My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic

Starlight, Starbright

Chapter 22

Meanwhile, Back in Ponyville III

Applebloom stood by her sister’s stall in the Ponyville markets, showing Silver Crown the tricks of the trade, with Applejack, Zilver, Big Mac, and Diamond Tiara watching.

“now, Crown, the key to finding a good, ripe apple is the same way you tell if a Watermelon is ripe.” she tapped it with the edge of her hoof. “Ya tap it.”

“Tap it?”

“yeah, Tap it?” Diamond Tiara added. “I never knew you could do that.” she asked Applejack.

“we don’t.” A.J. whispered. “it’s mostly about luck.” Tiara softly exclaimed. “hmhmhm. You’re gonna play your daughter for a fool, Applebloom.”

Applebloom heard but ignored her. She grabbed a few apples off the stall. “tell me, which ones are wipe?”

Crown grabbed the 4 apples and looked them over, tapping them. Zil and Mac silently chuckled. “Ripe. Ripe. Ripe. Rotten.” she tossed the ‘rotten’ one away.

“Rotten?” the apple family all said in surprise. Crown tossed it away. Upon hitting the ground, it broke into nasty orange parts. “huh. Guess it was.” A.J. commented.

“Can’t win them all.” Zil said.

“ew. Where’d this come from?” Scootaloo said.

Applebloom looked to see her and the rest of her friends there. Friends that hurt her wife’s feelings yesterday. “what are you guys doing here?” she asked. “if it’s to further berate me, don’t.”

“no no no. it’s not that.” Dinky said. “we… should’ve have reacted the way we did.”

“We should’ve listened to the whole story before we freaked out.” Pip said.

Applebloom and Tiara momentarily glanced to each other. “You… really want to hear how me and Tiara met?” a hesitant Applebloom asked.

Sweetie Belle used her magic to pull up a table and a few chairs. “that answer your question?”

It did. It took them one argument but they’re finally going to hear it and finally see why she fell in love with her.

“I must admit, but I’m also curious.” Applejack said.

“me too.” Big Mac and Zilver said.

“Then you better sit down.” Applebloom said. “This is going to be awhile.”

As the apple family sat down, Tiara bent down to tell her daughter, “Crown, why don’t you go and see if you can find some nice picture books at Golden Oaks Library.”

“Okay, mommy.” the filly gave her mom a quick kiss on the cheek then headed to the library. Tiara smiled and joined Applebloom.

“So spill. When we were foals, you were mortal enemies.” Feather Weight said. “And now you’re married with a kid? How the heck did that happen?”

Applebloom wondered that herself, once upon a time. “well, if you’ll remember, Tiara moved to Trottingham with her father when her parents got a divorce, right?”

“Yeah. That’s when the humans were in town.” Applejack said.

“oh, that’s what happened to her.” Dinky said. “And here I thought the author forgot her.”

The who? “Un… think you’re going crazy in your pregnancy, Dinks.” Babs said.

“Anyway…” Applebloom said, getting back to the subject at hand. “…we reunited 3 years ago, when I just moved in with cousin Zim Zam in Trottingham…”

3 years earlier…

Applebloom rested on the couch, having unpacked the last of her boxes. “Ah! Sweet relief.” she contently sighed. “my poor hooves need a soak.”

“Your hooves!?” her cousin Zim Zam exclaimed. “you want to talk about course hooves, look at mine!” he exclaimed, holding one up to showcase the blisters on them.

“ew.” a knock came from the main door. Both of them were beat so they flipped a coin and Applebloom lost. Defeated, She got up and headed to the door. “you know, you’re never going to get a girl, acting like that.” Zim shrugged and plopped down on the couch. Without look, Applebloom opened the door. She should’ve looked first.

“well, looks like my vision wasn’t deceiving me. Applebloom, here in Trottingham.” Diamond Tiara said with a smug grin.

“Tiara!” Applebloom yelled in surprise. “What are you doing here?”

“I live here, stupid.”

“HERE!?” she yelled, gesturing to the house.

“no, stupid. In Trottingham. I moved here, remember?”

Oh, yeah. She forgot that Tiara had moved to Trottingham just after the Winter War and when her parents divorced. She and her father moved to Trottingham, the city farthest away from Ponyville. She kept up regular letters with Silver Spoon, who became a friend to the CMC after Tiara moved.

“I completely forgot about that.” Applebloom nervously said.

“I’m not surprised. You were always the lamest out of your little playgroup. Still a blank flank?”

Applebloom frowned at her. “Really? You know I got my Cutie Mark when I adopted Helios.” she showed her flank, showcasing the crystal-dragons head.

“Oh, right. That dragon thing. How is it?”

“he’s out back. Look, did you come here to just insult me?”

Tiara shrugged. “well, that’s half of it. The other half is to just say hey.”

That part, Applebloom wasn’t buying. “really? Just to say hey?”

“yeah. First time in years I met someone from Ponyville, much less a friend.”

“a friend? Hahahaha. Tiara. We were never friends. You were a very mean bully, border lining on torturer.”

“Girls gotta have a hobby.” the smug ‘princess’ turned to leave. “see you later, blank flank.” she left, leaving a steamed up Applebloom behind.

She slammed the door shut, grabbed a pillow, and yelled into it. “FAUST, SHE’S PRETENTIOUS!”

Zim, who had gotten comfortable, looked at her without a care in the world. “I take it you know her?”

Applebloom removed her head from the pillow. “Know her?” she tossed the pillow. “She basically tortured me during school. Ugh, and I was hoping never to see her again.”

Zim just sat there with a mug of cider on hoof. “if you say so. But fate can work in mysterious ways. Maybe you two were supposed to meet again.”

Applebloom couldn’t help but laugh at that. Fate, meeting back up with her? “yeah, right.” she laughed.

“okay. Ignore me. But something tells me you’re gonna see her again.”

Applebloom ignored her with a sputter and walked out to check on Helios.

She should’ve listened.

The next day was a wet one with a storm raging outside. To save a description, it was raining cats and dogs.

The mare from Ponyvlle looked out a window to the raging storm. “wow. Remind me to tip the weather team.”

“ditto.” Zim agreed. Applebloom went to sit down in a beanbag with a mug of cider when, much to their surprise, a rapid knock came at the door. Whoever’s behind it is really frantic. “Who could that be?”

Applebloom got up and headed to the door. “I don’t know.” she opened the door and gasped when she saw a beaten and bruised Diamond Tiara standing on the other side. “Tiara?!”

“I’m sorry, but I didn’t know where else to go.” she said with a crying shiver.

“un, come in. come in.” Tiara did just that. Applebloom took her coat and put it over the shivering mare. “Un, Zim, think you can make some hot cocoa?”

“sure.” he ran into the kitchen and got started on it.

Applebloom lead Tiara into the kitchen and sat her down. She wiped the hair away from a bruise and winced. “What happened?”

Tiara wiped her eyes. “my… my now ex-boyfriend did this to me.”

“Why?”

Tiara sniffled and wiped her eyes again. “because I said hello to you instead of being at home, doing… doing the deed.”

“unbelievable.” Zim said. “he beat you, just because you wouldn’t put out? Unbelievable.”

“it’s worse.” she felt tears run down her cheek but she didn’t care. “I found out that I’m… I’m pregnant. With his child.” Applebloom gasped. It’s just like what happened with Twilight back in Feather Top. “I found out a few weeks ago and he beat me for that.”

“Didn’t you tell your dad about this?”

“he doesn’t care. He’s so focused on his work, he never cared about what happens to me. I could loose a few legs and he couldn’t care. It‘s been like that ever since I was a filly.”

Tiara was surprised to have Applebloom hugging her out of sympathy. “I’m so sorry, Tiara. I never knew.” a realization entered her mind. “wait. Was that why you were so mean to us?”

The beaten mare slowly nodded. “part of the reason. The other reason is because… I was so alone in life and I couldn’t think of any other reason to hang with you all. I knew I had a reputation as a bully and I played the angle. That didn’t work out for me, did it?”

She was a bully… just to hang out with them? Applebloom lightly chuckled. “you dork. You didn’t need to do that. You could’ve just asked ‘hey, can I hang with you’? that’s all it could’ve take.”

“I know that now, but I was a filly. We were stupid back then.”

“no argument there.” Applebloom chuckled at the antics she and her friends got up to.

Applebloom flicked the light on in her room and pulled back the blankets. “you can sleep in my room tonight.” she told Tiara.

“what about you?” a concerned Tiara asked, walking in.

“I’ll take the couch. It’s the least I can do for you.” she headed to the door and grabbed the handle.

“Applebloom…” Tiara said, making her stop in her tracks. “thanks… for helping me.”

Applebloom gently nuzzled her. “What are friends for, Tiara?” she said with a smile. Tiara smiled back.

Applebloom walked downstairs and went looking for blankets. “So how long is your friend going to stay with us?” Zim asked.

“just until she gets back on her feet, Zim.” she found and grabbed a blanket. “she just had her boyfriend beat her and found out she’s pregnant. Wouldn’t you feel down if that happened to you?”

Zim shrugged. “you have a point.” Applebloom set one blanket on the couch and tossed another one to the other end. “but be careful with her, Applebloom. I met mares like her before and they’re likely to be scared by something like this.”

“I know, Zim. My aunt Twilight went though the same thing when I was a filly and she got out just fine.”

Zim yawned out of drowsiness. “if you say so. I’m heading to bed.” he headed up the stairs, shutting off the lights behind him.

“Good night.” Applebloom replied. She turned off the lights in the living room, laid down on the couch, and fell asleep then and there.

When Diamond Tiara woke up, she felt horrible. Her boyfriend left and beat her, she’s pregnant with his kid, she was forced to stay with a mare she basically tortured as a filly. When did her life turn into crap? A knock came from the door, forcing her to open her eyes. “Who is it?” she said with a course voice.

“it’s the pizza man. Who do you think it is?” Applebloom replied. Tiara rolled on her side, looking away from the door as Bloom opened the door and walked in. “un… Tiara? You okay?”

“no… I’m not, Applebloom. I just had a… really bad day yesterday and I brought you into it. I’m sorry for that.”

Applebloom chuckled. “it’s okay, Tiara. It’s okay. What are friends for?”

Friends… just thinking about that word made Tiara both chuckle and cry. She treated Applebloom like crap but she’s helping her. She turned around. “Thanks, Applebloom.” she noticed that the mare was carrying a breakfast tray on her back. “You made me breakfast in bed?”

“yeah. Figured it’s the least I can do for you after what you went though.” she walked over to give it to Tiara when she stepped and tripped on a teddy bear. Applebloom yelled as she fell, causing the contents of the tray to spill all over and for her to fall face first into Tiara’s mouth, kissing her on the lips.

Both mares went wide-eyed then immediately broke the kiss. They just laid there, looking at each other, turning as red as strawberries. They didn’t move; they just stared into each other’s eyes.

“T-Tiara…”

“A-Applebloom…”

They didn’t move or tear their gaze away from each other.

“it was in that moment that we realized that we loved each other. We loved each other but couldn’t bring ourselves to accept it, or even know we did love each other until that moment. It was one of those hidden crushes; We couldn’t bare to look away; we never wanted that moment to end.” Diamond Tiara said.

Applebloom took over. “And in that same moment, we ha--”

Applejack stopped her with a stuttering noise. “ililililili. N-nobody needs to hear that part, do they?”

“guess not.” Applebloom shrugged.

“the very best moment in our lives came the night Silver Crown was born.” Diamond Tiara said.

*flashback mode activate*

During Tiara’s 11 months of pregnancy, her’s and Applebloom’s romance blossomed. Despite having never had a coltfriend or marefriend, Applebloom was quite the romantic; it pays to watch romantic movies. Fancy restaurants, long walks, beautiful nights. Applebloom know how to show a girl a good time. And Applebloom was one of those who had a pregnancy fetish, leading to some wild times in the bedroom.

It wasn’t all fun and games, though. Tiara’s father wasn’t a supporter of their relationship, saying that he didn’t raise her to be a forsaken Filly-Fooler. And Tiara’s Ex-Boyfriend, Green Star, was suing her for custody of her foal, who wasn’t even born yet and a case he fortunately lost.

{“oh, goodness. We didn’t know Tiara.” Scootaloo said, she and her friends feeling absolutely horrible by what they said. “And all those things we said…”

“you didn’t know.” Tiara emotionlessly said. “I don’t blame you.”

A moment of silence fell on them, which was then broken by Zilver. “so, what happened next?”

Tiara’s frown was turned upside-down. “what else? Silver Crown.”}

Diamond Tiara yelled as another contraction hit her. “OH, FAUST, THIS ONE WAS MORE PAINFUL THEN THE LAST!!!” once it passed, she panted with a whimper.

Applebloom nuzzled her marefriend sympathetically, wishing to do anything to help her.

As soon as the contractions began coming, Applebloom took Diamond Tiara to the hospital. When they arrived, Tiara was in a lot of pain and was immediately taken to the delivery room. Guess she’s one of those ponies who hates pain. A lot. She had been pushing for 2 hours but the foal wasn’t moving a inch. (I looked it up because 2 of my characters in my stories; Requiem Trinity and War X, have pregnant characters. The baby not moving happens.)

Another contraction hit, causing her to cry in pain. “I’m sorry you have to do this by yourself, Tiara.” a sympathetic Applebloom said.

The contraction passed, allowing her to catch her breath. “it’s… not your fault. It’s that damn Green Star and his libido who’s to blame.” another contraction hit, thankfully not as painful as the others before.

Applebloom paced back and forth outside the entryway to the emergency room. The baby was in distress and Tiara had to have a C-Section. That made Applebloom nervous; very nervous.

“She’ll be fine, cous. You’ll see.” Zim said.

“I sure hope so.” she said with a whimper. She stopped and pulled out a box. Within it was a diamond ring. “I sure hope so…”

The door to their area burst open and wouldn’t you know, the bastard himself stormed in. Zim ran out to get the guards, sensing a confrontation brewing. “Where is that bitch!?” Green Star yelled. Applebloom put the box away and got in his path. “get out of my way, bitch!”

“No!” a stern Applebloom said.

“No!?” he snarled. “Nobody says no to me!”

“Well, I just did and so did the court who turned down your case. So, Ha Ha.”

The mare is really starting to get on his nerves. “Listen, you bitch! Either you move aside or else I’m going to break your bones 5 ways to Sunday!”

Applebloom have had enough of this dumb birds ramblings. “Listen, you dumb Gryphon, you lost your chance to be with Tiara and Silver Crown when you beat her AND sued her. And you also lost it when I came to Trottingham. So shut up and deal with it!”

Green Star’s anger was reaching a boiling point. “You dumb mare! You think you can tell me what to do!?” he kicked Applebloom right into a potted plant. “YOU NEVER TELL ME WHAT TO DO! I‘ll do whatever I want to that bitch whether you like it or not!!!”

“Shut up!” a voice called out. Both the Gryphon and the Mare looked to see, much to Applebloom’s surprise, Tiara’s father walk in with a couple of cops and Zim. “you gave you the authority to hurt my daughter and to try and take her foal?”

“I can do whatever I want, you dumb bastard.”

The stallion chuckled. “you really shouldn’t have said that.” he pointed to the Gryphon. The cops used magic to wrapped magic whips around his wings and legs. “I have a lot of connections high up and I can make sure you’re put away for a long time!”

“You wouldn’t dare!” The Gryphon snarled.

“Try me.” he nodded to the cops, who nodded back. They slapped a muzzle on him and took the abusive Gryphon away. He then turned his attention to Applebloom, who got up off the ground thanks to Zim.

“so you’re Applebloom- the mare who’s courting my daughter?”

“un, yes sir.” Applebloom said, not wanting to get in trouble with him.

“you know I don’t like Filly-Foolers.”

“n-no sir.”

“I find them to be abominations of nature; freaks, even.”

Applebloom gulped. “I-I know, sir.”

He sighed and chuckled. “but… my daughter seems to love you and you were willing to stand up to her demons. And I admire that.”

“so… what are you saying?”

“I’m saying that, while I’m not the biggest fans of Filly-Foolers, I won’t deny my daughter her happiness. You have my blessing.”

Applebloom took a moment to process that, then happily gasped. “Oh, thank you!” she suddenly hugged him, much to his surprise.

“but I’m not a hugging kind of pony.”

Applebloom realized what she was doing and let go. “Sorry, Sir.”

Applebloom knocked and entered Tiara’s room. Inside, Tiara was holding her new daughter with a smile. “Hey.” Applebloom softly said.

“Hey.” Tiara replied in the same fashion. Applebloom walked over and looked at Tiara’s new kid. She had her mothers mane. Tiara noticed a drop of blood fall from Bloom’s head. “what happened?”

“Huh?” Bloom reached up and wiped her forehead to see she was bleeding. “oh. I had a bad fall. it’s nothing big.”

“if you say so.” Tiara returned her attention to her new Silver Crown and smiled. “isn’t she precious?”

“yeah. Really cute.” the mare cocked her head to the side. “you know, I expected there to be some Gryphon attributes in her, like a beak or something.”

“me too. But… maybe it’s for the best that she doesn’t know about Green Star.”

“I agree.” Applebloom reached back and pulled out the box. “Um… Tiara… there’s something I want to ask you and… I hope you say yes.” she got down on one knee and opened the box to reveal the ring. “Will you marry me, Diamond Tiara?”

The new mother gasped. First a child, now a bride. This is the best day of her life; minus all the pain. And she didn’t have to think. “Yes. Yes, of course I’ll marry you.”

*end flashback*

“And… here we are now.” Applebloom said. “telling you guys the whole story.”

“wow… it’s like fate brought you guys together all those years ago but only did the feelings blossom after a long time apart.” Sweetie Belle said. She stood still for a moment then brought out a pad and paper. “that would make a good song.”

Applejack patted her sister on the back. “I raised you well, sis, if you went up against someone like Green Star.”

“it was nothing.” Applebloom modestly replied.

Dinky, however, whimpered in fear. “it hurt that much?” she whimpered, gesturing to the birth, something she herself is going to have to go though any day now. To twins, no less.

“OH, yeah.” Tiara said, not even trying to hide it. “it hurts like HELL! You feel like you’re going to die; like your body is going to split apart.”

“I can vouch for that.” Applejack said, remembering her own traumatic experience with Peppy. “I didn’t think Peppy would fit though such a small opening.”

Dinky whimpered and began to hyperventilate. “Oh, I’m gonna kill you, Pip.”

“and we got a preview. How nice.” Babs joked.

“Dinky. Dinky. Calm down.” Tiara said. “yes, it hurts like there’s no tomorrow but, when you feel that little, tiny life form in your hooves for the first time and know that you created it… it makes up for the pain in spades.”

That filled the panicking mother-to-be with some hope. “you promise?”

Applejack and Tiara looked to each other and nodded. “Cross me heart, hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye.” they both said.

“Speaking of babies, does Silver Crown know of her father?” Zilver asked.

“unfortunately, yes.” Applebloom said. “he came to the house a few months before we left, ranting a storm about how he’s going to get her, no matter what happens. Thankfully, Tiara’s father stepped in again and this time, sent him to a mental ward north of Baltimare.”

“Least it’s far enough away to where he won’t come back sometime soon.” Big Mac said.

“eeeyup.” Tiara and Applebloom said in unison.

Author's Notes:

first Trixie and Luna, now Applebloom and Diamond Tiara. how come nobody has thought up these romances?