A SERIES OF

AWKWARD SITUATIONS...

The weekend Babs was supposed to be visiting was only a day away now. Applebloom was going stir-crazy thinking about it, so she turned to the two ponies in Ponyville she knew she could trust.

“Your cousin has a what on you?!”, Sweetie Belle asked in disbelief, her voice cracking when she exclaimed these words as the three sat in their clubhouse.

“Wow, that's must be a little awkward for you”, Scootaloo remarked, looking at the farm filly with concern.

“That's not all”, Applebloom replied. She then reached into her saddle-bag and tossed the photographs in front of her fellow crusaders. The two fillies’ eyes went wide, both sharing the same crimson red blush. “See, Ah thought it was some kind of joke and wrote her back trying to play her own game, but then she sent me THESE!”

“Wow” was all the unicorn filly could say, her voice hitting the lowest pitch it could go, seemingly in her astonishment.

“Mind if I keep one of these?”, the pegasus asked with a grin as she picked one up and stared at it.

Applebloom yanked it out of her hooves with her mouth and stuffed it back in her saddle-bag, along with the other photographs.

“That's mah cousin you're talkin’ ‘bout there! And no way! But that's not the worst part, she's comin’ to visit this weekend and she thinks Ah got the hots for her!”, the farm pony said, her voice and expression looking positively panicked.

“Well, it's obvious what you need to do, isn't it?”, Scootaloo replied. Applebloom clearly wasn't following though. “When she gets here, just drag her to the side and tell her you thought it was all a harmless joke. I'm sure she'll understand, and you will be able to have fun the rest of the weekend like you normally do.”

“Why didn't Ah think of that?!”, Applebloom blurted out. She let out a sigh as relief washed over her.

“Probably because you were too busy panicking over the photographs and the letter”, Sweetie Belle remarked with a smirk. Moments later, the three burst into spontaneous laughter.

“Thanks fillies, Ah'm glad Ah come to you two first ‘bout this. Sure as hay is a load off mah mind now”, Applebloom declared with a smile.

THAT WEEKEND...

The Ponyville express stopped at the station, where Applebloom waited with her big sister for her cousin to step out.

“Excited to be spendin’ time with your cousin, Applebloom?”, Applejack asked. She looked down at her little sister, who seemed to be fidgeting at the spot.

“Th-Thrilled”, the filly replied, doing her best to hide her nervousness.

“It's really easy”, she thought to herself, “just pull her to the side when we get back to the Sweet Apple Acres and tell her that it was all a big misunderstandin’. No biggy.”

Just as Applebloom finished thinking that, her cousin stepped out from the train. She looked about herself, spotted her relatives as they waved to her, and ran over to them.

“Hey Aunt Applejack! Hey cuz!”, Babs exclaimed happily to the two. She gave Applebloom a subtle wink, which caused the filly to begin to sweat bullets.

“Hope you're starvin’”, Applejack spoke up with a wide smile, “cause we got a nice big Apple family meal planned for ya.”

She turned around and began to walk off the platform, followed by Babs and Applebloom. The latter made sure there was a decent distance between them, so she could talk to her cousin.

“Listen, uh, Babs, ‘bout those letters...”, she began, only for Babs to throw a hoof around her and pull her close, much to the filly's discomfort.

“Don't worry bout it cuz, we'll have plenty of time to talk bout that later”, the city filly replied with a smirk.

“No, ya don't understand, it's just that--”, Applebloom began, but her cousin already run ahead of her and up to Applejack.

“So what's on the menu, Aunt A-J?”, Babs asked cheerfully as she walked next to her aunt.

“Like Ah said, hope you're starvin’, because we got plenty for ya to eat and then some! Course, after you're done stuffin’ yourselves, you can run all that off with your cousin”, Applejack replied, looking at her niece with a wide smile. “Ya two got anythin’ special planned for this weekend?”

“Oh yeah... in fact, ya could say this is a weekend we'll never forget”, Babs replied with an equally wide smile. She turned to look behind herself and gave Applebloom a seductive grin, which caused the filly to smile back nervously.

“Ah need to clear this mess up mighty quick, ‘fore Ah end up with her hoof between mah hind legs!”, Applebloom thought to herself dramatically with yet another audible shudder.

* * *

Applejack, Big Macintosh, Granny Smith, Applebloom, and Babs sat now at the lunch table. It was filled to the brim with the Apple family specialties, ranging from items as simple as apple dumplings, to as grand as the Apple family's signature triple apple caramel surprise.

“So, how's the city life been treatin’ ya over there? Makin’ any new friends?”, Applejack asked curiously just before she shoved a serving of apple pie into her mouth.

“Oh yeah, made a few friends just last week actually”, Babs replied casually, stuffing an apple dumpling into her mouth. She waited until she swallowed before continuing. “Course there's still those bullies pickin’ on me for not havin’ a cutiemark still, but thanks to you and Applebloom I know how to deal with that now.”

“Don't ya be worrin’ your head ‘bout not having a cutie mark youngin, it'll appear when the time is right“, Granny Smith piped up. “Why, Ah remember when Ah was your age...”

“Here we go again...” Applebloom remarked under her breath with a dejected sigh, seeing that Granny is about to ramble on about her fillyhood years once again.

Suddenly, the filly jumped up in surprise as a hoof ran over left hind-leg. She looked over, and saw Babs with a coy smirk on her face.

“Well, Ah'm plum stuffed, yeah, Ah'm gonna go and get some fresh air now”, Applebloom said suddenly, abruptly scooting her chair out and stepping away from the table.

Applejack gave a glance over at the filly's plate, taking note of the fact she had barely touched anything. “What in tarnation is up with that filly today?”, Applejack asked curiously.

“No idea”, Babs replied just before stuffing yet another apple dumpling into her mouth.

* * *

“That was TOO CLOSE! Just a few more inches to the right and she could have been touchin’ mah teats! Ah need to put a stop to this ‘fore it really gets out of hoof!”, Applebloom remarked as she paced back and forth on the porch of her house.

About fifteen minutes later Babs could be seen stepping outside, at which point Applebloom rushed over to her. “Hey Babs, listen--”

“I know, I was bein’ silly”, Babs cut her off. “Doing that in the dinin’ room and all. Sorry for makin’ ya feel nervous, cuz”, she said with a smile, placing a hoof on her shoulder.

“No, that's not--”

“But don't ya worry, I won't do anythin’ like that again”, the city filly continued, cutting off Applebloom once again.

“Would you listen to--”

“’Sides, the real fun can begin tonight. So ‘till then, let’s just hang out like we always do”, Babs finished and she ran off afterwards, never letting the farm filly finish.

“Oh, horseapples!”, Applebloom cried loudly in frustration.

“Applebloom! What have Ah said ‘bout usin’ profanity in this house?!”, Granny Smith could be heard shouting from inside the house. “Don't make me come out there and wash your mouth out with soap, youngin!”

“Sorry Granny Smith!”, Applebloom called back. She then promptly ran off to chase down her cousin, only to find her talking to Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo.

“Hey cuz, guess who came over to visit?!”, Babs exclaimed enthusiastically, making a gesture with her right hoof to Applebloom's friends.

“Hey, let’s play hide and seek!”, Applebloom suggested suddenly.

“That sounds like fun. Who's gonna be it?”, Babs replied, being all for the idea of the game.

“Me, Sweetie Belle, and Scootaloo! Y'all get a five minutes head start, since it's all three of us lookin for ya”, Applebloom replied with a smile.

“Okay then, close your eyes and start countin’!”, Babs responded, at which point the three fillies slammed their eyes shut and began counting loudly.

Only Applebloom peeked with one eye to make sure Babs wasn't within earshot. Once she was sure, she tapped the other two on the shoulder.

“Uh, Applebloom, we haven't counted to five minutes yet”, Scootaloo remarked, looking at her with confusion.

“Ah know, but this is important!”, Applebloom replied in a hushed tone.

“What's wrong?”, Sweetie Belle asked, opening her eyes now as well.

“Babs still thinks Ah got the hots for her!”, Applebloom said, looking panicked.

“Didn't you tell her it was all a big misunderstanding?”, Scootaloo asked curiously.

“Ah tried, but every time Ah tried to tell her, somethin’ would happen or she wouldn't let me finish tellin’ her!”, Applebloom explained and began pacing back and forth. “What am Ah gonna do? It's not like she's gonna let me get a word in to tell her, and at this rate she's gonna start makin’ moves on me tonight in bed!”

“And that's a bad thing?”, Scootaloo asked with a smirk, only to get a glare from both Sweetie Belle and Applebloom. “Okay, okay, bad joke. So how about you have her sleep in the guest bedroom then? That's all the way downstairs, right? There's no way she can sneak past Applejack's room with those creaky floorboards of yours”, the pegasus suggested.

“You're right! That's a great idea, Scootaloo!”, Applebloom replied, feeling mild relief wash over her once again.

“What if one of us tell her instead?”, Sweetie Belle suggested.

“She doesn't know that Ah told y'all, and Ah doubt she would believe ya anyways”, the farm pony responded. “Ah know this orchard like the back of mah hoof, so you two just sit here while Ah go search for her. Maybe Ah can get her to listen long enough so Ah can avoid havin’ to think of any more ideas if this plan of ours doesn't work”, she explained and ran off immediately afterwards.

Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo watched her go away. After a few moments, Scootaloo spoke up:

“Ya know Sweetie Belle”, she started with a nervous expression, “I'm no expert, but if I were her right now, I wouldn't be running off alone into a big apple orchard with a filly who has the hots for me.”

“You don't think she would...!” Sweetie Belle began to say, only to trail off with a panicked expression.

“If I was Babs, I know I would.”

At this point, both fillies nodded at one another and ran off into the orchard, hoping to find Babs before Applebloom did.

* * *

“Are you sure you saw her go in this direction?”, Scootaloo asked with an annoyed expression.

“Of course I did! I saw her tail sticking out and then she ran off in this direction”, Sweetie Belle replied heatedly, feeling insulted by the pegasus' lack of confidence in her spotting skills.

The two fillies continued to walk for some time until both of them saw a purple tail sticking out from behind a bush.

“Alright”, Scootaloo whispered, “on the count of three... One.... Two....THREE!”

The two yanked the bushes open, shouting “Found you!”... only to see a dog with a purple brush attached to its tail.

“Bark, bark!”, the dog responded to them, tackling Sweetie Belle to the ground and beginning to mercilessly lick her face.

“Winona?!”, Scootaloo shouted in surprise. “But if we've been following Winona all this time, than that means...”

Scootaloo looked about the orchard with a panicked expression. She and Sweetie Belle quickly exchanged glances.

“HORSEAPPLES!”

* * *

The farm pony was now walking around the apple orchard, looking for her cousin in every single hiding place she knew of.

“Just track her down and tell her it was all a big misunderstandin’, shouldn't be too hard”, Applebloom remarked aloud nervously as she was going from one hiding spot to another.

Unknown to the filly, a pair of eyes was staring straight at her hindquarters from within a bush. Moments later, the farm pony found herself tackled to the ground by the city filly.

“Guess you found me”, Babs said coyly, looking at her cousin who smiled back nervously.

“Y-Yeah, ‘bout that, listen, Ah--!”, Applebloom began to say, only to feel a hoof trailing down her left hind leg and moving towards her inner thigh, at which point she scooted away the best she could ‘till her back was against a tree.

“No need to be nervous cuz, it's just us two. And Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle think I'm halfway across the apple orchard by now”, Babs replied with a smirk.

“H-How did you manage that one?”, the farm pony asked nervously as Babs began to walk towards her slowly.

“Winona helped me out. All it took was me putting a purple brush on her tail and sending her off in the opposite direction than myself. So we have plenty of time now”, Babs replied and placed a hoof on Applebloom's cheek with a smirk.

“B-Babs, listen to me for one cotton pickin’ second!”, Applebloom flustered with a deep blush.

“What's up? Not ready yet?”, Babs asked curiously as she ran a hoof down her upper chest, slowly moving it down and getting dangerously close to the farm pony's teats, the distance decreasing with each second.

“N-No! That's not it, it's just that--”

“Hey Applebloom, ya over there?!”, Applebloom heard her big sister's voice, cutting her off.

“Horseapples... guess we really will have to wait ‘till tonight”, Babs cursed under her breath before she stepped away from the filly, much to Applebloom's relief. “Over here Aunt A-J! We were just playin’ hide and seek and Applebloom found me”, Babs called back moments later.

Applejack could be seen stepping from behind some bushes into clear view.

“Applebloom, what have Ah said about runnin’ so far into the apple orchard without me or Big Macintosh with ya? There's more than apple trees out here, ya know”, the farm pony scolded, to which Applebloom flattened her ears.

“Sorry big sis, we got carried away in our game Ah guess”, the filly replied with a nervous smile.

“How'd you find us anyways, Aunt Applejack?”

“Ah just happened to be buckin’ this quarter of the orchard today when Ah heard y'all talkin’ over here”, Applejack responded. “Anyways, it's nearly dinner time, Ah reckon y'all will have plenty of time to be playin’ after dinner. Ah already sent Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo home, so ya don't have to worry ‘bout trackin’ those two down. So come with me back to the house.”

* * *

Applebloom, Babs, and Applejack made it back to the Apple family home in twenty minutes, at which point Applebloom pulled her older sister off to the side.

“Say big sis, ya think Babs could use the guest bedroom?”, Applebloom asked.

“What's wrong with her stayin’ in your room?”, Applejack asked, looking confused.

“Ah'm a growin filly! Ah like mah privacy at night ya know!”, Applebloom exasperated, doing her best to put on a valiant act.

“This wouldn't have anythin’ to do with whatever ya stuffed under that pillow of yours, would it?”, Applejack asked curiously, at which point the filly's chest went ice-cold and her mind raced, struggling to think of anything to say to this.

Applejack sighed.

“Ah respect your privacy, little sis”, she began, “and Ah won't ask what ya stuffed under there, but if it's what Ah think it is, ya best not be tellin’ me ‘bout it. Last thing Ah need to know is what mah little sis is doin’ behind closed doors, if ya get my meanin’.”

Applejack’s face slowly turned a slight shade of green, as if she had pictured something she didn't want to. She shook her head and quickly walked towards the house.

“Lets just leave it as a ‘you don't tell me, and Ah won't ask’. How's that sound?”

“Uh, sure! That sounds like a good plan!”, Applebloom replied, once again feeling relief washing over her as she followed her big sister inside.

“Ah told ya that wasn't a good idea, youngin!”, Granny Smith exclaimed when Big Macintosh walked up to the two with several bandages on his hind legs. “But do ya ever listen to your Granny? Eee-nope!”

“What in tarnation happened to ya, big bro?!”, Applejack asked in surprise, concerned about her brother.

“The apple-brained stallion thought it would be a good idea to use his hooves to hammer in a few nails, since he couldn't find the hammer. He wound up buckin’ a hole in the guest bedroom!”, Granny Smith replied.

Sure enough, as Applejack and Applebloom looked inside the guest bedroom, a nice, big hole could be seen, revealing the outside of their home through it.

“Sorry Applebloom, looks like the guest bedroom is out of the question”, the farm pony remarked, much to the filly's horror.

The filly in question couldn't even bring herself to touch half her plate that night at dinner.

“Somethin’ on your mind, surgarcube?”, Applejack asked curiously, giving her little sister a concerned glance.

“N-no”, Applebloom lied and sighed. “Ah'm gonna head upstairs to clean mahself up and get ready for bed.”

* * *

“Oh, what am Ah gonna do?! Babs will no doubt try to make a move on me tonight, and Ah won't be able to shout at her to get her to stop, like Ah did in the apple orchard. Ah'm as good as bucked”, Applebloom thought to herself dismally.

Suddenly the door to her bathroom opened up, revealing her cousin. She stepped in and closed the door behind her, after making sure nopony was in the hall.

“Hey Applebloom. Listen, there's somethin I wanna say. I know you've been really nervous and all about us and I know I haven't been helping much with being so touchy with you. I'm just really new to all this”, Babs said, looking more nervous than Applebloom at this point.

Upon hearing this, the farm pony sighed.

“Listen Babs, Ah know ya think--”

“Let me finish”, her cousin cut her off. “I've never really had a crush before ya and it was all so sudden. To be honest, I was so scared I would freak you out over that letter that I was on pins and needles all week. I can't tell you how hard it was for me to write that and when you told me you felt the same way, I was the happiest I had ever felt, ya know?”

Upon hearing this, Applebloom bit her lower lip guiltily.

“So what I'm tryin’ to say”, Babs continued, “is that we can take this relationship of ours at your pace. I won't make any more moves on you unless you're okay with it”, she finally finished, looking at her cousin with a smile. “Now... what is it you wanted to say?”

“N-Nothin... It's nothin cuz. Listen, Ah need to finish cleanin’ mahself up, I'll see ya in a few minutes, okay?”, Applebloom replied, putting on the best smile she could muster.

“Alright, see ya in a few then, cuz”, Babs replied, nuzzled her gently and then left the bathroom, at which point the farm pony's face hit her sink with a loud thud.

“Consarn it all! What am Ah gonna do now?”, Applebloom asked herself aloud and sighed.

Author's Note

Proofread by: ZuTheSkunk