Hearts and Hooves Day.
A day where those who love and cherish each other show those feelings by giving cards and presents for the pony they care for the most. Many times on this day, ponies will even confess those feelings, asking them to be their Special Somepony. Everywhere you look, the town was covered in paper hearts and glitter, pink and red all over the place.
Which was the biggest complainant to one certain pegasus.
"Way too girly..." Flash grumbled as he and Springer flew over the town after their morning patrol.
"Tell me about it. It looks so...ugh, I don't know what to call it." Springer shivered as he looked down at the buildings before glancing back at Flash. "So...what's the legend behind this holiday?" He had learned a while back that all the holidays were created from special events that occurred long ago.
"No idea," Flash replied as they arrived outside the library. "Better to ask Twilight that."
He then opened the door, stepping inside to see one Twilight Sparkle reading a book with a pair of saddlebags next to her. The door opening caused her to snap out of her reading trance and look over at the two. "Oh!" she said as she shut her book and smiled at them. "Ready to go?"
"Yep." Flash nodded. Twilight and Flash were heading to Canterlot, where they were going to be spending the day with Twilight's parents. Springer had agreed to keep an eye on things until they got back that night.
"Hope you have fun," Springer said as he jumped down to the floor.
"Thanks." Flash replied, only to switch to a frown. "Although, I wish Scootaloo didn't have school today. Velvet and Night have wanted to meet and spend time with her."
"I know..." Twilight said as she patted his back. "But, she's been looking forward to the Hearts and Hooves Day Party at school all week. I'm sure they'll be another time for us all to get together soon."
"Yeah...yeah, you're right." Flash replied before looking around the room. "Where is Scootaloo anyway? She usually doesn't leave for school until the last minute."
"I don't know," Twilight shrugged with a confused look on her face. "She said she needed to get something from her room, though I don't know what-"
"I'm here!"
They all turned to the stairs at the sound of the exhausted filly. There, they saw Scootaloo carrying what they first mistook for a rolled up rug, but quickly realised it was a large piece of pink paper. From the look on Scootaloo's face, it must have been heavy.
"You okay there kiddo?" Flash asked his sister.
"I'm...fine," she wheezed out before collapsing under the strain.
"What's with the big roll of paper?" Springer asked.
"You planning to try for your wallpapering cutie mark?" Flash joked, only to get a glare from Scootaloo.
"No," she growled as she pulled herself out from under the roll. "Me, Sweetie Belle and Applebloom are making a card for our teacher. We each agreed to get the parts we need, and I'm on paper!"
"That's nice," Twilight said before looking over at the roll. "Do you really need a piece of paper that big though?"
Scootaloo shined a huge smile, nodding. "Uh-huh! We wanna make the biggest Hearts and Hooves Day card Equestria's ever seen!"
"Well, you'll certainly break that record," Flash chuckled.
"Yeah..." Scootaloo said before trying to pick the roll up again, only to struggle at the awkward size. "But I've gotta get it to the club house before school starts."
The older ponies both giggled before Twilight pranced over, her horn shining. A second later, the paper started to float. "Why don't we give you a hoof?" Twilight asked as she put on her saddlebags at the same time. "If you try to bring this big thing on your own, you might drop it and get it dirty."
"Thanks Twi," Scootaloo replied, quickly proceeding to the door. The rest grabbed their saddlebags, leaving the library at a brisk pace. It wasn't long till they began their trek to Sweet Apple Acres.
And as they made their way through town, Springer spoke up. "Hey Twilight?"
"Yes Springer?" Twilight replied, glancing back at the jakhowl.
"I was wondering...what's the legend behind this holiday?"
"Oh?" Twilight gave the protector a small smile. "Well, the legend is actually about a love potion."
"Really?" Scootaloo asked in amazement.
"Yeah," Twilight replied, nodding. She then opened her saddlebag and pulled out the book she had been reading earlier, quickly levitating it over to Springer. "It's all in here, even the instructions for making the potion. You guys can read it if you want."
"Thanks," Springer said as he took it, not noticing Scootaloo quickly pacing back to look at the book as well.
As the jakhowl read the novel, Flash turned to Twilight. "Say, I wonder what the rest of our friends will be doing today."
"I know what Spike's doing," Twilight said with a roll of his eyes.
"Rarity?" The others all asked in unison.
"Rarity," she repeated, nodding.
Meanwhile..
At the Carousel Boutique, we find Rarity in her kitchen, sipping coffee and sketching out the concept of her next great design. As she does this, two small pins levitate into her mouth, both fiddling around her teeth as she grits at the papers before her. "Grrr...why can't I get this right? Its like I have no ideas today..."
Taking the pins out for a second, she took another sip of the bean brew, only for her ears to pick up the sound of four tiny hooves descending the nearby staircase. The sound made the unicorn look up, her eyes now seeing her sister Sweetie Belle. She had on her saddlebag, which appeared to be loaded to the brim with supplies.
"Morning Rarity," she said as she dropped the bag and leapt up onto the table.
"Morning darling," Rarity replied as her horn lit up and levitated the filly's breakfast in front of her.
Sweetie's eyes went wide as she smacked her lips. "Oh goody! Heart shaped pancakes!"
"Well, it is Hearts and Hooves Day," Rarity replied with a shrug. She then turned to her sister with a certain type of glare. "Speaking of which, are you planning on giving a card to anypony?
"Only to Ms. Cheerilee," Sweetie casually replied as she began eating. "Me, Scootaloo and Applebloom are working on a card for her. I just hope I got enough bows."
Rarity looked down at the almost overflowing saddlebag, which she now guessed was filled with bows. "I'm sure you have darling. But are you planning to give one to any...colts?"
Sweetie almost spit out her milk, her mouth slightly bloating at the reaction. After a painful swallow, she turned to her sister and gave her a disgusted look. "I'm not giving a card to a colt! They're gross!"
The unicorn rolled her eyes in response. "Oh nonsense darling, everypony should have a very special somepony. That's the whole reason behind Hearts and Hooves Day. I bet even your teacher will have one."
"Really?"
Rarity nodded in reply. "Really. I know colts might seem disgusting and childish now, but that's only because they have a lot of maturing to do. Once that happens, I think you'll see them in a different light."
"You really think so?"
"I do," Rarity replied before leaning over with a wink in her eye. "And the one thing to know about picking a colt is that you don't want just anypony. You don't want one that's older or younger than you and you don't want one who you don't think you can get along with. Finding the right colt is a difficult task, so it's never to early to start looking. You understand darling?"
Sweetie nodded before finishing eating her pancakes, quickly cleaning up her dishes and grabbing her bag as she began to head out. "Well, I gotta get to the clubhouse so we can make the card. Bye Rarity!"
"Have a lovely day deary," Rarity said as she waved goodbye to her sister.
As Sweetie opened the door to go out, she quickly noticed a newcomer to the shop. It was a certain purple dragon who had just walked up to the building. He was hiding something behind his back.
"Hey," he said, waving his unoccupied claw.
"Hi Spike!" Sweetie said as she moved past him. "See you both later!"
"Bye Sweetie!" Rarity called after her sister. Once she was gone, Rarity turned her attention to Spike, raising an eyebrow as she got up from her chair and greeted him. "Good morning darling. What can I do for you Spiky Wiky?"
As Spike stepped inside, he started to blush and trip over his words. "Well...I...you see...It's Hearts and Hooves Day."
"Yes, I've noticed," Rarity joked, chuckling as she continued to get closer to the drake. However, she soon came to a stop as when she noticed that Spike wasn't laughing. This alone was enough to tell her that there something was on his mind. Spike always laughed with her, even the jokes she did that she knew were not funny. "Is something wrong Spike?"
"Oh...no. It's just that..." He finally brought his other arm around and showed a single rose in his claws, which he thrust out towards her as he looked at the ground. "Happy Hearts and Hooves Day!"
Rarity was taken aback by the outburst, only to then smile at the little dragon as she took the flower in her magic. "Thank you darling," she said as she placed the rose behind her left ear. "It's beautiful."
"Not as beautiful as you," Spike mumbled as he looked back up and saw what she had done.
"Um? I'm sorry darling, I missed that."
"Nothing. I said nothing." Spike blurted, clamping his mouth shut as sweat poured down his face.
"If you say so," Rarity replied as she turned back to her drawing board and fiddled with the sketch on it again.
"Do you uh...have anything you need...doing?" Spike asked as he moved over to her.
Rarity thought for a moment, only to stand there and blink. Her mind could think of a thing that the little dragon could help her with. "I'm sorry Spike, but it's probably going to be a pretty quiet day today. Nothing needs doing that I haven't already done."
"Oh..." Spike let out a disappointed sigh.
"And I'm sure you don't want to spend all day with me darling," Rarity told him as she levitated the pins back into her mouth. "I suspect there must be something else you would rather do then stay with me."
"Not really," Spike replied, shaking his head. "Twilight and Flash are in Canterlot, so the library's pretty empty and...well, Springer agreed to patrol the town, so I can't hang out with him."
"I see," Rarity replied as she looked away from the sketch again. Her hoof scratched her chin as she tried to think about something the drake could do. That is, till she looked back at the sketch, a pile of paper pencils sitting right by it. Her mind instantly went over how she couldn't think of any designs today, as if creativity just wasn't there. Her eye went back to the drake one more time, eyeing his claws. She remembered how much writing the dragon must do for Twilight, and a small idea drifted into her head. "Spike?"
"Yes?"
"Well...since you have nothing to do..." She bit into her lip as she tried to think of the right words to say here. "Why don't you...try and make your own dress design?"
"Dress design?" Spike asked with a raised eyebrow.
"Oh course," Rarity replied, nodding. "I know dress design isn't really a...boy hobby, but I'm curious as to what kind of design a dragon would come up with."
"Oh..." Spike said.
"You don't have to if don't want to. I just thought it might be something you would like to try." Rarity finished, trying to make sure she didn't embarrassingly say, 'also, I'm completely out of ideas today'.
Spike thought for a moment. He did not expect to be able to make anything all that great, but if he could impress Rarity, then maybe she would want him around more often. "Sure," he said with a shrug before moving over to the desk. Putting a pencil to his claw, he started tapping his chin with it, blinking as he began to think.
Rarity silently chuckled as she smiled at the sight. Turning around, she walked into the kitchen, cleaning the rest of the utensils that she and Sweetie had used for breakfast. As she did this, she thought about what to do next. Granted, even if Spike did not make a great design, it could help her out of her rut. That alone would be enough, though she had a feeling it would turn out even better than she was currently thinking as she opened the refrigerator.
It was here that she saw the rest of the groceries her kitchen had. Blinking at the sight, she then concluded lunch would need to be outside today. Perhaps she could get something at Sugarcube Corner. And as that thought entered her head, Rarity wondered what Pinkie and the Cakes would be doing. Hearts and Hooves Day was likely one of their busiest days of the year, with tons of orders for heart shaped cakes and desserts.
Sugarcube Corner...
We begin with a certain pink earth pony in the shop's kitchen. She was busy icing the cupcakes that would be put on sale that day, while Pound and Pumpkin watched from their spot on the floor. Pinkie calmly hummed a song as she worked, gently placing the icing on the little cakes. Once she had finished the last one and saw there were some icing left in the gun, she took a quick look around before pointing the gun into her mouth and pulling the trigger.
"Yum yum yum!" she said with her mouth full of frosting. Once she swallowed the last bit, she picked up the cupcakes and quickly took them out to the store. "Here's the next batch Mrs. Cake."
"Oh thank you Pinkie," Mrs. Cake replied as she took the tray and placed it on the counter. "That should be the last set we need for a while. How are the twins?"
"Behaving perfectly," the pink pony cheered as she bounced back into the kitchen. However, when she saw the twins, they had started arguing over a toy bear. Quickly moving over, she leaned down "Hey! Don't fight you two, that's silly."
The twins however, weren't listening and continued to pull at the bear.
"Don't do that," Pinkie commanded as she leaned down further, knowing that if and when they tore that bear in half, it would cause a pair of tantrums. The only problem was that if she tired to take the bear away, she would likely cause a tantrum. What to do?
But before she could come up with an answer, the bear they were fighting over suddenly glowed and floated out of the twin's grasp. Pinkie's eyes went wide at this as the bear floated up before beginning to dance in midair. The twins watched this, laughing and clapping at the sight.
Pinkie on the other hoof, put a smirk on her face as she turned to a nearby window. "Thanks Wild."
"Aw..." a voice said as a certain unicorn stepped up into view. Wild Smile smirked as he and his dolls popped their heads through the window. "I wanted to surprise you some more."
"It was kinda obvious silly," Pinkie giggled as she walked over to the nearby door and opened it. "Who else can make a pair of angry foals cheer up so easily."
"It is my specialty," Wild replied as he stepped inside, his tongue sticking straight out.
"Specialty, specialty!" his puppets repeated as they floated over him.
Pinkie's smile grew three times the size, trotting over and pulling the stallion into a hug. "I'm so happy you're here!" she cheered, tightening the hug until abruptly stopping and pulling back with a questioning glance. "But uh...why are you here?"
Wild just chuckled at the question. "Well actually, I'm thinking of getting a place here."
"Place here, place here." The puppets repeated, the toys now flying over to the twins.
"REALLY!?" Pinkie screamed in joy.
"It's just an idea right now," Wild assured her, his eyebrows hopping up and down. "It seems I'm getting more and more show invitations in this area of Equestria, so instead of getting a hotel every time, it makes more sense to have a place here. That way I can divide my attention between here and Canterlot when needed."
"That's great!" Pinkie cheered, confetti flying out of her mane. "I hope you do decide to move here, even if it is only half the time."
"Well, it's certainly growing more desirable now," Wild told her, a small bit of red appearing under his cheeks.
"Oh, how cute."
The two ponies turned to see Mrs. Cake standing at the kitchen door, looking at the two of them with a smile on her face.
"Hey Mrs. Cake," Wild waved at her, trying to hide his slowly appearing blush.
"Hello Wild dear, its good to see you again." the baker said as she stepped over to her children, who were still being entertained by the dancing bear along with Wild's puppets. Suddenly, her eyes glowed with an idea, making her turn to the two young ponies. "Say, why don't the two of you take the twins to the park? It would certainly make running the store easier, especially today of all days."
The two ponies smiled before glancing at each other and nodding. Pinkie then spoke up, "Um sure Mrs. Cake, but don't you need me here for the cooking?"
Mrs. Cake shook her head. "No, we're good for now. I'm more worried that we won't be able to look after the foals and run the store. That's why I'm asking this."
Pinkie looked back at Wild, only to receive a shrug in response. With this, Wild then replied, "Eh, why not? I love to help out with foals."
"Love to, love to," the puppets repeated.
"I'll go get their stroller," Pinkie said as she bounced out the room.
As she did this, Mrs. Cake then walked up to Wild, tapping his chest. A piercing glare was on her face. "So young colt, may I ask what your intentions are for Pinkie?"
Wild gave her an odd look. "Intentions?"
Mrs. Cake crossed her hooves in response. "Pinkie might not be my real daughter, but I still see her as part of my family. As such, it's my responsibility to make sure she's safe from things that can hurt her." She leaned a bit closer, her eyes slightly narrowing. "And that includes colts."
Wild's eyes twitched a little, barely looking away for a split second. He could feel himself almost leaning back. "Er...why would you need to keep her safe from me?"
"Pinkie's a smart girl," Mrs. Cakes explained, a piece of air coming out of her nostrils. "However, she can be quiet naïve, especially around the opposite sex." She got closer to him and looked him dead in the eye. "I think you're a nice colt, but I'm warning you. Treat her well or else."
Wild was now visibly sweating in fear, gulping as he could now only see Mrs. Cake's glare. As his gulp finished, he slowly nodded in agreement. "I will...I promise."
It was here that Pinkie returned to the room, the twin's stroller being pulled by her tail. "Ready to go?" She asked Wild, not looking at him as she trotted over to the foals.
"Er...yeah." Wild looked back at Mrs. Cake, who gave him a nod. "I'm uh...ready."
"Great!" Pinkie replied as she placed the twins in the carriage and steered it towards the door. "Let's get going."
"Sure," Wild said as he stepped up next to her, trying to get rid of his fear sweat.
"Have fun," Mrs. Cake called out as they left the bakery and headed towards the park. Once they were gone, Mrs. Cake began mixing up a new set of cupcakes.
"Hello," she then heard somepony call out from the store, causing her to look up and see Rainbow Dash at the counter.
"Hello Rainbow," she replied as she stepped up to the counter. "What can I get you?"
"Something that'll give me the energy to get to Cloudsdale," Rainbow stated as she looked down at the cakes behind the glass. "I'm gonna spend the day with my parents."
"That's nice," Mrs. Cake said as she pulled out a vanilla cupcake and placed it in a bag. "Here you go, that'll keep your wings flapping."
"Thanks," Rainbow replied as she paid for the bag, quickly putting in her hoof. As she did, she waved goodbye and flew out of the bakery and into the sky. It had been a while since she had visited her parents, and she had decided that she should see them every now and then. Even though they could be majorly embarrassing at times, they were still her parents and she loved them.
With this in mind, she slowly made her way higher and higher into the sky. That is, till she heard a certain voice.
"Hey! Rainbow Dash!"
The voice of her biggest fan Scootaloo caused her to look down and see her, Springer and the rest of the CMC on the ground. "Hey kids!" Rainbow yelled back. "What can I do for ya?"
"Could you get us a small tuft of cloud?" Scootaloo asked.
"Sure," Rainbow replied as she looked around and saw a large cloud nearby. Flying over to it, she ripped off a piece and then flew down to the group, handing it to the little pegasus. "So what's this for? School project?"
"Errrr....yeah," Scootaloo said as she took the cloud.
"Special project," Springer replied, nodding.
"Well, have fun," Rainbow told them as she flew back into the air. "Just don't let it turn ya into a bunch of eggheads like Twilight!"
"We won't!" she heard Scootaloo yell back as she left earshot.
Rainbow continued her journey to Cloudsdale, eating the cupcake on the way to the cloud city. Once in its boarders, she made her way towards a certain little cloud cottage. Landing on the bouncy castle-like ground, Rainbow raised her hoof and knocked. Rainbow let out a long sigh, ready for what was about to happen next. As she did, a few seconds passed.
That is, until the door flung open. The cloud door would have made a slamming noise if not for the material it was made of as a pair of hooves grabbed the rainbow-haired mare and pulled her inside.
"RAINBOW!" Rainbow felt the air in her lungs start to squeeze out, her father Bow Hothoof crushing her in a mighty bear hug. "Hey slugger!"
"Hey dad," Rainbow wheezed. "Good to see ya."
A second later, he let go and Rainbow took a deep breath of air.
"Is that my little girl?" she then heard, causing her to turn around and see her mother Windy Whistles walking into the hallway, smiling. "Oh Rainbow!" she exclaimed as she rushed over and pulled her into a less constricting hug.
"Hey mom." she wheezed again.
Windy pulled away and looked Rainbow over. "Look at you. You must have grown a good few inches."
"Maybe one or two," Rainbow replied, dusting herself off with her wings. "And you two are still the same."
"Oh stop that young lady!" Windy barked back, putting her hooves on her hips. "We are your parents, and we have the right to love you!"
"Yeah yeah...its good to see you two too." Rainbow chuckled back, giving her mom another hug. With this, the three of them moved into the kitchen, where they began talking, all of them catching up over their last time seeing each other. As they did this, Rainbow then noticed three pieces of paper laying on the table. Rainbow's eyes went wide as she looked down and read the sheets. "Are these?"
"Wonderbolts tickets," Bow said with a smile. "Pretty cool huh?"
"No way!" Rainbow replied as she picked them up. "How did you get these?"
"Doesn't matter," Windy told her daughter. "You want to go see them in action?"
It wasn't long before the three of them arrived outside the cloudosseum. Rainbow's parents still hadn't revealed how they had got the tickets, but at this point, Rainbow didn't care. After all, it was the Wonderbolts. What else could possibly matter?
"This is so awesome!" Rainbow said when she and her parents took their seats and waited for the Wonderbolts to arrive. "I can't wait!"
"Glad you're enjoying it," Bow said, patting her back with his wing. "We knew you would."
"Thanks guys," Rainbow replied, giving both a hug.
Before anything else could be said between them, a booming sound caught their attention and made them look up to see six pegasi fly into the stadium. They did several flips as the crowd cheered them on, a few doing a series of other stunts. They continued till a powerful explosion rocked the sky, acting like it was a bunch of fireworks. Once that happened, the six ponies landed on the ground near the race track.
The crowd all cheered seeing this. All except Bow and Windy.
"These Wonderbolts can't hold a candle to you Rainbow," Bow grumbled, crossing his hooves.
Windy nodded. "If you were down there, you'd wipe the cloud with them."
Rainbow chuckled at this, not wanting to risk telling her parents how she had raced a Wonderbolt and actually lost. If she told them, they would have a fit. That and she definitely was not going to tell them that she and him had been writing letters to one another.
Down below, the said Wonderbolt was stretching himself out. A few seconds later, Soarin Skies looked up into the crowd, seeing if he recognised anypony in the audience. It wasn't rare for his more...attached fans to follow him to the shows. However, when he looked around this time, his eyes went wide as they landed on a familiar rainbow maned pegasi. He smiled seeing her, alongside two pegasi that he guessed were her parents. Looks like she was spending the day with her family, which Soarin was glad since he couldn't get the day off to see her.
"Well well well..." he said to himself as he did one last stretch, still staring at her. "If she's here, I've got to win." he muttered. He knew now he had to impress her. After all, if he won the race, he could end up impressing both her and her parents.
As he did the last stretch, Rainbow had spotted Soarin staring at her and felt herself getting hot under the feathers.
"Rainbow, are you alright?" Bow asked, looking at her in concern. "Your face has gone all red."
"It has?" Rainbow squeaked, reaching up to her face. She then shook her head. "I uh...I'm fine."
Windy gave her daughter a suspicious look, her mare's intuition quickly kicking in. She turned to her husband. "Bow, why don't you go get us some snacks."
"Sure," Bow nodded, leaving a second later.
Once he was gone, Windy moved closer to Rainbow. "So, which one is it?"
"What?" Rainbow asked.
Windy crossed her hooves, giving her an all-knowing smirk. "Which one of those Wonderbolts do you know?"
Rainbow tried to hide a gulp. "How...how did you know?"
"It's a mothers job to know," Windy told her, tapping her with her wing. "That look on your face says it all. You like one of them, and by like, I mean...you know." Rainbow wanted to rebuttal this claim, but her mother kept talking. "You're not the type of girl who would fall for a colt without actually knowing him, so that means you actually know him. So I'll ask again..." Windy leaned over, an eyebrow raising as she got closer and closer. "Which one is it?"
Rainbow's red face returned as she looked at her hooves, shaking as she whispered. "Soarin."
"Oh..." Windy said as she tried to remember which one that was, looking back at the bolts. She then saw the stallion, looking him over "An excellent choice." Windy then gave her another knowing smirk. "So, mind telling me how you two know each other?"
Rainbow let out a deep breath, knowing she wasn't escaping this one. She then explained how she had met Soarin and their growing friendship. That is, till she mentioned their previous race, causing her mother to shriek, "He beat you?!"
"Barely..." Rainbow replied, her head slightly lowering. "And only because of a cave-in and his awesome theta thingy."
"But still, it's an impressive feat." Windy said before noticing Bow returning with their snacks. "Don't worry, I won't tell your father. But I expect to meet this colt soon enough."
"Sure mom," Rainbow replied as her father sat down.
Down below, the Wonderbolts had finished stretching and were ready to begin the race. They stepped up to the starting block and flexed their wings as the ref came up.
"Ready?" he said as he raised his flag before waving it. "GO!"
The six pegasi shot off the start line, already flying at high speed. Rainbow watched them between her parents, her eyes observing every technique. As she did, she grew concerned as she saw Soarin start to lag behind the rest of his teammates. She wanted to call out to him, telling him to get the lead out, but didn't want to draw attention to herself. But then the final lap arrived, and something happened. Soarin shot forward, quickly overtaking the other flyers and gain a considerable lead, crossing the finish line and winning the whole thing.
Rainbow couldn't help it, she leapt into the air and screamed. "YES! WAY TO GO!"
Bow gave her a confused look while Windy just giggled as their daughter slowly floated down, an embarrassed look on her face.
Soarin came to a stop as he landed beyond the finish line. As he did, he quickly found himself surrounded by reporters, camera flashing everywhere. He shielded his eyes, turning away from the devices as he looked up, his eyes soon found a certain blue pegasi. Then, he saw her. Time started to slow down as he saw her, both of them smiling at each other.
That is, till Soarin was quickly pushed away to the winners podium, losing sight of Rainbow.
The mare sighed at seeing him be pulled away, not going unnoticed by her parents. Bow continued to give her a confused look, but Windy simply continued to smile. A few seconds later, the cloudosseum began to empty out. There, the family of three headed to the exit. As Rainbow left, thanking her parents for bringing her, she began to wonder how Fluttershy's day was going since she to was having her parents over.
Fluttershy's cottage...
On the outskrits of Ponyville, Fluttershy was busy cleaning her little cottage before her parents got there. This had been a yearly ritual for them since Fluttershy had moved to Ponyville. They would come to visit their daughter on Hearts and Hooves Day before going out to enjoy the evening together. Fluttershy had just finished dusting when she looked over at Angel. "How's the salad coming?"
Angel, who was busy mixing vegetables in a bowl, looked over at her and gave a salute.
"Oh good," the pegasus mare commented as she looked around for any dirt she might have missed. She then heard a knock at her door, causing her to jump before she realized what it was. "Oh, they're here!" She trotted over to the door and opened it, revealing a pair of middle aged pegasi. One was a stallion with a blue coat and light pink hair, while the other was a mare with a yellow coat and red mane. "Mom, dad, it's so good to see you," Fluttershy said as she hugged the two.
"Hello dear," Mrs. Shy said as she hugged her back.
"It's nice to see you to," Mr. Shy also said.
Fluttershy stepped aside to let her parents in, but before she shut the door, her eyes caught sight of a pony walking down the road. It was Iron Core, who was heading to his home. "Iron," she quietly called out, only being heard because of Iron's finely tuned hearing.
Iron Core turned towards her and stepped up to her cottage. "Hey shrimp," he said once he was at her door. "Need something?"
Fluttershy did a slight gulp before quietly saying, "Oh um...I had my parents come over and...I thought you might like to meet them."
Iron was surprised by this, raising an eyebrow at the sudden invitation. However, the stallion did a small shrug before saying. "Sure, why not?"
With that, the two went inside and saw Fluttershy's parents on the living room sofa, snacking on Angel's salad. Upon seeing the naturally intimidating Iron, they two began to shiver, moving closer to each other.
"Mom, dad," Fluttershy said as she walked up to them. "This is Iron Core, a friend of mine."
"H-hello," Mr. Shy stuttered.
"I-it's nice t-to meet you," Mrs. Shy said, sounding as shy as her husband.
"Hey there." Iron replied before giving Fluttershy a quizzical look. She nodded at him, making him turn back to the duo. "So, you're the shrimp's parents?"
"Yes," Mr. Shy said with a gulp.
Iron once again gave a quizzical look, quickly glancing back at Fluttershy. The look on her face was one of apprehension, but it was enough to tell him to be nice. Seeing this, Iron bit his lip before saying, "I'll uh...I'll go get some drinks." With that, he left for the kitchen.
"The kettle's on the stove," Fluttershy called out.
"Sure." Iron replied as he left.
Once he was gone, Fluttershy turned to her parents, a small scowl on her face. "What was that about?"
The two older pegasi gave each other a glance before focusing back on their daughter. "Didn't that colt seem a bit...scary, to you?" Mrs. Shy asked.
"No," Fluttershy growled back, only to then think about how she acted when she first met Iron. She put her hoof on her chin before replying, "Well actually...maybe at first I did." She then looked back at her parents with a hopeful smile. "But he's very nice once you get to know him."
"I don't know." Mr. Shy gulped, shivering.
"He was carrying a spear dear," Mrs. Shy added. "As in a weapon."
"He's an apprentice knight who protects the town. He was likely on his way home from training when I called him." Fluttershy replied before walking up to them. "Just talk to him. He's nice, I promise."
The two older ponies still looked unsure.
"Please," Fluttershy added, a desperate frown on her face. "Just get to know him before you decide if he's scary or not. I don't want him to feel like nopony likes him."
The two looked at each, obvious hesitation on their faces. Despite this, they nodded to each other before looking back at their daughter. "Well...if you trust him dear," Mr. Shy replied, his voice still trembling. "I...I guess we can try and get to know him too."
"Thank you," Fluttershy said with a smile. In that moment, Iron stepped into the room with a tray of tea in his mouth.
Meanwhile...
Back at Rarity's boutique, the unicorn had just finished the last few touches on her new design. "There we go...absolutely perfect." Putting her pencil down, she decided she should see how Spike's little project was doing. Getting up off her chair, she moved over to the table Spike was working on. "So, how's the design coming along darling?"
"Okay I guess," Spike said as he stopped drawing and held up what he had been working on.
Rarity took a quick look, expecting to see some silly doddle, but what she saw made her eyes go wide. Spike's design was just like something she had drawn. It was a flowing dress that appeared to have a scale like pattern, with projections sticking that she guessed was suppose to represent claws or fangs. The dress just screamed beautiful draconic.
"It's bad, isn't it?" Spike asked as he looked down, not even looking at her face.
"Are you insane?" Rarity said as she took the drawing. "This is amazing. How did you come up with something so...so...incredible?"
The response made Spike look up at her in surprise. "I...don't know. You said you wanted a dragon's idea of a design, so I just thought of one of your designs and tried to make them more...dragon-like."
"It's marvelous," Rarity told him, smiling as she continued to look the piece over. "Granted, we'll need to make some adjustments so its more made for ponies but..." She gave him a small wink. "What say we make your little creation a reality?"
Spike's eyes went wide. "Really?"
"Absolutely," Rarity nodded as she walked off and began using her magic to gather the materials they needed. Spike was shocked by the fact that Rarity not only liked his design, but actually wanted to create it. He then smiled, following after her.
Meanwhile...again.
In the park, we find Pinkie, Wild and the Cake Twins enjoying themselves.
"Peekaboo," Pinkie said as she played with Pound, waving her hooves over her face. Wild on the other hoof was using his puppets as a flatbed that Pumpkin was ridding on as he floated them through the air. The two foals giggled and laughed as they enjoyed themselves, grabbing the attention of the ponies around them.
"Hey Pinkie."
The pink party planning pony turned to see Lyra and Bon Bon walking over to them. "Hi Lyra! Hi Bon Bon!" she replied as she picked up Pound.
"Who's your friend?" Bon Bon asked as she nodded at the stallion now holding Pumpkin.
Lyra meanwhile, raised an eyebrow. "Wild Smile?"
Wild chuckled before waving at the green unicorn. "Hey Heartstrings."
Pinkie's gaze shifted between the two of them. "You two know each other?"
"Smile here was a few years above me in Celestia's School," Lyra explained as she gave him a suspicious glance. "He was known for causing practical jokes and getting in all kinds of trouble for them." She then giggled into her hoof. "One time he filled the school's water tank with jello powder so that every time somepony used a tap or flushed a toilet, it would send out the stuff."
Pinkie burst out laughing at the mental image of that. Lyra and Bon Bon also laughed, while Wild just rolled his eyes. "Wasn't my best plan, especially since Princess Celestia made me eat the jello for every lunch time until it was all gone."
Again, the three mares burst out laughing, causing Pound and Pumpkin to start as well. A few seconds later, Lyra asked, "So, what are you doing here Smile?"
Before Wild could answer her, Pinkie jumped in front of him with a grin. "Oh, he's moving to Ponyville."
Wild rolled his eyes again. "I'm thinking about it. I haven't decided to yet."
"Don't be silly, you're totally gonna do it," Pinkie told him, waving her hoof in a cocky manner.
Lyra and Bon Bon smiled, seeing the interaction between the two. They both gave each other a knowing glance before waving goodbye to the duo. As they left, they saw Ms. Cheerilee walking down the path. "Hey Cheerilee," Bon Bon said to her, "where are you off to?"
Cheerilee simply smiled. "Sweetie Belle and her friends asked me to meet them at the gazebo. I think they're trying to get me and Big Mac together."
Lyra gave her a big smile. "That's nice. The two of you would make a lovely couple."
Cheerilee just rolled her eyes. "Maybe, and I wouldn't say no if he asked me out. However, the girls seem to think that if they get us in a romantic setting, we'll just fall head over hooves."
The two giggled at this as Cheerilee began he trek once again.
"Oh Hearts and Hooves Day," Bon Bon commented, glancing at her friend. "What an amazing day."
"Just as amazing as Valentines Day," Lyra replied.
"Valen-what?"
"Never mind."
Bon Bon wanted to reply, but she knew better than to question Lyra when it came to her randomness.
Back at Cloudsdale...
Rainbow and her parents were now making their way to their favorite café for a late lunch. As they sat down at a table, Rainbow licked her lips as she looked at the menu. Her eyes scanned it over, "Hmmm...looks like they've added some new stuff."
"Hope they still do that special soup I like," Bow added as he flipped a page.
"I'm sure they do," Windy told him, patting her husband with her wing. "They just better have the salad I had last time."
Bow was about to respond, only for a waitress to walk up to them. "Hello everypony, what can I get for you?" She asked.
They all gave their choices and the waitress left. As she did, the three continued to talk, all of them talking about the event they had just seen. A few minutes later, the door bell for the café rung and Rainbow heard one of the waitresses call out. "Hey Soarin."
Rainbow's head shot up and turned to the door. There, she saw the Wonderbolt, now out of costume, step inside the café. He gave the waitress a wave before saying, "I'm celebrating, so I'll take you're best pie."
"Sure thing Clipper."
As Soarin turned to find an empty chair, he noticed Rainbow and her parents. A smile popped onto his face as he walked up and moved over to them. "Hey Rainbow."
"Oh...hey," she replied, her eyes shrinking at the even that was now just happening. She could now feel the tomato red coloring now appearing on her face.
Windy smiled at her daughter's reaction, while Bow looked amazed at the fact that a Wonderbolt would just walk over and introduce himself to them. He then glanced at his daughter and back at the Bolt. "Wait a minute...you two know each other?"
"We sure do sir," Soarin told him, nodding. "Your daughter here saved my life once and helped us out during the Fantasia Parade."
Bow's eyes grew even wider before turning to Rainbow. "Why didn't you tell us you were in the Fantasia Parade?!"
Rainbow's face went even redder. "It was kinda last minute. I would have told you, but I kinda went to the parade after the day before."
Windy giggled at this before turning to Soarin. "Would you like to join us?"
Soarin smiled, nodding. "Sure." He took a seat between Rainbow and Windy, only for the waitress to return with their food.
"Here you go Clipper," the waitress said as she placed a pie infront of him.
"Thanks," Soarin told her, licking his lips. He lowered his mouth, ready to take a bite, only for Rainbow to speak up.
"Hey uh...why did she call you Clipper?"
Soarin let out a low grumble before closing his mouth. He leaned back and looked slightly away. "That's...my nickname. All the Wonderbolts have them." His wings twitched, almost unfurling. "Try and guess how I got it."
"Because you're as fast as a ship?" Rainbow guessed.
Soarin wanted to chuckle, but just shook his head instead. "Nope. I got the nickname because on my first day as a Wonderbolt, I clipped my wing on a flag pole while I was landing." The three all chuckled at that, causing Soarin to give her a slight glare. "Don't laugh so much Rainbow, you'll probably get one when you're a Wonderbolt."
"Really?!" Rainbow asked, trying to think of a cool nickname. "As long as its better than the one I had at flight camp."
"What was it?"
Rainbow wasn't sure she wanted to tell him. The very memories of flight camp made her shudder, only for her mother to nudge her. Rainbow looked back at her, only to get a small nod. Seeing this, Rainbow let out a sigh and said. "I was...Rainbow...Crash. I crashed into a trash can on my first day."
Soarin and her parents snickered at this. "That sounds like a Wonderbolt nickname," Soarin told her as he took a bite of his pie. "You'll probably end up with it if you crash."
"Thanks for the warning," Rainbow said with a pout.
"Don't worry about it," Soarin assured her. "All nicknames are given in good fun. It doesn't mean anything bad."
Hearing this made Rainbow feel slightly better, but she knew she was still gonna do everything in her power to make sure she didn't get that nickname. As she did this, Bow and Windy watched the interactions between the two, both having slightly different mental opinions on it. Windy was happy her daughter had found somepony to like, even if she was in the denial stage of her emotions right now. Bow meanwhile was just catching on to what was happening and wasn't sure how he felt about it. Despite Soarin appearing to be a nice young colt, he was a little concerned about the idea of his daughter dating. Though if she was going to do it, he guessed a Wonderbolt would be the only worthy one.
The four of them continued to enjoy their lunch, conversing about Wonderbolts and different flying skills.
Meanwhile....yet again.
Back in Ponyville, Iron, Fluttershy and her parents were now talking, as the adults had finished their meal. Despite their unsteady start, the two older ponies had started opening up to Iron and he in turn started to open up to them. Right now, he was telling them about his Great Test.
"Oh dear," Mrs. Shy said after hearing what Skybreaker had told Iron. "He actually told you to jump over a canyon?"
"He told me to find a safe way over the canyon," Iron replied, a breath of air blasting out of his nostrils. "When I couldn't, I thought about jumping over it."
"How wide was the canyon?" Mr. Shy asked.
Iron thought for a moment. "About ten meters. I probably would have made it, but my earth pony strength hadn't been reduced as part of the test."
"So you tried to jump over it?" Mrs. Shy gasped, putting her hooves over her mouth.
"I was gonna...but I realized it was a stupid idea and told Skybreaker it was impossible. That caused me to pass the test."
The two older ponies nodded, glad at the younger pony's judgment. "I must say Mr. Core," Mr. Shy said, "Fluttershy was right when she said about how nice you were."
Iron raised an eyebrow before turning to Fluttershy. "What did you tell them?"
Fluttershy did a slight gulp as she tried to shrink into her couch. Angel snickered at the sight as she said, "Oh uh...nothing bad I promise."
Mrs. Shy nodded. "She just told us that even though you look angry and scary, you were actually very nice."
"Oh," Iron said as he looked away from Fluttershy. He was a bit surprised at how...honest they were being. "Well, I am trying to learn to open up a bit."
"Well, you're doing a very good job of it," Fluttershy assured him.
Before they could say anything else, a loud knocking caught their attention.
"IRON!" They heard Springer yell from behind it. "Are you in there?! We've got a big problem!" They all shared a confused look before Iron rose up and moved over to the door. He quickly opened it, seeing the distressed jakhowl as he looked up at him and let out a sigh of relief. "Oh good, I knew my aura wasn't wrong. We got trouble."
"What is it?" Iron asked as he reached for Piecemaker. "Monster attack? Riot? Crusaders?"
"Crusaders."
Iron let out a low hiss. "Oh great. What did those three do now?!"
Springer took a deep breath, "The Crusaders wanted to get Cheerilee and Big Mac together for Hearts and Hooves Day, but when the two wouldn't get together, they decided to make a potion Twilight told me and Scootaloo about. But when they drank it, they became over-infatuated with each other and then they realized that they had actually drunk a love poison, which makes it so they'll never want to do anything but look at each other. So now we have to keep the two apart for an hour so the potions wears off but I get the feeling it isn't gonna be that easy and Flash is out of town and you're the only one I could think of to help me," Springer gasped for air as the four ponies just stared at him. "Please...help me..."
Iron shook his head and his face became one of deep focus. "Alright, lead the way."
The jakhowl nodded and rushed off, the earth pony following him. Once they were gone, Fluttershy's parents turned to their daughter. "Is this normal?" Mr. Shy asked.
Fluttershy gave a nervous chuckle. "Recently...yes."
Meanwhile...one more time.
Back at the boutique, Rarity and Spike were in Rarity's main room, working on his design. They were making it out of purple material with green highlights to represent the creator, while sowing thread into it to give the appearance of scales. As Rarity sewed the last 'scale', she proclaimed, "I must say, this is coming together perfectly. It looks better in real life than it did on paper."
"Thanks," Spike said with a blush.
Suddenly, the two heard a banging sound coming from downstairs, causing them to share a confused look.
"Odd...there shouldn't be anypony down there. I closed the shop today." Rarity commented as she stared at the door.
"I'll go see what's going on," Spike said as he left the room and headed downstairs. There, he saw the strangest of things. It was Ms Cheerilee was in the changing room in a wedding dress despite getting in the building without the bell over the door ringing. "What the heck?" Spike asked when he noticed she had been trapped inside the changing room by a bunch of objects.
"Spike!"
He turned to see Sweetie Belle moving up to him.
"Sweetie, what's going on?"
"No time to explain," Sweetie told him, running in place. "I need you to keep Rarity upstairs for as long as possible, about twenty minutes preferably." Spike raised an eyebrow and crossed his arms, obviously wanting to know what was going on. "Please," she begged him, gesturing her hooves. "Pleeeease?"
Spike stared for several more seconds before sighing and heading back upstairs.
"Thank you!" he heard Sweetie call out.
"So...what was it?" Rarity asked once he was back in the room.
Spike looked up and saw that she was so focused on the dress that she wasn't looking at him. He did a mute gulp before thinking up a small lie. "Just uh...Opal. She was playing with her toy and knocked over a manikin."
"Oh...okay." Rarity replied, still staring at the dress. "As long as she doesn't break anything."
"I'm sure it's fine," Spike assured her.
"Well then..." Rarity remarked as she levitated a few pins over to the dress. "Let's get back to work then, shall we?"
"We shall," Spike agreed, nodding.
Just outside the store...
Iron and Springer had just arrived in the center of town, following Mac, Cheerilee and the CMC's aura's. They came to a halt before Iron yelled at the jakhowl. "Where are they?!"
Springer closed his eyes and focused, as his ears flared up for a moment. "Sweetie and Cheerilee are still at the boutique, but Mac, Scoots and Applebloom are on the move and getting closer to the shop."
Iron nodded as they picked up their speed, only to stop when he noticed something. One of the houses was moving, scraping along the ground as if being pulled. "What the-?!" He then noticed a rope tied around the building, which appeared to be the thing pulling it and was connected to. "MAC!"
Big Mac did not respond, to concerned with getting to Cheerilee. Iron looked up at the house and saw one of the windows opening, showing Berry Punch hanging out of it. Seeing this, Iron pulled out Piecemaker and threw it at the rope. It struck it and snapped the rope, bringing the house to a stop as Mac continued.
"NO!"
The two turned to see Applebloom rushing after Mac, yelling at them. "Why'd you do that?!"
"Because I couldn't risk the chance of the house falling apart and crushing that pony," Iron told her as he retrieved Piecemaker.
"But now there's nothing stopping him from getting to Cheerilee," Applebloom replied, panic filling her voice.
Iron just smiled as he turned to Mac's retreating form, "Don't be so sure," he said before thrusting Piecemaker into the ground. The earth around Big Mac then erupted as a wall of metal poles shot out in front of him, turning into a metal cage. This made the red stallion come to a stop, causing Iron to smirk. "There. No way he's getting out of that."
Springer and Applebloom smiled, agreeing that there was no way Big Mac would get out. However, that thought started breaking when Piecemaker started vibrating. "What the?" Iron asked as he grabbed the pole, looking back at the cage. Inside, Big Mac was pushing into the metal bars, slowly bending them. "What in the name of-"
SNAP!
The beams broke, letting the stallion to leap out. Seeing this, Iron retracted the poles and pulled Piecemaker out of the ground, amazed at what had happened. He then turned to the filly and jakhowl. "That potion of yours doesn't happen to grant any added benefits like, let's say...INCREASED STRENGTH?!"
The two glanced at each other before looking back and shrugging.
"Great..." he hissed, turning around to rush after the stallion. The duo ran behind him, all of them trying to catch the enchanted earth pony. Then, they saw that the boutique was coming up fast, only to also see Scootaloo and Sweetie's heads pop out of the ground. Catching onto what they were doing, Iron caught up with Big Mac and started trying to steer him towards them.
Then, he did one last push, knocking the stallion into the hole the fillies had made. "Smoochy Poo!" Mac screamed as he disappeared with a cry. As a thud followed, Iron sighed in relief as he, Springer and the girls gathered around the hole that Mac had fallen into.
"I sure am glad you found those shovels Sweetie Belle." Scootaloo commented as they kept looking down, watching Big Mac try to get out of the hole. She then sat down, wiping the sweat off her forehead.
Iron meanwhile, wasn't so happy. He tapped his hooves on the ground, getting the fillies attention. They all gave him a nervous chuckle as they saw the anger on his face. Then he spoke, "Don't think I won't be telling Flash, Rarity and Applejack about this."
As all of them gulped at this, a nearby clock tower began to ring. This made their ears spike up, smiles returning to their faces. "One more minute and the spell will be broken!" Applebloom cheered.
"SCHMOOPY DOO!" Mac yelled from the pit, his voice being carried through the air and into the boutique.
"Oh no..." Springer said as they all turned towards the shop. As they looked at it, the front door started being pounded on. The knocking made them all gulp, knowing what was coming. Iron readied himself again, only to hop in place as he suddenly saw a good section of the building's wall being ripped down.
"Holy cow!" Iron yelled as Ms. Cheerilee, wearing a wedding veil, leapt out the building and started looking around.
"SCHMOOPY DOO!" Mac yelled again, giving away his location. Cheerilee smiled and started running towards them.
"Do something!" Sweetie told Iron.
"Grr...fine! I don't want to hurt a civilian but-"
Before Iron could say any more, Cheerilee turned into what looked like a purple bolt, steamrolling through the five like a bullet. All five flew into the air like bowling pins hit by a bowling ball, all landing with a 'thud'. As they all crashed into the ground, Cheerilee blasted down the pit. A few seconds passed and when the five of them all managed to get up, they carefully walked towards the pit to look inside.
"Ohhhh...please be normal, please be normal." Applebloom repeated as they reached the end and looked down, only to see Cheerilee and Mac giving them a confused look.
"Am I wearing a wedding veil?" Cheerilee asked.
"Eeyup," Mac said.
Cheerilee then looked at him. "Are you sitting on a feather bed in a hole in the ground?"
"Eeyup," he repeated.
Cheerilee then turned to the ones looking down at them.
"This is gonna be a long story," Springer groaned, facepawing.
"Well, you better get telling it."
They turned to see Rarity and Spike walking towards them, having seen the damage done to her shop.
Iron smiled as he turned around and grabbed the four before they could flee. He looked back, his grin growing wider. "Oh, you're gonna love this."
Meanwhile...insert repeating gag here.
Pinkie and Wild had just returned to Sugarcube Corner and saw Mrs. Cake sweeping up the debris from a broken wall. It had been destroyed thanks to Big Mac pulling the previous house from earlier, the building knocking into the other as he did the earlier marathon.
"What happened here?" Wild asked with a raised eyebrow.
Mrs. Cake just sighed, stroking the broom back and forth. "Its...been a very weird day."
"Without me?" Pinkie asked, sounding shocked.
"Believe it or not," Mrs. Cake replied, chuckling. She then turned to the duo with a small smile. "You all have fun?"
"Uh-huh!" Pinkie beamed while Wild just smirked in response. His horn started glowing and levitated all the broken pieces of the shop wall, placing them in the trashcan.
"Thank you," Mrs. Cake told him.
"No problem," the unicorn stallion nodded. "Magic makes it easy."
In that moment, the baby pegasus in his hooves yawned, followed by his unicorn sister. "I should probably get these two to bed," Mrs. Cake said as she took her foals and went inside, leaving Pinkie and Wild alone. The two glanced at each other and back at the sight of the store, still staring at the broken wall.
Then, Wild broke out in a fit of chuckles. "Heh heh...I gotta say, this town sure is a wild one."
Pinkie laughed back. "That's why I love it so much."
"Yeah...it certainly would be a nice place to live." Wild commented as he scratched the back of his head. "Or even visit when the busy life of Canterlot gets to be too much."
"So...you gonna move here?" Pinkie asked, her eyes going wide.
Wild smiled at her. "Yeah, I am." He did not get to say anything else, as Pinkie leapt and pulled him into a hug.
"THAT'S GREAT!" Pinkie exclaimed, tightening the hug as Wild's face started to go blue from the constriction. "I'm so glad! Pound and Pumpkin like you a lot, so I know they'll love having you around more!"
"Thanks..." Wild wheezed, his body slightly shaking at her immense strength. "Can't...breathe..." Once Pinkie got off him, he let out a series of coughs, covering his mouth with his hoof. Pinkie then apologized, only for him to wave at her reassuringly. After all, he was doing this to hide his nerves.
A few more seconds passed and an awkward silence happened between them. As it lingered, Wild could feel a rush of nerves pour over him as he started to say, "Listen uh...once I get settled..." Wild started to fiddle his hooves, his face going red as he slowly said, "Do you um...wanna hang out...with me...alone?"
Pinkie gave him a curious look. "You mean...like a date?"
Wild gave her a silly grin. "Yeah...a date."
"A date, a date," the puppets repeated, making Wild want to glare at them.
However, his eyes were on Pinkie, who was now staring at him. What felt like hours for Wild passed, only for it to be a few seconds as Pinkie started smiling again. Wild was about to smile back, only to feel a familiar peck on his face's cheek. Wild could feel his face burn as Pinkie then said, "Sure. I'd like that." With that, she turned towards the bakery and bounced through the hole, hiding a slight blush on her face.
Wild just stared as she disappeared inside. A smirk soon followed as he and his puppets walked off. "Wow...what a mare."
Cloudsdale...
Soarin, Rainbow and her parents were now walking through the city. They had finished their dinner at the café and were now enjoying the stroll to Rainbow's parents' house.
"This has been fun," Soarin said, winking at the three.
"Yeah," Rainbow replied, trying to hide an obvious blush.
"I certainly didn't think I'd be meeting a Wonderbolt today," Windy commented as she nudged her husband. "I mean, it sure was fun hearing about all your stories Soarin."
"Thanks," Soarin replied, nodding. He then nudged Rainbow. "And it was fun hearing about all those Rainbow stories."
"Yeah..." Rainbow repeated, embarrassment now in her tone. She then looked back up, only to see her parents's house in view. "Oh...we're here."
"That's the place?" Soarin asked as he pointed at the building in front of him. They all nodded in response. Seeing this, Soarin flexed his wings, "Well, if that's the case, I better get going. Spitfire'll de-wing me if I'm late tomorrow."
"Sure," Rainbow replied as she flexed her wings as well. "I better get back to Ponyville." She did a slight crick to her neck before glancing back at the Bolt. "Um uh...see you around."
Quickly reading the moment, Windy grabbed her husband by the wing and pulled him away. As she did this, Soarin scratched the side of his head as he said, "So...wanna keep writing to each other?"
"Uh yeah, sure!" Rainbow slightly blurted, biting her lip soon after as she tried to stumble for more words. Her mind screamed at her as she tried to speak up, only to say, "Or uh...maybe we uh...um..."
"Maybe what?" Soarin asked, leaning slightly over.
"Maybe...we could...hang out...alone?"
"Really?" Soarin asked, hopping in place. Seeing this, Rainbow started mentally hitting herself, calling herself stupid for saying that. That is, till Soarin let out a sigh in relief as he said, "Thank Celestia."
"Huh?"
"I've been trying to think of a way to ask you out for a while," Soarin explained, his face now red as a tomato. "Glad you asked."
"You have?"
"Yeah..." Soarin muttered, looking away. "I uh...like you. A lot." Rainbow's face began a completion with his over most redness as he continued. "So yeah, I'd like to hang out with you." He then looked back, a soft smile on his face. "So uh..I'll write to you next time I'm free, then we can decide what we wanna do. Sound good?"
Rainbow started nodding, unable to open her mouth. Seeing this, he smiled back before taking off without a word. As she watched him fly away, shock made her stand still, that is till a certain loud squeal let itself out just a few meters away.
"I can't believe it!" Windy cheered. "My daughter's dating a Wonderbolt!"
Rainbow's face became red once again. "We're not dating."
Bow had a hard look on his face before shining a small smirk. "Eh, I guess if anypony's worthy of my Rainbow Dash, it'd be him."
"Dad..." Rainbow growled. "I just said-"
"Oh just think," Windy interrupted, putting her wing over her husband. "His teammates could perform at their wedding!"
"MOM!"
Fluttershy's Cottage...
The day was nearly done. As such, Fluttershy was now seeing her parents off. As she did, she told them, "Thank you so much for coming. It was nice having you over."
"We love being over," Mr. Shy replied as he gave his daughter a hug.
"And it was such a pleasure to meet Iron," Mrs. Shy added, nuzzling her daughter. "Despite how he looks, he's a darling. I can't wait until the two of you get together."
Fluttershy's face went bright red.
"I agree," Mr. Shy continued. "When you first moved here, I was so worried you wouldn't have anypony to protect you. Sometimes, I still feel that way...but I'm sure a Royal Knight will be able to keep you safe."
Fluttershy smiled at this, glad her parents approved of Iron.
"Well, we better be off." Mrs. Shy ended as she hugged her daughter. "Take care, okay?"
"Okay," Fluttershy replied, finishing the hug. Once that was done, the two flew off. Fluttershy smiled as she watched them fly out of sight before her gaze turned to the road and she saw Iron walking towards her. She could see frustration and exhaustion on his face, causing her to take a small breath before calling out, "Iron? Are you okay?"
"No." Iron grunted back, "I'm absolutely exhausted despite that fact that we managed to fix everything!" He then paused for a second before adjusting his statement, "Well, almost everything. I'm gonna need to find a way to move an entire house back into place tomorrow, plus I'll have to help fix an entire section of Rarity's house!" Iron then facehoofed, grumbling. "I can't believe those three brats...and one of them is now related to Sentry! Why?!"
"Oh..." Fluttershy replied, blinking before giving him a soft smile. "I see. Well, why don't you come in and tell me about it?"
Iron simply smiled at her, nodding at the buttercream pegasus. "Sure shrimp."
Ponyville...
Back at Rarity's boutique, she and Spike were looking over the damage Cheerilee had done. Seeing this, Spike's face turned into one of regret as he said, "Sorry Rarity. If I had told you the truth, your shop wouldn't need fixing."
Rarity looked down at the little dragon, seeing his saddened look. She then patted him on the head as she let out a sigh. "Don't worry about it Spike. I know first hoof how hard it is to say no to Sweetie when she uses those eyes on somepony. I'll have to teach her not to use her gift for evil." Spike chuckled at this. "Now come on," Rarity told him as she stepped back inside. "Let's go finish our little collab. In fact, maybe I'll model it once it's done."
Hearing this, Spike rushed in after her.
Later that night...
Flash and Twilight had had a nice time in Canterlot, having enjoyed spending the day with her parents. They had told them about their recent adventures, especially over the Scootaloo incident. A big amount of laughs had especially happened when they explained the body-switching episode, and a particular crazy moment involving Flash having to dress up as a vigilante called the Mysterious Mare-do-Well. (He hated the name due to him being a stallion)
Now, the two were returning home after getting off the train. As they did, they couldn't help but notice that the town looked a little different.
"Was that house always there?" Twilight asked as they passed it.
"I don't remember seeing it there before," Flash commented as he looked it over before glancing back at purple unicorn. "I'm not sure."
"Do you feel like something happened while we were gone?"
"I wouldn't put it past this place," Flash said as they got closer to the library. "Whatever it is, I'm sure we'll find out tomorrow."
They then opened the door to the library, only for their eyes to go wide. In front of them was the adorable sight of Spike, Scootaloo and Springer asleep on the floor.
"Aww," Twilight cooed.
"I bet they had an eventful day," Flash chuckled.
Twilight levitated three of them onto his back, Flash using his wings to keep them steady. "Why don't you put them to bed and I'll make us some hot chocolate."
"Sure," Flash said as he trotted towards the stairs. Twilight headed towards the kitchen, placing the kettle on the stove as she levitated some mugs and poured powder into them. As the kettle finished boiling and she poured out the hot chocolate, Flash arrived and sat at the table. Twilight magicked the mugs over and sat down, handing one mug to Flash. Flash smiled as he took the mug a held it up. "Happy Hearts and Hooves Day."
Twilight nodded and raised her mug, clanging it against Flash's before taking a sip. "You think next year we'll be spending this day with our own special somepony?" Twilight asked.
Flash thought about what she had said, nodding at the question. "You maybe, but I don't have any plans to see anypony. All I care about is growing stronger and protecting my friends."
Twilight replied with a raised eyebrow. "Oh come on Flash. You must have some plans for the future."
Flash simply smirked at her. "You know I never think that far ahead."
Twilight smiled back, sipping at the cocoa. "I hope you do find somepony special."
"And I you."
The two continued to smile at each other, completely oblivious to the fact in front of them.