# Dig Your Own Hole

## by Sirius_Face

### Chapter 1

Hnn… ah really… really should stop touchin’ ma’ self…

Apple Bloom told herself this repeatedly, a long time after she submitted to the idea that day in the first place, letting her curious hoof travel past her tummy to settle between her already stretched out hind legs. Just like her sister, Apple Bloom had a habit of being too stubborn to face the truth about herself—she really didn’t want to stop.

The second floor of the cutie mark crusader’s club house offered the most privacy. Apple Bloom knew her friends wouldn’t be arriving soon, and just knowing that had been enough to tempt her mind to wander. She couldn’t recall just how she first discovered that rubbing the special area between her hind legs could make her feel so… different. Apple Bloom hadn’t figured out yet if she even liked this feeling or not, or why it felt the way it did whenever she touched herself directly, like an itch that just wouldn’t go away, but could still be ignored, if she had to.

Leaning her back against the wall, she watched her hoof trace around her most private area, outlining the slightly pudgy shape of herself, how the fur felt softer than the rest of her, and the little bit rosy pink inside glistened faintly in the sunlight. What had Scootaloo called this again…?

“I can’t stand how Diamond Tiara thinks she so much better than us. I swear someday I’m going to buck her right in the snatch!"

The name didn’t sit right with Apple Bloom. Looking at where her smooth hoof traced gently around herelf, she couldn’t think of what it could possibly ‘snatch’ down there.

Ah really gotta stop. Ah shouldn’t even be touchin’ mahself like this.

She told herself this all the time whenever the curious itch came. Ignoring it only helped so much, and even the most innocent of things could make that itch unbearable. Bumping against the fence around her property, sitting in a certain way, even going to bed on her stomach would start queer feelings that would distract her like a fly buzzing around her head. The thought of her sister or brother ever catching her would be enough to make her stop.

But, in the clubhouse, no one would catch her.

The temporary freedom kept Apple Bloom’s hoof moving, seeking… something. She didn’t know what. Apple Bloom felt that the more she rubbed, something would happen. Something good, if she would only keep rubbing and watch with rosy cheeks and half closed eyes as her hoof continued to rub lazy circles around her puffy… snatch. Her heart thumped hard inside her chest, and the scent of something she thought was sweet started to mix with the fresh blossoms of nearby trees in the summer breeze.

That smell…

This is bad. Ah know ah should stop…but ah don’t want to, not while ah’m still-

Apple Bloom was forced to stop. From the second floor of the clubhouse, she had a bird’s eye view of the orchard, with the family barn in the distance. It was easy to see when somepony would come back, more so when she used the telescope. A flash of something white in the distance had caught her eye, giving her the push she needed to make good on her threat to stop. Pulling her hoof away, the itch came back in force, outraged at the sudden lack of attention. Apple Bloom bit her bottom lip and ignored it as she took the telescope in her hooves and aimed at the trail leading into the orchard.

Thousands of leaves blocked a clear view, but there were enough flashes of white, purple, and pink behind the trees to calm that part of her body down. There was no choice but to stop now.

Apple Bloom couldn’t be sure if she was glad or not.

“Where’s Scootaloo?” Apple Bloom asked.

She had been standing under the designated ‘thinking spot’ in the clubhouse, pretending to have spent time trying to come up with a new plan for her and her friends to get their cutie marks. When Sweetie Belle let herself in, Apple Bloom had been in the middle of pretending to write potential ideas, but dropped the pencil in her mouth when she saw the frown on Sweetie’s face.

“She’s not coming. She said she had flying lessons with Rainbow Dash and took off before I could get another word in.”

Apple Bloom felt a twitch of annoyance in her right eye. “That makes a whole month that she’s blown off crusadin’ with us! And ah ain’t seen her fly even one foot off the ground yet.”

Sweetie Belle’s frown deepened and her head hung low. “You don’t think… that…”

Apple Bloom waited, and Sweetie Belle looked as if she was afraid to say what was on her mind; the words were hard to voice and harder to even think about.

“Think what?” Apple Bloom asked, concern showing on her face.

Silence lingered in the clubhouse, and the uncertainty on Sweetie Belle’s face made Apple Bloom genuinely worried. Before another question could be asked, Sweetie forced herself to speak up, “You don’t think that maybe she doesn’t want to be our friend anymore?”

Even as Sweetie whispered her fear, Apple Bloom heard and felt the question in her heart, making her feel a brief moment of panic. She hadn’t even considered that notion. The moment passed as quickly as it came; Scootaloo still acted like their friend at school. During recess, the three were still together, sharing news and gossip and making plans for the future. Scootaloo had sat with them and contributed ideas that, until recently, she’d always followed through with. If anything, Scootaloo was the main contributor of ideas for their crusades.

Apple Bloom rubbed her hoof under her chin as she thought over the possibility. Though Scootaloo did share ideas and make plans, she realized that in the month Scoots had started her flying lessons with Rainbow Dash, she never once talked about them. Apple Bloom couldn’t recall a single detail about what Scootaloo said she was learning, or how her practice sessions would go. It wasn’t unusual for Scoots to be secretive—Apple Bloom lost count of the number of crusading ideas that Scootaloo spent days, sometimes whole weeks planning out, only to spring them on her and Sweetie Belle at the last minute—but it didn’t take a genius to see that there was a connection between her lessons with Dash and the sudden distance she kept her friends at.

“Ah don’t think that’s the case,” Apple Bloom said, walking to Sweetie Belle and giving her a reassuring smile. “Knowin’ Scoots, she’s probably keepin’ everythin’ under wraps until she can impress us with what a great flyer she’s become. Besides, I reckon Dash could be keepin’ her on a tight leash, trainin’ her hard and stuff.”

Sweetie Belle sniffled, but managed to keep her concerns at bay before they could bring her to tears as she squeaked, “She still could spend some time with us…”

Apple Bloom gave a sharp nod. “You said it. Ah say we corner her at school tomorrow, before class starts, and git down to the bottom of this. That filly is keepin’ somethin’ from us, and it doesn’t sit well with me one bit.”

“She’s late,” Sweetie Belle sighed.

Apple Bloom waited outside the school house with Sweetie Belle, keeping a sharp eye out for Scootaloo. The bell would be ringing in five minutes, and most of the students were already at their desks. Sweetie Belle looked as anxious as Apple Bloom felt inside, though today wouldn’t be the first time their friend had come rushing to school with only a minute to spare.

“That feather-brain better show her face today.”

Apple Bloom wasn’t the least bit pleased. With so little time to chat with Scootaloo before the start of the school day, it would mean a long and tedious delay in getting to the truth of what kept their fellow crusader so distant. It didn’t help Apple Bloom’s mood that she had woken that morning with the nagging itch again.

With winter setting in, Apple Bloom was reminded of how cold her home could get. Her room, especially, had always gotten very cold at night and into the early morning so much so that she swore she could sometimes see her own breathe. Her family had brought out the extra thick blankets for their beds. Aside from much needed warmth, it also gave Apple Bloom extra weight on top of her at night, making the bed sheet and blankets under her all the more noticeable, especially when she laid on her stomach. It was impossible not to rub up on the mattress, feeling the blankets mold onto her body. If she rubbed a certain way, the sheet under her would bunch up between her hind legs; the itch seemed to like that.

Sadly, there was no time in the mornings to explore that curiosity of her body, and that left Apple Bloom feeling mighty out of sorts. She never used to feel that way until her body started acting funny on her.

Standing out in the cold morning didn’t help her mood. When she noticed Sweetie Belle trying not to shiver, she frowned even more. “Sweetie, go on inside. I can wait out here for Scoots.”

Sweetie Belle looked unsure, and was about to decline when instead she sneezed.

“Maybe I better… the last thing I want is to get sick.”

Sweetie sighed and left Apple Bloom standing alone. Part of her was glad, knowing she wasn’t the best company at the moment. The cold helped her body forget about the way it felt in the morning, or back at the club house, or anytime Apple Bloom would be alone. Whatever was happening to her, the itch was becoming something that would not go away, and was starting to really bother her.

With only a couple minutes left before school would start for the day, Apple Bloom finally saw a filly approach the school. Expecting Scootaloo, Apple Bloom was about to call out but stopped when she recognized the gray coat and small horn poking out from under a thick yellow mane. A look of disappointment came over Apple Bloom’s face, one that Dinky Hooves couldn’t help but notice just as she opened her mouth to say hello to her classmate, stopping herself and failing not to look insulted.

Apple Bloom made a sheepish smile at the sudden look of rejection that came over Dinky’s face. Before the unicorn could pass her by, Apple Bloom spoke up, “Mornin’ Dinky.”

Dinky paused, made eye contact with Apple Bloom, and then quickly broke it. “Good morning,” she said softly, then waited.

Apple Bloom waited too, expecting that Dinky would say something else, but began to think that maybe Dinky was waiting for her to speak instead. Both fillies stood silently in the cold, unsure of who was supposed to make the next move. Apple Bloom realized then that she’d never spoken with Dinky before, despite all the time they had been going to Cheerliee’s class.

“Ah… don’t suppose ya happened to see Scootaloo this mornin’?”

The question felt stupid as soon as it left Apple Bloom’s mouth. Dinky was a nice pony, and the smartest filly in class, but she wasn’t the least bit social. She never talked to any pony, not even to defend herself when Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon would pick on her about being a blank flank or having a mom that was known to cause accidents around Ponyville. The latter had always gotten Apple Bloom angry—there was nothing as low as ridiculing another pony’s parents in her eyes.

Dinky frowned, and to Apple Bloom’s surprise, she looked nervous.

“Oh… uh… no I didn’t.” Dinky was looking everywhere but at Apple Bloom as she spoke, “She didn’t say she was coming to school today.”

That was the last response Apple Bloom had expected.

“Wut? Ya spoke to her? When?”

Before Dinky could respond, the school bell started ringing. Dinky turned to the class, seeing Miss Cheerliee approaching her desk, and bit her bottom lip.

“Sorry,” Dinky said as she rushed into the schoolhouse.

Apple Bloom blinked and slowly followed after Dinky to take her seat.

Since when does Dinky talk with mah best friend?