Apple Bloom cringed and glared at Diamond Tiara. She was glaring back. Apple Bloom swallowed the lump in her throat and inched forward. Diamond Tiara inched back. ‘All that practice in the clubhouse didn’t help one bit!’ Apple Bloom thought as she froze up.
“Come on!” Trixie shouted. “Just a little peck on the cheek! How hard can that be?!”
Apple Bloom was half-thankful that Trixie had allowed them to practice with kisses on the cheek before moving up to the lips, but it was still a tall order. Scootaloo or Sweetie Belle she would be fine with. Even Silver Spoon might be tolerable to some extent. But Diamond Tiara?
Building up her resolve once more, Apple Bloom began inching closer again… only to feel a hoof press into her side and push her aside. “Wah!”Apple Bloom managed to keep her balance as she fumbled about the front of the stage.
“Cut!” Trixie shouted as she slammed a forehoof into her face. “For the last time, you two, a simple peck on the cheek! Not a hoof to the cheek, or a spider on the cheek, or a ‘push her off the stage aggressively’. A kiss!”
“It’s not that easy!” Apple Bloom argued. “Ah can’t kiss! It’s just… too gross!”
“How dare you?!” Diamond Tiara shouted. “Anypony would feel lucky to come anywhere close to kissing me!”
“Um, excuse me,” a voice called out from behind Trixie. “I believe you wanted me to drop by?”
Trixie climbed out of her chair and turned to face her guest, Rarity, who was standing at the theatre house’s front door. “Work it out,” Trixie said to the two fillies as she walked over towards Rarity. “You’re here earlier than Trixie had expected.”
“What did ya push me for?!” Apple Bloom asked as she turned to Diamond Tiara with a scowl.
“Because you were about to k-k… kiss me,” Diamond Tiara finished in a mumbled tone.
“Duh! That’s the scene,” Apple Bloom said. “Ya think ah’m happy ‘bout all this?!”
“Shut up! Just stop doing gross things, blank flank!” Diamond Tiara said, shoving Apple Bloom before turning to leave the stage.
“Ah have ta, or the play’s a bust,” Apple Bloom said, catching up to Diamond and giving her a shove.
“Stop that!” Diamond shouted as she shoved Apple Bloom.
“Make me!” Apple Bloom challenged as she shoved Diamond Tiara.
The two continued to argue all the way to the backstage changing room, shoving each other the whole time until Apple Bloom had finally had enough. “Enough!” she shouted. “This ain’t gettin’ us anywhere! It ain’t gettin’ you on that fancy cruise, and it certainly ain’t earnin’ me a Cutie Mark!” Apple Bloom looked over her should and at her flank with a frown on her face.
Diamond’s eyes widened at the reminder of the cruise that was on the line and she somewhat calmed down. “W-Well, what do you suggest?”
Apple Bloom bit her lip for several moments, trying to avoid the only answer that was obvious to her. “We… have ta finish the scene.” She saw Diamond’s expression turn to one of disgust. “Properly.”
“Ewwww,” Diamond said as the thought crossed her mind. “But that cruise, even daddy couldn’t get tickets to it…”
“And this might be mah true callin’,” Apple Bloom said to herself. “Ah can’t let this chance slip by…”
The two stared at each other in silence for many awkward moments, their faces turning red in a matter of seconds and their eyes darting all over the room. “T-There’s nopony here,” Apple Bloom pointed out. “It might be easier ta… practice, here.”
“You can’t be serious,” Diamond said in a sickly tone. “We have to do it in front of everypony anyway, why make it worse by practising?”
“D’ya wanna give everyponymore reason ta laugh when they see us not only kiss, but mess up?”
“I guess you’ve got a point, for once.” Diamond Tiara gulped. “Just so we’re clear, I still hate you.”
Apple Bloom nodded. “Ah hate ya too.”
After a few seconds of neither filly making any move, Apple Bloom took a step forward, only to stop when she saw Diamond Tiara attempt to do the same. Diamond also stopped, and Apple Bloom decided to continue, only for Diamond Tiara to also continue.
They both stepped back and Apple Bloom groaned. “Ah’m the Prince. Ah think ah should take the lead.”
Diamond Tiara nodded. “F-Fine. But remember, only a kiss! Keep your hooves off my beautifully-groomed fur!”
Apple Bloom rolled her eyes. “Trust me, mah hooves will be on standby to stop mahself from throwin’ up.” Once again, Apple Bloom took a step forward. Diamond Tiara flinched and closed her eyes as she saw Apple Bloom’s lips pucker up.
A shiver ran through Diamond Tiara’s body as she felt Apple Bloom’s lips make contact with her own, but thankfully she only had to endure the feeling for less than a second before Apple Bloom pulled away. “… Was that it?”
Apple Bloom raised an eyebrow. “What d’ya mean?”
“I mean, I barely felt anything! Are you sure you’re doing it right?”
Apple Bloom blushed. “W-Well how would ah know?!”
“That was just terrible!” Diamond Tiara said. “Would Trixie be okay with that?”
Apple Bloom wanted to say ‘yes’ so that they could just get out of there, but thoughts of her Cutie Mark re-entered her mind and stopped her. “Ah… Ah dunno… M-Maybe we should try again. Y’know, jus’ ta be on the safe side.”
“… F-Fine.” Diamond Tiara closed her eyes, and once again the feel of Apple Bloom’s lips against her own caused her body to shake. Only this time, it lasted for longer. When Apple Bloom pulled away, Diamond shook her head. “Still not feeling anything, which means you must be doing it wrong.”
Apple Bloom frowned. “Well what other ways are there ta kiss a pony?!”
Diamond Tiara remembered some of the romance movies that Silver Spoon had made her watch, and her lower lip quivered. “T-Try putting your hooves on my cheeks,” she said. “BUT ONLY ON MY CHEEKS!” she quickly added.
“How will that-”
“Just do it,” Diamond snapped. Apple Bloom nodded and hesitantly lifted her hooves towards Diamond’s face. Many times she had done this in the past, but usually to kick the filly or scare her off with muddy hooves. She placed her hooves on Diamond Tiara’s cheeks and squeezed.
“Not so tight!” Diamond shouted. Apple Bloom quickly eased up. “O-Okay. Now do it.”
Apple Bloom slowly brought her face closer to Diamond Tiara’s for the third time that day, both fillies closing their eyes as their lips met. Immediately Diamond could feel the effect of simply having Apple Bloom’s hooves holding rushing through her body, making her mind go blank and her face heat up as she unconsciously lifted her own hooves to grab Apple Bloom’s forelegs.
Apple Bloom herself also had to admit that the experience wasn’t quite as appalling as she had first feared. As she felt Diamond take a step back, her own body instinctively made a step forward, keeping the other filly there whilst she finished trying to determine whether this feeling coursing through her body was a good thing or a bad thing.
Finally, Apple Bloom had to pull back for air, and to allow the blood to drain out of her face. Diamond Tiara turned her head to the side and scuffed a hoof against the floor. “Y-Yeah… Like that…”
“So ya think we’re good ta go then?” Apple Bloom asked, her heart racing as Diamond turned her head and allowed their eyes to meet.
Diamond Tiara simply wanted to say ‘yes, we’re good to go’, and it would not have been a lie. In her mind, she couldn’t possibly fathom how a kissing scene could be anymore improved than that.
But for some reason unbeknownst to her, she replied: “W-We’d better try it again, just to make sure we’ve got it down.”
“Y-Yeah,” Apple Bloom agreed with a gulp. “J-Jus’ one more time?” With Diamond Tiara’s nod of approval, Apple Bloom stepped forward once more and kissed Diamond Tiara. She felt Diamond’s hooves grabbing a hold of her shoulders and quickly back her head away.
“I-It makes it more realistic,” Diamond said. Apple Bloom slowly nodded and returned to kissing Diamond Tiara.
After what felt like an eternity passed, the two separated once again and quickly backed away from each other. “… T-That should definitely be good enough,” Diamond said. “It seems you can do something right.”
“T-Thanks,” Apple Bloom replied, not sure why she was thanking her instead of getting mad at the comment.
“APPLE BLOOM! DIAMOND TIARA! ON STAGE NOW!” Trixie shouted from the direction of the stage. The two fillies jumped and took a moment to calm their beating hearts before making a move out of the changing room, both enacting a mutual ‘silence treaty’ as they walked.
As they approached the stage, Diamond Tiara grabbed Apple Bloom’s leg and whispered to her: “Remember, nopony finds out about what happened back there.”
“Ah’d sooner bathe in a tub of parasprites,” Apple Bloom replied in a flat tone.
The two shook on their non-disclosure agreement by way of turning their heads from each other and huffing, and then both made their way onto the stage.