Conflicting Love

Applebloom was now lying down on the ground with her hooves covering her face waiting for Big Mac to call her a freak or run off in disgust and tell everypony about her crush. She moved her hooves just enough so that she could take a peek at her brother's face and saw that he had a sympathetic smile on his face. "W-well, aren't y-ya gonna call me a f-freak?" Applebloom asked between sobs.

Big Mac's smile didn't falter as he sat down next to his little sister and put a hoof over her to comfort her "Nope."

Applebloom was extremely confused. Why hadn't he called her a freak and why was he comforting her like it was normal? "Why?"

He just let out a small chuckle "Ah admit that it's a little strange but everypony is strange in their own way. So when are ya going to tell her?"

Applebloom was silent for a few minutes. Yes Applebloom when will you tell her? The voice in her head taunted her.  "Ah can't. If I tell her how I feel she'll never want me to be around her. She'll hate me ah just know it" Applebloom started to sob a bit louder.

Ah know that ah can't speak for her but A'm sure that if you told her she would at least respect it and ya never know; she just might have the same feelings towards ya but don't let that get your hopes up. Whether she returns your feeling or not ya need to tell her or you'll regret it for the rest of your like."

Applebloom fell silent once again. If you do tell her you'll regret it more when she calls you a freak and you know that, The voice continued to taunt her. "Ah'll think about it" She finally said.

Big Mac knew that this was the most he was going to get out of her, "Well ya better get along or you'll be late for school."

Applebloom nodded and was just about to leave but stopped to give her brother a hug. "Thanks big brother, you're the best."

"Really? You think I'm better than her?" He asked teasingly which embarrassed the little filly.

"Big Mac" Applebloom said with a blush.

"Aim just easing ya. Now get to school."

Applebloom nodded and began the walk to school with many thoughts. Could I actually tell her how I feel? Would she return the feeling that I have? Why ask a question that you know the answer to?The voice asked mockingly. She wanted to tell the voice off, tell it that it didn't know anything but she knew that it was right. She couldn't tell her how she felt and even if she did, her feelings wouldn't be returned. Why would she ever like me?

Big Mac watched as Applebloom walked towards her school feeling sorry that she had to go through something like this and at such a young age. He knew that he had to help her as much as he could but he did need to work at the moment. After careful thinking he began his walk back to the barn.

*Takes place right after Applebloom leaves the barn*

Applejack was extremely worried for Applebloom. One day she had been happy and ecstatic but then the next morning she was quiet and secretive. Had she just had a really bad dream that scared her? No, she would have told them about it if it was just a bad dream. Maybe she snuck out that night to hang out with Scootaloo and Sweetie Bell to try and get their cutie marks and something bad happened? Why couldn't Applebloom just tell them what was bothering her? Applejack recalled the moments right after the Cutie Pox incident.

Applejack had just finished another long and hard working day of apple bucking. She was sweating immensely and her hooves were shaking slightly from exhaustion. She couldn't wait to get back to the barn to unwind on her bed and sleep for the rest of the night. Just as she was about to go into her room she thought of Applebloom and decided to check up on her. As she got to her little sister's room she knocked on the door "Applebloom can ah come in?" She asked politely.

"Sure" She heard through the door. She opened the door and saw Applebloom lying down on her bed with a sad look on her face. It nearly broke Applejack's heart to see Applebloom like this and all she could do was walk next to the bed and put a hoof on her little sister's shoulder, "What's wrong sugarcube?"

Applebloom was silent for a moment until she simply mumbled "I don't want to talk about it."

"Ah'm not leaving until ya tell me what's bothering ya" Applejack said stubbornly. She wasn't going to just walk away when her little sister was upset about something and Applebloom probably realized that two because she let out a sigh of defeat.

"Okay fine. Ah guess part of it is that even after everything that happened Ah still didn't get my actual cutie mark," Applebloom explained.

"Part of it?" Applejack asked curious.

"Ya know how ah said that ah wanted to get a cutie mark so that ah wouldn't get teased all the time at school?"

"Of course, ya only complained about it every second of each day," Applejack teased earing a giggle from the little filly.

"Okay ah get it. That was true but it wasn't the whole truth. The actual reason ah want to get my cutie mark so much is because… Ah'm jealous of ya."

Applejack was confused. Why would Applebloom be jealous of her? Just because she had her cutie mark and Applebloom didn't? "Jealous of what?"

"You're the most respected pony in the entire town and everypony looks up to ya. But me; ah don't have that. Ah've heard ponies say that A'm a walking disaster when they thought ah couldn't hear them. Ponies always look down on my but everypony loves ya. Ah always would tell myself if ah finally got my cutie mark then ponies might start to look up to me and respect me like they do to ya. Ah hated being in ma big sister's shadow" Applebloom explained leaving Applejack dumbfounded.

She never knew that Applebloom had been jealous of her this whole time. She had no idea what to say so she simply gave her little sister the biggest hug she had ever given her in her whole life, tears sliding down the side of her face. "Ah'm so sorry ah made ya feel like ya weren't important. You're so much more important than ya think. And ya better give me the names of the jerks who said those rude things about ya so that ah can buck them right in the head. They're just jealous that they can never be as amazing as ya are," Applejack said still holding her little sister in a hug that Applebloom had gladly returned.

"Thanks big sis," Applebloom managed to say through the tears that were dropping down her own face as well.

Applejack quickly got an idea while having a mischievous smile on her face. "Oh Applebloom do ya think that ya could remind me of where you're the most ticklish."

Before Applebloom had a chance to process what her sister meant, Applejack immediately began to tickle (or poke since they don't have hands) Applebloom's stomach making her squirm around while laughing. "Applejack please stop" She said through her laughs.

"Not until ya say you're sorry for keeping secrets from me."

"Okay Ah'm sorry."

"Ah'm sorry ah couldn't hear ya with ya with ya moving around and laughing so much," Applejack playfully remarked.

"Ah'm sorry" Applebloom said much louder.

"Good now say that ya love dresses."

"Never"

"Say it" Applejack said tickling her even faster.

"Okay ah love dresses."

Applejack finally ceased tickling the filly giving her some air. "Applebloom ah want ya to promise me that if ya ever have a problem or something is bothering ya; tell me so that ah can help ya and be there for ya."

"Cross mah heart, hope to fly, stick a cupcake in mah eye," Applebloom said while doing the movements.

Applejack gave another hug to the young filly. "Ah love ya Applebloom."

"Ah love ya too sis"

Applebloom had Pinkie Promised that if she ever had something bothering her that she would tell Applejack. But for the past few weeks Applebloom would rarely speak at all. Why would she break her promise? Her thought were interrupted by Big Mac coming into the kitchen. "Oh hey big brother did ya happen to see Applebloom?" Something seemed a bit off with Big Mac but Applejack couldn't quite put her hoof on what it could be.

"Yeah ah did. Listen we need to talk."

"What about? Is Applebloom alright?" She asked concerned for her little sister.

"Applebloom's the one ah need to talk to ya about. Ah found her while she was on her way to school and ah found out what's been bothering her so much."

"Wait she told ya but not me?" Applejack asked with a mix of shock and a bit of anger "Applebloom Pinkie Promised that she would tell me if anything was ever bothering her but she avoids me and tells ya?"

"Don't be mad at her, she's just going through a really hard time right now. And before ya ask, ah can't tell ya what's been bothering her because ah Pinkie Promised her that ah wouldn't say," Big Mac explained.

"She Pinkie Promised she would tell me though but then again ah didn't give her a time for her ta tell me," Applejack said in defeat.

"She'll tell ya in time but right now she has a lot on her mind and needs to figure things out."

"Ah guess, let's go. We got apples to buck." The two headed out of the barn while Applejack let out a sigh. Ah hope that she'll be alright.