"Woo-wee! Yer sure did outdone yourself this time, Applebloom!" Applejack praised, staring at Applebloom's work. The cart had been painted and polished so it shined like a new penny.
"Euyup!" Big Mac agreed, seeing his reflection on the surface of the wood. One of the wheels of the cart had fallen off, so Applebloom had replaced it, as well as the other wheel just to be safe. And being an amazing carpenter, Applebloom even carved some pretty apple patterns into the formerly plain cart. Applebloom's siblings were genuinely impressed with her work, despite it being nothing new.
Applebloom would have checked her flank for any sign of a well-earned cutiemark, but she had long ago given up on the subject. When Applebloom had crafted her first ever masterpiece she had expected her long-awaited cutiemark to appear. Time after time she had hopefully checked just in case, but after a year or so she gave up. Despite her talent, her destiny seemed to think otherwise. Sometimes Applebloom thought her destiny was in fact to be a blank flank until the day she died. This made her even more miserable.
"Thanks y'all," Applebloom replied half-heartedly. Applejack looked at Big Mac. They needn't ask what the problem was, for they knew well what Applebloom was going through. Big Mac only shook his head and left, carrying his bundle of apples as he went. Applejack took was glance at her sister, before leaving as well. Once her siblings were gone, Applebloom put away her tools and the apple cart.
Later on after the Apples had finished eating their dinner, Applebloom decided to help her big sister around the farm while Big Macintosh went into town. Applebloom wasn't as strong or as skilful at bucking apples as her big brother and sister, but that never discouraged her. She loved Applejack and Big Mac so much, and enjoyed helping them.
"So, Applebloom, have ya seen Sweetie Belle or Scootaloo lately?" Applejack asked, trying to start conversation. Applebloom bucked the nearest tree,
"Not really. It can be hard to see my friends when they are busy with families and businesses, especially since Ah never leave Sweet Apple Aches." she admitted.
"You know, it don't take much effort to just up em and visit," Applejack reminded her, picking up a couple of apples that had missed her buckets.
"Ah know," Applebloom sighed, "But Ah can't risk the humiliation of..." she looked over at her bare flank. Applejack dropped the apples into her bucket,
"But Applebloom, they're yer best friends. Yer can't just expect them to do all the hard work; yer gotta approach them too," Applejack pointed out, putting a hoof on her little sister's shoulder. Applebloom glanced at Applejack for a second, before hanging her head down in shame. She knew her sister was right, but she couldn't bring herself to leave her comfort zone. She was too scared.