//------------------------------//
// The Confession 
// Story: Apple Family Affairs 
// by PonyToneSinger 
//------------------------------//

   Apple Bloom galloped aimlessly for several hours, slowing only when she realized she was far away from the ranch. She looked around and saw that she was at the old Cutie Mark Crusaders clubhouse, where she and her friends had spent all so much time trying to get their cutie marks.

Suddenly, she heard a sound behind her and whirled around. "Applejack? If that's you, go away!" She yelled. The pony that stepped out from behind the trees however, was Twist.

"Apple Bloom? Are you alright?" Asked her old friend, seeing her swollen eyes and tear-streaked face.

"I'm just fine!" Retorted Apple Bloom. "Why do you ask? Ah mean, Ah just found out everything Ah ever believed was a total lie! So yes, Ah am just perfectly fine!"

Twist blinked, confused by the outburst. "Apple Bloom, what do you mean, 'everything you've ever believed is a lie'?" She asked.

"A-Ah don` wanna talk about it." Apple Bloom sniffed.

"Are you sure?" Twist asked. "It might make you feel better." She added.

"Ah said Ah don` wanna talk about it!" Apple Bloom all but screamed. "Leave me alone!"

Twist turned away, stung and more than a little confused by her friend`s behavior. "Okay, I'll leave you alone, I was just trying to help."

Apple Bloom, filled with remorse for her actions, reached out. "Don't go Twist,  Ah'm sorry Ah shouted at you."  She said. "Besides, yer probably the only pony Ah can trust right now." 

"What in Equestria are you talking about Apple Bloom?" Asked Twist. "You've got your brother and sister, and the Cutie Mark Crusaders." She said the last part in a slightly bitter tone.

"Don't mention that liar  Applejack in front of me!" Apple Bloom snarled. Then Twist`s inflecton when mentioning the Crusaders penetrated, and she remembered what had happened at that fateful Cute-Ceneara.  Suddenly, Apple Bloom's eyes filled up with tears again. "Oh, Twisty, Ah'm so sorry!" She sobbed.

"For what?" Twist asked, both confused about the tears and startled to hear her fillyhood nickname.

"For everything! For dumping you for the Crusaders, for not letting you help, for being Applejacks daughter, everything!"

"WHAT?"

Twist-A-Loo's shocked screech stopped Apple Bloom's hysterics in their tracks.

"Oops, Ah didn't mean ta say that." Apple Bloom said sheepishly.

"You, you mean it's true?" Twist asked in shock.

"Ah knew it! Ah just knew everypony  would see me as a freak!"

"Nononono, you misunderstood me Apple Bloom, Applejack is one of the coolest, most amazing ponies I ever knew, and if you're her daughter, that means that you're twice as amazing!"

Apple Bloom sniffled. "Really, the coolest ever?" She asked hopefully.

"Really." Twist responded with a smile.

Apple Bloom sniffed, then gave a watery smile. "Well, Ah guess the chimera's outta the bag. Ah was trying to keep it a secret, but maybe Ah'm just bein' silly."

Twist hugged Apple Bloom, then sat up and asked the question that Apple Bloom had been wondering all afternoon. "So... Why didn't Applejack tell you that you're her daughter, instead of raising you like a sister, and..." Twist's voice trailed off. "Never mind."

''Ah don't know why Applejack didn't tell me. What else were you gonna ask?" Apple Bloom said.

"Well.. I don't really know how to ask politely, but... Do you know who your dad is?" Twist asked, then she ducked her head and added: "It's okay if you don't want to tell me, or if you don't know."

"Ah do know, and Ah'll tell you, but you have to promise to hear me out, and not...judge...anyone... Oh, no! What have Ah done? They must be worried sick about me!" Apple Bloom turned around to go home.

"Wait! Aren't you going to tell me?" Twist asked.

"Oh, yeah! It's Big Macintosh!" Apple Bloom yelled over her shoulder as she galloped away.

Twist blinked, sincerely hoping she had misheard Apple Bloom, and she hadn't just told her that her father was Big Mac, Ponyville's most confirmed bachelor, not to mention Applejack's brother !