The sun was up in the sky and every pony with a little bit of sense on their head was at home, resting. Only Ditzy was flying through the air, in a zig zag pattern as she wobbled, almost as if drunk. The fillies and colts of Ponyville elementary were not at home, at least yet, they were doing school work, even if they didn’t really feel like it. It was, after all, what they had to do, learn all the necessary stuff they’d need for life and also learn mathematics. Cheerilee was doing her best to put the information that she had learned a long time ago in the minds of the small fillies and colts. Most of them were at least paying a little bit of attention, one filly, however, was not. The name of that Filly? Apple Bloom, Apple Bloom was thinking in other things, more specifically and weirdly enough...in love. It was a thing her young mind couldn’t even begin to fully understand. She knew the basics, of course, that whenever a colt liked a filly or a filly liked a colt they felt butterflies in their stomach, and they would jump around, almost flying (and in the case of the pegasi, even flying), that they would feel an extreme joy whenever they were close to that special pony they liked. The thing was....she couldn’t understand how a change could happen that would ...well change everything about a pony, how they talked, how they looked, how they acted....She sighed, lately everypony around her had started dating, even her sister! But all Apple Bloom thought about now was love, and her cutie mark. But that was another story entirely.
The only thing that made her burden of not having a special somepony was that her friends, Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo, hadn’t found neither a special pony nor their cutie marks. It was a small solace, but a solace nonetheless. She sighed again, she should probably pay attention to class, she didn’t want to get in trouble. Not paying attention in class was a big no no, one that would give her big trouble.
Between the small wooden desks a small paper was being passed around, a note, probably. Apple Bloom smiled, the truth was it would be nice dating, walk around with the pony she was dating all over Ponnyvile, kissing and hugging and snuggling. It would be fun, but unfortunately she couldn’t do a thing about that. She couldn’t control her heart (as she had learned in class) and nor could she control who she fell in love with.
Cheerilee was a good teacher, patient and kind, she could, however, tell whenever a student of hers wasn’t paying enough attention and, at that moment, she had noticed some were not paying her enough attention. There were some that were already common in not paying attention, Diamond Tiara and her friend Silver Spoon, as well as Button and Pipsqueak and Rumble, but there were also a few that surprised them, Apple Bloom, in particular. She seemed not to be paying much attention, which was odd, considering she normally was one of the most concentrated and focused students. Was she thinking of her cutie mark again? Cheerilee had already told her it would come in time, just to confirm her suspicions she decided to test Apple Bloom.
“Ah Apple Bloom, my dear? Could you tells us what we were talking about just in the last few minutes?”
Apple Bloom blushed, her face becoming the color of her mane, a shade of almost red pink. Behind her some voices laughed at her, making fun of her, not knowing what to do, Apple Bloom lightly mumbled...
“I hum...I don’t know, I’m sorry, I wasn’t paying enough attention! Please don’t do anything!” Her eyes dilated in a look of pure innocence. Miss Cherilee smiled and said, in a relaxing tone that calmed Apple Bloom.
Apple Bloom nodded but, despite the warning, she continued being distracted throughout all the class, was asking her heart for a little bit of love from someone too much? Was it?
As the class took its course, so did Apple Bloom’s frustration, always increasing. Apple Bloom had never been the most patient of ponies and, even if she had the notion that it was a little bit silly of her to feel that way, she couldn’t help it. Just thinking about love (something she couldn’t help but do) she felt herself get more and more flustered. She knew she had plenty of time to find it, eventually, but her thoughts always returned to the same topic, love, love, love. She was already feeling tired, and her irritability was bordering on the maximum so when Diamond Tiara threw a paper at her, instead of ignoring it like she knew she should, she ripped a page from her notebook, picked her writing tools and drew a not so flattering picture of Diamond Tiara. Which she threw back at her, right into her face. The teacher seeing that, had to intervene. She approached Diamond Tiara and asked for the paper. Saying:
“What’s that girls, were you exchanging notes? What do they contain?”
Diamond Tiara gave the ripped out page to Miss Cheerilee, as Miss Cheerilee saw the contents of the note, her eyes widened in a comical manner and her eyes saw a brief fit of rage, which she quickly suppressed.
Sure, the little love notes she doesn’t see, but when I do something bad she jumps at it! Apple Bloom bitterly thought.
“What’s in that note?” One of the smaller ponies asked.
Miss Cheerilee made her best effort to smile
“Nothing important, but I do want both Apple Bloom and Diamond Tiara to stay in after class.” Cheerilee ripped the paper in shreds and put them in the rubbish bin. “Now off to work! Lets finish this!”
Apple Bloom and Diamond Tiara looked at one another, hateful glares emitting from their faces.
The girls waited for the bell to ring, Silver Spoon looked at her “friend” and Scootaloo and Sweetie looked at her friend too
“I hope she'll be alright”
“Do you want to wait for her?”
“Nah, we’ll meet her at the clubhouse! Come on”
Silver Spoon also left, as both girls approached the teacher , they both knew they had done wrong, but neither one of them wanted to admit that in front of the other. Apple Bloom had already begun feeling embarrassed about her actions. But she couldn’t admit it in front of her! The teacher exchanged looks with both of them before starting reprimanding them.
“Honestly girls, you’re already big fillies, you’re maturing, to tell you the truth! You have to behave like the big ponies you two are, you are not foals, are you? I mean...you...you two are both fillies with plenty of talents, and who could honestly learn a lot from each other. Why won’t you two, instead of fighting, causing me trouble and give me work every single day, become friends? I’m sure with a little effort you’d be capable of that, right?
Yeah Right! Apple Bloom thought with disdain , but she didn’t say a thing.
“Besides that Apple Bloom, there was something wrong with you today in class, no matter how many time I called your attention for not paying attention, you kept getting distracted, not paying any attention, did something happen?”
Apple Bloom moved her head from side to side, indicating that nothing had happened.
“So why not try to pay more attention tomorrow? I mean, if nothing is happening then I don’t see why you were so distracted, is this about your cutie mark again? I told you it will come in time. Now you can go home.” She shifted her eyes to Tiara. “As for you Diamond, everything I said to Apple Bloom also applies to you. Now go home and think, I don’t want to hold you after class anymore!”
Apple Bloom looked down, brushed her hooves in the ground and started walking, she was ashamed of her attitude, how would she get someone to like her if she was like that? She started walking but stopped when realized that Tiara had been staring at her from the doorway for the past two minutes.
“What do you want Tiara? Why are you looking at me like that?”
Tiara was quick on her answer, with the usual nastiness?
“ME? Looking at you? Ha! I wasn’t looking at you! What, does your lack of cutie mark also brings lack of vision?”
Apple Bloom blushed but she too, was quick to answer.
“I saw you look at me! Don’t be a liar! Tell me, what do you want, exactly?”
“It’s just....have you ever thought about love?”
Apple Bloom looked at the other filly surprised, he question had surprised her, she hadn’t ever thought that the other filly could have such....deep feelings. This was her main enemy she was talking about! Well, maybe not her enemy, but at least her rival. Should she answer? She decided to be mysterious about it and answer with a “Maybe”.
Tiara hesitated, she looked at the eyes of the yellow filly before answering.
“It’s just....can’t you see it?”
“See what?”
Tiara almost had her courage shattered in pieces. But she had to do this, she just had to.
“Have you ever felt like you really really really liked someone, and you want to be nice to her and date her and cuddle and stuff, but the only you find yourself able to get a response back is through being mean to them? Because even if they answer you with a leave me alone, they’d still be answering? And then it gets to a point where you have to pretend not to like her...I mean the pony because you have to keep up the lie? That you dislike that pony? IT really sucks!
Apple Bloom blinked, as she too looked. Diamond Tiara was nervously laughing, ready to call it all a bluff. Her eyes looked at her hooves again as she approached to a safe distance, not exactly knowing what she was doing.
“So....you’re not really all that bad. At least now I know you have feelings! No matter how weird they may be. Maybe we can be friends, in the future, if you stop the teasing, and help get us our cutie marks.”
Diamond Tiara approached Apple Bloom until her faces were inches apart, making Apple Bloom feel a little bit uncomfortable, but what she did afterwards was even more uncomfortable to Apple Bloom. She kissed her.
At the start of the kiss Apple Bloom hadn’t even realized what was happening, she was just there, their muzzles touching, but when Diamond Tiara tried to put her tongue in her mouth, she had to react. She pushed herself back, and, doing so, made Diamond tiara fall on top of her.
Tiara felt her face redden, as she quickly got of the top of Apple Bloom, who was just too stunned to answer, For a few minutes, at least.
When she finally recovered from shock Apple Bloom looked at Diamond Tiara, who glanced back at her, with apologetic gestures. She had been impulsive but at least she had managed to show how she really felt to Apple Bloom. Even if it was just a kiss.
Apple Bloom’s brain was a little slow to process things.
“Does that mean you like me?”
Diamond Tiara scoffed .
“Well, obviously! I don’t just go around kissing other ponies, now, do I?
Apple Bloom still could feel the taste of the other filly’s lips on her own lips, and she wasn’t sure she liked it very much. It was a peculiar taste, one she wasn’t used to. But one that, if she had to repeat having on her mouth, she’d get used to.
“I...I guess not.”
“So...what do you say? Can you give me...no, us a chance? “
Apple Bloom wondered if dating Diamond Tiara was what she really wanted in life, dating her own bully? Who could imagine what she was like just between the two of them? Diamond eyes were begging and she was murmuring a soft “please” over and over and over. And in the end she choose to say yes. She couldn’t say she wasn’t, if not in love, at least fascinated by that filly. But she had two conditions to impose. Number one, that she would stop bullying her and her friends, and everyone else entirely. Number two, that she would help them get their cutie marks. Diamond gladly accepted
And, in the end, that was all that mattered, no doubt their relationship would be rocky, but, with the love of Tiara and the fascination that soon enough turned into caring and love, of Apple Bloom. Their relationship survived even the strongest hardships.
.
