The cerise walls of the Sweet Apple Acres’ barn were usually a sign of comfort for Apple Bloom, but today the teenage filly felt as though they were closing in on her. Having this conversation with her friends and family had been a brilliant idea in principle, but now she was here and about to speak to them, the anxiety had kicked in and she felt sick to her stomach.

Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle stood supportively on either side of her, although she was also glad that they were not too close to her because of the general feeling of not having enough air to breathe. Applejack and Big Macintosh were at the other end of the barn, next to Granny Smith who sat in her rocking chair. All three of her family members wore confused frowns as soon as they noticed Apple Bloom had walked into the barn and the state that she was in.

Being the protective and caring older sister she was, Applejack walked over to her immediately. “Apple Bloom? You okay?” she asked.

Apple Bloom swallowed nervously. “Ah, um… Ah got summat to tell yeh.”

“Ohhhhhhh…kay?” said Applejack.

There was silence for a few uncomfortable seconds. Apple Bloom tried not to hyperventilate.

“Come on, you can do it,” Scootaloo attempted to encourage her.

Apple Bloom took a deep breath. “Okay, everypony, Ah, uh… uh… Since… Since it’s June, an’... an’ June is meant ter be the, uh, the month of Pride an’ all, Ah… Ah thought Ah should tell y’all that Ah…” She stopped as the tears from the intense pressure of the moment began to fall. “Ah’m bisexual.”

Everypony in the barn fell silent for several seconds. For those few silent seconds, Apple Bloom was suspended in fear. It seemed to stretch on for an eternity in her mind as a million ‘what ifs’ screamed at her from every angle. Then suddenly, she was engulfed in the biggest and strongest of big sister hugs she could imagine.

“Oh, Apple Bloom,” cried Applejack. “It’s okay, sis. Ah still love yeh. We all do.”

“Eeyup,” Big Macintosh added with a wide smile.

“You did it!” Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle cheered unanimously.

Just then, Granny Smith made a little “heh?” noise that drew everyone’s attention to her.

“What in the name of apple fritters is all of this fuss for, huh?” she said from her now stationary rocking chair, which was leaning forwards and looking at them with a mix of interest, concern and confusion. “And what’s this ‘bisexual’ thingamajigger little Apple Bloom’s busy cryin’ about?”

‘Uh oh,’ Apple Bloom thought. ‘Ah love yeh, Granny, but Ah really hope yeh don’t take this too badly. Ah know some o’ the older folk around Ponyville don’t take things like this too kindly.’

“Uh,” she stuttered, drying her tears on her hoof. “It’s uh, when you, uh… you date fillies as well as colts, and uh-”

“She likes to look at mares’ butts,” Scootaloo interrupted her friend with a smirk. It drew a poorly-hidden snicker from Sweetie Belle as well.

“Hey! Tha’s rude!” Apple Bloom argued, although she too had a smile on her face now, and she knew there was no malice in her friends’ words or actions.

“It’s true, though.”

“It ain’t, Scootaloo, you… Ah, uh-”

“Heh?” said Granny Smith again. “Ah’m confused. Yeah sayin’ tha’ this whole ‘bein’ bisexual’ thing is about looking at other mares an’ their…” Eyeing the fillies cautiously, she searched for a word that would be more polite and appropriate than the one she was thinking of. “Backsides?”

“Tha’s not all of it, but uh, kind of, um, yeah,” Apple Bloom said while sheepishly rubbing the back of her head with her hoof and blushing nearly as red as the paint on the barn walls. ‘Scootaloo, I will kill you later for that.’

“But… Tha’ don’t make sense… tha’s normal for fillies an’ mares ter do…”

Apple Bloom, Applejack, Scootaloo, Sweetie Belle and Big Macintosh all shared a look.

“Ah thought every mare looked at other mares’ rear ends,” Granny Smith continued. “That ain’t ‘bisexual,’ tha’s just bein’ a mare! Wha’s all the fuss about, ponies, huh?”

“I have never wanted to look at a mare’s butt,” said Sweetie Belle, pulling a face. “No, thank you.”

“An’ me neither,” Applejack told the group.

“Eenope,” added Big Macintosh.

“Heh?” said Granny Smith again.

Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo shared another one of their looks. Scootaloo, very carefully, using Applejack to shield her from Granny Smith’s view, lifted her hoof from the ground and, after triple checking that Granny Smith couldn’t see her, she made That Hoof Gesture. Applejack noticed immediately and narrowed her eyes at Scootaloo.

“Hey, it’s rude to assume anythin’ about anypony, yeh know,” she scolded the fillies. “Let everypony decide when they’re ready to share summat with yeh, an' if they decide they ain’t ever ready to tell yeh, then they ain’t ready, and yeh should leave ‘em well alone. It’s their choice at the end of the day.” She softened her tone and smiled as she turned to Apple Bloom. “Well done, sweetheart. Tha’ was very brave of yeh. Ma an’ Pa would be proud. Ah know they would.”

“Awww, thanks, sis,” Apple Bloom sniffled, and despite trying her hardest to hold back the tidal wave of tears, a new surge of overpowering emotions rose within her and she burst out into another crying fit, although at least it was tears of relief and not anxiety this time. “Oh, dammit,” she muttered. “Darn emotions!”

“It’s okay,” said Sweetie Belle. Scootaloo, Applejack and Big Macintosh all nodded in agreement and another group hug was shared.

While the entire commotion was going on, however, Granny Smith found herself frowning deeper and deeper, furrowing her brow and accentuating the already deep and noticeable lines across her forehead. So, not every mare had an appreciation for other mares and their… behinds? Nearly her whole life she’d thought… she’d thought that was normal, and now Apple Bloom had barged in and said everything she’d said, and… Her mind whirred with all of the questions she now had to ask the ponies around her… and herself.

Later that evening, just as the Apple Family were settling down for the night, Granny Smith called her youngest granddaughter over to her rocking chair to speak to her. She said, “Apple Bloom, yeh remember the conversation we were havin’ earlier where you got all teary-eyed, an’ Ah was confused because Ah didn’t know what was goin’ on?”

Apple Bloom nodded with a slight frown.

“Well, Ah’ve been thinkin’ about it all day, an’ you know, Ah think Ah might be a little bit bisexual too.”

Her granddaughter smiled and giggled a little bit. “Ah thought so,” she responded.

“But, you know,” Granny Smith said to her, “Ah don’t really care what you are as long as you ain’t mean to other ponies an’ you stay on the right side of the law an’ all. Ah still love yeh no matter what you are or who yeh’re in love with, or whether or not yeh like lookin’ at mares’ behinds.”

Apple Bloom laughed again and gave her grandmother a tight hug. “I love you too, Granny.”

Author's Note

Hello, strangers. 🙃

Being a gender-questioning bisexual myself, I thought I’d be a bit sneaky and write a crackfic about LGBT+ experiences. (Ooh, the anxiety when I came out to my family.) This was inspired by a comment featured in a meme video by One Topic At A Time on YouTube. I wanted to get this story uploaded as soon as possible, but I’ll look for the exact video I saw the comment in and link the video and timestamp here when I find it.

Enjoy your Pride Month, everyone, straight allies included (we appreciate you!), and I hope you enjoyed this bit of madness that my brain transformed into words.

~ Angel