Bloom's New Life

by Rakoon1

Confidences

Cherry Blossom woke up the next day in her new room with the sound of the rooster crowing. Despite the party last night have tired her so much, she sat up in bed and stretched. She never felt so good in days. Sleeping in that bed after a night of animation was the best thing that could have happened.

She got up and went to the dresser where there was a mirror. She picked up a extra brush Applejack had and started brushing her mane, using her magic to make it levitate. After that, she went to her window to admire the wonderful view and take some of the morning air. Then she saw something she didn't expect. Big Mac was out there pushing a haystacks with his head toward to the barn. She was confused. Shouldn't he be resting the leg? Why was he working and overloading his hurt leg?

She then left the room and went downstairs to the kitchen. There, Granny Smith, Apple Bloom and Applejack were already taking the breakfast.

"Good morning" she greeted.

"G'mornin', Cherry" Apple Bloom greeted so excited.

"Wow, sugarcube, already up?" Granny Smith asked. "Ah see ya have begun tah interiorize the field air, huh?"

Cherry Blossom laughed and replied:

"You could say that, Granny Smith."

"Sit there, Cherry, and eat somethin'" Applejack invited. "Ya must have a lot of energy today. "

Cherry then sat down, asking:

"Shouldn't Big Mac be resting? I just saw him pushing haystacks to the barn."

"Oh, typical of Big Mac" Applejack said. "He hates standin' still. Even burnin' with fever, he doesn't want tah lie in bed."

"But he should do it" Cherry Blossom said. "I don't know my magic's limits. It can undo itself just because he is making so much effort."

"Don't worry 'bout that stubborn pony, sugarcube" Granny Smith reassured. "He is tough and can stand up tah the greatest physical pain."

"Mah brother is very hardworking and determin'd" Apple Bloom said. "Don't ya think they are good qualities?"

She hoped that could raise something in Cherry Blossom, but she only said:

"Yes, dear, they are, but we also must have common sense and that is what your brother is not having. I bet he must not have had a good night sleep. Looks like he had woken up before the rooster had crowed."

"Mah grandson is always like that, my dear" Granny Smith said." Since he wuz a colt he wakes with the dawn, and sometimes before it."

"Well, Ah have tah go" Applejack said, standing up. "There is a lot of work tah do."

"You know, maybe I'll give you a hoof" Cherry Blossom said. "It's the least I can do after you received me in your home."

Applejack smiled and nodded:

"Thanks, but Ah think Ah can handle it."

"But I have to do something to compensate you for what you did for me" Cherry Blossom said.

"Ya'll have tah rest before tha start of next week" Applejack said. "Ya'll have a lot of work when ya get to work in tha hospital."

"But..."

But Applejack left before Cherry Blossom could say anything more.

"Oh, dear, Applejack's right" Granny Smith said. "Ya're our guest and you deserve tah rest before yer new job."

"Yes, but I don't feel good being here and doing nothing " Cherry Blossom confessed.

"Ya can always keep me company" Granny Smith replied, leaving the table and going to her rocking chair. "Ya know, Ah always want sumpony tah talk when mah grandchildren are out."

Cherry Blossom smiled and then waved, saying:

"I think I can do that."

"And then ya can come play with me and Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle after school" Apple Bloom said.

"Of course" she replied. "You don't need to ask."

"Great!" Apple Bloom said excitedly.

Outside, Applejack was heading to the barn. She entered there and found his brother lying in the mounds of straw with his hooves behind his head and a sprig of wheat hanging out of the side of his mouth. She approached him and saw that he was snoring lightly. Applejack frowned. It was strange his brother was already asleep in that time of the morning. He looked around and saw the amount of haystacks he had brought. They were a lot. Something like that should have taken a long time to do. She made herself be noted with a hack that made his brother snore and wake up.

"What? Who? Where?"

"But what is this, Big McIntosh Apple?" Applejack scolded.

"But what tha hay have Ah done?" Big Mac asked, rubbing his own eyes with his hooves. "Can't Ah sleep on the straw?"

"Oh ya can sleep, but not after ya've been a whole night workin' when you should be resting" Applejack said.

"How'd ya know Ah work'd all night?" Big Mac asked, standing up.

Applejack pointed to the haystacks.

"Oh, yeah" the red stallion said.

"But why did ya spend the night workin'?" Applejack asked to his brother, while he was heading to the exit.

"It's none of yer business" he answered, walking past her.

"What?!" she asked, following him with her eyes. "Is it not mah business that mah older brother works for a whole night without sleep after a day of work and top it off with a half cur'd leg?"

"Nnope" he said.

"Don't nnope me" Applejack replied smiling. "Ya gonna tell me that this strange behavior a' yers has nothing tah do with our beautiful guest, won't ya?"

That made Big Mac stop and block. How did Applejack knew about his fall for Cherry Blossom, the fall he has been trying to hide with great difficulty since the moment he laid eyes upon her?

"Ah don't know what ya're talkin' 'bout" he replied, trying to keep secret his own feelings.

"Oh, Big Mac, ya cannot fool me" Applejack said, advancing and placing herelf ahead of her brother who had a serious look. "It took me a bit tah realize that, but when Ah saw how ya look'd tah Cherry Blossom, it was enough for me tah connect the dots."

But Big Mac was not too sure about that. He knew when her sister was lying or hiding things and she was hiding some detail. She was not very good at it.

"By chance there weren't three li'le fillies who help'd ya with that? " he asked.

"Maybe" Applejack replied. "Are they right?"

But then Big Mac turned his head and replied:

"Nnope."

"Can ya repeat that louder?" Applejack asked.

But he didn't it, what Applejack accepted as a confirmation he was in love.

"Oh, Big Mac, ya don't have to feel ashamed for being in love" Applejack said, putting a hoof on her brother's shoulder. "Actually, Ah'm very happy ya found a pony who ya like. Are ya happy, Big Mac?"

"Eeyup" he nodded, advancing to the pile of straw where he was lying and sitting on it. "Ya cannot imagine the happiness Ah feel when Ah see her. It's like if my heart goes out from my mouth."

"So, big bro..." Applejack said, going to sit next to Big Mac. "Why all this?"

"It's..." Big McIntosh began, not knowing if he should confess what was pierced on the throat. "Ya know, what if she... does not... feel for me the same thing I feel for her? I mean, look at her. She's beautiful, elegant, polite... I'm just a big and clunky farm pony."

"What'ch ya talkin' 'bout, Big McIntosh!" Applejack exclamed. "Don't say such things! I wished there were many stallions like ya. Ya have the best of all hearts, Big Mac. Ya took care of us all since ma an' pa... well, ya know. Ya are keen on everything you do and very hardworking. And if Cherry Blossom doesn't see that in ya, it's because she's very blind."

That made Big Mac drop a laugh. Her older sister could always get him out of his sadness with those words.

"Ya know, this mornin' she was very worried about ya because ya were working after what happen'd yesterday" Applejack said.

That made Big Mac look for her.

"Really?" he asked.

Applejack waved. The red stallion couldn't help but feel glad to hear such a thing.

"Ya know, Ah even didn't go tah sleep last night knowin' that she was sleepin' a few hooves away from me" he confessed. "So Ah spent the night to let it all out in the best way Ah knew how: working."

"Well, if that's what happens when Cherry is around, so it was good Ah have accept'd Twilight's request tah let her live here with us" Applejack said, watching the amount of haystacks that his brother had brought to the barn .

"And you haven't seen the apples Ah pick'd" said Big Mac with a proud smile.

Applejack whisled impressed. Thenm adopting a more serious expression, she said:

"Big Mac, look, Ah understand ya want tha do the things in yer own way and Ah accept it. If ya prefer for now tah hide what ya feel for her, Ah'll access tah yer desire. But see if ya don't be stupid and don't tell her what you feel. Ya'll regret it if you don't do it."

"Thank you, Applejack" he thanked her.

"That's what siblings do for each other" she said, putting a hoof on Big Mac's shoulder.

She then got up and started heading to the exit of the barn, but before exitting, she turned and said to Big Mac:

"Oh, one more thing. Ya know that our li'le sister and her friends are trying to make you a little arrangement with Cherry Blossom, don't ya?"

"Eeyup" said Big Mac. "Do ya think Ah don't know the sister we have, even more knowin' they know what Ah feel 'bout Cherry?"

"Ah made them promise not tah interfere, but Ah know they won't fulfill tha promise" Applejack said. "Ah didn't make them do a Pinkie promisse. Actually, Ah hope they don't comply to it."

"Hey, have ya forgotten what happen'd the last time those three fillies put the muzzle in my love life?" Big Mac asked. "Ah don't want them tah ruin things with Cherry Blossom."

"Ah'm sure you don't" Applejack said. "But now, it's better ya go rest. An' no assurances. After all, you have to sleep in a real bed."

Big Mac didn't dare to protest.

In the living room, Granny Smith was telling to Cherry Blossom and Apple Bloom a story about a former love of her who broke her heart. That story reminded to Cherry Blossom of her own love, Sky. She even didn't want to imagine how he must be feeling at that moment, knowing what she had done.

When Granny Smith finished telling her story, she looked to Cherry Blossom and noticed her meditating look.

"Ya look sad, mah dear" Granny Smith noted.

"What's up, Cherry?" Apple Bloom asked.

"It's just..." she began. "It doesn't matter. I just think it was a shame you missed that pony, Granny Smith. Your story was beautiful."

"Yes, it was, but unfortunately all good things must end" Granny Smith answered. "And Ah think ya know what Ah mean, don't ya?

"What do you mean?"

"Well, Ah see ya have suffer'd a heartbreak, sugar cube" Granny Smith said. "That face of yers is not fooling anypony."

Granny Smith had hit on. Of course Cherry Blossom didn't expect less from a mare with so much experience than her who must have suffered a lots of heartbreaks. She must know how to recognize a similar, especially one whose love for the beloved one was immeasurable.

"Wait, ya have a coltfriend, Cherry Blossom?" Apple Bloom asked. "But ya said ya hadn't one."

"And I don't, Apple Bloom" said Cherry Blossom. "Not now."

"So ya broke up?" Apple Bloom asked.

"Not really" Cherry Bloom said, trying to find the right words to say. "We... kind of found ourselves compelled to distance ourselves. I fear that we'll never see each other again."

"So... do ya still like him?" Apple Bloom asked, somewhat afraid.

"The love I feel for him is somethin' I'll never forget" Cherry Blossom replied.

Apple Bloom didn't want to believe it. After all, Cherry Blossom was still in love with another pony. If she is in love with him, she cannot see how wonderful Big Mac was and don't start dating him. But then she calmed down her mind, remembering what Cherry had said about moving away from her coltfriend. So there was hope.

"But, ya know, maybe ya find some new love, here in Ponyville" she said.

"I don't think so, my dear" Cherry Blossom replied. "A love like this will be very difficult to replace."

"The li'le filly's right, sweetie" Granny Smith said. "Love is somethin' that arises spontaneously. Ya'll see it is not long in comin'."

"Maybe, Granny Smith, maybe" Cherry Blossom replied, sighing after. "I think I'll take a walk. Taking some fresh air."

"Can Ah go with ya?" Apple Bloom asked.

"Don't ya have tah go tah school?" Cherry Blossom asked.

"Yes, but ya could pass by there, don't ya? So we can talk all tha way. Please, Cherry. Please, please, please!"

Although she wanted to use that walk to clear the ideas, she couldn't say no to Apple Bloom when she asked in that way. Who could resist to somethin' like that? Besides, she began to think that maybe her company ended to be good, after all.

"Well, okay, but only until school" Cherry Blossom said.

"Perfect!" Apple Bloom said, going to hug Cherry Blossom." Thank ya, Cherry."

"Ya're welcome" she said, hugging her back. "Well, come on."

Apple Bloom went to get her saddlebag and returned after only a few seconds apart.

"Ah'm ready."

The two headed to the exit with Cherry Blossom in the front.

"Goodbye, my dears, and be careful with the Timberwolves" Granny Smith warned.

"With what?" Cherry Blossom asked.

"Don't worry" Apple Bloom said to her ear." Granny Smith always says somethin' like that. Tha truth is that Timberwolves don't leave the Everfree Forest."

"You mean that frightening forest, don't you?" Cherry Blossom said.

Apple Bloom nodded.

"But that doesn't matter now. Let's get goin'?"

Cherry Blossom nodded. But when she opened the door, she came across with Big Mac, almost bumping into him.

"Oh, good morning, Big Mac" she greeted in an abashed way.

"Howdy" he greeted, in a way even more abashed than her and blushing.

"I see you're working when you should be resting" Cherry Blossom noted.

"Eeyup" he replied, trying not to look as much time as he could to her directly. "Ah guess ol' habits are hard tah let go. But Applejack has convinc'd me tah get some sleep . "

"Well, that's already something..." Cherry said.

There was a some awkward silence between the two. Cherry didn't know why, but she felt her legs trembling when she saw Big Mac smiled warmly to her. If it was strange have that kind of feeling when she walked on two legs, was even stranger with four. She just had that kind of feeling when Sky was present, a sense of who was in love. The issue was she didn't know if this was related to sense of longing she had for Sky or if it was because of Big Mac. Instinctively she eventually leave this idea aside.

"Well, so I and Apple Bloom will go for a walk" she said finally. "Come on, Apple Bloom."

"Yeah, sure" she said, all chipper.

And they went out and began to move away. Big Mac followed them with his eyes for a moment. However, he wasn't very focused on his little sister, but on the mare who went with her. For each time he met with Cherry Blossom, more his feelings for her grew. He just felt like addressing her and confess everything he felt about her. But his shyness and fear of rejection were always stronger and prevented him from even trying.

"She is a beautiful mare, no?" a voice behind him said.

"Eeyup" he said dreamily.

It was then he realized who had asked the question was Granny Smith and turned to her, who was looking at him with a mischievous smile. Blushing, he tried to add:

"Ah mean, in a totally innocent way, of course."

"Yes, I can see it by tha pink color that was in yer face, mah grandson" Granny Smith commented with a smile.

"But Ah..." he began. "But... That 's..."

But he gave up, realizing that the more he spoke, the more he buried himself. It was for that reason that he was often in silent, merely answering to yes or no questions with the "eeyup" and "nnope" of his.

"Ah'll go tah mah room..." he said, wanting to get out of there before his insightful grandmother knew more about his feelings.

And having said that, he went away and began to run up the stairs. As soon as he left, Granny Smith said, rocking on his rocking chair:

"This youth doesn't know tah give in tah love."

Big Mac climbed the stairs and then went into his room, closing the door tightly and letting himself lean against it, sitting on the floor gasping. He knew it was impossible to hide his feelings for Cherry Blossom from Granny Smith. If Apple Bloom and Applejack had noticed it, so Granny Smith already knew it from the moment she saw him with the beautiful unicorn; or was Apple Bloom who told her? Who knows?

Taking a deep breath, he walked over to his bed and jumped on to it, lying on his back and putting his hooves behind his head, fixing the ceiling smiling. In that room, he could finally lost himself in his thoughts at that moment, having only one face in his mind: Cherry Blossom's.

"She's so beautiful" he said into the void. "Not only on the outside but also on the inside. The way she is with Apple Bloom... is truly amazin'. However, she is also mysterious. Barely talks 'bout her life. But also, Ah don't care nuthing 'bout her past. Ah jest want to know what she is now: tha mare of mah dreams. Ah wish Ah had tha courage tah confess her what Ah feel. Applejack's right, Ah cannot keep this tah mahself. But Ah cannot tell her, Ah jest cannot. Ah want'd tah say Ah lov'd tah date her, tah marry her, tah share with her tha good and bad times, tah have foals with her... But Ah jest cannot do it!"

He disheveled her mane frustratingly with his hooves and then covered his eyes with them.

"But Ah'll be able tah do so" he said suddenly, drawing the hooves from the eyes and rising. "Ah won't lie here and wait she'll fall in love for me. Ah will give mah best tah win her heart."

But the frustration again seize him and he began to pace back and forth in his room.

"And how the hay Ah'll do that? Ah don't know nuthing 'bout mares. Ah never need'd tah know anythin' like that."

It was then he remembered his little sister and her friends. But he quickly began to repudiate the idea.

"No, Big McIntosh, no! Ya'll not ask them fer help. Remember in these things those fillies just arrange problems. Remember tha love poison. But on tha other hoof, Ah'm also desperate. No, no, ya aren't desperate.

But that wasn't true. His heart was pounding so much nervous that he was not sure what to do.

"Oh, Ah'm desperate!"

Having said that he turned to lie on his bed again, placing his hooves behind his head and closed his eyes. Maybe a good sleep would give him any ideas.

Cherry Blossom and Apple Bloom were walking while chatting happily until they arrived near the school.

"Well, Apple Bloom, it's time for you go to school. I'm going to the library. I wanted to ask some books to Twilight. Since I'll be doing nothing in these next few days, I must entertain myself with something."

"See ya soon, Cherry" Apple Bloom said, starting to go to school, while Cherry Blossom headed to the town.

She arrived to the library and knocked on the door, opening it and calling:

"Twilight, hello, are you home?"

"Yes, I am" a voice replied her.

Twilight went downstairs and greeted:

"Hello, Cherry Blossom. How was your first night in Ponyville and in Sweet Apple Acres?

"It was very good, actually" she said. "That party left me so exhausted I could rest as never I rested before."

"Yes, Pinkie's parties have that effect" said Twilight. "I've never seen anypony with Pinkie's gift to bring joy wherever she goes. So, what brings you here? It was only courtesy or something else?"

"Well, the truth is I need something to entertain myself until I started working at the hospital, so I was wondering if you could lend me some books."

"But of course. What kind of books do you want?"

"Do you have some books about the history and culture of Equestria?" Cherry Blossom asked.

"Yes, I have, but I never thought you'd come ask these books" Twilight replied, using his magic to take some books from their shelves.

"Well, I'm curious about history" Cherry Blossom said. "I always like to see how things evolve over time."

"I am very glad that there is another pony with a taste for academic books as I am" Twilight said, ending stacking some books for Cherry Blossom. "Here you go, I hope you enjoy your reading."

"I'm sure I will" she replied, using her magic to put the books in a saddlebag that she had bought on the way. "Thank you, Twilight. I'll bring them back soon."

"Don't rush" said Twilight. "Take all the time you need."

"Goodbye" Cherry Blossom said, heading to the exit.

"Goodbye" Twilight said.

Cherry Blossom then left .

"I don't know why, but Cherry seems to emanate a strange energy" Twilight said, thinking aloud. "Oh, well, it must be my imagination."

At school, Apple Bloom put her friends informed about what she had just learned about Cherry Blossom.

"You mean Cherry Blossom has a coltfriend?" Scootaloo said. "But she told us she didn't."

"She said they aren't together because they were forc'd tah separate themselves" Apple Bloom said. "But she says she still loves him very much."

"That means... we'll no longer try to join her with Big Mac? " Sweetie Belle asked. "What a pity. He is so in love."

"No, Sweetie, we'll still goin' forward with tha plan" Apple Bloom said.

"But you just said she still loves her ex-coltfriend" Scootaloo said.

"She loves, but she can stop love him tah fall in love fer Big Mac" Apple Bloom replied. "Ah haven't told ya, but ya should have seen how it was when she crossed paths with him when we went out. She was all shaking and embarrassed. That could mean something."

"Or maybe not" Scootaloo said. "Cherry Blossom may have been embarrassed by having almost bumped into Big Mac."

"Scootaloo, which side are ya? " Apple Bloom said .

"Come on, don't argue, girls" Sweetie Belle asked. "I think Apple Bloom has a point. There's still hope. This is only over when the fat mare sing."

"What fat mare?" the other two fillies asked.

"It's just an expression I learned from Rarity" she said. "It means that things only ends when they get to the very end. After all, Cherry Blossom still has no boyfriend."

"That's right, Sweetie Belle, we'll not give up" Apple Bloom said. "Ah will never give up."

"Well, since you have so much certainty, so do I" Scootaloo said.

"LET'S DO THIS!" the three shouted, raising their hooves in the air.

But then the school bell rang.

"Yes, but only after school" Sweetie Belle said. "Come on, girls, before Miss Cheerilee give us a sermon for getting late."

And so the three went to the classroom.