For Chrome Hoof: What made you go into foal sitting? It must be really hard and even frustrating at times looking after those, heh, "angels"
Chrome rested his back against a nearby apple tree, quietly watching over the three fillies who were currently punching a punching bag hanging from another tree’s branch. From the looks of it, they were having little success at even budging it.
“I try to learn to keep my cool. You kinda need to know how to tolerate whatever those three will unintentionally throw at ya. You’d go nuts if ya didn’t. How does one go from being a boxer to foalsitter? Well, here’s what happened. I was training for a very important boxing match day and night. To put it bluntly, I was overworking myself. My manager told me to take it easy, but stupid me, I didn’t listen. Well, I threw off one of my punches on my bag, and my hoof broke.” Chrome said, looking at his right hoof.
“Sucks too. My right hook was awesome. But anyway, after that the boxing committee basically told me to piss off. Apparently I was no good to them with a broken hoof, so they fired me. Jerks…But things didn’t turn out so bad for me in the end. My old friend Applejack offered to let me stay here in exchange for the occasional farm-work. But my MAIN duty is making sure these three don’t kill themselves…and hopefully not me too in the process.” Chrome jokingly said, looking back at the crusaders, who were still trying fruitlessly to punch the bag.
“Hehe. Quite the bunch those three are.” He chuckled.
To Chrome Hoof: Do you have any boxer catchphrases? Also, don't take my advice on Scootaloo lightly. Really look after her.
“Other than my one, not really. Not much goin’ on in the old dome I guess. And regarding Scootaloo, I’ve been told about her and her “adventurousness”. Poor kid has had it rough since her parents died. Don’t worry, I intend on watching her to the best of my ability.” Chrome said putting his hoof to his chest in pride.
To Chrome Hoof: Out of the three Cutie Mark Crusaders, who do you like the most?
“I try not to show favoritism here. It wouldn’t be fair to the others if I did…although, I kinda like Applebloom. She’s a sweet kid.” Chrome said. He looked in the Crusader’s direction and saw how tired they looked.
Scootaloo looked like she was desperately gasping for pockets of air, and poor Sweetie Belle was sweating so much her mane drooped down over her face. Applebloom was still going hard at it, constantly throwing punches like crazy and refusing to stop, though it was obvious her stamina was not going to let her go on much longer.
“*Pant, pant* This. Is. IMPOSSIBLE! How does Chrome make it look so easy?!” Applebloom shouted.
For Apple Bloom: *LE GASP!* Apple Bloom! You should totally ask Chrome Hoof to coach you in boxing! Tell him you were really inspired by his story and you want to try your hoof at the business. You spend a lot more time with him, and get to learn what he looks for in a potential partner. It's perfect!
Applebloom’s eyes shifted to Chrome who was still casually laying up against his tree. She quietly squealed to herself when she eyed his rather muscular frame and tried to keep herself from drooling.
She shyly trotted up to Chrome, looking slightly away from him when she was in his field of direct vision.
“What’s up Bloom? Need something?” Chrome asked.
“Ummm Chrome? Ah really liked your story about how you got into boxing, and Ah’d like you to…maybe…coach me?” Applebloom asked.
“Hm? Well sure, no problem Bloom. But are ya sure you’re up for it? You look a little hot; sweating and all red in the face.” Chrome said.
The heat in Applebloom’s face intensified and she smiled sheepishly.
“Y-Yeah. Ah’m alright, really!” she said.
‘Yeah, sweating is REALLY attractive.’ Applebloom thought sarcastically to herself.
Chrome got onto his hooves and trotted over to the punching bag, Applebloom trailing behind. He saw the other two Crusader’s lying on the ground, trying to regain oxygen in their lungs.
“Hehe. I take it you two are done?” Chrome asked with a chuckle.
Scootaloo waved a hoof.
“*Pant* Just *Pant* takin’ a breather.” She said in between breaths.
“You guys *Pant* just go ahead. We’ll be with you in a bit” Sweetie Belle said.
Chrome nodded and brought Applebloom up to face the bag.
“Alright, normally my right hook is my better punch, but as you know, my right hoof is kinda messed up. So just for the sake of showing you, I’ll be using my left. Now watch carefully.” Chrome said, then proceeding to barrage the bag with his left hoof. His hoof seemed to be just barely visible as he slammed it into the sandbag, and Applebloom was in shock. She knew that Chrome was good at boxing but…just…dang. She started to notice the sweat forming on Chrome’s fur, which made him look all the more attractive to Applebloom, which became obvious through the blush on her cheeks.
She then brought herself to ask the big question.
“S-So C-Chrome…what do ya want in a mare?” Applebloom asked.
That question alone made Chrome stop cold.
‘…Wat…well that came out of nowhere.’ Chrome thought.
“Why you askin’ Bloom?” Chrome questioned with a raised eyebrow.
“A-Ah’m just curious, that’s all.” Applebloom replied, the blush on her face becoming even more obvious, hoping she didn’t completely give it away that she liked him.
“Hmmm…Well, I guess I would like a marefriend that has a bit of a tough side, really nice, and being pretty wouldn’t hurt. But to tell you the truth Bloom, I haven’t had much luck with mares.” Chrome’s sentence made Applebloom’s jaw drop. How could somepony as amazing as Chrome NOT have a special somepony?! In her eyes, he was the most fantastic stallion in Equestria; nopony should be alone, especially not him.
Chrome stopped hitting the bag when the reality of what he had just said sank in. His ears folded back, his eyes moved to the ground and he sighed deeply.
It hurt Applebloom badly to see Chrome look so sad.
‘Poor Chrome. Sometimes he just looks so lonely.’ Applebloom thought to herself as she nuzzled Chrome’s injured hoof affectionately to try and cheer him up while looking at him with apologetic, puppy-dog eyes.
Chrome looked down at the tiny filly and snapped out of his daze.
“Hehe, thanks Bloom. You’re a nice kid,ya know that?” Chrome said with a smile.
Applebloom’s face turned red again, and she immediately averted her eyes.
Chrome trotted behind the bag and gave it a pat with his uninjured hoof.
“Well, enough about my cruddy love-life. Time to focus on the task at hoof. Go ahead and give it a punch, just like I did.” Chrome said.
Applebloom centered her focus entirely on the punching bag. She stood up on her hind legs and slammed her hoof into it…
…Only for the rope holding it to snap and cause the entire thing to land right on Chrome’s stomach, knocking him to the ground.
“Arrrgh! Oh jeez that hurts! I guess I was a bit too hard on my barrage….Ow.” Chrome groaned.
Applebloom gasped and put a hoof to her mouth.
“Oh mah gosh Chrome! Ah’m so sorry Chrome! I didn’t mean to do that, ah swear! Girls, help me get this thing offa him!” Applebloom called to her friends, who had only slightly recovered from their exhaustion.
“Oh Celestia! Chrome are you alright?” Sweetie Belle asked.
“He’s got a sandbag on top of him Sweetie. Does he look okay?” Scootaloo asked sarcastically.
To Applebloom: Hello there! May I ask, how often does Chrome get hurt when he comes along in your adventures?
“Too often. Poor Chrome seems to be REALLY accident-prone whenever he’s around us. Alright, girls, help me push!” Applebloom shouted as all three fillies surrounded Chrome and pushed the sandbag off of Chrome’s stomach.
“How do ya feel? You’re not hurt are ya?” Applebloom asked worriedly.
“N-No. I’m fine. I-I just need to lie down for a while. You girls just try to take it easy for a bit; I-I need a break.” Chrome said as he painstakingly trotted to the house, holding a hoof to his stomach as he did so.
Though Chrome said he was fine, Applebloom couldn’t help but feel guilty about what happens.
‘Ah don’t know why he still hangs out with me if ah always get him hurt. Ah don’t get it.’ Applebloom thought to herself.
“Why the long face Applebloom? Feel bad about Chrome?” Scootaloo asked. A shiver went up Applebloom’s spine after hearing Scootaloo’s question. She thought that maybe her friends were becoming a little suspicious.
“Ummm…yeah kinda.” Applebloom said nervously.
To Apple Bloom: Why cant you just tell the rest of the CMCs? If they are really your friends they wont be mean to you about it or leave you.
Applebloom uneasily hoofed at the ground.
‘A-Alright. A-Ah’ll try.’ She thought.
Sweetie Belle was the next to notice that Applebloom was looking a little nervous, and tried to address it.
“Don’t worry Applebloom, Chrome said he’d be fine. Besides, it isn’t like he hasn’t gotten hurt from our crusading before.” Sweetie Belle said.
Applebloom shook her head.
“No no. It ain’t that. It’s just…Well…ah kind of have…AH’M IN LOVE WITH CHROME!” Applebloom yelled, losing whatever bit of composure she had at this point. Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo exchanged a few shocked glances before looking back to their friend. Sweetie Belle’s face grew into a huge grin and she started to giggle.
“Awwwww. That’s so cute! I’m so happy for you Applebloom!” Sweetie cheered as she happily bounced up and down.
Applebloom was really relieved that Sweetie Belle didn’t find her crush weird. Scootaloo on the other hoof, didn’t look like she really cared.
“What’s with the lack of enthusiasm Scoots? Ah thought you’d…you know…react…at all.” Applebloom said.
Scootaloo shrugged.
“I’m real happy for you and all, but I just don’t get myself involved with lovey-dovey, girlyness like-
To Scootaloo: Is it true you have a crush on somepony?
“W-What?! No! I’m way too cool for that stuff!” Scootaloo shouted with a rising blush on her cheeks.
Applebloom and Sweetie Belle both wore smug grins and chuckled.
“Scootaloo don’t lie, we all know ya got a thing for Rumble.” Applebloom said with that widening smile.
Scootaloo’s ears folded and she started to look all the more irritated and embarrassed.
“Grrrr…Shut up.” Was her only response.
To scoot: remember that no matter what happens your friends love you just keep that in mind for the upcoming weeks
Scootaloo raised an eyebrow.
“Well of course I know that. They’re my friends. Why wouldn’t they like me?” Scootaloo asked.
“Hehe. Sorry for teasing you Scootaloo. Can you forgive us?” Sweetie Belle asked with a light laugh.
Scootaloo rolled her eyes.
“I guess so.” Scootaloo said.
To Applebloom: How about you BUILD something for Chrome? You might, oh, I dunno, get your CUTIE MARK in the process? You AND your friends can. You know, Cutie Mark Crusader Construction Workers, YAY!
To Apple bloom: Try being nice to him, like giving him a present. ( that is when you found out what he likes). You could also give him a picture.
“Awww come on guys, ah’m not really all that great at woodwork. Ah mean, I DID give him this picture frame that had a lot of hearts and stuff with a picture of us in it, but really. Ah’m not really too good at it…he did like it though…hehehehe.” Applebloom was visibly shaking with happiness at the memory.
To Applebloom: You do realize the biggest obstacles of this relationship are more in the legal field... right?
Applebloom’s happy expression quickly faded into a serious deadpan upon reading.
“Ah. Don’. Care. Nopony is going to keep me from my Chromey. NOPONY!”
To Applebloom: Why don't you try using the potion you made for Cheerilee and Big Mac?
“NO!” All three crusaders yelled at once.
“Are you even aware of the catastrophes that went down that day?!” Scootaloo exclaimed.
“We took a solemn oath to never EVER touch that stuff again after what happened!” Sweetie Belle screamed.
“And even if Ah did use the Love Poison, it wouldn’t be fair to Chrome. Ah’d just be being selfish. Ah can’t force m’ to have feelings for me that aren’t real.” Applebloom said sadly.
Sweetie Belle put a hoof on Applebloom’s back, trying to comfort her.
“Don’t worry Applebloom. If you want any help from us, just let us know. We’re always here to help.” She said.
“Yeah, I’m sure we can get Chrome to like you. Just say the word, and we’ll do our best!” Scootaloo said with a hoof pump.
Applebloom smiled warmly at her fellow Crusaders. She felt like a huge weight had been taken off her shoulders. And the fact that her friends didn’t find anything weird about this made her much happier.
“T-Thanks girls. But for right now, Ah’d just be fine if ya promise not to tell nopony. ESPECIALLY not Chrome. Ah’m talkin serious, Pinkie-Promise related business here!” she said.
Both Crusaders nodded.
“Cross my heart, and hope to fly. Stick a cupcake in my eye.” They said at the same time while going through the proper gestures of “Pinkie-Promising”
Chrome lay on his back on the couch in the farm-house, waiting for the pain in his gut to subside. The other members of the Apple family (minus Granny Smith who was asleep in her rocking chair) were obviously quite worried over his current condition.
“And yer sure yer alright sugarcube?” Applejack asked.
Chrome groaned.
“For the umpteenth time AJ, I’m fine. I’m flattered that you’re concerned for me, but jeez. And it’s not so much the pain in my stomach that’s been bothering me.” Chrome said, with a bit of an uneasy look in his eyes.
Big Mac tilted his head.
“What’s the matter partner? Ya’ll haven’t been actin’ like your usual, carefree self since ya came back.” He said.
To Big Mac: Can you see this message and how do you feel about Chrome?
"Well, Applejack knows em’ better than Ah do, but Ah’ve taken a likin’ to em’. He’s got a pretty strong head on em’ and he gets along real good with Applebloom and her friends.” Big Mac answered.
“Hehe. Thanks Big Mac. And as for what’s wrong with me, I dunno. I had to explain to Applebloom how I still don’t have a marefriend, and I guess it kinda got me a little depressed.” Chrome said, with a bit of embarrassment.
Applejack and Big Mac both raised their eyebrows in surprise.
“Wait a gosh-darn second. Ya’ll are nineteen years old and ya’ll never had a marefriend?” Applejack asked.
“…I’m not proud of it.” Chrome said sadly.
To Chrome: Have you ever faced a really tough opponent before? Like as in, you don't thing you could beat him?
“As of yet, no. BUT I did come pretty close. There was this pony named “Master Flex” who had accidently killed two stallions from the injuries he inflicted in the ring. I TKO’d the guy by the skin of my teeth. Almost suffered permanent brain trauma from the several blows to the head I got.” Chrome said.
“…His name was Master Flex?” Big Mac asked with a confused expression.
“Same thing I said. Sounds like some sort of workout machine.” Chrome said.
To Chrome: One, how about you give Apple Bloom something nice as a way to say thank you for the pie, like taking her for some candy. Two, heres something for you for their next crusade. *hands a protection suit*.
A large, bulky, white suit landed in front of Chrome from seemingly nowhere, and he eyed the thing curiously.
“…I’m not even going to question how that happened. And you know what, I think I’ll take AB over to Sugarcube Corner later. That pie was AMAZING, and I think she deserves it.” Chrome said. Behind his smile though, he felt pretty bucking scared. For even though he loved the sugary goodness contained in Sugarcube Corner, he had actually grown to FEAR the pink, energetic mare that lived there.
“That’s a real good idea sugarcube. Ah’m sure she’ll love it.” Applejack said, stretching out that word as long as possible with a slight chuckle.
“…Okaaaay?” Chrome said, looking very confused.