Little Hearts

by StrongBrush1

Rating: everyone
Tags: Pipsqueak, Slice of Life, Babs Seed, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Featherweight, Romance, Cutie Mark Crusaders
Length: 5053

On Hearts and Hooves Day, the Cutie Mark Crusaders try to find dates for the big day. It's not going to be easy, though.

The start of February gets all of the children at Ponyville Elementary in a good mood, no matter what the weather is like, because they know Hearts and Hooves Day is coming up.

The Cutie Mark Crusaders are having a bit of difficulty finding out how dating really works. Applebloom doesn't know what to say, Sweetie Belle doesn't know what to do, and Scootaloo... well, Scootaloo has an entirely different problem.

Published 2015-02-13 22:20:01 UTC
Last updated 2015-02-13 22:20:01 UTC

Little Hearts

It was winter in the little town of Ponyville. Snow fell from the sky and covered the land and trees in a thick white blanket of frost and ice. And walking her way to the schoolhouse, Applebloom wished she could be at home, wrapped in her blanket.

Winter was a tough time of year for the little red-headed filly. Especially February. The season was just a long and unpleasant reminder of days gone by. Her whole family, especially Applejack and Big Macintosh, shared the pain. But poor Applebloom took it the worst.

At least she had something to take her mind off of the season, though. She had been a bit more fond of school ever since she had found two of the best friends she could ever ask for. She still got teased a lot by the uptight kids, but the fact that she and her friends outnumbered her bullies gave her some comfort.

“Hi Applebloom!” called a familiar voice on the other side of the path. It was Sweetie Belle, Applebloom’s friend and fellow ‘Crusader.’

“Howdy, Sweetie Belle!”

“Where’s Scootaloo?”

“If I had to guess, she's inside.”

Scootaloo, the third member of the “Cutie Mark Crusaders” trio, was often the first student to come to class. No one knew why, but nopony questioned it. Scootaloo was pretty secretive about her personal life.

The bell rang, and the two ran inside to get out of the freezing cold. Sure enough, already inside was Scootaloo, ready for class and scooter parked in the corner. “Hey girls!”

“Hi, Scootaloo,” the two chimed back in unison. The girls took their usual spots, right next to each other, front and center. The rest of the students trickled in and their teacher, Miss Cheerilee, trotted up to the board.

“Good morning, my little ponies.”

“Good morning, Miss Cheerilee,” the class chimed back, just like every day.

“Well, children, today is the first of February, and that means Hearts and Hooves Day is coming up!”

The children responded with a resounding “Yay!” Even the students who didn’t have special some-ponies looked forward to Hearts and Hooves Day. Which was good, because few of the students knew anything about having a special somepony.

“Now, I know we’re all excited, but I must remind you that I don’t want anyone in this class to feel left out. So, the girls are going to have to write cards for all the boys, and the boys will have to write cards for all the girls.”

The children became disappointed. They all had an idea of who they wanted to give cards to, but now they were going to have to do extra work.

Scootaloo raised her hoof.

“Yes, Scootaloo?”

“What if we don’t like boys?”

“What do you mean?”

“What if I want to give a card to a girl?”

“Well, I guess you could feel free to do that, but I’d prefer if you gave the boys a chance.”

“Oh. Okay...” She lowered her hoof.

The class’s attention was now focused on Scootaloo. Some looked at her in an odd fashion, some giggled at her, and some didn’t know what to make of it. Applebloom and Sweetie Belle fell into the latter category.

Cheerilee managed to regain the attention of the students and started the lesson for the day. It was multiplication and division. The majority of the class sighed and slumped their heads on the desk, but Applebloom was ready. Despite their rural background, most of the ponies in her family were excellent at math, and she was no exception.

As the clocked ticked by, the class took the time to start thinking about Hearts and Hooves Day. The Cutie Mark Crusaders were especially hopeful. Maybe, they thought, this is the year I finally find a special somepony.

Outside on the playground, the kids ran around in the snow and talked to each other about the upcoming holiday. But there was still something bothering Scootaloo, and her friends were curious about what the problem was. “Are you feeling alright, Scoots?” asked Applebloom.

“I feel stupid,” she answered, banging her head against a nearby tree.

“Come on, the lesson wasn’t that complicated-”

“I’m not talking about the math. I’m talking about what I said.”

“What about it?” interjected Sweetie Belle.

“I made myself look like an idiot in front of the class.”

“No you didn’t, you just asked a weird question is all.”

“It wasn’t a weird question,” said Applebloom. “My sister says a lot of girls in our family like girls. And my cousin Braeburn likes boys, too.”

“Wait, what? How does that happen?”

“I don’t know. Granny Smith doesn’t like it when I ask about this kind of thing. She says I’m too young to know.”

“That’s too bad.”

“Uh oh,” said Scootaloo. “Speaking of too bad, here comes trouble.” Sure enough, approaching the three fillies were the class alphas. Diamond ‘Dazzle’ Tiara and her second-in-command Silver Spoons had been mean to the three since day one.

“Having a good time, lovebirds?” snarked Diamond.

“We’re not lovebirds,” defended Applebloom, “we’re just trying to help her feel better.”

“Because that’s different.”

“It is!” yelled Sweetie Belle.

“Whatever. It’s just as well, seeing as she’ll never be able to get a coltfriend.”

“She could if she wanted to.”

“Oh please. None of you even know the first thing about colts.”

“And you do?” responded Applebloom.

“You’re cute when you try to act all grown up. Come on Silver, let’s ditch these blank-flank losers and hang out with somepony cool.” Head held high and toady in tow, Diamond trotted off.

“I don’t like her attitude.”

“She’s just trying to make us mad. Don’t let her get to you,” remarked Sweetie Belle.

“Maybe we could prove her wrong,” pointed out Scootaloo.

“Pardon?” asked Applebloom.

“You were right. We could all get dates if we wanted. So why don’t we go get them?”

“But who would we ask?” pointed out Sweetie Belle.

“Just start talking to whoever catches your eye.”

“This seems like a bad idea. And we’ve had some bad ideas before.”

“Yeah, but we’re not talking about scuba diving or taffy here.”

“I’m not sure if this will work, Scoots,” said Applebloom, a little nervous.

“Come on! We won’t know unless we try.”

The other two considered this and decided that Scootaloo was right. If they didn’t start now, how would they ever find someone they liked?

“Alright,” said Applebloom, ”but we’re going to have to be discrete about it.”

“Discrete?”

“It means we’ve got to be quiet about it,” clarified Sweetie Belle.

“Okay, fine.”

The three gathered in a circle and whispered ”Cutie Mark Crusaders Date Finders!” before going off on their separate ways to... well, find their dates.

Applebloom decided she would try to find someone she knew and liked a lot. That would save her a lot of time getting acquainted and familiar with them. Her target was the colt she knew the best: Featherweight.

Featherweight was one of the first ponies in his class to get a cutie mark. It wasn’t hard to see why, because he was one of the best journalists in town, even at such a young age. He was rarely seen without his prized camera, and he took pictures all over town for the School paper. He was also the editor-in-chief of said paper.

Once Applebloom found him, out near the forest’s edge, she attempted to come up and talk to him. But, he was so engrossed in his work that he didn’t notice her until about two minutes later.

“Hello? Featherweight? Can you hear me?”

He turned around. “Oh! Hey, Applebloom. What are you doing out here?”

“I’m just, uh... taking a walk. What about you?”

“I’m taking pictures for tomorrow’s paper. It’s supposed to snow a lot tonight and I want to get a picture of the landscapes before they get covered again.”

“That sounds nice.” Applebloom paused for a moment. She pondered how to say the next question. “Do you mind if I... go with you?”

“Not at all. It’ll be nice to have someone to talk to.”

Applebloom smiled. She had taken the first step. Now all she had to do was keep going.

Featherweight and Applebloom made their way through the woods. While they walked, Featherweight took pictures of almost everything he came across. Applebloom wanted to talk to him, but she was nervous about interrupting him.

She wondered how her parents met. She didn’t have much time to know them after… no. She couldn’t think about that right now. She tried to think about something else, but nothing came to mind. This would be much tougher than she thought.

Sweetie Belle knew that she could have her pick of the colts in class if she wanted. The only problem was, she had trouble finding one she liked.

Truffle was nice, but not that bright.

Rumble was still in the mindset that girls had cooties.

She would have asked Featherweight, but she decided he wasn’t her type. She was dangerously low on options.

She decided to sing a little song to pass the time on the playground. Sometimes, when she got bored, she would sing to herself. It usually cheered her up, but somehow it wasn’t doing its job today. She sat by the tree and sang with her voice kept soft and her head kept low.

“You know,” said a nearby voice, “you’re a fantastic singer.” Sweetie Belle looked over and noticed her neighbor Pipsqueak standing next to her.

“Hi, Pipsqueak.”

“Please, call me Pip.”

“Okay.”

Pip noticed that Sweetie was looking a little down. “What’s wrong?”

“I’ve been trying to think about who I want to be my special somepony for Hearts and Hooves Day, but I can’t think of anypony right now.”

“Well, that’s too bad. I haven’t been having much luck either.”

Sweetie became confused again. “You haven’t? Why not?”

“I don’t know. The fillies say I’m weird, since I’m not from around here.” Pipsqueak was from Trottingham, but had moved to Ponyville more than a year and a half ago. You could tell his voice from anypony else in class with ease, because of his accent. Sweetie never thought that Pip was all that weird. In fact, she liked his voice.

She paused for a second and a light went on in her head. She felt a little dumb now. How could she have forgotten about Pip in the first place? “You know, I don’t think you’re weird.”

“You don’t?”

“Yeah. To be honest, I think you’re kinda…” she took a breath before saying the next word. “...cute.” She blushed a bit.

Pip blushed and smiled at Sweetie. Nopony had ever called him cute before. It felt embarrassing, but still nice. “Thank you.”

Sweetie Belle started to have an internal panic attack. She didn’t know what to do next. Had she been too forward? Did she say something wrong? What now? She decided to hold her tongue until the moment passed.

Pip was feeling a little awkward too. Should he have said something else? How did romantic conversation work? He tried again. “Do you want to… go on the swings?”

Sweetie Belle calmed down a bit. This was going better than she thought it would. “Yes.”

The two young ponies made their way to the swings. Both of them were empty, so they went over and sat down. The two young ponies started swinging back and forth at a slow pace, looking at each other but not sure what to say. Sweetie Belle was beginning to worry that she would never be ready for a coltfriend. But, she stuck it out and smiled at Pip, trying not to worry.

Scootaloo wandered around the playground looking at the other fillies. They were all either busy talking with colts or looking at her like she had a third eye. She didn’t know what was wrong with her, but for some reason she had never liked colts the way that other fillies did. That’s why she had never written any colt a Hearts and Hooves Day card.

She wandered the playground, hoping that any filly would sympathize with her. But everywhere she went, they either laughed or looked away. Scootaloo felt pretty bad about herself.

She was already enough of an outcast. Now, on top of being a blank-flank and a flightless pegasus, she was something else that she didn’t even know the right word for. Her only three friends were Applebloom, Sweetie Belle, and Applebloom’s cousin Babs in Manehatten. And none of them quite understood what she was going through at that moment.

The school bell rang. Scootaloo moped back into the schoolhouse and took her seat. Her friends soon joined her, but none of them said a word. They just sat and listened while Ms. Cheerilee talked about snow and how the pegasi made it. The trio's first attempts could have gone better. Applebloom was unsure, Sweetie Belle was nervous, and Scootaloo was just upset. February was not off to a good start.

After school ended, the Crusaders met up and discussed the results of their first attempts at getting a date.

“Well,” said Scootaloo, “how did you two do?”

“I talked to Featherweight for a bit,” said Applebloom, a look of confusion on her face, “but… I’m not sure how he feels about me. I took a walk with him near Whitetail Woods though.”

“I think Pipsqueak might like me,” said Sweetie Belle, blushing, “but I’m not sure what to say to him. I don’t know how this works. What about you, Scootaloo?”

Scootaloo just hung her head and sighed. “Nothing. None of the girls in class even want to talk to me.”

“I ain’t sure if we’re doing this right,” said Applebloom.

“Maybe we should ask somepony for advice,” said Sweetie Belle. “Like my sister.”

“What about my sister?”

“Or Rainbow Dash,” said Scootaloo.

“You ask her about everything,” said Sweetie Belle.

“Maybe we can ask all of them at once!” said Applebloom.

“What are the odds that my sister and yours will just happen to be hanging out with Rainbow Dash in a nearby place?”

“Well, pretty slim, but it’s worth a shot, ain’t it?”

Miraculously enough, the trio did run into their older counterparts in Ponyville, at Sugarcube Corner of all places.

“Oh, hey kids!” said Rainbow Dash, partaking in a mug of root beer.

“How are you all doing today?” asked Rarity, sipping her tea.

“Not well,” replied Scootaloo.

“Why not?” asked Applejack.

“We’re terrible at dating,” said Applebloom.

The three mares, all of whom had in-depth experience with the opposite gender, started thinking of ways to make the children feel better.

“It’s not so bad. Maybe you just haven’t met the right colts yet,” said Rarity.

“But I really like Pip!” said Sweetie Belle.

“And I like Featherweight!!” said Applebloom. “We know who we want, we just don’t know how to tell them.”

“Well,” said Rainbow Dash, “knowing who you like is a start. If you know who you want to be your coltfriend, just talk to them. Do things you enjoy, ask them questions. They won’t bite you.”

“But we don’t know what to do, or say to them,” said Sweetie Belle.

“Maybe y’all just need to spend more time together,” said Applejack. “Tell you what. On Saturday we’ll have a little playdate, and y’all can invite your friends over.”

Applebloom cheered up a little. This was a plan. Having plans was good. “That sounds great! Is it okay if we have it at the barn?”

“I don’t see why not,” said Rarity. “Perhaps a rendezvous in the country will help endear them to you.”

Applebloom and Sweetie Belle were happier, but Scootaloo was still upset.

“What’s wrong, squirt?” asked Rainbow Dash. “On Saturday you get to spend the day with your coltfriend! Doesn’t that cheer you up?”

“I don’t have a coltfriend,” replied Scootaloo.

“Don’t worry, I’m sure you will someday.”

“But… I don’t like colts…”

The three mares were surprised by this turn of events. “Oh boy… I better take this outside. Give us a minute.” Rainbow Dash escorted her young unofficial sister outside to have a personal talk.

Rainbow took a breath. “So, when you say you don’t like colts… You mean, you don’t like them like other fillies do?”

Scootaloo nodded. “Yep.”

“So, would you say you like fillies better than colts?”

Scootaloo nodded, but said nothing.

“Would you say… you like fillies the way some other fillies like colts?”

Scootaloo started tearing up.

“It’s nothing to be ashamed of. I’m just asking. Is this really how you feel?

Scootaloo painfully nodded.

“Okay. Listen. I understand that you’re probably scared, or confused. But you’re not weird because you like girls. A lot of fillies are like you.”

“Not the ones I know.”

“Listen, Scootaloo. If I have to be honest with you, love isn’t easy. Sometimes you have to spend forever looking for it. Some ponies never find it. But even if they don’t, it’s not the end of the world. Love isn’t something you plan for. Sometimes it just happens. And maybe you’ll get lucky. Maybe some day you’ll meet a nice girl who likes you the way you like her.”

Scootaloo had tears in her eyes.

“Listen to me. You will be fine. If anyone ever tries to waste their time trying to bring you down, that’s their loss and not yours. Never let them get to you.”

Scootaloo was still feeling down. “Did you ever feel like this?”

“Like what? Sad, dejected, lonely? I’ve been through that more times than I’d like to admit. And if there’s anything I’ve learned from it, it’s that beating yourself up doesn’t help. But you know what does?”

“What?”

Dash grinned. “Smiling.”

Scootaloo slowly started to do just that. “Thanks for talking to me.”

“My pleasure, Scoots. I’m sure a filly like you will have no problem getting a filly-friend. Maybe not by Hearts and Hooves Day, but eventually.”

Scootaloo took comfort in this notion, but was still a little disappointed that she still had no idea who could be her special somepony.

At recess the next day, Applebloom sat by a tree and looked at Featherweight, who was busy with his camera as always. She wondered what she could say to him that would charm him, or at least make him interested. Sometimes she wished her parents were around to help her understand this stuff.

She wiped the look of anxiety from her face and attempted to appear happy. It was a challenge to do so, but she managed to smile for the sake of appearing nonchalant.

“Hi, Featherweight,” she said, trying not to act weird.

Once again the young pegasus turned around and saw a yellow filly with a red mane looking at him. “Oh, hey Applebloom. How are you?”

Applebloom was not feeling alright. She was on the verge of an anxiety attack, the loss of her parents was still very much on her mind, and she was embarrassed because up to 10 kids could be watching her every move right now. “I’m alright. How about you?”

Featherweight considered it for a moment. “I’m good.” Featherweight paused and studied Applebloom’s worrisome expression. “Are you feeling okay? You seem nervous.”

“Sorry. I feel a bit awkward about yesterday.”

“Oh, yeah. Don’t worry about that. It was nice of you to keep me company. I really appreciated that.”

“Thanks. I’m sorry I didn’t talk much.”

“It’s no problem, it’s no problem…”

An awkward silence followed. Applebloom felt stupid at first, but after thinking for a few seconds, she realized something. They were both nervous. This didn’t eliminate the tension, but it gave her the strength to continue talking.

Applebloom bit her lower lip. “Can I ask you something?”

“Sure you can. Why wouldn’t you?”

“Well, I wanted to ask if maybe… you could come over to my house on Saturday?”

Featherweight was a bit surprised by this offer. “You want me to come over? Why?”

“I don’t know, I just… I feel like I didn’t talk to you enough yesterday.”

“Well, to be fair, that was probably on me. I get really focused when I use this camera.”

“No, no, don’t worry, it’s not a problem.” Applebloom paused for a second and continued. “So, you want to come over?”

“...Sure. When?”

“Well, the plan was for around noon, until three. That work for you?”

“Yeah. So, see you at noon?”

“Yeah, great! See you then.”

Applebloom waved goodbye and walked off. I did it! she thought to herself.

Sweetie Belle walked up to Applebloom. “How did it go, Applebloom?”

“It went great. He’s coming over!”

“That’s awesome.”

“So, what about Pipsqueak? Is he coming?”

“Yeah!. He seems a bit nervous about it, but he says he’d be happy to come.!”

“Great. Where’s Scootaloo?”

“Over by the tree. She’s just… sitting there.”

Applebloom sighed. “I feel kind of bad.”

“Why?”

“We’re going to be spending the day with our possible future coltfriends and Scootaloo will just be stuck hanging out with my cousin Babs.”

“You invited Babs?”

“No, my sister did. I just agreed to it because I didn’t want her to feel left out.”

“I’m sure she and Scootaloo will find something to talk about. Maybe she’ll have an even better time than we will.”

“... maybe you’re right. She might enjoy herself.”

Saturday came around and the CMC seemed to be getting closer and closer to their goal. In order to prepare, the girls had brushed up on romantic tactics with their respective sisters. Applebloom took a few lessons in showing confidence from Applejack, and Rarity helped Sweetie Belle gain an air of elegance. Scootaloo, meanwhile, did some exercises in flirtation with Rainbow Dash, which though helpful, made them both uncomfortable.

Featherweight came to the barn early, so Applebloom wasted no time starting up a chat with him.

“...and then I found out that the lens cap was still on. I felt a little stupid, but I just took the cap off and snapped another set of photos as quickly as I could. They turned out to be some of the best work I’ve ever done.”

“Sounds like quite an event.”

“Oh, believe me, it was. I couldn’t believe my own eyes when I saw the princesses together for the first time in centuries!” Applebloom nodded and smiled. “I’m sorry for yammering so much. I just get really excited-”

“Don’t worry about it. I’m sure if I could do the cool stuff you do I’d NEVER stop talking about it.” Featherweight grinned. Applebloom looked down at her flank, still as bare as the day she was born. She wondered if she would ever find her special talent.

“Well, what do you like to do?”

Applebloom looked confused. “Me?”

“Yeah, what do you enjoy doing?”

“Well, I’m really good at math, and I know how to handle building tools… I’ve helped rebuild stuff in the barn a few times. Granny Smith says one day I might be able to build my own home from scratch, but I don’t know about that...”

“That’s neat. You must be really smart.”

Applebloom blushed. “Can I ask you a question?”

“What is it?”

“Well, I really like you. In fact, I think I might… love you. I feel a bit stupid for asking, but… will you be my special somepony?”

Featherweight sat for a moment and thought. “Is that why you invited me over? To ask me if you wanted to be special someponies with me?”

Applebloom sighed. “...yeah.”

“You know, all you had to do was ask and I would have said yes.”

Applebloom’s mood picked up considerably. “Really?”

“Really. And you know what? The answer’s still yes.” The two shared a quick kiss. For both of them, it was a first. And it felt great.

Sweetie Belle, Pipsqueak, Scootaloo and the others arrived right on time, at noon. Their first image upon entering the barn was Applebloom embracing Featherweight.

“Well, I guess congratulations are in order,” said Sweetie Belle.

The two young ponies were embarrassed, but they got over the embarrassment quickly.

“Alright, Sweetie Belle, you and your friends have fun. Rainbow Dash and I are going to meet up with Applejack.”

Applejack entered almost immediately afterward, with her cousin Babs Seed in tow. “Alright, youngin’s. Rainbow Dash, Rarity and I and gonna go have a personal chat, and we’ll be leaving you on your own for just a little while. Have fun, kids, and don’t burn the barn down.”

AJ and her friends left, chatting about recent events and upcoming get-togethers. Babs walked up to Scootaloo and the two looked at each other as if there was a mutual understanding of what was going on.

“No date for Hearts and Hooves, huh?” asked Babs.

“Yeah,” said Scootaloo.

“Me neither.”

“That sucks.”

Sweetie Belle and Pipsqueak went outside to be alone together. It was cold, but they barely noticed because they were busy singing duets, smiling at one another all the while.

“You sound wonderful,” said Sweetie Belle. “I wish I could sing as well as you do.”

“Are you kidding? You sound way better than I do.”

Sweetie Belle thought about what to say next. “...I’ve got a question for you.”

“What is it?”

“Do you ever feel… left out?”

“Left out of what?”

“You know, like nopony pays attention to you, or seems to notice you…”

“I get that a lot, actually. I’ve never really fit in perfectly, but, you know, there’s always somepony on my side. Whether it’s Rumble, or Featherweight, or… you.

Sweetie Belle decided to pull out the stops. “You know, I wanted to ask you something… Something personal.”

Pipsqueak blushed a little. “I think I know where this is going.”

“You do?”

“It’s almost Hearts and Hooves Day. I don’t have a special somepony, neither do you, we both like each other a lot… if this isn’t leading up to us becoming fillyfriend and coltfriend, then there’s something I’m missing.”

“So, you really want to be my coltfriend?”

“Of course I do.” The two smiled at each other, and shared a quick kiss.

Afterwards, there was a brief silence. “So, what now?”

“Maybe we could keep singing.”

“Okay, know any good songs?”

“Well, have you ever heard ‘Did I Say That Out Loud’?”

While Applebloom and Sweetie Belle connected with their coltfriends, Scootaloo sat in the barn with Babs, cursing her different tastes.

“What’s the matter?” asked Babs, in her thick Manehatten accent.

“I’m a weirdo, that’s what’s the matter.”

“How so?”

“I… don’t know how to explain it.”

Babs looked at Scootaloo. “Ohhh. I bet I know what it is.”

“What do you think it is?”

“It’s almost Hearts and Hooves Day. Romantic troubles. You can’t get a special somepony, and it bothers you that you can’t. Forgive me for guessing, but is it because you have… different tastes?”

Scootaloo frowned and nodded.

“Well, what do you know. I guessed right.”

.”None of the girls in my grade like girls the way I do. I don’t think I’ll ever find anypony who’s like that.”

Babs bit her lower lip. “You… already have.”

Scootaloo turned towards Babs. “Wait, you mean you…”

“I had the exact same problem back in Manehatten. I never mentioned it to anyone here because I didn’t want to deal with the same situation.”

“It’s tough, isn’t it?”

“Yeah, it is.”

Scootaloo decided to ask a dangerous question. “So, out of curiosity… are there any cute girls you like here?”

Babs decided to just answer the question. “Well, you’re kinda cute, to be honest. Kinda spunky. Nice wings, too.”

Scootaloo blushed. “Thanks. You’re pretty cute too...”

Babs smiled. “Thanks.”

Scootaloo realized something. Maybe, just maybe, she could find a special somepony by Hearts and Hooves Day as well. “I know this seems kinda sudden but, would you like to be my fillyfriend?”

Babs was a bit surprised, but considering the circumstances… “Ah, what the hay. Come here.” The two fillies went in for a kiss. It was the craziest thing either of them had attempted, but they enjoyed every second of it.

Or at least they would have if the opening doors hadn’t interrupted. Applebloom, Featherweight, Sweetie Belle and Pipsqueak were amazed at the sight before them.

“Did you just kiss my cousin?” asked Applebloom.

“Well, that’s a sight to behold,” said Featherweight.

“Applebloom, this IS what it looks like,” said Scootaloo.

After another two and a half hours of playground romance, Applejack and co. returned to bring the respective kids home. Everyone said their goodbyes and traded addresses so they could write each other some love letters and maybe come over some time. After the crowd cleared away, Applebloom talked to AJ.

“Did you and the girls have fun?” asked AJ.

“We sure did. Scootaloo even found herself a fillyfriend for Hearts and Hooves Day!.”

“That’s incredible! What about Babs?”

“She found a fillyfriend too!”

The wires in AJ’s brain connected. “Oh… I guess Scootaloo might come over more often now, huh?”

“Yep, probably. Did you have fun with Rarity and Rainbow Dash.”

“Oh, the girls were a riot, as usual.” AJ checked her internal clock. “ If you’ll excuse me, I gotta go cook dinner before it gets late..”

Applebloom thought about the winter outside. “AJ?”

Applejack stopped and turned around. “Yes?”

“I’ve been thinking lately. About Mom and Dad.”

AJ sighed. No one in her family was still fully recovered from the loss, but she had tried her best to move past it. “Listen, Applebloom. Don’t worry about Mom and Dad. They led good lives.They loved you very much. Sometimes, life throws you for a loop, and it seems confusing. But you can get through this. I know you can. Because you’re an Apple. You’re strong, tough, and the brightest of the bright. You have a good life. Make the best of it.”

Applebloom smiled. “Thanks AJ.”

While Applejack continued with her prior task of making dinner Applebloom thought about everything that just happened. In spite of everything they had to go through regularly, she and her friends were capable of doing things that seemed unreal. They had good friends, ponies looking out for them, and a promising future ahead of them. All in all, life was good fr the CMC.