Ponyville
December 9th
After the intensity of what had gone down at Lightleaf Farmstead, the aftermath had gone by in a rapid haze for Apple Bloom, mostly since she had focused on getting her cut leg back up to strength. Lucky Roll was currently being held in Canterlot while the princesses tried to determine how culpable a pony was when they had been confirmed to be under mind control during their crimes. Discord have taken all their findings to the Institute of Development and gone back to...Whatever it was he did in his free time. Pinkie Pie had gone into her serious mode again and mostly kept quiet while she tried to piece together what they'd learned.
The time had given Apple Bloom time to think about everything that had happened. In the heat of that week she hadn't really had time to even think about her feelings for Pinkie. Now though, with several weeks of calm and nothing more strenuous than Cutie Mark Crusader meetings while her leg healed, she'd had plenty of time to get her thoughts in order and acknowledge everything that had been said and felt on the matter. Now it was time to clear the air with Pinkie and see where things went from there.
If only the weather was feeling as good as she was, the winter had only gotten harsher while she was away and was now firmly keeping Ponyville in a freezing blanket of thick snow and ice. It was nothing that couldn't be handled with a little preparation though and she'd been to see Rarity in advance. Now sporting a set of long snow socks, with an extra bandage underneath on her gash, long scarf and thick balaclava, she was ready to face the elements. Stepping out into the foot deep snow, she glanced round and set off at as brisk a pace as she could manage. Thankfully, the lack of fresh snowfall meant that ponies had started to carve pathways through the worst of the drifts.
"Lucky me." She mused to herself as she walked, keeping it careful and still sometimes nearly losing her footing on patches of ice. Despite it all there was still a definite spring in her step, or three of them since her bad leg couldn't quite match the others again just yet. As she headed into town square things got easier as so many ponies had already cleared the way, several still hanging around on their own business.
Just as she was starting to feel confident in her steps, both her front hooves caught an ice patch and pitched her face first to the floor. Her back legs scrambled for grip but merely pushed her further onto the ice, leaving her sliding uncontrollably until she crashed into an unaware pony, taking their legs out under them and bringing them both to a halt in a snowdrift. Apple Bloom groaned as she got her bearings again, glancing round and gasping slightly as she realised she'd hit somepony.
"Oh gosh, I'm so so sorry!" Apple Bloom exclaimed, pushing herself up and offering her hoof to the other pony. A hoof flailed in the snow slightly before gripping the offered hoof, pulling themselves out and revealing it was a very snowy Lyra.
"Uugghh...Apple Bloom? How are you not a hoofball player with a tackle like that?" Lyra shook some of the snow off herself and looked round to try and see what had happened.
"Well it takes a lot of ice and completely blindsiding the target, are you okay?"
"Yeah, just caught by surprise. What about you? You're holding your hoof up."
"I'm fine, that's an old injury." Apple Bloom half lied, trying to think of something to distract them from her hoof. Fortunately, Lyra came up with something first.
"Oh hey, if you don't mind me asking, how are things going with you and your 'friend'?"
"Hmm? Oh! That's, been a bit slow going but actually, I was going to find out how that's going to end up...One way or another." Apple Bloom put her hoof back down and checked it was still alright, thankfully she could still stand on it at least. Lyra nodded, smiling more at the news that she had been a help.
"Glad to hear it, just make sure to invite us to the wedding if it all goes well."
"Will do," Apple Bloom smiled back and wiped the last of the snow off Lyra's back. "I'll make sure to let you know if we decide to be open about it."
"That's the spirit, just see how it goes!" Lyra chuckled happily and set off on her way again. Apple Bloom watched her go before heading off herself, making sure to avoid any further ice patches along the way. The rest of the journey was uneventful and before long she was standing in front of Sugarcube corner, hesitating to go in.
Ok, time to step up and face destiny...Ok maybe she shouldn't have put it like that, her legs didn't want to respond anymore. Why did emotions have to be so hard to work with? Pinkie wasn't going to react badly to something like this, she wasn't the kind of pony to react badly to anything that wasn't evil, so she wasn't going to react badly to this. Heck, she'd probably be honoured. Okay, one more run through in her head; just go in, talk to her one on one and just say those seven words.
Pinkie Pie, I think I love you.
Just saying it in her head helped with the tension because she knew it wasn't just a phase, or a weird fantasy, or any other kind of falsehood. After all those months of confusion and indecision, she'd finally come to accept her feelings about Pinkie for what they were, romantic attraction. She sighed slightly to steady herself and headed inside, ready to both take this head on and run away at the same time. Nervicited, that was the word. To her relief, there weren't any customers in at the moment and Pinkie was on her own, wiping a table down and humming happily to herself.
"Oh, hi Bloomie! What's up?" Pinkie asked as she noticed her. Apple Bloom smiled, trying to keep herself from sweating too badly. She'd forgotten just how much harder things were in reality, when she was actually going to get a reaction.
"Hey Pinkie, I-err, do you have any scones on sale?"
"Almost, we got a fresh batch just finishing up to be super scrummy. You wanna come see?" Apple Bloom nodded at the invite and followed Pinkie through to the kitchen. It felt like forever since she had first been in here, trying to get a cupcake making cutie mark, the first time she'd properly spent time with Pinkie. The nostalgia hit her hard before being distracted by the fact they were the only two here.
"Hey, is nopony else around today?"
"The twins are off visiting their ma and pa today, Gummy's having a winter nap and everypony else is staying all warm and toasty at home. So it's just us, just like back on the day you formed the Cutie Mark Crusaders."
"Good times," Apple Bloom smiled at the memory, leaning against a counter and watching as Pinkie handled the oven. At least in here she could attribute her sweating to how warm the room was, rather than working up the nerve to finally say it. She still couldn't bring herself to it just yet though. "So, any luck making progress with the clues you found?"
"I have theories, but nothing solid," Pinkie replied, bringing the fresh scones up to cool off. "I promise I'll let you know when I know for sure."
"Ok, if anypony can figure this kind of thing out, I trust it's you."
"Awww, thank you." Pinkie hummed happily to herself as she went on with her preparations, leaving Apple Bloom to her thoughts for a minute. That compliment had eased her nerves a little and it was time to make a move while she believed that she could.
"So, Pinkie, something I've always wondered about you. Is there any kind of party that you've never had the chance to throw?"
"That's, actually a good question," Pinkie mused, muttering something to herself before looking back over at Apple Bloom with a smile. "I've planned so many parties that almost all of them happen in some way. Pretty much the only one missing is the 'I'm in a relationship party'. Never really had time with my lifestyle."
Apple Bloom blinked in surprise. Not only had she not expected Pinkie to have thought about something like that, she'd caught a hint of sadness in her voice when she said it. She knew that feeling though, getting so caught up in her lifestyle that she didn't think of letting another pony get close to her like that. It was never too late though.
"So, assuming that you did, and somepony asked you out, would you have any preference if it was a stallion or a mare?"
"If they like me like that, I don't think gender should matter. Or even race too much, I mean I'd date Spike if we were interested like that. All that matters is we make each other happy."
"I see," Apple Bloom said quietly, getting up and moving next to Pinkie. "It's always great to hear a pony be so accepting, makes me feel better."
"How so?" Pinkie asked, raising an eyebrow. Apple Bloom cringed mentally at walking herself into that one. Now she was going to have to confess how she felt, one way or another. Well if this was happening, it was going to happen in a way Pinkie would understand.
"Oh, well see..." Apple Bloom blushed slightly and rubbed the back of her head. "Those scones are for a little party I'm giving myself. Kind of a 'I've come to terms with my sexuality' party."
"You mean...?"
"Yeah, I...I'm actually a lesbian. I've been thinking about it a lot and I realised that mares drew my attention in that way and that there was one that drew me in and makes me feel like nopony else possibly could just from getting to see them. She's funny, good natured outgoing but knowing her limits...And right here." Even with her confidence that she would understand, Apple Bloom still glanced away and tapped the counter nervously. This was it...She looked back over and placed her hoof on Pinkie's gently, making sure she was keeping eye contact.
"Pinkie Pie...I...I-I think I love you."
Pinkie's eyes widened at those words, pure emotion visible in her eyes, too much to keep track of, the rest of her face unreadable. Apple Bloom blushed more and looked away, sweating bullets and barely maintaining enough nerve to stay in the room. She slowly looked back and blinked in surprise, Pinkie was smiling a lot more than she'd anticipated.
"Oh my gosh oh my gosh oh mygoshohmygosh!!" Pinkie exclaimed, bouncing in place with more enthusiasm than Apple Bloom had seen in a long time. "This is the most incredible thing I've ever heard! I mean I've heard a lot of super fantastical things in my time but this is ultra hyper special! Can you believe it? I have a pony who likes me that way, I'm so happy I could scream! Aaaaah!!"
As Pinkie kept working herself up, bouncing higher with each passing moment, Apple Bloom backed up slowly. She hadn't been expecting this reaction, though truth be told, she probably wouldn't have said anything if she'd thought it would have happened like this. A small part of her was weirded out, another glad to see her friend-slash-love so happy about this. All the same, Pinkie's excitement was getting more intense by the second and it was starting to look like she was so worked up, she'd forgotten the whole reason she'd started. The way her usual motor mouth was now running at incomprehensible speed didn't help either.
So, just how exactly was Pinkie taking it? Well she hadn't returned the feelings but then she hadn't rejected them outright either. All things considered, Apple Bloom was willing to accept that as a result for now. She could always try asking but by now Pinkie was pinballing off the walls in her excitement and she could easily keep this up for hours if she wanted to. Much as she'd hoped for a straight answer, Apple Bloom decided it would be better if she tried again when they were both feeling calmer. She glanced aside and noticed the scones had cooled down, perfect to go now.
"Alrighty then...I err...I'll just take my purchase and give you some breathing space. I'll leave the bits here," Apple Bloom said, fishing some coins out and placing them on the side before taking a few of the scones. "And can we keep what happened here between us for now? Just until I'm comfy enough to admit it to others."
"Pinkie promise!" Pinkie called in the middle of her antics. Apple Bloom nodded and made her way out, waiting until she had reached the front of the shop before letting a giddy little giggle loose and skipping in place.
That had gone so much better than she anticipated. Not only had she managed to get the words out, they hadn't been rejected outright. Of course, this was only another step forward, Pinkie hadn't actually said anything about how she felt either way and there were still a number of other ponies who she needed to tell the truth about herself. The question was, who would she work up the nerve to tell next. Applejack? Big Mac? Scootaloo?
The answer could wait until tomorrow, she decided as she stepped back into the snow. No point in getting herself worked now when she had a little party to throw for herself, now both an 'I've come to terms with my sexuality' and 'I managed to tell my love how I felt' party. Just the thought of that moment had made today all worth it.