sister-in-law ever since the young mares started dating, much to the couple’s embarrassment. “So Scoots, were ya right about yer injuries?” Bloom was still tense, but the peak of her anxiety had already passed. “Yep, right on target as always. And guess what? I was right about me having a concussion. Yay me.” Scootaloo and Bloom chuckled at that for a bit before she glanced behind the earth pony. “As fun as this all is, I was kinda hoping that I could talk to my marefriend.” Whatever carefully constructed dam Sweetie had burst as she charged her pegasus, weeping as she leapt onto the bed. “SCOOTALOOHOOHOO!” “Ack! Watch the leg!” The sobbing singer shifted so that she was no longer applying pressure to the injuries, but still held a grip on her mare. “That’s better. Look, I’m sorry for earlier today, you didn’t deserve that.” “This is all m-my fault! If I hadn’t caused that fire none of this woul-” She was silenced by a pair of orange lips pressed against her own, causing all of the ponies present to blush intensely. Reluctantly, Scootaloo broke the kiss, though she did giggle at seeing Sweetie still lost in the kiss for a few moments after it had ended. Her smile faded slightly, though with Sweetie here with her, nothing could rob her of her smile completely. “No, Sweetie. That was all on me. The fight and my crash, both were my fault. I’m really sorry that I snapped at you, but I’m glad I had that release before it built up anymore. It helped me learn that I shouldn’t dwell on something so much that it could ruin what I have and destroy the chances of what could be. I’m happy to learn this now rather than later where I could have lost you for good. Will you forgive this stupid chicken?” Sweetie happily nuzzled her marefriend, happy tears running down her cheeks. “Of course you dodo! I worked too hard to let you slip away like that.” The couple embraced once more, relief visible in every action. Bloom watched as the couple made out on the bed, knowing that the two needed this moment. Briefly she imagined that it was her and Silver there instead, before she was pulled from her daydream by grey legs enveloping her in a hug from behind. She shuddered at the sensation and nearly moaned when she felt Silver whisper in her ear. “Are you feeling better?” She had a response ready; ready to tell Silver that the episode was over now, but she thought more about what was going on with her lately. The incident between her friends made see that Scootaloo’s lesson could apply to her as well. If she continued to keep Silver at a distance, instead of keeping the status quo she would be pushing her friend away, which is what her concern was from the beginning. Bloom was worried that if she told Silver of her feelings, they would no longer be friends, completely ignoring the possibilities of Silver understanding and remaining friends despite the knowledge, or better but unlikely, that she would return the feelings. She knew now that pushing her back guaranteed the worst case scenario. So what do Ah do? Accept that Ah have feelings for her? For the first time today, Bloom felt nothing but the warmth she wanted to become more accustomed to. Ah guess that answers that question. So Ah have a crush on Silver. Do Ah feel better? “Yeah, much better thank you.” “Good. I was worried about you. I never saw you behave like that before. It was so unlike you.” “Sorry about that. There never is a good time to discuss somethin’ like that.” Bloom held the hooves to her chest, nuzzling against her crush’s face. Ah have no idea what to do now. I can’t confess, not yet at least, this is still new to me. Ah need to get advice. She looked to the snuggling couple, who have fallen asleep due to all of the exhaustion of the day’s events. Can’t talk to them, they’re still adjusting to the fact that Silver is mah friend, this would be too much of a bombshell to drop on them. Ah guess that just leaves Rarity and...Applejack. “Listen, ya may have noticed that me and Aj weren’t exactly talkin’. Well, Ah may have snapped at her over somethin’ stupid. So if’n ya don’t mind, Ah would like tah go back tah the farm and apologize, maybe help her with sorting the zap apples. Ah’d like tah do this by mahself.” “That’s fine. I was actually hoping to pay a visit to my cousin now that I know this is all settled and I know she’s in town. I was feeling guilty for potentially ditching you but now I have no worries.” Silver smiled at the mare she held in her arms before letting go of her. “So I’ll meet you back at the farm for supper tonight?” “Yep, Fluttershy and Rarity are gonnah cook up a real treat to celebrate a successful harvest. Ya don’t wanna miss it.” With that they exited the hospital and headed off in opposite directions, both looking for advice on how best to proceed. -GWG- Silver had been told where Octavia was living in Ponyville when Silver moved to Canterlot, just in case the metallic mare wanted to visit her older cousin back home. As such she easily found her way to the modest looking home. The two-story house said nothing of the fortune of its residents. Knowing Octavia, this was normal behavior; she didn’t care much for wealth and was known to give the bits she earned for a concert to one charity or another. Vinyl, however, was a mystery to Silver. She didn’t know if the DJ’s mindset was similar to Octavia’s when it came to wealth or if her cousin convinced her to live modestly. She knew she had arrived at the right home, due to the mailbox that featured both mares’ cutie marks. She stepped up to the door and pressed the button for the doorbell.   ‘Ding-Dong-Wubwubwub’ Silver rose a brow at this. What? “Ugh, Vinyl I wish you never installed that blasted thing.” The voice came from the other side of the door before it opened, revealing the mare she had come this way for. “Oh, Silvy! How nice of you to come by!” The cultured earth pony enveloped her cousin in a tight hug. “It’s good to see you again, Octy! It’s been too long.” Silver returned the embrace in equal measure. “Hey, how come she gets to call you Octy but I can’t?” Octavia’s significant other emerged from the den, her usual sunglasses nowhere to be seen. This gave the young mare her first view of the unicorn’s striking red eyes. She found it slightly unsettling but grew used to it quickly. “It’s a family nickname for me. It feels weird whenever you call me that. Why can’t you be happy with Tavi?” Octavia shook her head before stepping further inside. “Come on in, please. We were dealing with a bit of a crisis earlier today and we would be pleased to have a happier visit.” “Yes I would imagine it was difficult to calm Sweetie down after her fight with Scootaloo.” At Silver’s admitted knowledge of the events, the DJ spoke up from the kitchen, where she was preparing snacks for their guest. “Yeah, that’s an understatement. Sweets could put Rara to shame with her level of wallowing. With how she was behaving it was as if she really did burn Scoots’ home down.” “Rara?” “That’s what I call my cousin Rarity. When Sweetie was first learning to speak, she couldn’t pronounce her sister’s name, so she called her ‘Rarara’. I shortened it and have been using it ever since. She hates that nickname.” Vinyl chuckled as she came back into the den, the snacks and drinks being held by her magic. “Yes, well, Silvy, what brings you by or were you just visiting?” “Well, I came to get some advice. I was wondering if we could talk privately. No offense Miss Scratch.” Silver offered an apologetic smile, but found it waved off by the concerned party. “No offense taken, but I’m not moving. I’m not like my gossiping cousins, whatever you want to talk about, you can say it in front of me.” “It’s true, the only secrets she shares are hers or ours, much to my displeasure.” “Oh please, you love the fact that Beauty Brass knows how often I can get you to-” “ENOUGH!” Octavia’s cheeks were bright red as she tried to burn a hole in the skull of the cackling unicorn next to her. Once she regained her composure, she continued. “As I was saying, whatever you say here will remain here, no one else will hear of this.” Silver looked at both mares for a few moments before sighing, she needed to tell somepony before it ate away at her more. “I recently...developed a crush for one of my friends.” “It isn’t that Diamond Tiara is it?” Octavia was the only member of her family that knew Silver was a fillyfooler. Though the reason for that was because she was closer to her cousin than anypony else in the family, and thus her opinion mattered the most to her. At her question, Silver shook her head in the negative, Octavia sighed in relief. “Oh good, that mare would make a horrible marefriend. I still don’t understand why you two are still friends.” “Ah, so that means you have a crush on Apple Bloom, eh?” Vinyl had a smug smile adorning her muzzle. “H-how’d you know?” “Sweetie told us you recently became friends with the crusaders, specifically Apple Bloom. She told us you spend a lot of time with her, and that you gave her the loft. It isn’t hard to tell that you are crushing for her hard.” With Vinyl’s proof and her own admission, Silver found it very difficult to deny the accusations. All she could do was nod weakly while blushing intensely. “Vinyl, stop torturing the poor dear.” The cellist glared the DJ into submission before she spoke to her cousin. “I’m dreadfully sorry about that. Now what was it that you wanted advice about?” “Well, I lo-like her a lot, but I have no idea how she feels about me. I worry that if I tell her how I feel, she’ll won’t want to be friends anymore. But I can’t just keep this inside forever. What do I do?” “Hmm...Does Apple Bloom seem like the type to cease being friends with somepony because they confessed their feelings to her?” Octavia made sure to make continued eye contact with her cousin as she posed her question. “N-no but-” “Well then that means that there is absolutely nothing to worry about, right?” Vinyl’s over exaggerated behavior showed the metallic mare that she wasn’t serious. “No of course not. Even if she remains your friend, rejection sucks. So what do you do? You spend as much time with her as possible, do fun things with her. Smile with her when times are good, comfort her when things are bad. More and more she will realize that you are more than any friend she has ever had before. When you feel the time is right, confess. By that point, either she returns your feelings or she is at least willing to try. You can’t fail.” “That doesn’t always work Vinyl.” “I know it doesn’t, but I have a feeling it will. You just have to remain hopeful, and who knows, you might just be surprised by what happens. That’s how I got with your cousin.” “Really?” Silver was skeptical of what Vinyl was calling a sure thing. “Yep. This is all because of a pleasant surprise.” “Well thank you both for the advice. I have a lot to think about.” “No problem, Silvy. We were happy to help.” “Yep. Oh before I forget.” Vinyl rose from the couch and hugged the surprised mare, leaning her head in close so she could speak without Octavia hearing. “Whatever you are lying to her about, it is best that you stop before you ruin whatever chance you had. It is best she discovers the truth from you rather than have her discover it some other way.” “How do you know?” “From one liar to another, learn from my mistakes. Just because I got off lucky doesn’t mean you can get off free.” With that the two mares separated. Silver offered her goodbyes and promises to visit more often. When she left, it was as she said, she had a lot to think about. -GWG- Bloom made her way straight to the zap apple orchard, knowing that was the best place to find her sister. She found her halfway between the orchard and the barn where they would be storing the magic fruit until tomorrow. She had been hoping that it would take longer to find the element of honesty, giving her more time to prepare what she was going to say to apologize and how to ask for the advice she sought. She believed that if she walked slowly she could prolong the fast approaching awkwardness, but she found that again she wasn’t so lucky. “When y’all are done walkin’ like that, Ah’ll be in the barn ready tah talk.” Applejack shouted from her path, not even bothering to look at her younger sister and yet knowing she was there anyways. Bloom was granted the time she needed to think of what to say, but she lost the opportunity to have a smooth entrance into this conversation, if there was even one to begin with. Bloom arrived at the barn just as Big Mac exited, his face clearly saying that he did not want to be near this place if things went sour. He gave his youngest sister a quick hug before heading back towards the orchard, empty cart following in his wake. She stepped into the barn and watched as Applejack poured them two mugs of cider; from the scent she could tell that this wasn’t for little fillies and colts. She sat next to her sister and took a sip from her mug, sure that her face was giving away her inexperience with alcohol. Finally she chose to speak. “Hey.” “Howdy.” It was clear that neither mare forgot the events of this morning, just as it was clear how neither mare wanted to bring it up. Sadly, Bloom knew that she had to get this ball rolling, and the best way was to jump into it. “Ah’m...sorry for how Ah behaved this mornin’.” She heard the apple farmer sigh while she took another drought from her mug. “Ah’m sorry too. Ah knew Ah pushed too hard tah get ya tah talk to me. It’s just, Ah worry about you, ya know.” At last the Apple sisters looked to each other for the first time since this conversation began. “Ah know, and despite what you think, Ah really appreciate that you worry about me. Ah know that Ah don’t make it easy tah have me as a sister.” “You were just a foal when Ma and Pa died, Granny had tah take care of all three of us, but Ah usually ended up takin’ care of you. There were plenty of times where Ah treated ya less like mah sister and more like mah daughter. Ah think that’s where a lot these problems come from, we don’t seem to know our relationship to each other. That’s how Ah feel at least.” “No, Ah felt that way too sometimes. That’s usually when Ah get a bit troublesome: when yer actin’ like a mom and Ah realize yer mah sister. Ah honestly thank you for all you do and Ah’m sorry for when Ah become a pain in the flank.” The sisters each took a long pull from their mugs, each with a bit less than half left. “Ah bet yer wonderin’ why Ah snapped this mornin’. Well in spite of what Ah said this mornin’, Ah need yer help. Be it as mah sister or mah mom, Ah don’t care, Ah need yer advice on somethin’.” “Well shoot, Bloom. If’n yer honest with me, Ah’ll do mah best tah help ya.” Applejack smiled warmly at her sister, happy to help at last. Bloom finished off her drink before releasing a deep sigh, she knew that the time had come. “Ah found out last night that Ah like-” No, Ah need tah be honest, with her and mahself. Another breath, hopefully to calm the fluttering in her chest. “-Ah’m in love with Silver Spoon. And since that discovery, Ah’d been tryin’ to deny it.” “Why would ya do that?” “Because...because Ah was afraid. These past two months, despite some really low lows, has been the happiest time Ah’ve had in a long time. Ah know that it was all because of her. Ah didn’t want to ruin it because of mah feelings. So Ah tried to hide it away, not think of her, and Ah hoped it would all just go away, have everything go back to normal. This mornin’, you were forcin’ me to think about her when Ah didn’t want tah. Ah snapped tah get away from all that. Ah’m really sorry that happened.” “So what happened that changed yer mind?” “Sweetie and Scootaloo got in a fight and then Scootaloo hurt herself flyin’.” “Oh no, Ah hope she’s alright, and did they manage tah make up?” “Yeah, they’re alright now, but they got me thinkin’. The way Ah was behavin’, Ah learned that Ah would lose her as a friend if Ah continued on like that.” “And ya realized that that was worse than if she flat out rejected ya?” “Yeah, exactly. So now Ah accept mah feelin’s but Ah don’t know what to do now. How do Ah handle this?” “Well, Ah’ll tell ya what the simplest advice is. Just confess yer feelings. Now that’s simple advice because it is simple to give, but it is damn near impossible to follow. Ah know that from experience. Before Ah got with Rarity, we would always be in situations where all mah mind would tell me is to tell her, tell her, tell her. It was maddening. Especially since it wasn’t tellin’ me how to do it, just to do it. You’ll find that ya will be in the same boat soon enough. Mah best advice is that at some point, you’ll give in and tell her, whether you know she likes ya back or no. It’s just a matter of time, just be patient.” Applejack polished off the rest of her mug in no time at all. Both mares could tell that the conversation was over, but neither knew exactly how to finish it. Finally Bloom gave in. “Thanks for the advice, sis, it really helps.” “Anytime, Sugarcube, anytime.” “How bout Ah help ya with the rest of the zap apples, make up for this mornin’.” “That sounds mighty fine to me, let’s go.” The Apple sisters left the barn, both happy about what they discussed. -GWG- As promised, another delicious meal was constructed by the combined efforts of the Apple spouses, as a reward for a successful harvest. All present knew that this was the first of two celebrations, the second taking place on Friday evening when the zap apple jam was sold. But now everypony was happy that the harvest was over and everypony was happy to see Bloom so happy. Silver didn’t want to question the change in mood and was just content that was able to witness the architect’s wide grin. After a while, Bloom announced that Silver and her had to head to bed soon, due to amount of work they had the next day. Applejack in turn suggested that there was no reason for the other members to sleep here this evening and that they should go to respective homes tonight. They said their goodbyes, with Rarity imparting that the dresses would be ready Friday afternoon. “We’ll be there to pick them up, Rara.” Silver giggled as she saw Rarity’s eye twitch. “Oh, I see you have been talking to my darling cousin. What Octavia sees in her I do not know.” The young mares waved from their position on the front porch until they could no longer see the others anymore. They headed inside to prepare for bed, each taking a shower to relieve the tension each felt throughout this long tiring day. Silver found herself dwelling on what Vinyl had said concerning lies. I wish I could tell her the truth right now, but I just can’t. It would destroy everything I have with her now. She seems so happy right now. Ponies say ignorance is bliss, who am I to rob her of that. I’ll tell her in time, just like how I will tell her my feelings. Bloom was feeling a constant flood of warmth spread throughout her entire body. She was eagerly awaiting how she was going to feel tonight, being held and holding the mare she loved. Looking back over the day, she realised that she had quite the emotional roller coaster. From depression to anger, shock to fear, and finally apprehension to happiness, she realised that a lot of this had to do with her foalishness. She stopped her reverie as Silver entered the room, her mane down and still glistening from the shower. Bloom had tried at making herself more appealing by letting her own mane air dry instead of taking a towel to it. Her mane was still slightly wet, and if she judged correctly, was having the same effect on Silver as Silver’s wet mane was having on Bloom: a shade of pink dotting her cheeks. After a few moments of staring at each other, Bloom cleared her throat. “We should get to bed, you and Ah have a long day ahead of tomorrow, though hopefully not as tense.” The architect yawned as she patted the spot next to her on the bed, which brought the metallic mare to bed. They shut off the lights, and soon Silver’s light snores could be heard. Bloom knew it was only a matter of time before she felt grey hooves wrap around her barrel and indeed it felt like no time at all before it happened. As before, Bloom turned around in the embrace, entwining her hindlegs with Silver, releasing a content sigh at the increase of warmth. She had resolved to not steal kisses anymore, despite how tempting it was to do so now. No she tried for something a bit more daring, as it increased the risk of waking her crush, forcing an awkward conversation she was not ready for. Bloom nuzzled the top of Silver’s head before saying the words she wished she could say when she was awake. “Ah love you, Silver Spoon.” Shortly after she fell into the realm of pleasant dreams. It was in this same realm of pleasant dreams that Silver thought she heard these words and so she responded to them aloud. “I love you too, Apple Bloom.”