Blooming Passions

Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo were all walking to school together, like they usually did. Sweetie glanced over towards Apple Bloom, and it was plain to see that her friend was looking a little down. She looked over towards Scootaloo, and the pair shared a worried look. “Apple Bloom?” Sweetie finally gathered the courage to say. The little yellow filly lifted her head to look silently at the unicorn. “Are you ok?” She finished.

Scootaloo’s eyes widened, and her step faltered, as she had not been expecting Sweetie to broach the subject. She recovered, before she too glanced at their companion. “Yeah Apple Bloom, why do you look so down?”

Apple Bloom blinked, and looked up. “Dance class…” she spoke up quietly, before returning her gaze to the ground at her hooves.

“What?” Sweetie gaped in confusion, “I thought you liked dance class,”

“Ah do like it,” Apple Bloom reassured, giving them a small smile. “Dancin’ is really fun.”

“Then what’s the problem?” Scootaloo questioned, raising an eyebrow at her friend.

Before the filly could answer, the bell to the school rang, and her head shot up. “Tell ya later, promise; now come on or we’re gonna be late again!” The three fillies shot off down the dirt path towards the schoolhouse. Out of breath, the trio pushed through the door just as Miss Cheerilee began at the top of the roll-call. “Apple Bloom?”

“Ah’m… Here…!” she huffed as she trotted to her desk and took a seat.

The older school-mare held a stern look to the three fillies as they nervously shuffled to their desks. “Girls, you were late again. If you do it a third time this month, I will need to contact your families and let them know this is becoming an issue. Am I understood?”

“Yes Miss Cheerilee…” The fillies replied in unison, hanging their heads guiltily before she continued with the roll. The fillies and colts around them snickered in amusement, causing them to blush in embarrassment.

Roll-call went by quickly, and soon Miss Cheerilee dove into today’s history lesson. Usually, Apple Bloom would’ve enjoyed it, but right now her thoughts were preoccupied; her mind kept replaying what that one student had told her in dance class. She knew he was right, and that it shouldn’t bother her, but somehow all that did was make her feel worse. She sighed, her ears pinned back, and she was oblivious to her friends’ worried gazes.

She was so absorbed in her thoughts that she jumped upon hearing a very loud and very close bang. Almost falling out of her seat, she looked up to see a hoof had been slammed down in front of her on the desk. She looked sheepishly up at an angry Cheerilee. “Miss Bloom. What did I just say regarding the lesson?” The filly shrunk under her stern glare and blushed.

“Uh… Heh.” She grinned nervously. “S-sorry Miss Cheerilee… Ah- ah just…”

The mare's gaze softened some when she saw the filly's dejected reaction and she sighed as she heard the lunch bell ring. When everyone got up to leave, she stopped Apple Bloom and frowned. "Apple Bloom, is there something you need to talk about?" She asked softly.

The filly glanced up at her teacher and hesitated a moment. Did she want to tell? It was kind of a silly reason to be so down about things. "It... It's nothin' important Miss Cheerilee... Honest, ah'll be ok..."

Cheerilee sighed and offered Apple Bloom a small smile. "Ok then... Just know I'm here if you need to talk..."

Apple Bloom nodded and hopped out of her seat and dug her lunch out of her saddlebags. "Ok, thanks Miss Cheerilee..." the filly offered as she left the magenta mare alone to join her friends outside. She carried the brown paper bag outside, across the playground and over to the tree where her friends sat to eat. She let out a dejected sigh and dug her peanut butter sandwich out of her bag. The little yellow filly leaned back against the tree trunk and half-heartedly munched on the sandwich; she sat and chewed the same bite for several minutes before finally being able to get it down.

By that point Scootaloo had a fourth of her sandwich devoured. Looking over, she frowned and set it down. “Alright Apple Bloom, you’ve been acting weird all day. What’s going on?”

“Yeah, you usually love history.” Sweetie Belle chipped in, as she set her apple down.

Apple Bloom looked up from her sandwich, and set it down next to her, sighing again as she looked at the two concerned fillies. “Try-outs for an Equestria wide competition are coming up. They’re being held here in Ponyville…” She explained, only leading to more confusion.

“That’s awesome Apple Bloom!” Sweetie cried with a smile.

Scootaloo nodded. “Yeah, what’s so bad about that?”

Apple Bloom threw both of her forehooves in the air, exclaiming; “Ah don’t have a partner, ah’m not good enough…” She sighed and forced herself to take another bite of her sandwich.

Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo frowned. “What about Tender Taps, you two always dance together?”

“He probably already has a partner; when ah left three girls were already asking him to dance with them. ‘Sides, that other colt was right, ah’m not good enough for a national competition…”

“Maybe not right now but you’ll be great by the time try-outs roll around. You still have weeks to practice!” Sweetie Belle replied with a sincere smile.

Apple Bloom huffed in frustration, hiding her head behind her hooves. “Even if ah’m good enough by tryouts, everyone will have a partner already.”

“Did you actually see him accept any of those girls?” Scootaloo pointed out.

Apple Bloom blinked, but looked down. “Well… No, but… Dancin’ is really important ta him, and they are all much better than ah am. Ah just know he partnered with one of em’.”

“No way he paired with one of them!” the white unicorn cried. She then smirked. “He likes you too much.”

The yellow filly froze and blushed madly, causing her friends to burst into laughter. “Sh-shut up! H-he doesn't like me like that!”

“I bet you do though!” Scootaloo giggled, and cast her shocked and embarrassed friend a sly grin.

“N-no ah don't!...” she cried desperately, only causing the fillies to tease her more.

As they continued with the onslaught of teasing and joking, they heard a throat clear, causing Apple Bloom to look up. She blushed harder at the sight of a certain orange colt, and she shoved her hooves in her friend’s mouths. They look surprised, but then they turned to see who she was looking. The two gagged fillies could hold back their giggles. Sweetie Belle wagged her eyebrows and Scootaloo smirked, nudging her. “We'll leave you two alone.” With that, they stood and trotted away.

Tender raised an eyebrow as he watched them walk past. “Ok… What was that about?” He turned a questioning gaze to Apple Bloom, only to be met with a bright red face. “Apple Bloom? You ok?”

“Huh?!” She shook her head and glared in the direction of her friends. “It’s nuthin’, don’t worry ‘bout it. They’re just bein’ annoyin’.” She exhaled, and set her lunch to the side, getting to her hooves. “What did ya wanna talk about?”

He looked at her and smiled. “You left before I got the opportunity to ask, but…” Tender Taps held out a hoof, his smile brightening. “Will you be my partner for the dance competition try-outs?”

Apple Bloom gaped. “Me?! But... What about all those other fillies that asked to dance wit’ you?”

The colt laughed and shook his head. “I turned them down and told them to find somepony else. I-” he blushed lightly and smiled at her. “I wanted to dance with you, not them.”

She blushed and smiled at him, taking his hoof. “Of course ah’ll dance with ya.”

He was practically beaming now. “That’s great! I can’t wait to start practicing.”

“Well… A-are ya sure ya’ll don’t want ta dance with someone a little more… experience?” Apple Bloom bit her lip nervously and looked away. “You won’t win if ya partner with me…”

“That’s silly, you’ve improved a lot since you first joined. You’ll be a great partner to dance with.”

“Ya sure…?”

“Absolutely. So, I’ll see you in class tonight then?” He looked at her hopefully and she smiled.

“I’ll be there.” Apple Bloom gently pulled her hoof away and Tender Taps walked away, a little tap dance in his step.

Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo trotted up with smug grins on their faces as they passed Tender Taps; it earnt them a glare from Apple Bloom. She stuck her tongue out at the two and plopped down in the grass again, grabbing her sandwich and taking a bite out of it. If nothing else, she was in a better mood… And hungry.

The little orange pegasus took a bite out of her apple and smirked. “Already has a partner huh?”

Apple Bloom blushed and glared at her. “Shut up!” Her friends laughed and she rolled her eyes. “Yeah, real funny… Laugh it up, you two.”

Lunch ended quickly enough, and soon the girls were once again back in the classroom. But Apple Bloom was much more focused now, and even a little impatient for the bell to ring. She tapped continuously on her desk, begging the bell to ring. For the first time all day, she was genuinely looking forward to dance class. The filly fidgeted in her seat and found focusing to be hard as she sloppily scribbled down notes.

For the last few minutes of school, Apple Bloom glued her gaze to the clock hanging on the wall above the board as it lazily ticked by. The minutes seemed to drag on for ages as she bit her lip and bounced a bit in her seat. “Come on clock… Tick faster…” She muttered quietly as she cast a longing gaze at her dance bag. Apple Bloom prepared herself, and the second the bell rang, she was out of her seat and stuffing her school books in her saddle bags.

She grabbed her bags and trotted for the door, ignoring her friends’ snickering at her rush to get to class. Tender Taps came up beside her and smiled. “Hey Apple Bloom, wanna walk there together?”

“Sure!” She grinned deviously at him. “Race ya!” With that, the filly shot off down the path towards the dance school.

Tender laughed and bolted after her, chasing her the whole way there.