Although startled and shaken by the experience, Sweetie Belle was alright after her encounter with the giant goldfish in my Equestria dreamscape. Within a few minutes the filly had calmed down and was willing to continue the current Dream Realm expedition.

>3559088
Applebloom and Stone Mane were willing to go as well. It was Scootaloo who in many ways seemed to have been the most agitated by the whole experience. To give everypony a moment to recoup Princess Luna guided her school of merponies to a nearby island where they could unwind for a bit. It was postcard perfect example of tropical island with golden sand beaches. Lush palm trees provided pleasant place to rest away for sun's rays. In one of the island's shallow bays the ponies took their rest. It was at this point that the foals found out that merponies were amphibious and that they both could breathe above and below the water.
Applebloom stayed with Sweetie Belle to make sure she okay, and within a few minutes the 2 fillies were splashing each other with water on the surface and then diving back underwater to chase each other. Once again Luna had returned her area patrols to assure nothing alarming got close to the foals.
Ever since the encounter with the giant goldfish Scootaloo had found her stomach now churning uncomfortable when she got near her friend. Unsure what to do the filly found herself sitting on a rock projecting from the water and pondering what is going on. Noticing her sitting there Stone Mane swam over and joined her.
"Hey there Scoot. Are you okay?"
The filly looked at the colt and gave the colt an unconvincing smile. "Oh I'm doing great! Yep!" Then she went back to looking around the bay for Sweetie.
The colt didn't believe the filly, but her was unsure what to do next. For about a minute he sat in silence alongside the filly deciding what to do. Unable to think of a better way to bring it up what was on his mind he stared out at the ocean and just started talking.
"When, I first met Applebloom, I, I often found myself feeling both thrilled and terrified about being around here. Not….because I thought she was dangerous or she was going to hurt me, but because I was afraid I'd say or do something that would make her angry with me. Then she wouldn't want me around. However when I wasn't around her I couldn't stop thinking about her, and I wished I was with her. E,e,eventually I realized what was happening to me. I. I. I was falling in love for her."
Cautiously the colt looked over at the filly and swallowed nervously before continuing to speak. "Scoots. W,w,what are your feelings, for Sweetie Belle?"
The orange filly's face became decided more red and she suddenly looked away. For what seemed like an eternity she was silent. Stone Mane sighed.
"Look. I'm sorry if you don't want to talk about it, or if I have made mistake it just seems like–"
"I don't know what I am feeling!" Scootaloo blurted out. "It's. It's. Just seems like all of sudden Sweetie is not the pony I've known forever! Why, why is she suddenly so um, uh, pretty? Why is she suddenly something I want to protect so badly, but I feel so incapable of actually doing that?"
Stone Mane flopped onto his back and stared up at the brilliant cobalt blue sky. "Okay I am just new to this stuff, but…" He turned his head and grinned at Scootaloo. "I'd be willing to bet a pile of bits that you've been bitten by the love bug."
The filly snapped her head around and looked at the colt. "What! How? When? When did this happen, and what do I do now?!"
The nutmeg brown colt chuckled. "How? When? Scoots it just happens! At least that seems to be the case. No pony I've asked about it has been able to give me a good answer. What matters now is that you have deal with it."
"How!" Exclaimed filly.
"Well, um, by telling Sweetie how you feel about her now." Said the colt.
The filly looked away and was silent. After a moment Stone realized she was shivering. Finally she said in small voice.
"I'm scared to do it."
Stone Mane looked back up at the sky. "Afraid she will say no."
Scootaloo nodded her head. "What then?"
The colt took a deep breath and slowly let it out. "Then you take it from there and deal with it. Earlier this year I was in your shoes Scootaloo. The one of the most terrifying things I''ve ever done was telling Applebloom I loved her. Lucky for me she said yes."
"But what if she says no? What if she is angry with me? Then what?" Scootaloo looked back at the colt with a eyes on the verge of tears.



Stone took an even deeper breath before responding. "Then you take it from there. I asked almost the same question once to Princess Luna.

>1649746
She told me that was always the chance that Applebloom would say no, but if I never tried my chances of success were zero."
The colt sat back and placed a front hoof on the filly's shoulder. "You don't have to ask her tonight, or even tomorrow, but some time soon you're going to have face this and deal with whatever her answer is."
The filly lowered her head causing her wet fuchsia mane to flop forward over her eyes. For a moment she was silent. Then spoke. "What do you think her answer will be?"
Stone suddenly felt alarm bells go off in his head. He felt like he was on the verge of stepping on some deadly trap." Oh! Uh! Um. Well. Er." He closed his eyes and frantically tried to remember everything he knew about Sweetie Belle.
"Wwwweelll. I,I,I think she might say yyyyes. I saw how she reacted to you when you asked her if she wanted to dance with you at the Summer Barn Dance, and she seems to like you overall. So, um, I think yyyyou've got better than,oh, uh, 50/50 odds." The colt gave the filly his best winning smile.
Scootaloo lifting her head and looked at Stone Mane. "So. I've got at least a fighting chance?"
"Definitely, but I think you need wait until after tonight. So, should we join the others?"
The filly nodded her head and then slid off the rock and back into the water. Scootaloo swallowed and desperately hoped he hadn't made things worse. Then he dove back into the water.



To be continued.