//------------------------------//
//  Together... Alone... 
// Story: Timed Ramblings 
// by Midnight herald 
//------------------------------//

	Apple Bloom blinked in confusion as a full picnic service appeared between herself and Scootaloo. A pitcher full of ice-cold lemonade wobbled precariously on her physics textbook, a plate of sandwiches bounced off her saddlebags and fell into the long grass, and an entire bowl of salad sat upside-down on Scootaloo’s head, showering her withers with leafy greens and diced tomatoes. She glanced around behind her, and sure enough, the telltale glint of a telescope lense flared out from Sweetie’s bedroom window across the lake from where they sat. With an ominous whistling sound, a shadow grew in size above her head. Apple Bloom looked up in alarm just in time to catch a faceful of tapioca. 

She pulled the bowl from her mane with a wet little splort and sighed through the layers of dessert. “Now this is just getting ridiculous.”

Scootaloo brushed a reluctant cucumber off her neck and sighed in agreement. “I mean, it’s not like we don’t know she’s watching us,” she groused, puffing her windswept purple bangs out of her eyes. “She stopped being subtle weeks ago.”

Apple Bloom wiped the worst of her face onto the grass and clover beside her, sneezing lightly after a faceful of pollen. “I mean, when have we ever shown any legitimate signs of attraction toward each other anyhow?”

Scootaloo rolled her eyes. “I swear she gets it from Rarity, though. Remember the week when Applejack and Twilight were arguing? And she made them matching outfits? The two of them will see anything and call it unrequited passion.”

Apple Bloom glanced back at Sweetie’s parent’s house and sighed as the lense flared in the afternoon sun yet again. “...And she hasn’t figured out why she’s always getting grounded, yet, either.” 

The two of them chuckled comfortably. Then Scootaloo’s smile, the one that always meant she had an amazing plan, showed up on her face like a drunken brawler.

“Alright, what’s going on in that dang fool head o’ yours?” Apple Bloom asked, raising an eyebrow.

Scootaloo’s smirk shifted to an outright leer. “She still watching us?” she asked, scooting closer.

“Well, we’re still here, so I’ll go with yes,” Apple Bloom deadpanned.

“So let’s give her a show, ‘Bloom. Whaddaya say?” Apple Bloom tensed, froze, and stared into Scootaloo’s mischievous purple eyes, her daredevil’s grin. 

“Aww, What the hay?” She puckered up and mashed her face into Scootaloo’s, relishing the tingles it sent down her spine, the lovely way Scootaloo’s lips worked against hers, the adorable little whines and whinnies that escaped Scootaloo’s mouth in little gasps and pants. Maybe there was something to Sweetie’s claims, after all.