Apple Bloom took a deep breath in. She counted, One.… Two.… Three…. Four…. Five…. She tried to be as discreet with her meditation as she could. “Apple Bloom? What's wrong?”

Welp. There that goes.

“Nothin’! Nothin’ Sweetie, nothin’ at all,” Apple Bloom told her friend. Well, not so much just a friend, but rather a girlfriend. “Ah’m just thinkin’, we've been together for… well, a pretty darn long time… and ah was, um, thinkin’ that maybe it's about time we’ve….” she paused, hoping that Sweetie Belle would not think that she would be rushing their secret relationship if she let those words jump from her vocal chords. She knew, that if she said those words, no matter what, nothing would be the same again. Their relationship would have officially evolved to the next step, and they'd be no turning back. “Ah was just thinkin’ that….” Darnit Apple Bloom, you've said the word “thinkin’” a hundred times already! Apple Bloom took a slow deep breath in, and blurted out, “Ah think we should have our first kiss!” instantly, she covered her mouth, as if she had spoken a curse word in front of Applejack.

Sweetie Belle blushed a pink, that could be easily matched with the pink of her hair. “Oh,” she said, unsure at first. “Like… now?”

Apple Bloom awkwardly shrugged and smiled. “Ah mean, if you want to, but you, uh, don't have to right now if you, uh, don't… wanna.”

Sweetie Belle’s pink blush shifted quickly into one of red. “Oh, sure. Yeah, now’s a good time, right? No one watching us, ask alone….” There was a pause, as the two fillies stared at each other’s blushing faces. Sweetie Belle scooched forward, so the tips of the two ponies’ hooves were touching. They both simultaneously felt the warmth inside them that was young love. “Ready?”

“Ready.”

“You sure?”

“Ah'm sure.”

Sweetie Belle closed her eyes and took a breath in. She whispered, “okay,” and slowly leaned in, puckering her lips.

“WOAH, WOAH, WOAH!” Apple Bloom jumped up.

Sweetie jumped, and reset herself. “What? What did I do wrong?”

“Well,” Apple Bloom said, rubbing her front left hoof with her right one. “Sorry, that was mah fault. Ah meant a kiss on the cheek, more like?”

There are no known words I can use to describe the hue of red Sweetie Belle’s face had become.

“Sorry, ah should’a been more specific,” the yellow filly sat back down, and looked back into the eyes of her partner. “Ah mean, ah wouldn't be opposed to kissin’ ya on the lips either, but ah think we shouldn't jump the gun.”

Nodding, Sweetie Belle said, “Right, yeah, sorry… so, do you want to do that now too?”

Apple Bloom leaned towards Sweetie Belle’s cheek and puckered up. Alas, she burst out laughing before she hit initial impact. “Sorry,” she said, still chuckling. She took a breath, and spent the better part of thirty seconds recuperating her seriousness. Then, without warning, she quickly moved her head right at Sweetie Belle's left cheek, and planted a quick peck. Both of their hearts were racing.

After a quiet moment, where if another pony had waltzed into the clubhouse they'd have tasted the lovestruck aurora like the humid summer air, Sweetie Belle said, “I don't think that one really counted.”

Still in the moment, and well beyond the point of wanting to stop, Apple Bloom stated, “No, you're right. That was more of a warm-up than anythin’,” Apple Bloom turned her head and presented her right cheek for her girlfriend. “Gimme your best shot,” A smile beamed on her face.
Sweetie Belle went in, slightly slower than Apple Bloom had, and kissed her coat with a smooch. Apple Bloom’s heart melted, and she rubbed the spot with a shaky hoof. “Wow. Ah heard that one.”

Sweetie Belle smiled back, and turned her head right again. “Redemption shot?”

Apple Bloom went in and kissed the cheek slowly than even Sweetie Belle had, wanting now desperately to hold the mouth-to-skin contact as long as she could without it being too-too awkward.

The unicorn filly giggled. “That felt good,” she said. Apple Bloom giggled back. “Do it again,” she presented her cheek again. Then, after Apple Bloom had pecked once again, she returned the favor to her partner.

And so, the two took turns smooching each other on the cheek until they both agreed it had gotten a little too weird. (Although admittedly, both of them knew it was “too weird” from the start.)

Both of them were giggling in a lovestruck hysteria. After a good while had passed, Sweetie Belle brought up what she thought they'd originally be doing. “So… lips now?” The dreaded blush returned to both of their post-kiss faces.

“Well, if we do that, ya know what would come next, right?”

“No, no, no, no,no…. Isn't that illegal?”

“SWEETIE BELLE!” Apple Bloom yelled. “That's not what ah meant at all!”

Sweetie Belle wiped her brow. “Heh-heh, good. Because honestly, I wouldn't exactly…” she whispered the last part “...be okay with doing that.”

Apple Bloom facehoofed. “Ah mean tell Scoots, remember? We said that we'd tell her once we felt like it was an official relationship, and ah don't think there's a better way to do that than with a kiss, right?”

“Oooooooooohhhhh, yeah. I remember that now!”

Apple Bloom rolled her eyes. “So, ah think, before we… do this, how should we tell her?”

“Hmm…” Sweetie Belle rubbed her chin with her hoof and turned to look out the window. While her back was turned, Apple Bloom grabbed a hoof-full of mints out of the CMC’s mint jar, and jammed them all into her mouth. “I guess we could just, you know, tell her. Like, sit down with her and talk.”

“No, that just do…” Apple Bloom stalled, putting another handful of mints in her mouth and crunching. “It needs to be… quietlike, and not overblown.”

“Okay, so we write her a letter,” Sweetie Belle turned around. “I think you may be making a big deal out of this.”

“Et if a big eal! Ut if ee gef weir-ed ou’ an’ hafes us forever?” Apple Bloom yelled out with her mouth literally full of mints. She crunched and swallowed. In her frenzied desperation to reach ‘freshness nirvana’, a glob of drool fell out, and to Apple Bloom’s dismay, Sweetie Belle had seen it fall. She wiped the spit with her hoof. “Ah said, it is a big deal, what if she gets weirded out and hates us, and thinks she's bein’ treated like a third wheel.”

Sweetie Belle raised an eyebrow at Apple Bloom, looked her up and down, then said, “I guess so…” Sweetie Belle gasped. “What about a song‽” We can sing her a song about friendship, and love, and understanding each other… yeah! Let's do that!”

“Yeah?” Now it was Apple Bloom’s turn to raise an eyebrow. “And how would that song go?”

Sweetie Belle thought to herself for a moment. “Ummm… ummm…. Oh! How about,

Hey, hey, hey, what can we say,
Your two best friends are secretly gay.
Hey, hey, hey, what can we do?
We've decided it's time we told the truth to you!

Then it can bridge into the chorus, which will be something like–”

“–On second thought,” Apple Bloom spoke up, “maybe we should just just stick with the heart-to-heart.” Sweetie Belle looked disappointed, but agreed that the talk was probably the best plan of action.

“So,” Apple Bloom said. “Now that that's settled… shall we,” she gave her best seductive smile and raised her eyebrow.

Sweetie Belle let out a giggle that made Apple Bloom’s heartstrings play like a fiddle.

The two assumed the same position they had when they did their kissing-fest. Both of their hearts raced in unison. “Eyes closed or… what?”

Apple Bloom looked around. “Closed, ah guess.”

They both closed their eyes, and leaned in…

“Wait, Apple Bloom,” Sweetie Belle leaned back and opened her eyes, causing Apple Bloom to fall forward into Sweetie Belle’s hooves. “Heh, sorry…”

“What's wrong?”

“I thought I heard someone walking up…” there was a quiet as the two listened to the wind. “I guess it was nothing….”

“Ohhh-kay then. Ya’ ready now?”

Sweetie Belle nodded vigorously. They both closed their eyes and leaned in. “Wait, wait, wait.” Sweetie Belle pulled her head back and opened her eyes yet again.

Although Apple Bloom hadn't fallen that time, she was even more annoyed. “Now what?” she asked.

“Okay, so, I know it sounds weird, but I don't feel comfortable with everyone watching me,” Sweetie Belle spoke in an embarrassed tone.

“What in Equestria do you mean? Nopony’s here!” Apple Bloom waved her hooves around to emphasize the emptiness of the room they were in.

“Well, I mean the… the photos,” Sweetie Belle lowered her head, ashamed. Apple Bloom looked over to the photo wall, confused. “I just feel like they're all staring at us, judging,” she stared directly at a photo of Rarity.

“Yeah, well ya’ didn't think that before when it was just on the cheek… or when you first tried to kiss on the lips earlier.”

“Things were different then! I was a different mare! Its–” she had realized how much like Rarity she sounded like and returned her voice to its standard octave levels. “It's different now.”

Apple Bloom sighed and began to remove photos. Sweetie Belle trotted to the wall, and began to help. They carefully placed the photos face down in a stack by the opposite corner of the room. Once done, they assumed the position (for the third time, might I add) and closed their eyes.

They slowly leaned in….

“AAHHHH!” Apple Bloom yelled so loud that Sweetie Belle ended up squealing too. Apple Bloom covered her right eye with both her front hooves. She breathed through her teeth, whether through anger or pain, Sweetie Belle wasn't one to ask or care. “Gosh… darn unicorns!” Apple Bloom bit her tongue to hold back a curse word.

“What? What happened?” Sweetie Belle was at least ninety-nine per cent sure she knew exactly why, but she felt the need to ask anyway (lest she forget her manners.)

“Your… darn horn, that's what!” Apple Bloom moved her hooves. “How's it look?”

“I don't see anything.”

“Ugh,” Apple Bloom reset herself, and looked into the eyes of her partner. “Okay, don't move. Sweetie Belle froze completely. “You can move a little!” Sweetie exhaled. “Okay, now, tilt your head… little more.” Sweetie Belle now sported the full-on cuteness of the puppy-dog head tilt, and Apple Bloom immediately forgot about the horn scratching her eye. Apple Bloom dropped her mad attitude, and switched over to a soft, love-filled one. “Now close your eyes.” Sweetie Belle closed her eyes softly. “Hey, no peekin’!” Sweetie fully closed her eyes.

Apple Bloom exhaled onto her right hoof, and waved the air towards her. The overwhelming scent of minty freshness came back. “Hurry up, will you? My neck is starting to cra–”

Apple Bloom stopped the dialog with a long, passionate kiss on the lips. The rest of Sweetie’s sentence was muffled under the weight of Apple Bloom, and she couldn't care less. The two presses their lips against lips for no less than a minute, nothing on their mind but the love for each other. They parted. Sweetie Belle letting out a long exhale, as if she had been holding her breath. (She had been.)

“That was…” she said, trying to find the correct term, or any term close, to describe the experience she had just been through.

“Somethin’ all right.”

Sweetie Belle laughed, and pecked her love on the lips quickly one last time.

“Sure was.”

Author's Notes:

I felt like I put too much dark stuff here, so here y'all go, some lovey-dovey Sweetiebloom heartwarming blech.

More darkness and pain on the way.....