# The Hubris of Fillies

During her unusually unoccupied recess, Apple Bloom even had a chance to play with that Daze fellow, right after Rumble went off with Featherweight. Shady was a real nice colt it turned out. He wasn’t nearly as intent on learning about the ‘surprise,’ and was unexpectedly supportive of her.

“It’s great that you’re so brave with the fillies,” he said admiringly, “I wish I was brave like that. I just hide in the cellar.”

“Shucks Shady,” Apple Bloom said, “It ain’t all that hard. Catch!” She tossed him the ball. He hit it back to her with his forehead and she turned and caught it on her tail. It was a bit hard to play ball down in this storm cellar, but it was a place no filly had thought to look so Shady spent much of his free time hiding down here.

“You just have to be approachable, you know,” Apple Bloom assured him, “Talk to them just like they were one of the colts. They’re ponies too ya know.” She tossed the ball up, and hip checked it at him, and he balanced it on his nose this time, protesting,

“But they’re not colts! They don’t even have a thing!”

“Well yeah,” admitted Apple Bloom, “But you don’t have to worry about that at all. It’ll take care of itself right nicely. Only thing you have to worry about is, confidence!”

“It’s still weird...” he mumbled, unconvinced.

“You’re tellin’ me,” Apple Bloom said uncomfortably, “I barely know what to do with a boy thing. Now toss me that ball.”

Apple Bloom caught the ball in her hooves, but overbalanced, falling onto her back with it wrapped in her forehooves. “Is it true you were a...” Shady’s voice came from beyond her ball blocked vision. “Is it true you’re really Apple Bloom?”

Apple Bloom let the ball roll away and climbed to her feet, which ended in hooves, saying “Of course I am! I just wanna know if you are finally gonna admit it, that I got magicked this way.”

Shady scraped a hoof, looking aside pensively, then said, “So uh, what’s the deal with estrus?”

Apple Bloom laughed and said, “Not even fillies know the answer to that one.”

“I mean,” he said, “Why is every filly so weird all the time? Like with the chasing and the... the wet butts and stuff. If they don’t have the Cooties, then why are they coming after colts all the time? You know what it’s like, so what goes through a filly’s head that makes them act that way?”

Apple Bloom tapped a hoof on the concrete floor, saying after some thought, “Estrus makes you think about colts a lot. Like, how they look and what they smell like. Sort of like a ...catchy jingle. You just can’t get it out of your head. Except instead of catching yourself singing all the time, you catch yourself mooning after colts. And I dunno, but it does ease off more just if there’s a colt nearby, and you don’t just have to imagine what he’s like. I think fillies chase you because they just get upset when you aren’t close by. Estrus makes every filly see every colt as like, like a teddy bear they slept with as a baby, except the feeling comes at you all at once outta the blue.”

Shady walked over to the ball while she explained, putting a forehoof on top of it and rolling it around in place. “You know, mares smell too...” he said in a slightly resentful tone.

“Boy do I know,” Apple Bloom agreed, “It’s weird how as a colt I can smell the mares way more than I can colts. When I was a filly, it was just the opposite!”

Shady perked up a bit, looking at her with a curious head tilt. “So, they smell different to you now?”

Apple Bloom shook her head. “Not different, just, like... stronger. And I dunno, tastier. Hey can you toss me the ball?” He did so, and she caught it on her tail, turning around with a boyish whoop. Once she had the ball, she pontificated further, “You smell fried hay all your life, and then one day it just smells like it would just hit the spot. That’s sorta what it’s like.”

“And the wet butts?” Shady really seemed interested in this stuff. Like, not from a jump up and stick it in perspective, but like it was genuinely eating him up inside not knowing what was going on. Apple Bloom just hoped she had enough knowhow to put him straight. She had already been a filly though, so what could she possibly get mixed up? Nah it’d be fine. She tossed the ball in her tail and he caught it and spun it atop his pastern, hanging onto it and looking at her for an answer.

“I think it’s just to make us all slippery inside,” Apple Bloom speculated, “But there might be another purpose to it.”

Shady frowned, scrunching his brow. “Slippery... inside?”

Apple Bloom laughed then and said, “Gettin’ ahead of yourself there, Romeo. I got a good filly in line to show you all about it tomorrow.”

“Oh alright,” Shady said amiably. He kicked the ball her way, and Apple Bloom balanced it on her posterior, bouncing it repeatedly up in the air like reverse dribbling. Then Shady added in a quickly eager tone, “...what about the ice packs?”

“Well they don’t call it heat for nothin” Apple Bloom smirked wryly.

Shady started to nod, but blinked, and looked at her incredulously. “So it really does get hot uh, down there?” he asked.

Apple Bloom nodded. “In all three senses of the word!”

“Three senses?” Shady asked. Apple Bloom bumped the ball at him and he caught it in his hooves, wobbling a bit as he reared up to wrap them around it. He dropped it to the ground and held it steady with his forehoof again.

“Yeah,” Apple Bloom said, “Temperature, spicy, and touch-me hot.”

“Touch-me hot?”

“W-well it’s like you got an itch,” Apple Bloom said, feeling a little awkward about describing such a vulnerable experience. “And, you want to scratch it. It’s like a burn, if a burn tickled instead of hurt.”

“I sort of feel that way when I jack off sometimes,” Shady confessed honestly.

“Jack...? Well anyway,” Apple Bloom said waving a hoof dismissively, “It’s not anything like the intensity I felt as a filly in estrus. You can hardly walk from it sometimes, and all you can think about is colts, colts colts. It’s enough to drive a filly to‒ well... do what I did.”

Shady rolled the ball her way, asking, “It really is better as a colt, then?”

“It’s a heck of a lot easier,” Apple Bloom tentatively agreed, jumping on the ball and keeping herself on top of it. “But, the hard parts of being a filly are pretty easy to fix if you have a colt around,” she qualified.

“How so?” Shady said with a sly smile.

“Ah ah, tomorrow,” Apple Bloom cautioned him, “Southwest field, north entrance, mid morning after chores.”

“Yeah, okay...” he said a bit unhappily.

“We don’t got time now anyway,” Apple Bloom admitted, jumping off the ball to kick it his way. “Morning break is half over,” she said while she was dealing with it, “And I’m uh, busy at second break. If you’re hankering to help cure a filly’s estrus, then just go find one yourself an’ I’m sure you’ll figure it out.”

Apple Bloom made to leave the storm cellar then. She paused at the exit to Shady’s little hiding spot, saying, “I gotta go see Scootaloo about something. So, see you tomorrow?”

Shady nodded, making no move to leave, himself. Apple Bloom was tempted to let some filly know about his hideaway in this storm cellar, just so she could take care of one more filly’s estrus before the day was over, but that didn’t really seem fair to Shady. It’d never happen anyway, if Apple Bloom couldn’t get the fillies to come within 10 feet of her without running away. What was going on there?

It was the last official day of school. Middle and afternoon study were all going to be spent frantically trying to follow Cheerilee, who was trying to cram as much as she could in before the weekend came along. Morning study had already come and gone. Students were having mixed results, depending if they were full of estrus, or full of boy stuff, or a boy. Apple Bloom was kind of sad to see Cheerilee so hurried, and wished that the whole class could follow along with her. But, seven fillies is a pretty good effort for just one colt, she figured. Especially a colt who had only been so for such a short time.

Any thoughts on boy stuff left her head at once when Apple Bloom found Scootaloo being shoved around by the Terrible Two. It was pretty bad this time. Scootaloo looked like she had a few bites on her. Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon were circling around and jeering at her. And the monitor was watching, but must not have seen anything because they weren’t coming over to break it up. And the worst part is, Scootaloo wasn’t fighting back. She was just crouched down, eyes bloody wide, babbling on like “What did... that’s not... it can’t be you... you’re lying!”

“Maybe that’s why you’re so small and weak all the time, because of what you did!”

That was the last thing Apple Bloom heard before she jumped into action. Literally jumped. She landed square on four feet right between the three of them, facing off Diamond and Silver shouting, “Leave her alone!”

“Oh,” said Silver Spoon with an exaggerated eye roll. “The prodigal son returns!”

“Yeah, you’re a prodigal!” Diamond Tiara parrotted viciously.

Silver winced and lifted a hoof saying “Uh‒ that’s not‒” in a less confident tone. Promptly ignored as Diamond continued her schpiel.

“I should be thanking you,” Diamond said happily, “I didn’t even have to try to make everypony hate you. You just did it all by yourself!”

“What are you even talkin about?” Apple Bloom shouted, scraping a hoof angrily. “Nopony hates me! Asides you two. What’s your problem?!”

“All those little ponies hurt,” she said petulantly, “And right before exams too. I don’t think they’ll even be able to take them, and all thanks to you!”

“I would never hurt nopony!”

“You probably don’t even know,” Silver smiled, looking AB out of the side of her face. “What you did to all those poor fillies.”

“Is there a problem here?”

Apple Bloom turned and looked up to see the monitor standing over them, putting DT uncomfortably in his shadow. Big, deep blue stallion with a crewcut pink mane, kind of clashy. Snazzy grey button up vest though, a Playground Monitor badge affixed to it.

“No sir,” Diamond Tiara said humbly and smoothly, “We were just thanking him for helping us out in our little ‘pecking order’.”

“That’s all well and good,” he said to her gruffly, “But I don’t want to hear your little ‘pecking order’” he gave air quotes, “Involve any colts, you got me?”

“Absolutely sir,” Silver said with a voice full of enthusiasm.

“Come on, kid,” the monitor said to Apple Bloom, guiding her gently with a hoof, “Let’s leave these three to their thing here and go find you a‒”

“These three?!” Apple Bloom exclaimed unable to even comprehend what he was saying. “What‒ How do‒” she was just fuming. “How can you say that?!”

“Son, I know it upsets you,” the older pony said comfortingly, “But you gotta understand sometimes fillies are just gonna fight. They got to prove themselves, and a stallion has to come to accept them the way they are.”

“Fightin don’t prove nothin!” Apple Bloom retorted angrily to the clearly insane playground monitor. The grownup just smiled as if Apple Bloom said something adorable.

“You know that,” he said, “And I know that, but come on, these are fillies,” he finished in a conspiratorial tone. “You know how they can be.”

“No ah don’t,” she punctuated with a stomp.

“Look,” the stallion said, somewhat perturbed now, “I just don’t want to see any colts getting hurt in this. Why don’t you come with me to safety, and then I’ll see what I can‒”

“I’m not leaving Scootaloo,” Apple Bloom declared, squaring her shoulders and spreading her legs, even as the much, much larger adult came right up to her. Her breath was hot in the air in between them as she stared up at him defiantly.

“You’re a very rude little colt, did you know that?” he said in angrily, “I think you need to take a trip to the schoolhouse for the rest of break, or until you learn to act like a proper gentlecolt.”

“I ain’t‒” Apple Bloom said, smacking his hoof away, but he was so strong even in that. His hesitance became an unstoppable force, once he started pulling his weight. She tried to get away from him, but he had her by the tail, and she kicked him in the pastern, making him curse and go for her right rear leg, and...

That’s when Apple Bloom saw Scootaloo, who wasn’t looking at her with any kind of thanks, or friendliness, or admiration. Tusselling with a grownup is just the sort of thing Scootaloo would think is cool. But no, after what Tiara said, Scootaloo was looking at Apple Bloom with the same fear and loathing Apple Bloom had seen in the eyes of every other filly in school. It was like Scootaloo was trying to say something, but was too tearfully angry to say it.

The shock of that was enough for the older stallion to get a good grip around Apple Bloom’s barrel and hoist her into the air.

“Scootaloo, what’s wrong?!” Apple Bloom cried, struggling, “What’d they say?!”

Scootaloo hesitated terribly before shouting out “Why don’t you ask Liza!” Then she just turned and ran away as fast as she could. From Apple Bloom.

Apple Bloom was still staring in shock, when she heard a juicy, “Ooooooooo!” come from behind and below her, down from below where the stallion was carrying her away. It was funny. When she looked at Diamond and Silver laughing there, at Diamond’s little ‘joke’ noise, Apple Bloom could have sworn there was this red tinge all around them in her vision. Very funny. Peculiar even.

“Diamond Tiara I will buck you until you can’t see no more you nightmare bucking maniac lemme go you bucking lunatic lemme at her I’ll show you a pecking order Diamond I’ll peck you until not even the chickens can find all the pieces get back here you walking bag of horse pies ain’t an apple more rotten than you you, you... worst pony!!”

That was about all Apple Bloom could say before she got carried out of earshot. Then she just hung limply until they got to the school house. Miss Cheerilee was not happy to see her. But she was happy to hear that Apple Bloom hadn’t got into a fight.

“Especially since you’re a... your... condition!” Cheerilee had stated in that bright uncertain tone of hers.

“Just give me the papers to fill out,” Apple Bloom said glumly. She wished she wasn’t so familiar with the school’s disciplinary process, but it just always seemed to catch her at the worst time. She didn’t do anything wrong! She never did! Well, okay maybe that one time. Yeah that other time was totally her fault too. But not this time!

Writing out “I will act like a proper gentlecolt,” repeatedly for the course of the remaining break was humiliating in more ways than one. Apple Bloom hated how every pony seemed so intent on reminding her of her situation, as if being a colt was more important than being who you are, like some kind of special status or something. Apple Bloom felt almost like she got turned into a princess, but with a penis instead of freaky magical powers and the chance to go flying.

As the other students started to trickle in, Cheerilee gracefully let Apple Bloom stop her busywork, and Cheerilee put the papers into a drawer behind her desk. Far as Apple Bloom cared, Cheerilee could shred the darn things. And now Scootaloo was pulling a Sweetie Belle on her, not even looking at her. That meant there was... maybe buckin’ Twist left, who gave her the time of day? Apple Bloom’s friendship with Peppermint Twist had suffered a lot from the fact that Apple Bloom couldn’t stand the taste of peppermint. Also Twist never stopped going on about how great her cutie mark was.

Apple Bloom would take that in a minute though, if it didn’t mean being ostracised by the whole bucking school. She wasn’t feeling very good at all, and felt even less good when Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon strutted into class. They gave Apple Bloom a hard silent look as soon as they walked in, then Diamond said “Hey, Scootaloo! Too bad you had to hide behind your coltfriend,”

“I wasn’t hiding!” Scootaloo spoke up angrily, looking neither them nor Apple Bloom in the eyes. Apple Bloom looked to Cheerilee, who was once again just quietly at the chalkboard. Tiara walked right up to Scootaloo and said,

“Guess you finally admitted you weren’t a real mare.” Diamond seemed to smile at the thought, tilting her head elegantly, “Oh I’m Scootaloo and I’m such a wimp! How will I ever save myself from being a loser!”

“Shut up!” Scootaloo retorted, looking at Diamond Tiara hotly. Apple Bloom wanted to say something because it looked like Cheerilee was going to explode again, and she didn’t want anypony to go through that, not even Diamond Tiara. But she didn’t want to get in any more trouble than she already was. Why couldn’t Cheerilee just break it up right away?

“Think you’re gonna find another coltfriend?” Diamond taunted Scootaloo, “Ha! As if any colt would want to do it with a sick little filly like‒”

“Excuse me class,” Cheerilee announced loudly. She was looking at Diamond somewhat sadly, as she announced, “We’re going to start the lesson soon, and there won’t be any trouble making that could possibly cause a disruption. Am I clear, Scootaloo?”

...wait what?

“Yeah yeah,” Scootaloo said just covering her head in her hooves.

“Am I clear, Diamond Tiara?” Cheerilee repeated.

“Yes Miss Cheerilee,” Diamond said ever so sweetly, her and her partner in crime breaking into acidic giggles.

Needless to say, Apple Bloom managed to miss most of what was being taught that period. She was completely beside herself. Cheerilee barely even raised her voice. Wasn’t she supposed to get real mad? Why was she threatening Scootaloo? Why first? Sure Apple Bloom would have gone hooves first at Diamond after a comment like that, so it’d make sense to address Scootaloo first to stop any violence. But Apple Bloom couldn’t figure, why didn’t Cheerilee do the same thing for her anymore? Was it because she was a colt now? But that would mean

“Oh mah god, grownups like colts more than fillies!” Apple Bloom realized, loudly. Cheerilee’s voice died off, from whatever sentence she was saying. Apple Bloom then realized that she’d realized that loudly enough, for the entire class to turn and look at her. Apple Bloom hunched over and buried her head in her book, pencil wiggling morosely as she hid behind the notebook, taking very important notes on things, and stuff.

“While that is not true at all,” Cheerilee claimed to Apple Bloom, “And every pony is special both colts and fillies, I don’t see what that has to do with the anatomy of Corvus corax.” And now the class was laughing. Apple Bloom wanted to die. But first she had to kill every single grownup just to make sure they wouldn’t embarass any colt like this ever ag‒ and now she was doing it too!

Apple Bloom thought about what Scootaloo said about Liza. Now that Apple Bloom thought about it, it looked like Liza Doolots was absent today. But what could that have to do with... hurting fillies? Was DT suggesting that Apple Bloom hurt Liza? And that was why she was staying home? How could Diamond convince Scootaloo that Bloom’d hurt Liza, much less that Apple Bloom had hurt Scootaloo too? How could Apple Bloom have hurt “so many” fillies? It was just more of Tiara’s lies, and Liza was at the center of it!

Apple Bloom kept sneaking looks at Scootaloo, whom she found was sneaking looks at her in return. Looks that seemed torn between two states of mind: cold and hurt, and hot and... hungry. Every time Apple Bloom so much as glanced at Sweetie Belle, she could swear the unicorn went straight for her tea, totally ignoring her.

The three of them were clearly hurting pretty bad, and Apple Bloom decided she had to put a stop to this, and fast. How DT had gotten under all their hides at once was a mystery. And the first step to solving it, was to get the information she needed from Scootaloo. Scootaloo might be upset at that, but it wasn’t like she could get any more upset. Really, Apple Bloom didn’t have anything to lose.

The grownups seemed to sense that Apple Bloom didn’t have anything to lose, or possibly sense that Apple Bloom’s murderous rage at Diamond Tiara earlier needed some kind of mediation going on, so of course once again Apple Bloom had a bucking escort. That pony would be the first thing she needed to lose, yet it was near impossible to do that because...

“A bridle?!” Apple Bloom exclaimed aghast.

“It’s just to be safe,” explained Cheerilee. “Tempers might still be flaring hot, you know.”

“But‒ but how am I gonna eat?” Apple Bloom pleaded desperately.

“Please Apple Bloom,” Cheerilee chided, “It’s not a prison bridle; it’s just a retainer. There isn’t any bit, it’s just to make sure you stay with the playground monitor.”

So, like it or not, Apple Bloom was stuck during lunch, literally, right close to a big dumb lime green grownup mare, who loved colts so much she didn’t think twice about fillies beating Scootaloo black and blue, while she feasted on live rabbits and plotted the return of Grogar no doubt. Apple Bloom didn’t actually know, because the monitor wasn’t saying much, and of course Apple Bloom wasn’t saying much either, but Apple Bloom figured it must have been something exactly like that.

Funny thing about bridles is, you can slip it off pretty easy, but soon as it goes slack it’ll get the attention of whoever’s holding it. So it really is just to keep you in line, drag you around nose first in a way you can’t resist, but they can’t actually do much harm to you. Apple Bloom still hated it to death. But, it wasn’t impossible. Trying to figure how to slip it off, she got an idea.

It didn’t take much in terms of cajoling and gentle tugs to get the monitor to stand next to Apple Bloom over in front of the fence. Then, Apple Bloom sat there until it looked like the older mare was daydreaming. Scooting backwards with a catlike grace, Apple Bloom lightly flipped over the fence just in time to catch her cheek on the filly high fence post. With the fence, went the bridle, sliding cleanly off Apple Bloom and dangling over the post. Apple Bloom waited a frozen moment, to see if the monitor had noticed, but the monitor was too busy humming a song about smiles or something.

With a devious grin, Apple Bloom tiptoed off until her monitor was entirely out of sight. Time to find where Scootaloo was eating. The pegasus had chosen a picnic table well away from the school house, probably to avoid Diamond and any others... and Apple Bloom of course. But Apple Bloom wasn’t going to stand for that one more minute. Pulling some appropriate attire out of the clothing store, she marched right up to Scootaloo, and said,

“Scootaloo, we need to talk.”

“Gah!” shrieked Scootaloo jumping about three pony heights into the air. Apple Bloom caught Scootaloo’s flying lunch box on a hoof, arranging so the food would fall back into the box semi-neatly. It was all eggplant today, weird. Just like Scootaloo always brought something weird for lunch. Scootaloo looked around wildly, and finally spied Apple Bloom. The pegasus filly stared at Apple Bloom incredulously, asking,

“Is that a trench coat? Aren’t you hot?”

“Ahm in cognito!” Apple Bloom replied assertively, carefully placing down the lunch box on the picnic table. “Now, what on earth happened to Liza?”

Scootaloo’s face fell and she immediately said, “I don’t want to talk about it.”

“You have to talk about it,” Apple Bloom said, “This is important!”

“No it’s not!” shouted Scootaloo, “Telling you won’t make any difference! It’ll just make you upset and won’t make anypony better at all.”

“I ain’t takin no for an answer!” shouted Apple Bloom, throwing down her coat.

“I ain’t... taking tell you for an answer!” countered Scootaloo.

“That’s it!” Apple Bloom said biting down on Scootaloo’s tail, “We’re goi’ fo a walk!”

“I’m not going anywhere!” Scootaloo yelled back digging her hooves in, “Leave me alone, Apple Bloom!”

“Nerrer!”

Apple Bloom wasn’t surprised when a right hoof kicked her in the cheek. What did surprise her, was when her own punched Scootaloo’s face right back. Scootaloo jumped on top of her, and Apple Bloom reared up, the two getting tangled in a mess of orange and yellow limbs rolling around in a tight scuffle. Apple Bloom would have had a size advantage, but she kept finding herself holding back, and hesitating for some reason. It’s not like she’d normally spare Scootaloo any slack, as there was no way Scoots would ever do the same for her. Apple Bloom wasn’t nearly as mad as she usually got when somepony attacked her either, and found herself defending more than going after the other pony.

They froze the moment a playground monitor’s voice came, shouting, “What’s going on over there?!”

“Cheese it!” Scootaloo shouted, and the two bolted immediately, running full tilt out of the playground before the monitor caught up to them.

“She’s chasing us!” Apple Bloom yelled, as they charged into town proper, pony traffic looking very dangerous at these speeds. Bloom knew Scootaloo could go way faster than this, if she’d engage her wings, but that’d leave Apple Bloom to the mercy of whatever mare had seen them fighting. But it was the only way! “We need to split up!” Apple Bloom yelled.

“I have a better idea!” Scootaloo shouted, “Follow me!” and she ran into one of the alleys between two adorable stucco walled straw roof cottages, which made up the bulk of Ponyville’s architecture. Ponyville’s side streets weren’t exactly twisty or turny, mostly a radial pattern from town hall except particular neighborhoods, but Scootaloo seemed to know what she was doing. And sure enough, as Bloom slid around the corner she saw Scootaloo ducking down into a basement grating, with the grating itself conspicuously absent. It was a bit of a squeeze for Apple Bloom, and for a moment she panicked as her hindquarters got stuck, but Scootaloo gave a heave and Apple Bloom tumbled in. They sat there in the darkness with baited breath, watching until the monitor’s hooves thundered past without pause.

In the quiet, cool darkness, Apple Bloom softly asked “Is this a wine cellar?”

“Yup,” said Scootaloo, “I don’t think any grownups know that I know about it either.”

“How’d you find this place?” Apple Bloom asked nervously. Not just nervous because they were in some strange pony’s house, but because this wine cellar was a very enclosed place, and she already felt Scootaloo’s scent tickling her nose like cinnamon. Apple Bloom hadn’t been able to get her penis out all day, which made it even harder to think about other things at hand, such as saving their friendship.

“Oh, you know, I just know a lot of good hiding places around town,” Scootaloo said bashfully, her head turning aside in shadow.

Apple Bloom paused a second, and said, “Are we gonna keep fighting?”

Scootaloo’s shoulders sagged. “No point. The moment is lost,” she grumbled.

“Alright then,” Apple Bloom said as softly, “What happened to Liza?”

Scootaloo tensed up suddenly, looking around in the darkness with big eyes as if noticing the confining nature of her hiding spot for the first time. “L-L-leave me alone!” she said to Apple Bloom, backing up from her and getting distance apart. “Stay back!” Amazingly enough, that just seemed to make Scootaloo’s smell even stronger.

Apple Bloom stood where she was, confused beyond belief. “What’s wrong, Scootaloo?” she asked “I ain’t gonna in no way hurt you.”

“Y-you’re not gonna put more... boy stuff in me?” Scootaloo quavered. “B-because you can’t! I won’t let you!”

Apple Bloom just stared silently. Had Scootaloo forgotten or something? “I’m saving it for Sweetie Belle,” she said carefully, “This afternoon, remember?”

“Don’t you touch Sweetie Belle!” Scootaloo said angrily, suddenly getting in Apple Bloom’s face. But then Scootaloo blushed and backed away again, the very picture of uncertainty.

“Did an adult put you up to this?” Apple Bloom said, “Because I’m not fallin for it. Sweetie needs mah boy stuff to stop her estrus. And from the looks of it I’d say you‒”

“Liza’s sick!” Scootaloo interrupted tensely.

“She’s...?” Apple Bloom trailed off dumbly.

“Discord,” Scootaloo spat. “You got cursed by Discord, remember?”

“Kinda hard not to remember, every time I swing my legs,” Apple Bloom said grumpily.

“S-so your... your boy stuff got cursed too,” Scootaloo went on. “And it made Liza sick!”

In the following moments, had the cellar flooded with light as the enterprising wine storing pony came down to sample their own wares, Apple Bloom probably wouldn’t have even twitched in response. But it remained entirely quiet, and dark as pitch. Finally, Apple Bloom just shouted, “Whaaat?!”

Scootaloo winced and Apple Bloom went on saying, “It cain’t be! How do you know that? Discord never said anything about a curse! He didn’t even mention boy stuff! He said it was gonna be a totally normal colt in every way, then made me the it!”

Scootaloo remained silent, so Bloom added in a little more level tone, “How is she? Liza, I mean. Is she... hurt real bad?”

“I don’t know,” Scootaloo confessed, “I haven’t seen Liza today. It was just what Bee Bop told me.”

“Bee Bop is Liza’s friend?”

“No, Bee Bop is Bloo’s friend.”

“And Bloo is‒?”

“Bloo is Bolt’s friend.”

“Who’s Bolt?”

“I dunno, but she’s Bloo’s friend. And she heard from Cheery that Liza had gotten some bad boy stuff in her, and that’s why she had to stay home.”

Apple Bloom face hooved, and drew her hoof down the bridge of her somewhat squarer nose before saying, “So let me get this straight, Bee Bop told you that Bloo told her that somepony named Bolt told her that somepony named Cheery told her that Liza was sick?”

“Cheerilee announced it and everything!” Scootaloo insisted, “Didn’t you hear her?”

Apple Bloom’s blush would have gotten lost in the gloom and she said, “No ah, ah sorta wasn’t paying attention. Too worried about Sweetie Belle.” She was starting to get really nervous now. “Miss Cheerilee told you,” she said with a quiver in her voice “That... that my boy stuff m-made Liza sick?”

“No no, that’s what Cheery told Bolt who told Bloo who told Bee Bop who told me. Miss Cheerilee just said she was ‘absent due to illness.’ Miss Cheerilee is too considerate to embarass you in front of the entire class.”

Apple Bloom sighed in relief, but she was too spooked now to feel real confident about herself. “Well uh... right then, I still want to go with my original plan.”

“And that is?” Scootaloo said suspiciously, tail pressing against her legs protectively.

“You and me,” said Apple Bloom. Scootaloo tensed. “Are gonna go pay Liza a visit. And we’re gonna find out the truth, and get this worked out one way or the other.” Apple Bloom said a little more hesitantly, “A-and if I did make... Liza sick then... then I gotta know so I don’t do it to Sweetie Belle, and... I gotta apologize.”

“You’re sure the curse isn’t going to force you to put boy stuff into Sweetie Belle?” Scootaloo said alarmedly.

“There is no curse,” Apple Bloom snapped. Then she added, “Ah mean... no, nothin’ is forcing me to put boy stuff into fillies. Worst that happens is, I think about it when I see their undersides, or catch wind of ‘em, and I feel kind of put out when I don’t get to do it, and my thing starts acting up and moving around. And that’s it. It’s like a tenth as bad as estrus.”

Apple Bloom raised a hoof and solemnly said, “I swear on my word that I will not put one more drop of boy stuff into fillies until I’m sure Liza is O.K. and not suffering from anything I did.”

You couldn’t really see Scootaloo’s blush, but you sure could feel the heat from it from a good ways away. “T-t-that’s... great!” Scootaloo said in a strangely disappointed tone. “Let’s uh, let’s go find Liza and we can get the boy stuff I mean we can see if she’s O.K. and then do more boy stuff.”

“You sure you’re feeling alright, Scootaloo?” Apple Bloom said, walking forward in the darkness and putting a hoof on Scootaloo’s forehead. She felt pretty hot. “Sweetie isn’t the only one I’m worried about here.”

Scootaloo pulled away from Apple Bloom roughly, not even saying a word, and just jumped up right out the grating. Great Goodle but that pegasus was skinny. She could probably use a good Apple family diet to get some meat on them bones. Made it a lot easier to fit through the grating though. Once Apple Bloom had struggled her way out, Scootaloo said, in a more reserved and restrained tone,

“It’s alright, I’ll be fine. You just worry about Sweetie Belle. Once we’re all... friends again, then we can talk about... stuff.”

Apple Bloom nodded, and said, “Alright, so which way to Liza’s house?”

“I thought you knew where it was,” Scootaloo said giving her a worried look. They looked around at the buildings and streets surrounding them.

So it turns out, that ponies are really happy to give you directions to just about anywhere, even the weird grownups. After asking around, and watching out for any school officials, the two fillies made their way to a quiet neigborhood in the southeast part of town. Liza was a unicorn, so it made sense her parents would live in this area. A lot of attention to detail here, like keeping the streets clean and making sure all the pinkwood bannisters are polished. Flowers all neatly in containers, instead of haphazardly placed around.

Liza’s house wasn’t particularly stand-outish in this respect, though it would have looked out of place in the industrial area to the northeast, for instance. It was just another simple two story deal, like Dinky’s. Dinky’s mom wasn’t in a nice part of town like this though, which makes sense considering a mail carrier’s salary. Though between that and the time doctor’s watch sales they oughta been able to snag a better place. Apple Bloom just used the sun to tell time though and didn’t own a watch, so maybe they didn’t sell?

Anyway Apple Bloom stood a few paces back, just in case she’d cause alarm, while Scootaloo knocked at the door. An elderly looking all green plain green unicorn mare answered the door, looking down at Scootaloo and forward at Apple Bloom saying, “Oh hello, little... one. Are you Liza’s friends?”

“Actually we‒”

“We heard she was sick, and we were wondering how she was doing,” Apple Bloom hurriedly interrupted Scootaloo, walking forward before the pegasus could metaphorically put her hoof in mouth.

“Oh thank Celestia,” the mare abruptly gushed, practically pulling the two of them into her house. “I haven’t been able to get her to come out of her room all day! You have to talk to her, and help her my poor dear sweet Liza!”

Apple Bloom was sort of alarmed how the unicorn was managing to slide them both across the floor towards the stairs without them even needing to lift their hooves. “You’re her friends, right? She has friends! She can talk to you and she can tell you what on earth happened to her!”

And now they were being carried up the stairs in, go figure, green magic. Now that Apple Bloom had a second to look back she noticed how frazzled and tear stained the unicorn was. “Uh,” Apple Bloom said.

“She can tell you why she couldn’t come down for breakfast and why she couldn’t go to school and why she feels so sick oh I think my poor baby was crying!”

“Wait‒” said Scootaloo shortly.

“There you go!” the green mare said putting them gently down in front of a closed door. “She’s right in there. You’re her only hope, so go do your friendship stuff!” And she stood there silently then smiling expectantly.

They stood there silently too, watching the green lady uneasily, and then Scootaloo slowly reached up a hoof and rapped on the door. “Uh... hello?” she said, not looking away from Liza’s mom.

“Oh great,” came a muffled dejected voice from inside.

“Grandma, are you bringing my friends again? I can’t see them right now! I’ll make them sick!” Liza called out more loudly. Apple Bloom looked up at the door knob to Liza’s room, and wondered if it was locked.

“These are different friends, sweetie!” her grandma responded in a desperate tone. “How about you tell them your symptoms, and open the door and please let me come in and take care of you!” She got silence as a reply. “I made soup!” the mare declared plaintively.

Liza wouldn’t even eat soup? And wasn’t letting her own grandmother take care of her? That was downright suspicious. Apple Bloom was starting to have an idea what was going on, but she had to get Liza to respond, to be sure.

“Liza, we need to talk,” Apple Bloom said loudly at the door. She received silence as a reply, but if she were Liza, she’d probably have gone from frustrated silence to terrified silence right about now, if Apple Bloom’s hunch was correct.

“No forget that,” Apple Bloom said, “I need to talk. You can just listen. You know your grandma loves you, right?”

“Yes I‒” her grandmother started, but Apple Bloom lifted a hoof hastily whispering,

“No, just me just me.” She paused, until Liza’s mom calmed down.

“How do you think she feels, with you bein terribly ill,” Apple Bloom said to the door, “And she cain’t even see you? Sounds pretty painful to me.”

Apple Bloom chose her next words carefully saying, “A lot of ponies are gettin hurt today. Scootaloo got scared to death when she thought she caught the illness you have. You know, the one that I supposedly gave you?”

“Hey‒” Scootaloo started to shout, but Apple Bloom plugged her mouth whispering, “In a sec. Let me finish.”

“She wasn’t the only one,” Apple Bloom continued smoothly, “Who else could have gotten scared that they caught it from me? Poor Archer, and Aura, and lots of ponies ah was around. It was smart for them to be scared, because you’re sick, right? So why wouldn’t they catch it?”

Apple Bloom leaned closer to the door saying, “And boy have I been hurting today. Nopony would talk to me, because they thought ah hurt you! When you told them I made you sick, it ruined my entire day, and almost ruined my best friendship! Now I’m not blaming you or nothin’ as you’re clearly sick and all, but seein as I already have it, there’s nothing for me to catch, so you can let me in to get a look at you.”

She paused and added, “And if you cain’t then I want you to think long and hard about all the hurtin’ ponies out here, ask yourself if it’s worth all that.”

That was all Apple Bloom could think to say. She scuffed a hoof in frustration, looking down and trying to find better ways to word it that wouldn’t make Liza clam up even tighter than she already was. At last Liza’s voice drifted through the door saying,

“You didn’t make me sick. I never said that.”

Apple Bloom’s expression firmed, and she said, “...whut?”

“I never told anypony about you. I’m just sick, O.K.? Diamond Tiara didn’t tell me to‒” And that was Liza’s cue to clam up again. It didn’t particularly matter though, because Apple Bloom had already heard that name and as soon as she did her thighs clenched, and she had to fight the urge to buck a hole in the wall behind her.

“What exactly did Diamond Tiara tell you to do?” Apple Bloom said evenly. So very evenly.

“I‒I can’t say!” Liza said sounding shrill, “I can’t‒ I’ll get in tr‒ she didn’t say anything!”

Well, she didn’t have to. Apple Bloom had heard enough. Hopefully Scootaloo had too, though Apple Bloom wasn’t going to outright say it in front of Liza’s grandma. Liza’s gran was looking pretty angry herself, glowering at the door and starting to move towards it. Apple Bloom hurriedly put a hoof on her chest, saying,

“Wait, wait, please! Ms. uh... Doolots.” She looked up at the unicorn, trying to be as entreating as possible, her sad pleading eyes probably not looking like what you’d call proper behavior for a colt. “Please don’t get her in trouble,” Apple Bloom said, her chest bubbling with worry, “Liza is‒she didn’t, she didn’t mean to hurt anypony. She just got scared. And she, well she, she just needs your help.” Apple Bloom sighed, looking down and saying more quietly, “And she’s punishin’ herself enough.”

Liza’s grandma paused, but moved forward again saying, “I’m coming inside, Liza.”

“No! Wait!” Liza shouted, but her grandma just pushed on the knob and it clicked agreeably. Huh, guess it wasn’t locked after all.

“Liza!” came her grandma’s distant voice from inside, “Are you‒?”

“Grandma, I...” came Liza’s voice, “I’m‒ I’m sorry...”

The sounds of a desperate sobbing hug were probably from Liza’s grandma. Probably. Apple Bloom was satisfied though, and she wasn’t going to pry. There weren’t nothing more she could do now that wouldn’t make things worse. So she started walking towards the stairs saying, “C’mon, Scootaloo.” Scootaloo looked at the partially open door, but then followed Apple Bloom down the stairs. It wasn’t until they got out of the house that Scootaloo said in a frustrated tone,

“What the buck was that all about?”

Apple Bloom rolled her eyes at Scootaloo, saying, “Liza’s gran’mom was freaking out because Liza couldn’t let her in, or she would see Liza was faking because Diamond Tiara threatened her with something, and somepony started a rumor that I did it. Two guesses as to who, an’ the first one don’t count.”

“She was faking?” Scootaloo exclaimed. “How do you know?”

“It’s pretty obvious,” Apple Bloom admitted, “Ah mean, you’re not sick, and I put plenty of boy stuff in you.”

Scootaloo looked aside and said, “Yeah, but... she’s a unicorn, maybe‒”

“Well, is Sweetie Belle sick? Because I filled her up too,” Apple Bloom cut in.

“Oh right,” Scootaloo said thoughtfully. The two walked away from Liza’s house toward the dreaded school house, where Apple Bloom had to be, but really didn’t want to after what she pulled today. They weren’t gonna let her out of detention all weekend, if they could help it. And she had to get away from them again, if she was going to help Sweetie Belle in second break. How the hay was she going to manage that?

Apple Bloom was so caught in her thoughts that she didn’t notice the cart crossing her path and ran into it full tilt, getting tangled up in the wheel. At walking speeds on both their parts, it was a mildly uncomfortable tragedy. Picking herself up, she looked at the driver, a tan blue-maned earth mare, apologetically saying, “Sorry I didn’t mean to‒ I shoulda watched where I was going.” The driver seemed concerned with something that fell off the cart though. It looked like a cart full of party supplies, yellow and red streamers the color of her mane and...?

“Oh fudgemonkey it’s bent,” the driver said, referring to a...

...

“Is that a... cardboard cutout of me?”

It was indeed the picture of Apple Bloom, perhaps a little crudely drawn to call it true to life. “Where are you deliverin’ this stuff?” Apple Bloom asked excitedly.

The driver looked up from the ugly looking crease on the cutout’s hindquarters saying, “Sugarcube Corner, why‒”

“I’m gettin’ a graduation party!” Apple Bloom squealed to Scootaloo eagerly, ignoring the driver completely.

“Really??” Scootaloo said, looking from Apple Bloom to the cart and then her eyes widening saying “Wow! When is it?”

“I don’t know!” Apple Bloom whispered tensely, “Ah think it’s s’posed to be a surprise!”

“Well I’ll be sure to be there,” Scootaloo said confidently.

“Not gonna let Diamond Tiara scare you away are ya?”

“You’re inviting her?”

Apple Bloom laughed bittersweetly at that. “It ain’t my choice if it’s a surprise, but she wouldn’t be caught dead at one of my family gatherings, not after the bunny suit incident.”

They started to walk away from the cart, when a light dawned in Apple Bloom’s eyes. She left Scootaloo without a word rushing back to the cart, where the driver was about to put the ruined party decoration in a public trash bin.

“Wait ah need that!” she shouted to the mare, flying through the air to grab the cutout in her teeth in passing.

“Why on earth would you want‒” the mare started to say, but Apple Bloom had already made tracks.

With her purloined portrayal securely stashed away, Apple Bloom approached the monitor who was supposed to be monitoring her. The lime green monitor pony was looking around severely, practically turning the playground upside down with her horn trying to find Apple Bloom. It seems like the other monitor who chased Apple Bloom hadn’t told her, or maybe they hadn’t recognized Apple Bloom as a jailbreak, so she never thought Apple Bloom went into town. So, sneaking around behind a tree, and then a pole, and then a conveniently placed beach ball, and something involving albatrosses, Apple Bloom managed to get in the monitor pony’s blind spot and just gently slip the bridle back on her own face.

It took the monitor a while to even realize it, until she noticed the reins weren’t going slack anymore. She looked torn between anger and astonishment. “How did‒ when did you come back?”

“Come back?” Apple Bloom said a little hindered by the straps wrapped around her sensitive nose, “Why I reckon I never left!”

“Yes you did so!” the mare declared, “I have been looking for you all this time!”

“Well I guess I’m in trouble then,” Apple Bloom said sadly, “And I guess you’re in trouble too, since you couldn’t watch me like you’re supposed to. It’d be awful easier though,” she suggested helpfully, “If neither of us got in trouble, because I was here this whole time.”

“And then he tried to blackmail me!” the monitor declared to Cheerilee, while Apple Bloom just grumbled and looked at the bottom corner of the room. She really had thought that would work too.

oh no, two chapters in a row without any yiff! D:
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