//------------------------------// // Chapter 9: Hearts and Hooves Hullabaloo, Part 1 // Story: How A Realist Saved The Show // by Mare Of Mystery //------------------------------// "Today is a big day for everypony, Hearts and Hooves day; The Equestrian holiday equivalent of Valentines. I don't know whether I want to stop Sweetie Belle from getting the wrong gift from Big Mac, but then again, this is an episode featuring Discord. I wonder what will happen if I do meet him? He mentioned when I got here that he'll assume we're strangers. This was the moment of a lifetime, the time that I finally ask my number one favorite pony in half of my life to be my special somepony. I bet my friends back home don't have this crossed off their bucket list!" There were no classes on this special day, giving Mobius some time and awake to a brand new morning with countless pairs of students sitting together at the cafeteria. But not so well for Sandbar and Gallus sitting across from each other enveloped by the strange atmosphere in the room. Eating silently when Mobius came up next to them and plopped a spot next to Sandbar. He could already tell from the look at Gallus's face he was a total wreck. He could already see a heart-shaped tin box tied with a pink ribbon that kept it away from the naked eye. This was quite unusual for the griffon to harbor such an item. "What's that you got there?" Asked the unicorn across from Gallus, who wasn't so keen to answer back to him as he whimpered. "He made a little something he's going to give to Ocellus," Sandbar chuckled before sipping a milk carton out of straw. "Just try to stay calm, she'll accept anything you throw at her." Gallus gave them a little fright when he exclaimed. "This is different! This isn't like giving her a sharpened pencil in class! This is the real deal! I don't know exactly when or where I'm giving it to her!" "I see, it's something that he'll out give to Ocellus, he did look quite an on edge hiding it from plain sight. Sandbar doesn't seem to have anything for Yona, wonder why?" "Relax Gallus, just take your time and don't go chasing her around like a creep," warned Mobius, taking a bite from his pancakes by lifting a plastic fork with a piece of pancake on it. Noticing something strange about Mobius' side of the table, Sandbar could see two sets of envelopes and blank cards. Nudging Mobius's shoulder with his hoof when he spotted two sets of envelopes on his side. "Dude, are you trying to two-time Twilight or what?" "Hmmph, while he may think that, this extra letter is for Cozy Glow. NOT, that I want to make her my special somepony too! I just feel like she's going to have a massive jealousy breakdown if I do go out with Twilight. If my guesses are correct, she would try exacting revenge on her and all of my efforts would've been for nothing. I just need to make sure she doesn't relay the wrong message." He didn't want to lie to his buddies anymore, but who will he think of to save this? Thinking last second, Mobius realized somepony who can make a perfect alibi out of this. It's not technically lying if he uses himself as a scapegoat, right? "Well, Figure Eight wanted me to write a letter for a mare he's checking out. I don't know her exactly, though." Sandbar chuckled before asking. "Can that guy even hold a relationship? He always seems busy elsewhere. We barely even see him..." "Whoever this pony he's giving his letter two, he better not leave us hanging all the time," Gallus pleaded like he didn't want their bro-ship to end with a mare getting in the way, "and that goes for you, Mobius!" "What are you yammering about? You're giving one to Ocellus, too!" gawked Mobius, clearly pointing out the box on the table to which Gallus responded with us talons covering it with most of his chest. "Shut it! It's not the same!" That should be enough coverage for the day, Mobius need to get to work on the more important things on the matter. After he finished his breakfast, he placed the tray on the stack by the garbage cans and head out to the library. Interestingly enough, the library was packed with students pairing up and reading off of the same book. It felt kinda creepy seeing himself as the only one sitting at a table. Placing all the materials he needed on the table, he carefully put on his thinking caps and brainstormed on a nice little poem to give her. Mobius planned to give her that ruby necklace he won from the Las Pegasus arcade if she does accept being his special somepony, so he hid it somewhere in his bag. It all boils down to what is he going to write to her. Retaining the quill pen on standby with his magic, it was clear that he had a small case of writer's block. The poem should be written with his heart, not his mind. But with his long-time crush on the bookworm, he could practically come up with a novel on why he deserves to be with Twilight, but that was overthinking it. "This is much harder than I've thought," he murmured within the library to prevent anypony from hearing him and disturbing the peace. Just when he thought he was stuck, inspiration surged through his cortex when a revelation strikes his mind. "Wait...this could work! I'm...inspired!" Dipping the tip of the quill pen to the jar of ink on his right side, Mobius began working on the first verse of his poem dragging the head of the pen to the center of the top center. This was followed by another verse after the next until he was quite satisfied with the final results. Something he should make sure to do was to make sure this was addressed to him as he signed the card with his name. His mind was on fire when he wrote that, reading it out last time before he nodded silently. The poem was complete. "Yes! The first card is complete, now I just need to wait for the ink to dry while I begin working on Cozy Glow's letter. I didn't have to think about this too much, I just need to let her down carefully..." Placing the poem to Twilight to the side and making room for the second sheet of paper, he soon went to work on writing a friendly Hearts and Hooves Day letter of rejection. This is to make sure Cozy Glow doesn't get the wrong idea and sees him as a good friend. Mobius made sure the letter gives out his message while at the same time, keep it as friendly as possible to not break her heart. Just as soon as he was finished signing the letter, he went to work on the hardest parts...the address labels. James didn't know exactly how does a pony writes an address at all, remembering how Big Mac used symbols to indicate Sugar Belle's name only to be thwarted by Derpy's carelessness and smudged the first symbol. This in turn caused his special gift to be sent out to Sweetie Belle instead. There were two things he thought that he felt crept out; 1. How on Equestria did the mail service get Sweetie Belle's exact location? 2. Why do Sweetie Belle and Sugar Belle have similar names? Mobius didn't think about it that much lifting the second card next to the first one and placing the pink envelopes next to him. "Alright, Cozy Glow...how does that translate into symbols? When I think of something cozy, I think about something warm. Like a towel? No, Blanket! And as for the glow part. What's something the glows? A lamp! Now for Twilight, I can just easily use her cutie mark as an address." Gently drawing a small image of a blanket and a lamp next to it on the center of the pink envelope when Mobius finished the first letter. Moving onto the second envelop as he sketched an exact copy of Twilight's cutie mark, but then he was suddenly surprised when a small tap on the shoulders came from behind him as he scooted his chair behind the creature that called for him. It was Silverstream and Ocellus. "Happy Hearts and Hooves day, Mobius!" Silverstream gave him a quiet greeting as to not disturb the peace of the library. "What are you doing!?" Silverstream and Ocellus were quite cheery during this day since this was their first time celebrating a holiday out of their home country. They appear to have some gifts in their possessions, but he didn't think about that too often when he has more important matters at hoof. "Oh, n-nothing of your concern, Silverstream..." Mobius answered, simultaneously using his magic to lift the cards and place them into the envelopes. But without Mobius' acknowledgment, the card on the left went in the envelope to the right and the one on the right slid into the left envelope as he blindly placed them in their 'intended' spots. He was more distracted by Ocellus strangely giving him the most awkward staring contest as she shoved her big eyes just a foot away. "Hmm...interesting..." she oddly stared deeply at Mobius with large buggy eyes, giving him a bit of unease. "Um, Ocellus? Will you please stop whatever you're doing, you're freaking me out." "I'm sooo sorry! There's just too much love in the atmosphere I couldn't break bad habits!" the changeling sheepishly apologized to him, looking away from him. "I was just curious on why you're writing two cards?" "One's for a friend, that's all!" answered Mobius, seemingly getting weirded out by the changeling's quirks in hurry to hide the letters from his back. "Enough about me, how are you enjoying your first Hearts and Hooves day here?" "Well..." Ocellus was a little embarrassed to answer him, moving her head away for a moment. "Thorax was first hesitant for me to go— it's a buffet of love for changelings. But we don't do that anymore!" "Yeah, Queen Chrysalis could be siphoning love around Ponyville today, but she seems not to be doing anything during this time. I guess I'll leave her be for now, but when that episode comes to a close, I'll be ready." "Silverstream? How about you?" "Oh, It's going amazing! I've seen tons of creatures coming together and confessing their undying love!" the hippogriff answered with her talons placed on the side of her face. "Alright Silverstream, I'll be heading out to the quad later. Let's first grab a bite to eat shall we?" Ocellus threw out some last-minute news to her saying her goodbyes to Mobius. "See you around, Mobius!" "The quad? Wonder what for? Anyways, I have the envelopes sealed up and ready to be sent out. Twilight's in the school, so I just have to drop it off at the table at the main entrance. I hope she doesn't go into panic mode when she potentially reads my letter. Speaking for Cozy's, I guess I could drop it off at her mailbox, but I have to act quick as to not get the wrong idea somepony I know." Navigating through a hallway with various other students exchanging gifts and showing signs of affection was a sight to behold, turning to the right and entering the main entrances of the school. Mobius can already see Starlight bored behind believe as she slouched on the folded chair waiting for the seconds to tick by for her lunch break. Mobius walked to her in front looking very concerned over her boredness. "Councilor Starlight, are you alright?" he asked. "I'm...I'm fine Mobius..." answered Starlight, making a huge yawn from her mouth over her tiredness. "How can I help you?" Just to be sure, he got out the letter addressed to Twilight and checked the label to see if it was the correct letter. Surely, James doesn't want a similar accident like in the episode 'Breakup, Breakdown'. That would make things pretty awkward and dangerous for his physical health over the father of particular filly. Seeing the correct label with his two eyes, Mobius gingerly placed down the letter on the table where Starlight could see the symbol on the envelope. This made her jaw drop inches below when she saw the colt nervously handing out the envelope to her. "Is this—" "—Shh!" Mobius cutted her off by placing a hoof to her mouth for a few seconds before retracting. He murmured. "She must get this letter, everything I've wanted to say to her is inside..." Starlight could only follow his advice as nodded silently before she used her horn to teleport out of the table. That was one letter down, and one more to go. He soon walked outside the school to take a nice stroll to Cozy Glow's home just a few blocks away. Even residence around the street was strolling along with their partners close by or locked next to each other. At least it would be easy to run up her mailbox and place the envelope without anypony realizing. Closing in on his target, he quickly used his horn to pull out the envelope and the mailbox compartment and place it inside. Just a precaution, he raised the red flag to go with it. "I guess that's that," he smiled when he began to look far out on the horizon from where Sugar Cube was located. Interested in the many folks in line. "This calls for a sweet celebration!" He walked out of the vicinity of the house to make his way to the bakery, just until the door creeked slightly as Cozy Glow herself was preparing to make her leave. "Dad! I'm going out to help my friends set up for something!" she peeked her head inside, calling out to her father that was just inside another room by the sounds of his response. "Alright sweetheart, just be careful out there!" Making her exit as she closed the door behind her, Cozy noticed the mailbox flag raised. This would mean that something was inside the box. She scratched her head realizing that she had already gotten today's mail this morning. Maybe she forgot something? It won't be a mystery anymore as she opened the box with her foreleg dragging on the handle and saw a pink envelope with her name spelled with two symbols. But her face knew immediately what it was when she reminded herself of this special day today. "A Hearts and Hooves day card?! Must be from somepony from class..." she gagged over the idea of somepony bringing her a love letter to her mailbox. "I'll take a peek at it and immediately chuck it in the recycle bin," She didn't expect much from the notecard, predicting it to be just something like 'Be my special somepony' or something on the lines of that. Cozy took apart the seal and opened the notecard seeing some poem written on the right side. Skimming it over shouldn't take too long. However, the more she did, the more concerning and alert her eyes were as sweat beads started to form on her forehead. This followed by a faint blush on her cheeks grew intensely when she spotted the name signed underneath the last verse. But then, something changed inside her. Maybe it was the fact that her pupils turned heart-shaped or that she caressed the card with her two forelegs floating a few feet off the ground at a constant speed She let out a soft mewl before giving out a romantic sigh. "H—He does love me~" Meanwhile, in the School of Friendship's Headmare chambers, it was a busy day for Headmare Twilight as she was busy dealing with certain manners with all five of her friends around the room. She finished signing the last document on her desk while beginning today's meeting. "Alright girls, let the meeting commence!" she addressed the girls gathering around her desk. "I would love to say, Happy Hearts and Hooves day to all of you! Since the students outside of Equestria here don't celebrate Hearts and Hooves day, I want them to have the best first-time experience with it!" "Consider it done!" Rainbow Dash crossed her arms as she floated above the desk flapping her wings to keep her mid-air. "I have decorated the halls this morning and we set up the booth to pass out cards and envelopes to any student that wants to write to their lovers!" "Thanks, now we need the shed light on another topic on hooves..." as Twilight changed the subject, she could visibly see the number of letters and gift boxes her friends stacked on the tables and seats in her chamber as she peeked behind their heads. "You all seemed busy with your gifts to the students." "My-My! I could almost gain 20 pounds just by eating all these delectable confectionaries our beloved students who were nice enough to send us!" boasted Rarity, seemingly quite satisfied of her stack of letters seemingly taller than the rest of her friends as the groaned. "No fair! My stack was not even half of Rarity's!" said Rainbow Dash, fumed by her pathetic stack of only 15 letters overall, "and I didn't even get chocolate!" Twilight pouted. "Well, at least YOU got something! I didn't even get ONE single card at all! What gives?" The girls snickered as they made the headmare embarrassed with her head lowered down to drown out their noises. But slamming the doors outwards was Starlight as she lifted a single envelope given to her by Mobius as the girls made way for her to teleport in front of Twilight. "Twilight! You wouldn't believe who gave me an envelope!" Starlight screeched out, as she saw the princess raise her head to see her. "It's from Mobius! And it's for you!" "R-r-r-really?!" she dragged herself across the desk as she sees the envelope with her cutie mark symbol written in front. The girls to the side were unsurprised by this gesture given to the only student that wrote her a card. Rarity slowly raised her foreleg over to Rainbow Dash where she gave her a small sack of bits to the fashionista without Twilight noticing. Speaking of twilight, she was holding the part of her chest with her heart, getting some populations over this singular envelope. Her face all flushed, and sweat beads formed in her forehead as she has torn apart the envelopes seal and began to read out loud: To a special kind of mare, I know writing you on this special day may be a bit of an extreme oversight, but I've just wanted to get this out there. You may have developed certain feelings for me, and I'm flattered by it. However, I just don't think we can work out in the long term. You're the most kind-hearted pony I've ever met, but I've come to realize that our age gap is far too far off for my comfort and the public's eye. You may think of some caveats to make this workout, but this is just too big of a commitment for me. Just realize that you have a future to look up to and you shouldn't waste it on me alone. As for me, my heart is already won over, somepony that I'm more comfortable being with. So please, stay strong, and let's keep our friendship as professional as possible. - Mobius After reading out loud the letter that Mobius had written inside the hearts and hooves day card, all that Twilight showed after wasn't sadness at all. She felt like a heavyweight was lifted off her shoulders, as her friends gathered around her to voice their opinions on the letter. "Wow! That was ruthless," said Rainbow Dash, feeling indifferent over the letter as she hovered over Twilight's shoulders to skim it over once more. "Oh no, Twilight, I'm sorry..." Fluttershy placed all the blame on herself, realizing she was the one that whistleblow his secret. "Well, this complicates things...must be some mistake! Yes!" Rarity denied the authenticity of the letter coming from Mobius as she took a close inspection of it with her reading glasses. Only to sigh in return. "Oh...he signed it..." "So, he even thinks of that too..." Twilight slowly placed down the letter from her magic and began to straighten up. "I knew he was smart enough to realize it sooner. Our love is just...not meant to be..." The girls were shaken up by Twilight's sudden change of heart about Mobius, almost seeming as if she was assassinated in front of their own eyes. Rarity was more invested by this travesty, seeing her legs collapse like a fallen down tree as she was caught by her friends grabbing her torso to keep her up. "Twi! No, you must not!" she propped herself back up as she denied everything she has to say. "This could be a moment of a lifetime, where you find that special connection with somepony." "I'm aware," she responded with a slow nod followed by a short frown, "but I do have to respect his choice in the matter. Even if we do go through with it, I still need to think about the long term. I'm a princess, and he's just a student of friendship. It wouldn't be right for me to be seen with somepony of his caliber." Her friends knew full-aware of the responsibilities she had as the headmare of such a unique learning environment, but to simply throw out a beautiful blossoming relationship? Fluttershy opened up and placed her legs on the table to give her doubts on her decision. "I know what you feel Twilight, but there can be other ways you could make it work—" "—No! I can't!" Twilight got as direct with her as possible, sitting in perfect posture and everything. "I as the headmare and Princess of Friendship shouldn't have romantic relations with one of my students! It isn't in my primary to find somepony special, and I should set an example for everycreature in the future. Even Mobius agrees with me!" "So, I guess this is it then?" Rarity hovered to her side to indulge in the harsh reality. "I guess, I was a bit too stuck up trying to make you happy. Only to not realize it was only making you troubled." "It's not your fault Rarity, It's not anypony's," Twilight replied, getting up from her chair feeling a bit down on this news. "I just need to speak with him, maybe that will cheer me up." "The treats at the Sugar Cube were specially designed for Hearts and Hooves day with heart-shaped cookies, cakes, and everything. They were a pretty popular thing to buy in dozes or maybe more, but I settled into for a few cookies. So now I just have to wait out the rest of the day for Twilight to read out her card. In the meantime, I might enjoy some fresh air sitting at the quad in school." The center of the school quad with the flowing fountain and ambiance was joined with countless other students sitting on the edges or just on the grassy areas of the area. It was quite the experience to be breathing and smelling Equestrian atmosphere when Mobius sat on an empty stone bench just next to the library entrance. Free from the emissions from gasoline, pollution, and smelly streets from his homeworld, It felt too clean. All the building colors give it a sense of living in a cartoon world, well...he is living in one... He never had delved into pop culture and other fictional media in Equestria, believing it was riddled with Daring Doo or those comic books Spike reads all the time. But it was that time he gave one a shot pulling out the first in the Daring Doo trilogy. The story is rather interesting for an Indiana Jones spoof, Mobius was invested in it. Turning over the next page, he was stopped when he spotted someone just at the other side of his spot; Ocellus. "Ocellus is here, she said something about being in the quad, but why?" She just sat at an empty bench next to some shrubbery, looking as confused as he was. Just as she was about to leave, Smolder came just outside the blue doors to the left where Ocellus was seated at. She looked timid and posed strange behavior with her flushed face, averted eyesight, and her arms behind her back like she was hiding something. "Oh, so they are canon? I never thought Smolder would be the one to be doing all of this, I never saw her as the type to do this kind of stuff..." Smolder, from what appeared from the distance, pulled out her arms from behind and offered Ocellus a large box of chocolates in a heart-shaped box. This made the changeling bounce in pure joy as she gave the dragon a warm hug out of her. Just when things couldn't get worse for Mobius, he noticed a particular Gallus spying on them across from the canal. He was utterly disappointed by Smolder beating him to the punch. Seeing the poor griffon heartbroken and running off opposite of where they were seated made Mobius show sympathy for him. "Poor Gallus, he could never catch a break, can he? Perhaps I should start looking for him and —" "—Mobius, I've got the letter you wrote for me..." He jerked his head slightly by the familiar voice calling out to him next to the bench, turning his head to his right seeing Twilight sitting just on the other end of it. James' mind went completely numb, the moment he was waiting for— nearly half of his life he dreamed of this day. It was the moment of truth. His leaks started shaking and heart-pounding, Mobius took a big gulp before he could respond casually. "Oh r—really?" He stuttered a bit. "To be honest, I thought it was too cheesy for your taste." "No-no, It was more than enough to give me time to think about us 'moving forward'..." As soon as she responded, his mind was screaming internally by the way she said her last two words. "C-c-c-c-calm d-d-d-down James, Don't go into a h-h-h-heart attack now!" "Y—Yeah! What about us moving forward?!" Mobius was a nervous wreck, trying not to disturb the students around the quad still gawking eyes at their significant other. Twilight answered while placing her former on his shoulders. "I'm well aware of the risks due to our ages. But, I have a reputation to uphold, and you have such a bright future ahead," "No...No way...is this!?" "That's why I just want to say...thank you..." She scooted close to him and wrapped her forelegs to his torso for the friendliest hug she can give, "thank you for reaching out to me on this special day, but we just can't be in a romantic relationship." The colts face turned dreary, still welcoming her nice hug while it lasted. Mobius knew this was coming, but he just didn't want to admit it. Twilight is the Princess of friendship, and she shouldn't be harboring feelings for anypony, even her student. This setback didn't make him drown in his defeat, he sighed before Twilight finished her hug getting up from the bench. "I should've seen this coming to be honest," he sighed, "I thought we could work it out, but it's just not meant to be," Why did he even bother to write her a letter? Of course, she was going to keep a professional relationship between a teacher and her student— especially being the Princess of Friendship that will one day be the successor to Princess Celestia and Luna. James believed he just experienced being in Flash Sentry's and Timber Spruce's shoes for once, being a suitable love interest for Twilight. He could almost laugh out loud but kept this interaction as professional as possible. Twilight stood up from the bench and walked in front of him as she reminded him. "It's not all bad, you still have that one pony that you feel comfortable being with, right?" "..." he went completely, blankly staring with his deadpanned face. "Just as you wrote in the card— She must be an outstanding young mare who happens to be smart as me." she giggled. "I might be a tad bit jealous of her, but no harm done!" "..." "I believe we can still be friends and keep in touch even after graduation, so I'll see you for tomorrow's class." one more quick hug from Twilight later, she turned and walked away as she prepared to head back to her office. Mobius mulled over what she meant by that, processing the information in his brain like dial-up internet loading a webpage. He doesn't remember writing that in the poem. He never mentioned anything about another pony. It then clicked inside him, it was obvious at this point. Twilight received the letter that was supposed to go to Cozy Glow, but it was placed in the wrong envelope... Wait...but that would mean... The love note is in Cozy's envelope... And that also means... He placed it in her mailbox... "OOOHHHH NOOOOO!" Meanwhile, inside the Sweet Apple Acres Barnstable, Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle were attending to a certain lovesick pegasus lying on a bale of hay while Applebloom was the one who got the notecard from her decision to read it out loud figuring out what made her all disconnected from the world: The first time I've laid my eyes on you My feelings ring true Ashamed for what I'm about to say I've grown to adore you day by day This may be frowned upon by many But my love for you is growing by the plenty Let's put our ages aside As I have nothing to hide Be my special somepony And not leave me lonely Without you, I'm nothing Beside you, I'm everything - Mobius "T—That was...so romantic!" Applebloom could cry a waterfall as she wept over the lovely poem within the barn. Emotions started to go awry as she tried to power through it by wiping the excess tears off her or with her left foreleg. "I still can't believe that he had the same feelings for her!" "Wow, me and Cozy Glow got something special for Hearts and Hooves Day? Try to keep up you two!" Sweetie Belle snickered. "Stop that Sweetie Belle, we need to snap Cozy Glow off of this!" Scootaloo reminded her of the situation they're in. "Hey. Cozy! Can you hear us?" "My little Mobi...My little Mobi...ahaha-hahaaaa~" Cozy sang a short verse muttering the words out with her soft-spoken voice. She still was in some trance as her friends showed concern for her well-being. Applebloom gasped. "She's completely lost her noggin!" "Little? But Mobius is way taller than her...and a lot older..." Scootloo couldn't figure out the logic in her little verse when she poked one of Cozy's eyeballs, surprised by her lack of flinching. "I think that notecard broke her both mentally and physically..." "Weeeeee~" another small mewl came from her, still having her heart-shaped pupils waving her head and torso back and forth like in some rollercoaster ride. TO BE CONTINUED