> Sweet Apple > by potworjan > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- > Feelings > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- It was just a normal day for Sweetie Belle. She was sleeping soundly in her bed, smiling, as she was having yet another wonderful dream, as she did almost every night, ever since she met her friends, or especially just one of her friends. She wasn't dreaming of any adventures, saving Equestria, being a famous singer, or even getting her cutie mark, it wasn't any of the things that usually happen to ponies in good dreams. Sweetie was a calm and friendly little filly - all she needed to feel happy was to spend time with her friends - with Apple Bloom. That's what her dream was about. She was with the Cutie Mark Crusaders in their clubhouse. They were spending time together, laughing and talking with each other, drawing some pictures, and, overall, pretty much relaxing. "..and then she flew up to me, and she was all like, 'Nice moves, kid!'," Scootaloo finished repeating the story she told her friends already about 50 billion times before, "I'm telling you, girls, Rainbow Dash is so awesome!" "We know. We heard this already." Apple Bloom replied. "Why do you keep telling us this exact story over and over again? You got a crush on Rainbow Dash or somethin'?" "What? No! Crushes are dumb, too.. girly for somepony as awesome as me." she said quickly,, and then added, "I couldn't stand it if one of you girls had a crush on anypony!" Just when she said it, Sweetie Belle quickly looked down at her drawing to hide the blush on her face. As soon as she saw it, she realised she subconcsiously drew a heart above her and Apple Bloom, so she grabbed a black crayon with her magic and scribbled over it. "Huh?" said Apple Bloom and looked at her, furiously moving the crayon all around the paper, filling it with lines of black that didn't create any patterns or shapes. "Sweetie, what are you doin'?" she asked, but then took a closer look at her face. "Why are you blushing?" When she was done, and the heart wasn't visible anymore, Sweetie stopped the nervous scribbling and looked up to see if her friends noticed it. To her horror, both of her friends were staring at her. "Why are you staring at me?" she asked. "What were ya scribblin' over like that?" asked Apple Bloom curiously, and took a close look at the picture Sweetie was covering with her head until now. It depicted Sweetie and herself, standing on some grass, smiling. They were standing a little too close to each other, in fact, they were so close their muzzles were touching. Above both of them, there was a huge mess of blackness Sweetie recently drew, from behind of which, a bit of pink could be seen. Scootaloo noticed the surprised look on Apple Bloom's face and snatched the picture away from Sweetie Belle before she was able to cover it, and gasped. "I-Is that Apple Bloom?" she said, but then she added, "Are you.. kissing her?" Sweetie tried to take the picture away from her. "What? No! I-It's just--" "Do y'all have a crush on me, Sweetie?" she said upon looking at the picture again. She began laughing uncontrollably, Scootaloo soon joined. The walls of the clubhouse fell down to the sides, and behind them was an entire audience filled with Apple Blooms who were pointing at her and laughing. "Sweetie Belle! Wake up~!" Sweetie quickly opened her eyes, looked around her, and realised it was all just a dream. She sighed in relief. But even though the dream was over, and her friends didn't find out about her crush, she knew that if she ever wanted to be happy, she woud sooner or later have to tell Apple Bloom about it. And, though she was really embarassed about it, she knew sooner was better than later. She got up from her bed, and went into the toilet to make herself look acceptable. As she was brushing her teeth and her mane and taking a shower, she started thinking about how, when, or if she should tell Apple Bloom she feels something more to her than friendship. She began wondering what was it exactly that she felt for her. What is love? She was making up answers in her head, but she obviously couldn't know if they were right. Why does a pony fall in love with another pony? Or, why did exactly she fall in love with her? What was so great about Apple Bloom? A huge wave of reasons filled her mind, but then she thought about another big question. Is it even possible for a filly to love another filly? No matter how hard she tried, she couldn't think of an answer to that question. For all her life she was always told that one day she would find the colt of her life, marry him, and live a happy life together. Nopony ever mentioned she could love a filly instead. If the answer was no, and it wasn't possible, that would mean the things she felt for Apple Bloom weren't love, they were just normal between friends. Curious, Sweetie Belle closed her eyes and started daydreaming like she normally would about Apple Bloom but she replaced her with Scootaloo. She felt awkward, and it took all of her concentation to not acidentally imagine the wrong pony in her mind. Unlike in all of her daydreams about Apple Bloom, she couldn't bring herself to saying the three words which she deep inside knew weren't true this time, and when she forced herself to kiss her, she was so grossed out she shook her head immidiately and did all sh could to forget the bad thought. But in that case, why could she think this way so easily about Apple Bloom? That would mean it in fact is possible for her to love a filly, but she still didn't know for sure. The only way to find out would be to ask somepony smarter than her. She had to ask Rarity. Sweetie Belle turned off the water in the shower, dried her mane, brushed it again, and went downstairs. "There you are, Sweetie Belle," Rarity said worriedly, "What took you so long, my dear?" Only now Sweetie realised shee had been in the bathroom thinking for more than an hour, which was way longer than her usual time. "Were you having any problems washing yourself?" "What? N-No, I was just.." Sweetie paused for a while, "thinking.",she said quietly. Rarity smiled, "Indeed, the shower is the best place to think intensively," she said, but then she grew curious. "What exactly were you thinking about, Sweetie? Are you sad? Is something bothering you?" "Yeah," Sweetie nodded, "I mean.. no. I mean.. I'm not sad, b-but there is something bothering me for a long time now, a-and I thought of something today, and now I have.. a question I want to ask you." "You can ask me whatever you want, Sweetie Belle," Rarity reassured her, "I'll always be happy to answer and help you out as much as I can." Sweetie Belle took a few deep breaths, gulped, and then finally said, "Is it okay for a filly to be in love with another filly?" Rarity's jaw dropped. She expected every possible question from the filly, she even thought it could be something about love, but she would never expect this exact one. She couldn't think of anything but just one thing she needed to know from Sweetie now. "Sweete Belle?" she said in the most serious tone Sweetie ever heard her speak, "Are you just curious, or are you in love with a filly?" Sweetie hesitated for a bit. From Rarity's tone, she figured it was probably not okay after all, but she thought it would be better to say the truth anyway. "I.. think I am, b-but I don't even know if it's possible.." Her sister couldn't believe her own ears. Her sister, the pony she always loved and wanted to protect, the pony who looked up to her more than her own mother, the pony who even she looked up to sometimes, just admitted, before her very eyes, that she's a filthy, disgusting lesbian. Rarity always considered herself to be a noble, beautiful unicorn, from a noble unicorn family, and as such, she was going to marry a rich, unicorn stallion, and she wanted her sister to grow up to be a proper lady and do the same. She did her best to not start yelling immidiatelly. Maybe there was a way to talk her out of it. She took a few really deep breaths and, as calmly as possible, thought of something to say to her. "No," is what came out of her mouth, but she realised she said it a little too harshly, and added, "Sweetie Belle, it's not okay. It's very wrong. You shouldn't.. you can't love a filly." "Can't?" Sweetie repeated after her, "So.. it's not possible? B-But then, why are you mad at me?" "I-I'm not mad at you, Sweetie," Rarity tried to explain, "I'm just.. surprised you'd ask me something like that." "Why? Is it really that wrong? Why is it wrong if it's not possible?" Sweetie Belle asked. Rarity sighed. "Listen, Sweetie Belle. It.. It is possible, but it's very, very wrong. Ponies aren't meant to think this way, when you grow up, you'll understand. It's against nature, and against tradition, and a proper, noble lady follows tradition. Do you not want to be noble?" Sweetie was surprised. Is that really why it's so wrong? "Does being noble really mean I can't love who I want to? Then I don't wanna be!" She said pretty loudly, getting angry at her sister for not accepting her feelings. "Yes, that is what it means!" Rarity said angrily, but tried to calm down again. "Sweetie, I know that all your life you've been told otherwise, but love isn't that important. It doesn't last forever. After a while, being with the pony you thought you loved always gets boring, and all that starts to matter is your partner's money and fame. Tell me, how long were you having a crush on that filly for? A few days? A week? Maybe two?" "A year, at least," Sweetie said calmly, "Ever since I met her." "Sweetie Belle," Rarity sighed, "I know you're trying to convince me, but I'm not going to believe something like that." Sweetie tried to protest. "But I'm not lying!" "I've already said what I think, and it's final," said Rarity, "If I ever find out you've been thinking about other fillies the way you shouldn't, I'm not going to be this calm anymore." "You can't tell me what to do! You're not my mother!" Sweetie Belle got up from the table without eating her breakfast and left. Her sister didn't follow her. Wanting to find out more about her feelings, Sweetie headed to the most recognisable building in Ponyville - Princess Twilight's castle. Twilight used to live in a huge tree-shaped library, but now her new castle also has a library in it, and it's even bigger than the last one. The conversation she just had with Rarity left her a little panicked - she has never seen her sister that upset before, so she thought it had to be something really bad and wrong. Sweetie hoped the books could tell her more about herself. The library was at least a thousand times as big as the previous one Twilight lived in, and it was filled with books. All the ones she had before that got destroyed were, for some reason, back inside it already, with at least hundreds of thousands of new ones. It seemed to contain a copy of every single book ever written in Equestria. It was a true knowledge mine - the perfect place for Sweetie to search for any information about anything her sister doesn't wanna say. Near the entrance to the enormous library, a map hang on a wall, with all the sections labeled and highlighted, and each section divided into many smaller ones, making it easier for ponies to know where to go to find information on specific topics. Sweetie stared at it for a while, wondering which one of them could contain what she's looking for. She started searching through the names of the sections, until finally her eyes settled on one of them, labeled "Psychology/relationships. It was just one of the smaller sections Psychology was divided into. That seemed perfect for Sweetie Belle. After a while, she made it to the right place, and instantly began her searches. She walked over to one of the bookshelves, and started looking through all the titles. The books were alphabetically sorted. She started by looking for some keywords. The first place she searched was the "F" section, looking for the word "filly", but didn't find anything. She moved over to "G", which was right next to "F". She thought of a word to look for, and settled for "girl". Still, there was nothing she thought would be worth her attention. Not being able to think of a keyword for "H", she just browsed through all the titles, where one of the books finally caught her attention. "Homosexuality" Sweetie had no idea what this word meant, but for some reason she felt like this was something important. Curious, she went back to the entrance, and started looking for a dictionary. A few minutes later, she found one, opened it, and finally found the strange word she was looking for. "The state of being romantically and sexually attracted primarily to ponies of the same sex" Sweetie Belle closed the book immediately and shoved a hoof in her mouth to prevent herself from screaming in happiness. Even though Rarity confirmed it earlier, the book seemed like a much more reliable source now, and even though she understood every second word, she knew she found a fully confirmed the answer to the question she asked herself that morning - it was possible. With a pretty wide grin on her face, Sweetie put the book back down where she took it from and went back to the section she was searching before. Once again, she started browsing through all the books, this time paying most attention to the "H" section. But her smile disappeared when she saw the full title of the book she found that strange word on. She pulled the book out, put it on the ground, and stared at the cover for a while. It had many weird symbols crossed over in red, with the title of the book in big letters right at the top, "Homosexuality - a disease that can't be healed", and the name of some author under it. She opened it at a random page somewhere in the middle. It just kept saying hateful things about ponies who love the same gender. It seemed to use different arguments than Rarity did, but there was a whole lot of words Sweetie didn't understand. When she looked closer at one of these words to read it, the book suddenly swept away from before her eyes, startling Sweetie Belle and causing her to scream for a while, before shoving a hoof in her mouth again. Sweetie looked up to see who took her book away, to see Twilight Sparkle looking at her with a look of concern. "Sorry, I didn't mean to startle you," she whispered. "It's okay," replied Sweetie Belle quietly, "but why did you do that?" Twilight looked at the page Sweetie was reading, and then at the cover of the book. "I saw you browsing through this book, and I just.. really don't think you should be reading it." "Why not?" "It says a lot of.. hurtful things about some ponies," Twilight replied, putting the book down. "Why were you reading a book like that?" "I was just.. I was just c-curious about.. fillies loving other fillies," Sweetie said. "And when I asked Rarity, she got mad at me." Twilight had a look of surprise on her face. She didn't know that was how Rarity felt about homosexuals. She looked at Sweetie again. "Well, ponies often react.. differently about this topic. Why were you curious about that?", she asked. Ponies Sweetie's age usually don't know something like that exists. "You won't tell anypony?" Sweetie asked before answering. Twilight nodded. "I think I'm.. in love with another filly," she said shyly, even more quietly than she was already speaking. Twilight didn't look surprised, and instead gave Sweetie a friendly smile. "Then maybe you'd like to talk to me about it instead? I'm sure a friend could help you more than any book." Sweetie Belle nodded slowly with a blush and a small smile on her face. Twilight smiled back at her. She led Sweetie Belle out of the castle library, to one of the other, smaller rooms in the caste. There was a table and a few chairs in the middle of it. Twilight sat on one of them, and gestured for Sweetie Belle to sit on the opposite, facing her. Twilight waited for Sweetie to start talking whenever she wanted to, but the filly just kept staring at the ground shyly for a longer while. Deciding to break the awkward silence, Twilight started with asking the inevitable question. "So... who's the lucky filly?" "What?" Sweetie said, not really understanding the question' "I-I'm the lucky filly.." Twilight giggled quietly. "I meant the filly you're in love with. Who is it?" Sweetie Belle, once again, just stared at the ground, not being able to finally say it. She was very uncomfortable with talking about her feelings, and she felt like she was just taking up Twilight's time. Twilight waited for her to answer, but then saw that Sweetie Belle was likely not gonna say it just like that. "Sweetie, it's nothing to be ashamed of. You can just tell me." She gave her a warm smile. Sweetie opened her mouth to speak, but then closed it again. "Is it one of your friends?" Once again, Sweetie looked like she wanted to say something, but shied away immediately. All she was able to do was just a small nod. Twilight just had to guess one out of the two ponies. For a while, she reflected on what she saw Sweetie Belle act like around her friends, and she knew the answer. "Is it.. Apple Bloom?" Sweetie Belle finally looked up, staring at the alicorn with a surprised look. "H-how did you know?" Twilight smiled at the little filly. "I figured." Now that the most important question was finally over with, Sweetie felt a little bit more open. "How can I tell her? I really want her to know, but I'm just afraid she doesn't feel the same way." "Well, you don't know until you've asked her," Twilight said. "Just be yourself, and tell her how you feel. I'm pretty sure she feels the same. If she doesn't, though.. well, it's better to find out now than later." Sweetie Belle just kept thinking for a while. "Yeah, I guess you're right," she finally said. A smile suddenly entered her face. "You know what? I'll just go and tell her right now! Thank you so much, Twilight!" And with that, she just got up and trotted off to Sweet Apple Acres, leaving Twilight stunned. > Revelations > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Sweetie Belle just ran out of the castle with a wide smile on her face, in the direction of Sweet Apple Acres. The conversation she had with Twilight motivated her greatly. Now that she knew what exactly her feelings were, she just wanted to go out there and tell Apple Bloom about them, face to face. She just kept running, not looking at anything around her, only focused on getting to Apple Bloom as fast as she can. But her determination fell at an alarming rate with every step she made, and not even halfway out of the town, Sweetie Belle stopped. The smile vanished from her face and she got a little bit panicked again as a very important problem appeared in her head again - What if she doesn't love me back? As Twilight said - she wouldn't find out unless she asks Apple Bloom herself, but she was too afraid to do that. What she needed to do was ask somepony else who Apple Bloom might have told. The first pony she could think of was Applejack, but then she realised that would be out of question, as Applejack and Apple Bloom lived in the same place, and there was a chance that her crush would see her before she was able to ask. She tried to think of someone else Apple Bloom could've told if she had a crush on anypony. A great idea suddenly appeared in her head. "Scootaloo!" - she accidentally screamed out loud from the realisation. Sweetie didn't know why hasn't she thought of this before. The three Crusaders have been friends for more than a year now, and they know each other almost perfectly. Scootaloo would be one of the first ponies Apple Bloom or even herself would confess to if they felt the need to tell someone about their feelings. "Of course!" "Of course what?" Sweetie gasped in surprise, looking around to see the source of the sound that interrupted her thoughts, and calmed down quickly when she saw it was the very pony she was thinking about."Oh, hi, Scoots, didn't see you there," she said. Scootaloo tilted her head. "What? You just called my name." "Oh no, don't mind that, I was just.. talking to myself." Scootaloo gave her a weird, concerned look, but even if Sweetie noticed, she would ignore it, being lost in thought. For a while, Sweetie didn't say anything, instead thinking of what she should say, and a short moment of awkward silence fell upon the two of them. "So, uh, what are you up to?", Scootaloo attempted to stop that silence. "Oh, I was just gonna, um, go visit-- uh, I mean, er.." She was going to say 'visit Apple Bloom', but then she realised Scootaloo would probably take this opportunity to go there with her to play and crusade for cutie marks, which was obviously not what Sweetie Belle wanted to do. Sweetie Belle really hated lying, but she didn't want to offend her friend by telling her she can't go with her. Sweetie quickly avoided the question by changing the subject to what she wanted to ask. "Hey, Scoots, can I ask you something?" Scootaloo looked at her confused. "Uh, sure, what is it?" Sweetie hesitated for a while and then finally opened her mouth. "Do you.. do you maybe happen to know if, uh, if.. Apple Bloom, maybe, has a crush on m- on somepony?", she said, stuttering. Confused even more by the suddenly asked question, Scootaloo stood still for a while, just staring at her friend, and then finally said pretty casually, "I dunno, she never told me. Why?" "Oh, it's.. it's nothing. I was just, um, curious.. i guess," Sweetie Belle said, disappointed. "Well, I, uh, have to go now, so.. bye," she said, and quickly started walking away. Once again, she was out of ideas for ponies she could ask about Apple Bloom's crush, so she just headed in the direction of Sweet Apple Acres to go and confront Apple Bloom herself, though silently hoping she would meet somepony else worth asking on the way. But before she could get too far, she was stopped by Scootaloo's hoof. "Hey, don't pretend I'm some kind of idiot, okay? I know. You're mad for her." "Wh-what? H-how? How did you--" Sweetie Belle's entire face turned red. "You're really not hiding it too well. Pretty much everypony figured it out, though Apple Bloom doesn't seem to want to believe it. If you ask me, she feels it back, but I guess you can't be sure 'till you ask, right?" Sweetie Belle's stunned expression turned into an exprssion of despair, as she grabbed her friend with her front hooves. "Oh, Scoots, what should I do? What do I do?" "Well, I guess that's none of my buisness, but if I were you I'd just tell her. It doesn't hurt, does it?" But Sweetie just looked at the ground. "It does hurt if she says 'no'.." "I'm just saying what I'd do," Scootaloo said, "The longer you wait, the more it will hurt." Sweetie Belle just stood there, taking her time to analise what her friend has just told her, until she finally realised how true that was. Sweetie realised the only way to find out was not trying to ask somepony else, but to just go on, forget about the bad things that could happen and just tell her crush these three words. Grateful for Scootaloo's help, she suddenly hugged her very tight. "Oh, thank you, thank you, thank you so much! I don't know what I would have done without you!" After thanking her a couple more times, she gave her a quick, friendly, full of gratitude, kiss on the cheek, and without a second thought, she once again stormed off in the direction of Apple Bloom's home. Her determination didn't fall that quickly this time, and Sweetie Belle made it all the way to Sweet Apple Acres. As could be expected from an apple farm, apples and apple trees were everywhere around her, easily turning everyone who went through here very hungry. But instead of doing that, the red apples just reminded Sweetie of Apple Bloom's cute red mane, and for a short moment, she just stared into the air, dreaming about her friend. The scent of apples that could be felt everywhere didn't help it either, making Sweetie smile involountairly as she imagined she's standing close to Apple Bloom, hugging her, nuzzling her face into that red mane, feeling that scent coming from all over her beautiful, beautiful body. Her dreams were interrupted by the object of her dreaming itself, as Sweetie Belle opened her eyes to see that the pony she couldn't stop thinking about all day is standing right in front of her, smiling at her, and suddenly she couldn't see anything besides Apple Bloom's face. She just stared at her for a second or two, but Sweetie felt like hours were passing as they were looking into each other's eyes. "Hey, Sweetie Belle!" Sweetie didn't know if it was her friend's cute little accent, or her beautiful voice that made her heart skip a beat every time she said anything to her. "H-hi, Apple Bloom.." Usually she was able to talk with her normally, but the reason she came here for made it difficult to speak, especially to Apple Bloom. Apple Bloom ignored her stuttering completely. "So, why'd ya come?" "Oh, I just.. thought I'd come in for a visit. I mean, you don't mind, do you?" Sweetie Belle tried to remain as calm as she could, but the inevitable revelations that were to come today were making her pretty embarrassed. "No, of course not! Come right in!" Sweetie Belle complied instantly, following Apple Bloom through the gate into the farm, quickly forming a plan of what she will do in her head. Of course, she was not going to just yell "I love you" at her right now, or Apple Bloom might think she's some kind of weird. First, she was just going to spend some nice, friendly time with her, like she does very often, and then, when it gets late, when a more calm and serious moment comes, she will finally tell her. That seemed like the perfect plan. So, just like planned, the two of them spent the day together, talking, laughing, playing, doing all the fun things two fillies can do, and that made Sweetie Belle happy like she nearly never was before. There was no crusading, no Scootaloo, none of the usual things they liked to do all the time, there was just the two of them, sharing the day with each other and having fun. Of course, it's not like Sweetie disliked Scootaloo or all the things the three of them did together, but when she was only with Apple Bloom, it all just felt different. It felt almost magical, just her and the one filly she loved more than anything. And it didn't matter to Sweetie what were they doing, as long as they were close. It was a Saturday, so Apple Bloom didn't have many chores, and the ones she had were already taken care of before she arrived, so they had the whole day just for each other. They spent their time not as the Cutie Mark Crusaders, but as friends, or in this case, something more than friends. They were chatting, running, playing the usual games fillies play, like tag or hide-and-seek, or even dress-up, which Sweetie liked the most, not only because she herself liked to make herself look pretty, but also because it gave her the opportunity to see Apple Bloom wearing cute outfits, they also were drawing, singing, even reading together a little. The farm was big, so they had a lot of space to play. Sweetie Belle wished she could spend every day like this. After a few hours spent on having fun together like this, the two fillies, tired with laughing and playing, they both sat down on a log somewhere near the barn, to rest a little bit and talk with each other. The conversation they had was skittering down at a quick rate, and many moments of silence arose, and though Sweetie didn't really mind them, but she figured that might be a good time to finally tell Apple Bloom what she feels for her. Talking with Twilight and Scootaloo really helped her, and now she didn't feel scared at all. She knew it had to be done, and what happens next didn't matter for now. Sweetie Belle took a few deep breaths and started talking . "Sweetie Belle? ", she was interrupted by Apple Bloom before she even opened her mouth to speak, but then her friend realized her mistake and said," Oh, sorry, did ya wanna say somethin'? " "No, it's okay, " Sweetie said because everything Apple Bloom said was worth listening to for her, but also because she didn't think it was very polite to interrupt her friend like this. "you can speak first." For a short moment Apple Bloom hesitated of she should not just let Sweetie speak first anyway, but seemed to have decided against it. A blush appeared on her cheeks as she slowly opened her mouth and asked a question, the one Sweetie completely didn't expect her to ask. "Who am I to you? " At first, Sweetie Belle couldn't believe her ears. For more than a year , she wondered who she was too Apple Bloom, and she was just about to find out, when suddenly she was asked the very same thing, except opposite - who her crush is to her. And the answer to that was simple - her crush is her crush. But it wasn't the kind of crush little colts and fillies usually have, it was something much, much bigger. If was the kind of love that could last forever. Only now has Sweetie Belle realized that Apple Bloom was the most important thing in her little life, and even if she didn't love her back, she would never forget about these feelings. That thought made Sweetie Belle almost cry from all the emotions, while Apple Bloom was just standing there, waiting, blushing, worried of what answer she might get. But Sweetie knew the answer, only it was so big, so complicated, so beautiful, Sweetie couldn't put it into words. She didn't know what she should say. But she said this : "You're everything to me, Apple Bloom. I know we were always just friends, but I always felt so much more for you, and today I'm finally sure what it is. I love you, Apple Bloom, I love you with all my heart, and I know we're both fillies, but I don't care what anypony thinks or says, I will never stop loving you. I want to see your face, your smile, I want to be next to you all the time, and I.. I just.. " Sweetie Belle started crying from the overdose of all the different feelings before she could finish, but she added through her tears these words:" I just love you so, so much! " Apple Bloom simply stood in front of her, listening to what Sweetie was saying, also getting closer to crying with each one of her words, but to crying of joy. And when Sweetie was finally done, Apple Bloom burst into tears shortly after her, extended her hooves, and pulled Sweetie into a tight hug. That gave Sweetie Belle the answer to ask the things she just said. But, just in case she didn't understand, she said to Sweetie Belle quietly , through her crying, "I love you too. " And so, on a log near the barn, at Sweet Apple Acres, there were two fillies hugging, crying for no reason. > Cuddles > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- The two just sat there, hugging and crying with tears of joy, because they finally were with the ponies they loved with all their hearts, but also with tears of that slight sadness - both of them lived so long, so close to each other, being so madly in love with each other, but neither of them ever dared to admit it. And in this one day, both of them decided to finally confess about it, both at the very same time. And that felt so magical to Sweetie Belle, she just couldn't keep all the different emotions from bursting out in the form of tears. But neither she or Apple Bloom had a real reason to cry, both of them were living one of the happiest moments in their whole young life. Thus, when they calmed down a little bit, the tears stopped at once, while the hugging got even more intense. It took almost half an hour for them to finally stop and pull back, but as soon as they looked at the other's face, they couldn't resist the urge to hug again - and Sweetie Belle could finally nuzzle her face into that cute, red mane, feeling the beautiful scent of apples coming from all over Apple Bloom's body, and from everywhere around them. They just sat there, snuggling close to each other, occasionally whispering sweet words about how happy they are, or how badly in love with the other. Meanwhile, Applejack was walking around the farm, looking for the two fillies to call them for dinner. At first, when she saw her sister snuggling with Sweetie Belle, both blushing and smiling widely with tears still not wiped off their faces, she was surprised, but soon she understood what was happening and the surprise disappeared from her face, replaced by some weird happiness. Not knowing what to do and not wanting to stop the fillies' little happy moment, she just stared at them for a moment, and went back into the barn. Soon, Applejack returned with a few plates full of apples and apple-related dishes and put them on a tree stump near the fillies. Both the girls looked in her direction, and the hugs stopped for a while as they both realized how hungry they were. Before walking away, Applejack walked up to her little sister and whispered into her ear, "I'm so proud of you, Apple Bloom." All Apple Bloom did to react to her big sister's words was blushing even more deeply than before. As the mare walked away, the little fillies finally got out of each other's embrace, and got to eat the food they were both served. The urge to stay as close to each other as they could was too big, though, causing them to keep holding hooves, as Apple Bloom picked up food in her hooves and gently put it in her new girlfriend's mouth, and Sweetie Belle picked up her part of the dinner with her magic and fed it to Apple Bloom, piece by piece. They did so without even looking at the food, just staring into each other's eyes, both giggling softly every time one of them opened her mouth to let a piece of food in. It wasn't a very good and efficient way to eat, but after a longer while the two were finally done with the dinner. Sweetie Belle's emotions were reaching the point point when she was on the verge of exploding with happiness. She pulled Apple Bloom into another tight hug which lasted much shorter than the last one, about a couple seconds, and finally pulled away, then broke the very long silence with the with the words that were now obvious to both of them, yet they both wanted to hear them as they were so magical and so beautiful: "I love you so much!" "I love you too, Sweetie Belle, I love you more than anything!" Apple Bloom's words were as soothing to Sweetie's ears as her own were to Apple Bloom's, and they filled her with so much happiness, that it started being too much to simply handle. Sweetie finally snapped, exploding with a high pitched squeal of joy and basically throwing herself on Apple Bloom, hugging her tightly and rolling with her on the ground. Her new girlfriend soon followed in her steps, screaming loudly as the two started wrestling on the ground together out of pure love. Once they stopped, Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom finally were able to get ahold of themselves, as they got up, smiled at each other, and decided that it's about time for them to go inside, as it was getting pretty dark. Sweetie felt funny. Finally she and Apple Bloom were together, finally they were able to talk with each other without having to hide this beautiful secret. Now that she had absolutely no reason to try and hide her crush from anypony, especially Apple Bloom, she could finally be able to live freely, say or do whatever she wants, not fearing Apple Bloom would hate her because she found out about her crush. As the two of them entered Apple Bloom's room, Sweetie thought about how great this was. If she wanted to tell Apple Bloom she loves her, she could. If she wanted to scream it from the top of her lungs in the middle of Ponyville, she could. If she wanted to just jump at her and kiss her right here, right now... Apple Bloom didn't even have time to react to the sudden feel of Sweetie's lips on her face. Her first reaction was just backing away a few steps and screaming in surprise, but Sweetie Belle grabbed her neck with her hooves, so it was impossible to run away. After the surprise was gone, Apple Bloom understood what was happening and soon responded by putting her tongue in Sweetie's mouth, using all the knowledge she had about kissing to express her love for Sweetie Belle. And so they just stood there, their mouths touching, their tongues dancing, their eyes closed as they kissed each other for what felt like hours until both of them were completely out of breath and their mouths entirely covered in each others drool. Sweetie Belle involuntarily looked through the window. It was dark outside, very dark. She knew she probably has to go home really soon, as Rarity would probably be very worried about her at this point, but she also didn't want to have to leave Apple Bloom even for one little second. She thought that maybe her sister wouldn't care about her being late, given they recently had an argument, but deep inside she knew that she was forgiving and would be sorry for her if she was in any danger. It took Sweetie a moment to realise she doesn't want Rarity's forgiveness. She didn't want to accept her thoughts and got mad at her just for thinking differently. Sweetie thought that, whatever happens, she won't change herself just because her sister wants so. If being in love with Apple Bloom meant being at odds with her sister, she could take that. Apple Bloom was the only thing she needed to be happy. Apple Bloom looked at her in concern, "Y'all okay, Sweetie?" "Yeah, I'm okay.. " Sweetie said quietly, still thinking, but then shook her head and spoke in a more sure tone, "I'm alright, really! Just thought about something, but.. that doesn't matter now." "What did ya think about? Come on, ya can tell me! " Apple Bloom was eager to know, but Sweetie Belle thought her problem with Rarity was sad and difficult, and this was no time to be sad. "It's okay, really. Doesn't matter. " She smiled at Apple Bloom, reassuring her it was nothing to worry about. Then she got a great idea. "Hey, Apple Bloom, you think I could stay here for the night? " "Why? ", Apple Bloom asked immediately. "I mean sure, I'd love to, but why? Is something wrong? Please, y'all can tell me, I love ya! " And that statement made Sweetie Belle realise that hiding anything from Apple Bloom wouldn't be a good idea, especially now that they just so recently admitted their love. She sighed. "I don't want to see Rarity today. She's mad at me. I told her I loved you and she just yelled.. " Sweetie looked away in sadness. "So I can stay, right? " "Sure ya can! I love every minute I get to spend with ya! " Apple Bloom said in a loud, cheerful tone, making Sweetie smile and blush slightly. "I just don't get what made your sister so mad.." "She says I have to marry a rich stallion, and I can't just love whoever I want.. Twilight said it's just some ponies don't like when.. two fillies love each other. " "Really? Why?" Sweetie shrugged at the question, not knowing the answer either. "Well, it's just stupid.. " Sweetie Belle nodded, but then smiled. "But I don't care what Rarity things. I love you anyway. " She gave Apple Bloom a big kiss on the cheek. They both smiled at each other as she pulled back. Apple Bloom then ran to her sister to tell her that Sweetie will stay for the night. Applejack didn't object at all, immediately assuming that Sweetie's parents or sister know about her staying here, and not wanting to deny her little sis time to spend with her new "girlfriend". Apple Bloom's room was much more sleepover-friendly than Sweetie thought. Sure they would have to share a bed, but that was not nearly a problem for either of them. There was enough space in Apple Bloom's bed for both of them. Besides the bed, there was a lot of space to play any kinds of games, as neither of the fillies were tired. Sweetie sat on the bed, surprised at how soft it is. Apple Bloom soon followed her, jumping right on top of her, making both of them roll over to the other side and fall to the ground, as their lips touched and her tongues played. They wrestled each other's tongues, licked the insides of their mouths, tasting their drool, shoving tongues into every last corner to feel each other as much as they could. These tongue movements were actually completely chaotic, as neither of them had an idea what they were doing, and it resembled more some kind of game rather than anything romantic, but all that mattered to the fillies was that it was a way to express their love. This was the only game Sweetie felt like playing at that moment. Some moments later she must have changed her mind because they were playing like this was going to be the last day of her life. Apple Bloom kept a lot of board games in a drawer, which they tried to play, but because both of them would go easy on the other one and cheat to let them win, a better idea would be to just throw the dices and pawns at each other, which they soon did anyway, turning this into a war, but stopping immediately if either of them showed any signs of pain or discomfort. Then they played hide and seek, tag (which ended up to be just running in circles because Apple Bloom's room didn't have THAT much space inside). The fillies were just about a little bit too old to play like this, but with each other they could do whatever they wanted. Apple Bloom kept surprisingly many toys in her room, which they spilled all over the ground and played for what seemed like hours. Then they tried things like truth or dare, or dress-up (which made Sweetie realise that dressing Apple Bloom in a pretty dress made her look even more perfect), and doing whatever things they thought of, occasionally kissing or hugging. And that's how they spent the rest of the day, until they got tired. A knock could be heard in the distance downstairs. The fillies heard Applejack getting up, walking to the door and opening it, to see whoever was inside. the front door wasn't visible from Apple Bloom's window so they just kept quiet and listened, curious as to who would come visit a farm at this hour. Sweetie herself was actually more scared than curious, though, as she was pretty sure she knew who it was. They could barely hear anything, though. "...yeah, she's here.. I thought you let her... " These words made Sweetie shiver in fear. She started hearing hoofsteps, getting closer and closer... The door opened. Behind it stood Applejack, holding the knob, and Rarity right next to her. Sweetie Belle stared at her in fear. But instead of getting mad, Rarity was actually happy to see her. "Sweetie Belle, darling! Here you are! I was afraid something bad happened to you! " Sweetie didn't respond. "Honey, I'm not mad at you anymore, I.. apologize for yelling at you, I simply.. lost my nerve. "These words seemed sincere to Sweetie, so she actually hoped Rarity changed her mind about her loving Apple Bloom. "Now, Sweetie, say goodbye to your friend and let's go home. You will have a sleepover some other time, I promise. Sweetie had no other choice but to comply. She said goodbye to Apple Bloom, without kissing her goodbye in order to not anger her sister any more. She just gave her a sad look and left with her sister. She expected Rarity to break and start yelling as soon as they closed the door, but she didn't. She just went straight home with a legitimate smile on her face, not a smile of victory, but a smile of being glad her little sister is okay. "So... you're not mad?" Sweetie asked. Rarity smiled at her. "Of course not, darling. I apologize for being so angry and I forgive you completely." "Forgive me? " Rarity's tone got slightly more serious. "Sweetie Belle, I believe we talked about this at home. I admit that my statement about you having to be a 'proper lady', and about love not being real might have been a little bit.. out of place, and I actually don't believe that. Of course you're allowed to have any little crushes you like, but I thought I have made it clear that I will not tolerate you being in love with a filly. " Of course, Sweetie thought, this was too good to be true. She however decided to reason with Rarity rather than getting mad immediately. "But.. but.. I can't just stop being in love, just like this.. I don't decide about that!" "Of course not," Rarity said, "And that's why I will help you. Until you find yourself a colt you like, and I'll see that your happy with him you're not allowed to talk to Scootaloo, and I will make sure you won't see her too much. Only for some time, naturally. We'll get rid of that silly.. feelings of yours, and then you can be friends again. I've already discussed it with her parents. " Sweetie was beyond surprised at what she just heard. According to Scootaloo, the entire town knew that Sweetie Belle had a crush on Apple Bloom, so why didn't Rarity know? She realised that Rarity has been oblivious to the fact Sweetie loved Apple Bloom, or even that she was homosexual, until Sweetie admitted it herself. Either it was because she's not bright, or because she was denying it, didn't matter because now Sweetie had a chance and wouldn't waste it. Getting separated from her other friend was bad, but at least she still gets to be with the pony she cares about, it was only a temporary solution anyway. She decided to play along. "Uh, h-how did you know it w-was S-Scootaloo? " It was hard for Sweetie to push these words out, but she didn't regret it. "Sweetie, I'm your sister, and I care about you. I noticed where you went after you left the house, and as soon as I calmed down I went to Twilight to ask her what you talked about with her. She told me that you asked her about your crush. I also have to admit she is the author of that solution to your.. problem." Sweetie Belle made a mental note to thank Twilight as much as she could. They made it home without any more words. Rarity told Sweetie Belle to go to sleep. She didn't object, because she was actually pretty tired. She fell asleep with a smile on her face. While in another room Rarity was internally celebrating her victory over Sweetie Belle, the filly herself knew that in reality she's the one who won this short first battle. Now there's just the whole rest of the war to go. In the meantime she had to get an idea what to do next. Sweetie didn't worry though. Love always wins.