Maybe I was a little bit harsh.
The white filly was walking to her home which doubled as Carousel Boutique. Her argument with her friend earlier was pretty rough, and she pondered about the subject matter of which it was about.
Conflicted about she had always been told and what she felt was right, she let out a frustrated grunt, her hoof meeting the ground in a forceful kick. It was never a topic that was normally discussed, but whenever it was, Rarity, along with her parents, had told them that Celestia intended for only mares and stallions to be together. With that, she never questioned the issue again. Now she couldn't help but question the issue more than ever before.
I need to talk to Rarity about this...How can she be so...so...I don't even know the right word!
With a burst of energy, Sweetie Belle accelerated into a canter. She did not know exactly why she wanted to talk to her sister about this since she knew her opinions would be the same; but a part of Sweetie wanted to confront her and tell her that she is a narrow-minded jerk.
When she reached her home, she burst the door and immediately started looking for her sister. She heard her lavish voice in the back room. "Just a second!"
Sweetie Belle did not feel like waiting for her, so she paced over to the back room. She thought she heard another pony back there as well, but didn't think about it.
"Welcome to Carousel Boutique! Where everyth—Oomph!"
The two sisters collided in the threshold. "Oh, Sweetie Belle..." started Rarity. "What are you doing here, darling, weren't you going to play with your fellow crusaders?"
"Applebloom had to do some chores, so we just decided to meet up later to crusade later."
"Oh, I see. Well I do love your company—you are my little sister after all—but I'm quite busy at the moment, so if you'll please—"
"Rare, I need to talk to you about something."
The fashionista was slightly stunned at her sister's interruption. "Well...Okay. What is it, Sweetie?"
With a deep breath, Sweetie replied; "Why do you hate gays?"
Rarity's jaw fell open. "Sweetie Belle...Why are you using such crude and...and indecent language?"
"I asked you a question, Rarity." the filly firmly stated.
This added to the older sibling's shock. "Wha...Sweetie...Why are you—"
Sweetie interrupted with a fast paced answer done in a single breath; "Applebloom and I got into a fight about filly-foolers and colt-cuddlers, and I told her that you always said it was immoral, but she told me that it doesn't matter who you love, which got me thinking about it differently on the way home and made me wonder why you and mom and dad always thought it was wrong."
It took a few moments to process all the information that was just spewed at her; when she did, her face went blank. "Oh Sweetie..." she muttered, head lowered. "I'm sorry, dear..."
"Sorry? About what, sis?"
Sweetie could decipher a look of shame and guilt on her face. "I used to tell you that whenever we were with mom and dad...But I never thought that it was right...I was just too afraid to contradict them to their faces...Father probably would have bucked me all the way to Manehatten, and mother would have just stood there and watched...with that torturous look of disappointment on her face."
She paused to collect herself for a moment. "Sweetie, I like both stallions and mares and I've known for a while; since we used to live with mom and dad. I could never tell them that, though..."
Pity flooded Sweetie. "Oh Rarity, I'll always love you. You're my favorite pony in Equestria."
Rarity looked up, and her bottom lip started to quiver. Then, a monsoon of tears poured from her eyes, and she wailed like a foal. She embraced her sister tightly. "I love you so much, Sweetie." she bawled.
"I love you too, Rarity." Sweetie replied with compassion.
Several minutes passed, which felt like several days to the two ponies. Rarity's waterworks eventually stopped, slowly fading to only little sniffles. They both heard hoofsteps coming their way from the back room.
"Rarity!" a voice full of concern called "Is everything okay? I heard y—Oh, w-why, um...Hello, Sweetie Belle."
"Hi, Twilight." she responded. Rarity quickly pulled away from their hug and turned to face Twilight, who's face was flushed and her ears flopped down. Sweetie noticed this. "Is everything okay, Twi?"
"Oh, yes, I'm certainly fine. I just came in here to see why Rarity was crying." She walked up beside the fashionista and spoke in a calm, soothing voice. "What's wrong? Are you okay, honey?"
"Oh Twi...It's nothing, I'm perfectly fine I assure you. Thank you for your concern, though."
Twilight stood there and thought of what she should say next. "Do you wanna talk about it?"
Rarity breathed a sigh. "I'll tell you all about it later, baby. Do you mind if I have a private moment with Sweetie here for a moment?"
"Oh, not at all, take your time." With that, Twilight planted a very small, very soft kiss on her marefriend's cheek and retreated into the back room once again.
A brief moment of silence passed; neither of them knew what to say.
"...You and Twilight, huh?"
Rarity couldn't help but grin as she stifled a chuckle. "Yeah...For about two months actually."
"I'm happy for you, sis. You two make a cute couple."
"Thank you, Sweetie." She stood in thought for a minute. "Sweetie...Are you...You know..."
"What? No...Well, at least I don't think so."
"Well, you're real young, so don't worry about those types of things just yet." she told Sweetie, aiping away a tear from her eye with a forehoof,
"I know, but I just felt the need to ask you about this."
Rarity smiled. "And I'm so glad you did...You don't know how long I've been holding that in. It feels so wonderful to have that finally off my chest."
Sweetie beamed. "I'm glad I could help you, sis."
~/~ ~/~ ~/~ ~/~ ~/~ ~/~ ~/~ ~/~ ~/~ ~/~
Scootaloo paced back in forth inside her bedroom. She didn't want to do it, but she knew that she had to tell somepony; it would drive her insane if she didn't. All she needed was to build up the courage to do so.
For a brief moment, then filly paused in front of the mirror on her vanity.
Come on, Scootaloo! You shouldn't be so nervous and afraid. Just look at Rainbow Dash, she isn't afraid of anything! You're gonna let something like this scare you?
Scootaloo scowled. "No I'm not!"
So she took a deep breath, opened her door, and walked down the hallway to the living room.
She didn't see her father anywhere. "Mom, where's dad?"
"He had to go into work real quick to fix some mechanical issue at the weather factory...Or something like that, I can't remember exactly what he said was the issue."
Strolling into the kitchen where her mother was cooking dinner, the filly mustered up all of her courage inside her. "Mom...I need to talk to you about something..."
Lulu looked up, concern in her eyes and walked to the dinner table to sit down. "What is it, honey ?"
"Well, you see..." Scootaloo's voice trailed off; she wanted to make sure she worded this correctly. "Mom...You'd love me no matter what, right?"
A light chuckled exited Lulu. "Of course, Scoots, why are you asking?"
"Because...I've got something to tell you..."
A look of stern curiosity molded itself on the mare's face. "What is it, sweetheart?"
Wow, this certainly is easier said than done...But you can do this...Just take a deep breath
"...What do you do when you...Have a crush on somepony...?"
All seriousness vanished from Lulu's face and was replaced with an affectionate smile. "Awww, my Scoots is in love?"
"Heh, yeah, sorta..."
"Well then, who's the lucky colt?" she asked, her forest green eyes fixed on her daughter with interest.
Scootaloo gulped, looked down, and mumbled something that was just barely audible.
"Who?"
Again she mumbled. It was a little louder, but still indecipherable.
"Sweetheart, I can't—"
"APPLEBLOOM!"
Scootaloo's eyes went wide and she placed her hoof in front of her mouth right away. She shut her eyes in fear.
This is it, Scootaloo. Mom is going to hate you now!
Lulu just sat there and gave a sympathetic look. "Oh honey..."
"Go on, I know you hate me now. Disown me already or something." the filly uttered.
Soon the warmth of somepony else's body surrounded Scootaloo. Opening her eyes, she noticed she was in a loving hug with her mother, which she soon gladly returned.
"I would never hate you, Scootaloo. Especially over something like this." the mare cooed, consoling her daughter. The two remained enveloped for a few minutes till Scootaloo pulled away, rubbing away some tears she was silently crying.
"Thank you, mom."
"You're welcome, Scoots." replied the mare with a grin.
Although she wanted to end the conversation and the tender moment at that, there was one thing on her mind. "What will dad think?"
Lulu's smile immediately disappeared as her face went pale. "Oh...Your father...Oh dear..."
Nervousness started to settle in Scootaloo's mind. "What is it, mom?"
"Well, um..." Lulu hesitated. "Your father...Well, let's just say he doesn't really approve same-gender relationships...You could go as far as to saying he hates them and hates gays..."
Confused, Scootaloo frowned and began to worry. "What? But why?"
"I'm not so sure, he's never told me why. In fact, I'm not sure he's told anypony why. All I know is that if he found out about this, he would be pretty upset."
Scootaloo couldn't believe what she was hearing. A parent was supposed to love and support their offspring no matter what, but instead, if her dad were to find out this information, Celestia's knows what would happen.
"I suggest," started Lulu. "that this just remains a secret between you and me. Okay honey?"
It still did not make an ounce of sense to the filly. "But...But doesn't daddy love me...?"
The mother's bottom lip started to tremble, her eyes on the brink of raining tears. How in Equestria was she supposed to answer that without upsetting her daughter? Lulu had just told her daughter that her father would be furious if he found this out; she couldn't just tell her that he does love her without the filly not trusting her. For a moment, she just turned her head away from Scootaloo and closed her eyes so she wouldn't see her all vulnerable; of course, she knew Scootaloo had noticed it already.
Soon the warmth of somepony else's body surrounded Lulu. She opened her eyes to see her daughter hugging her tightly.
"It's okay, mom...I'll make sure he doesn't find out."
Relieved that her daughter just dropped the question and forgot about it, she squeezed her into a tight hug. "That would be for the best..."
~/~ ~/~ ~/~ ~/~ ~/~ ~/~ ~/~ ~/~ ~/~ ~/~
It was late afternoon, almost time for the Cutie Mark Crusaders' slumber party. The TV in her room was on, but it didn't really serve much of a purpose; Scootaloo was paying little attention to what was happening or really what show it was, a show called Exmoory. The viewers just found out that Comet is actaully not the father of Crystal's baby foal. The roar of shocked audience ponies briefly caught Scootaloo's attention, but she quickly returned to her thoughts.
She was really peeved to hear that her father would be enraged if he found out Scootaloo liked fillies. It made her want to punch a hole in the wall.
Aren't my parents supposed to love and cherish me no matter what? was the only thought inside her head. In fact, she was so preoccupied with this dilemma that she failed to hear her mother call her the first two times.
"SCOOTALOO!"
With a shake of her head, Scootaloo came to her senses. She turned the TV off and headed out of her room.
"What is i—"
Her sentence was cut short at the sight of her crush in her living room. Butterflies started filling up her stomach.
"Oh!" Scootaloo exclaimed. She grinned with awkward enthusiasm. "H-hey, Applebloom!"
"Hi, Scootaloo!" she replied happily. Scootaloo's heart rate increased tenfold at the sound of her southern farmer voice. It took everything inside Scootaloo not to just run up to her and plant a big, fat kiss on her lips right then and then.
The pegasus flashed a quick glance at her mother; she just winked at her, as if to tell her "Everything will be alright." Scootaloo sure hoped everything would be.
"So, why are you here?" questioned Scootaloo. Her eyes immediately became wide and she started rambling. "Not that I don't want to see you, you're cool and everything, and I enjoy seeing you, I was just wondering, you know what I mean? Heh..."
Raising an eyebrow at her friend in confusion, she gave her answer. "We're havin' our sleepover t'night. Remember? Ah came here t'pick you up, heh." Applebloom looked down and shuffled her hooves nervously.
"Oh, yeah, the sleepover!" remembered Scootaloo. "Heh, I guess I must have...Forgotten."
"S'alright, Scoots."
Scootaloo noticed they were one crusader short. "Hey, where's Sweetie Belle?"
"Ah'm pickin' her up next. Ah just wanted t'come here 'n' git ya, first..." her voiced trailed off as she looked away to hide her flushed cheeks; the other wouldn't have noticed either way, since she was doing the same to conceal her faint blush.
The uncomfortable hush was too painful for Lulu. "Well, Scootaloo, I got your saddlebags and everything ready. IT's got your toiletries and whatnot. And don't forget to take your medication this time."
Scootaloo felt as if she got struck by a bolt of lightning; she did NOT want her mother talking about her medication right in front of the pony she loves. Quickly grabbing her bags, she hastily tried to get out of their before Applebloom could question anything. "Ooooookay, mom, will do. Let's go now Applebloom. See you tomorrow, mom!"
In a blink of an eye, Scootaloo and Applebloom were out of the house and quickly trotting off toward Carousel Boutique, leaving Applebloom a bit frazzled and puzzled and it piqued her curiosity. "Hey Scoots, what was she talkin' about?"
The pegasus stopped and looked down. She felt ashamed and didn't want her crush to think she was weird and different.
"I, uh...I have...I have ADHD..."
This didn't help that much. "What's that?"
"It stands for Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder." Scootaloo explained. "In other words, if I don't take these pills every day, then I...I get really hyper and it's hard for me to focus on anything for long...Basically I turn into something like Pinkie Pie"
"Oh...I see..."
Sighing in shame, she softly said, "I hope you don't think I'm weird or anything..."
Applebloom frowned as she walked up to her friend, and placed a hoof around her neck. It was a struggle for her to talk considering how warm and fuzzy she was feeling inside from being so close to Scootaloo. "Of course ah don't, silly filly. It ain't your fault, you were born with it."
Scootaloo found it hard to concentrate as well as her friend's scent drifted into her nostrils. My goodness, she smells so heavenly. Like freshly picked apples. She just barely caught what she had said. "Th-thanks, Applebloom...You're a wonderful friend..."
Applebloom's heart nearly melted at her friend's comment. "You're welcome...And thank you."
Several moments passed, till finally Scootaloo spoke up. "Um...We should get going to get Sweetie."
"Oh!" Applebloom snapped out of her trance. "Heh, right. Well then, let's git goin'."
The rest of the trip to Carousel Boutique was in awkward silence. Both of the fillies' minds were on each other.
I think I might just go insane if I don't just tell her already thought Scootaloo. I need to find the right moment tonight to open up my feelings to her...I just hope she feels the same for me. No, scratch that; I don't mind if she doesn't feel the same, I just hope it doesn't ruin our friendship.
Ah gotta git a hold of myself thought Applebloom. Ah gotta tell her, and soon. Sweetie Belle's usually first t'fall asleep, so hopefully there'll be some time where it'll just me 'n' Scootaloo. Oh Celestia, if she don't like me like Ah like her, ah just hope it won't ruin our friendship.
Their pondering made what was in reality 20 minute trip feel like a minute long. They were both surprised when they realized that they had made it without noticing. Snapping out of her daze, Scootaloo walked up to the door to knock; it opened before she had a chance, though.
"Hey, girls!" Sweetie Belle greeted her fellow crusaders.
"Hi, Sweetie Belle." Scootaloo replied. "Are ya ready for the best sleepover ever?"
"Totally! Tonight's the night we finally get our cutie marks!"
All three cheered, making Sweetie Belle aware of Applebloom's presence.
"...Hey Applebloom."
Applebloom went blank. "Hi..."
"I'm sorry about that argument earlier..."
A smile crept on the farmer's face. "It's alright, Sweetie. It ain't that big of a deal."
"Girls, enough of this mushy stuff." Scootaloo interrupted. "Let's get this sleepover started!"
All three of them clopped their forehoofs together and shouted, "CUTIE MARK CRUSADERS SLEEPOVER AT SWEET APPLE ACRES! YAAAAAAAAAAY!"
With that, they all bolted down the road leading toward the farm for a night of play and fun, Celestia's sun setting beneath the horizon. Applebloom and Scootaloo both decided to themselves that they did not want their feelings get in the way of what was going to be a great night. They can worry about those things some other time.
