//------------------------------// // The Luckiest Colt in the World // Story: Holding Hooves // by Ex-Ed //------------------------------// The Luckiest Colt in the World "Something in the way she moves Attracts me like no other lover. Something in the way she woos me. I don't want to leave her now, You know I believe in how." -Something by The Beatles In a familiar farm, Applejack watched as Rainbow Dash flew away. After a bit of the usual taunting and teasing -this time about the Hearts and Hooves party- Applejack managed to get Rainbow Dash out of Sweet Apple Acres. "I'll see you later." The pegasus called out, waving. Applejack waved back, glad that her friend was out of her mane. Once the cyan pegasus was out of sight, she sighed in relief. "I swear, that pony is somethin' else." She turned back towards another tree. "Better finish up Big Mac's job here." She walked up to the tree and kicked it, letting the fruit fall into the prepared baskets. She trotted to the next tree, repeating the process with those apples and the preset buckets. This repetition went on for several minutes. Thankfully, Big Macintosh had already harvested a large majority of the apples, greatly shortening the tedious task. She looked back at her work. About forty or so trees, each with several baskets of apples under them. Carrying them all into the barn was going to be hard and take up a lot of time. She knew she was fast, strong pony, but she doubted that she could carry all the cargo back into the barn in a reasonable amount of time. Applejack headed back to the barn to get the large cart she used to pile up multiple baskets. But even with the wagon to help her, she wouldn't be done anytime soon. The short walk was quickly over and she was at the brightly-colored structure. She pushed open the door and her eyes darted to the cart in the middle of the room. She attached to the apple cart's front and lugged the cart out of the barn with little effort. She knew it wouldn't be as easy to bring the cart back filled with all those baskets. She sighed, knowing the difficulty of her task. Maybe sending Big Macintosh to deliver the apples to Fluttershy wasn't the best idea in the world. Granted, it was a farther trip and she wouldn't have the apple cart, but it sure beat having to harvest a ton of apples. Applejack dragged the cart back to where she bucked the apples down. The farm pony brought her carrier to the first tree. She unhooked the front from herself and loaded the three baskets onto the cart. There were still plenty of baskets left to be carried back to the barn. "Do you need some help?" A stallion's voice asked, a small bit of nervousness evident. Applejack turned to the direction in which the voice came from. Not much farther away from her was a tan-colored stallion with three horseshoes as a cutie mark. His short, chocolate mane was clean and groomed, but the stallion himself looked like he could do his fair share of work, being only slightly smaller than Big Macintosh. Applejack smiled at the arrival. "Howdy Caramel. Just harvestin' the last batch of apples before Hearts 'n Hooves. They ain't light, so I guess I could use a helpin' hoof." Caramel was, somewhat admittedly, a forgetful pony. But he was a kind and strong, more than occasionally assisting the Apple family on their farm, becoming good friends with Big Macintosh and developing a crush on Applejack. The colt shyly smiled back and walked closer. "Great. What do you want me to do?" "If you can lug the cart for me, that'll really make this job a bunch easier fer me." Applejack replied. "With two of us workin', we'll be done in no time." "Got it!" Caramel saluted. He hooked the cart onto himself and followed Applejack to the next tree. The farm pony loaded several more baskets onto the cart and then the pair continued to the next tree. The tedious process continued for a few more minutes. At this point the cart was very heavy and would present a challenge to get it to the barn, which was also a considerable distance away. The cart could only be hooked onto on pony at a time, so to ease the task for the stallion Applejack pushed the cart from behind. The two finished their work in only an hour. "Woo wee," Applejack panted once they were done. She turned to the chocolate tailed stallion. "Thanks a bunch fer your help, Caramel. I don't think I could've gotten everythin' in the barn by sundown." Caramel blushed slightly, rubbing the back of his neck nervously. "Hey, it was no trouble at all." He shyly swept his hoof on the ground. "Say Applejack," "Yeah partner?" The stallion felt himself starting to sweat, forcing himself to put on the straightest face he could. "Are you doing anything tomorrow?" He finally asked. The farm pony, oblivious to Caramel's nervousness, put a hoof to her chin in thought. "Not really. All the farm work is done fer today, but I might stop over at Sugarcube Corner to check things out. Why?" Caramel's bravado was starting to fail him. "Oh, for, umm…" He just couldn't vocalize his desire to hang out with the orange pony. Luckily for him, Big Macintosh arrived, redirecting Applejack's attention. "Howdy Big Macintosh." She called out to the sibling, coupled with a wave. The larger stallion walked up to the duo, his calm demeanor still on his face. "Evenin' Applejack, Caramel." He spoke. Realizing he wouldn't get any further in what he wanted to ask with Big Macintosh around, he decided to retreat from any more conversation. "I just remembered I needed to help out Blues with something. Sorry, I have to go." He lied. He put on a sympathetic smile. "I'll see you guys around." "Oh, let me give you a lil' somethin' before you leave." She turned back to Caramel and, much to his surprise, gave him a friendly kiss on the cheek. Needless to say, the stallion's cheeks heated up to a very pink color. He also received a questioning gaze from the red stallion "Thanks again, Caramel." Applejack thanked once more. She turned to enter her home. Big Macintosh followed her, leaving a stunned, yet happy, Caramel to sort through his thoughts. Caramel brought a hoof to the cheek Applejack kissed. "I'm so glad I got out of bed today." He muttered to himself as he turned towards Ponyville and began a happy trot. A big grin was painted on his face. Meanwhile inside, Big Macintosh gave her sister an interrogative look. Apple Bloom had already told Applejack earlier that she was going to go off crusading with her friends, leaving a sleeping Granny Smith as the only other resident of the household other than the orange and red ponies. "Mind tellin' me what that was all about?" Big Macintosh interrogated. He may have been friends with Caramel, but the tan stallion's untold-yet-obvious affection for the farm pony made him a bit skeptical. "Caramel came over to help me out with the rest of the applebuckin'. That little kiss was just a 'thank you' kinda kiss." Applejack replied. "Uh huh…" "It's the honest truth." She defended. Eager to change the subject, she asked, "By the way, how was it at Fluttershy's?" "When I got to her cottage, I knocked on her door. She opened it up, squealed, and then screamed, 'Stallion!' She slammed the door in my face and then apologized through the closed doo. I left the apples on her doorstep and left." Big Macintosh replied. From the look of it, he was pretty confused about that encounter. "Are all yer friends that crazy?" The orange pony shrugged in response. "More or less. She's actually the tame one." ------------------------------ The next day wasn't very exceptional, being a regular, sunny day; however, it did mean something important. It was only one more day until Hearts and Hooves Day. True to her words, Applejack was indeed on her way to Sugarcube Corner. Being stuck at the farm for the past two days harvesting apples made her miss out on whatever was going on in town, so seeing her friends again was going to be refreshing. The pony looked around. The town was probably more "heartified" than the days before. Red, white, and pink hearts were on nearly every building. Some shops were selling holiday-themed gifts and products. The mare could've sworn she saw at least two buildings that weren't pink the week before. Applejack let her mind wander as she slowly walked through the bustling town. For one, she wasn't a hundred percent sure she was going to the party. There would be the awkwardness of showing up without a date, but that excuse was quickly eliminated when she remembered that none of her friends had anyone to take to the party either. Her mind also went to Caramel. The kind stallion had been an acquaintance of hers for a while. He wasn't exactly close to her, but she did enjoy his company. A very quick thought of going to the party with him passed through her mind, but she shook it off. She hardly knew anything about the stallion as it is. The farm pony made it to bakery. She noticed the picture hung onto the awning of the building and soon found herself staring at it "Aww," she cooed. "Ain't that sweet?" "I know, right?" "AHH!" In a fit of panic, the shocked farm pony leaned back and fell at the stranger's voice. It wasn't often someone would sneak up on her. There was one time Rainbow Dash had done so with a prank, but other than that one occasion, it happened next-to-never. A familiar pink pony leaned over the fallen mare to get a better look at her expression. "Sheesh Applejack," She honestly remarked. "Sometimes I think you're easier to scare than Fluttershy." "What in Sam's Hill are you doin' sneakin' up on me?" The annoyed pony interrogated, getting up from the ground. "Well, you were standing in front of the building so I decided to say, 'Hi!' But you were busy looking at the picture that Pokey hung up." The blond pony raised an eyebrow at the unfamiliar name. "Who?" "Pokey, my date to the party!" The pink pony replied, as ecstatic as ever. "…What." "You know, that's exactly what Rainbow Dash said yesterday!" Pinkie said, remembering the event of the two friends introducing their coltfriends. "Are you guys secretly sisters or something?" Ignoring the party pony's question, Applejack went ahead to get some answers. "Okay, when and how?" "A few days ago when I got hit by lightning and fell off a ladder." The pink pony answered, leaving Applejack with a dumbfounded expression on her face. "I… I don't… even…" The farm pony could not find a response to that. Pinkie was a very random mare, but managing to get a date by getting hit by lightning? Just how the hay was that possible? "Pinkie Pie?" A foreign stallion's voice called out. A blue unicorn appeared at open doorway. "Ah, there you are. Who's your friend?" The curly maned pony introduced her friend. "This is Applejack." "I reckon he's your coltfriend?" Applejack asked, finally managing to find her voice again. The stallion's face turned a light shade of red when Pinkie nodded excitedly. The pink pony bounced to the stallion and nuzzled against his neck for a second. Admittedly, it made Applejack feel a little weird inside, watching her friend so happy with this colt. "You know," Pinkie stated, putting one hoof around Pokey's neck. "If he wasn't here right now, I probably wouldn't have gotten half of the stuff I wanted to get up for the party!" Pokey blushed at the praise he was getting. "Okay, that much can't be true. You're the best party planner ever. You could've easily done this without my help." "Not without your company…!" Pinkie sang, giggling afterwards. The farm pony awkwardly watched the exchange of dialogue. It wasn't that she didn't like the fact Pinkie Pie had a date. Contrary, she was happy for Pinkie; confused and somewhat doubtful, but happy for her friend. But she felt very awkward in front of the couple in front of her. "Ahem," Applejack coughed, getting the pair's attention. "I'm just here to see how the preparation's going." "Okie dokie lokie." Pinkie Pie replied, signaling the others to follow herself inside. "Come on in!" The farm pony walked into the bakery. It looked almost entirely different from what it used to. The counters and display tables were gone, replaced by a DJ station. The lights on the ceiling had multi-colored tints to them, so they would act more like colored spotlights than actual lights. Other than these changes, the inside looked the same as the day before, "Whoa…" Applejack's jaw dropped. "That there's some impressive renovatin'." Pinkie Pie smiled brightly at Applejack. "And that's not even the best part! Rainbow Dash and her coltfriend came over yesterday and got the Wonderbolts to come over here for the party!" "Wait," Applejack paused. "Did you just say Rainbow Dash and her coltfriend?" "Yeah!" Pinkie replied with much enthusiasm. "She's dating a Wonderbolt now! It was also the first time I heard her 'squee.'" Applejack let the facts settle in her head. First Pinkie Pie, now Rainbow Dash? The tomboyish, excitable pegasus had a coltfriend too? Ironically, on the same day she vocalized her hatred for Hearts and Hooves Day. The farm pony didn't know what to say next. Luckily for her, she didn't need to say anything new when Pinkie made a realization. "Oh, Applejack! Did you bring the apples I needed to make those apple cupcakes?" Applejack mentally slapped herself. She'd forgotten the apples that Pinkie Pie had asked of her days earlier. The mare shamefully sighed. "No, I forgot. I'll go get a barrel-full right now from the farm." The orange pony turned back to the door to leave, but stopped when the other earth pony got her attention. "Wait, wait, wait!" Pinkie yelled quickly. "Today's invitation day! Me and Pokey were going to go around town inviting everypony to come! Our first stop was actually your farm anyway to invite your family. We'll pick up the apples on our way back. That way, it'll be like eating two cupcakes in one bite!" "That sounds unhealthy." Pokey joked heartily. Pinkie laughed in response. Applejack thought for a moment. She finally answered, "Well, I guess that'll be okay. Though, I'm not sure if Big Macintosh's willing to go to this party though." "Oh don't worry about him! I'll get him to come one way or another." Pinkie replied, her signature smile still plastered on her face. She turned to Pokey, who now had a picnic basket in his mouth. "Ahh, there you are. Come on, we gotta get all those invitations out before Celestia lowers the sun!" "Mmmfkay" Pokey replied, muffled by the handle in his mouth. He trotted next to his fillyfriend. Pinkie Pie flipped open one side of the basket open, revealing hundreds of neatly organized invitations. She pulled out one of them from the top and handed it to Applejack. "Here ya go!" The farm pony placed the invitation into her raised hoof. A bright pink (of course), heart-shaped letter that was only slightly bigger than a business card. In small, golden words, it read: Hearts and Hooves Party at Sugarcube Corner for Everypony! 7:00 P.M. to Midnight Featuring DJ-Pon3 and the Wonderbolts Hosted by your friendly neigh-borhood Pinkie Pie and Pokey Pierce Share the Love! Applejack let out a little chuckle at the bad pun. She looked back up at her friend. "I'll be there, Pinkie Pie." She slipped the invitation under her hat to dispose of it later. "Great! Sorry, but you've got to leave here. We can't have everypony having a party in here before the party officially starts." Pinkie hopped out of the door, followed by the remaining two ponies. She pushed the door closed. Applejack began to walk away, not knowing her destination, but a familiarly-voiced "Applejack, wait!" made her stop. She looked back towards the pink pony. "Some yellowy earth pony was looking for you. He said he wanted to ask you something over at the 'Crimson Café' at two o'clock." She looked at her hoof, checking her custom-made Pinkie watch (that Applejack swore she wasn't wearing a second ago). "You better get going if you wanna see him in time." The farm pony knew she was talking about Caramel. It looks like he was paying attention when she said she was going to visit Sugarcube Corner. Applejack nodded. "Thanks for the message Pinkie." The farm pony separated from the couple, actively scanning for the popular café, still thinking about what had happened with her friends. The impossible task of making Pinkie Pie happier than usual was fulfilled by a stranger stallion. As for Rainbow Dash… well, the stallion obviously had to be to her liking if she really did keep him as a coltfriend. Even though they were good friends of hers and she felt happy for them, Applejack couldn't help but feel jealous that her friends had dates to bring to the party and that she didn't. Not to mention they were the two ponies she'd least expect to have a date. Seeing and hearing about her friends being in intimate relationships made her desire for one as well. She looked around searching for the stallion she was looking for. In the mix of all the ponies, she made out Crimson Café, a small, yet popular café stop in the middle of town. It didn't look particularly spectacular, minus the colorful logo of a red leaf half-covering a cup of tea on the front of the building. A few tables were scattered outside of the building, each one with several chairs and a large umbrella connected to the center for shade. She noticed a nervous-looking Caramel sitting in one of the chairs, turning his neck to every direction, alternating often. He was most likely looking for her. She smiled at the colt, whom had yet to see her in middle of the crowd of ponies. The thought of possibly asking Caramel to the party as her date slipped into her mind, but it was quickly pushed out. She didn't know the stallion that well enough to take him on date. Maybe she could do something about that. Shaking the thoughts out of her head, she waved to the stallion. Having finally noticed the mare, he waved back. "Applejack!" He shouted, his voice notably drowned by the crowd of ponies. The blond pony maneuvered through the crowd and managed to get herself to the table Caramel was sitting at. "Howdy, sugarcube." She greeted, tipping her hat up slightly. "Good afternoon." Caramel replied, a mixture of happiness and nervousness evident in his voice. "Please take a seat." The orange pony obeyed and took a seat across from him. "I got the message. Whatcha wanted to talk 'bout?" "Well," Caramel started, his eyes shifting away from Applejack. "I really need to tell you… something really important..." "Well, okay then. What's on yer mind?" The mare felt as though she knew what was going to be told. She'd seen enough Cindermarela movies to know which direction this was going to. "Before I tell you, can you promise me that you won't laugh?" "Yup," Applejack thought. "I know exactly where this is goin'." That much was true, but she didn't have answer to the incoming question. Out loud, she answered, "I promise." Caramel took a deep breath and looked Applejack straight in the eye. "There's no real easy way to say this." The stallion admitted. "But here it goes." The tan pony took another deep breath, nervous sweat running down his neck. "Applejack," He stuttered. "I l-like you. A-and not just as a friend, I mean t-that I like like you and-" Applejack leaned over the table and gently put her hoof over the other pony's mouth, silencing him. "I appreciate yer admittance," She began. "And I'm flattered an' all that ya'll interested in lil' ol' me, but ya talk too much." She gave Caramel a soft smile and pulled her hoof back. Like she predicted, Caramel stayed silent. "I'm not tryin' to be rude, but I don't really know ya that much as it is." She took notice of Caramel's dismayed face when she said that. But she wasn't done yet. "I'm not sayin' I ain't interested, I'm just sayin' we should get a lil' more familiar with each other before we kick anythin' off, if that makes sense." Caramel's expression brightened up. "I understand." He said. "If that's really the case, then why don't we start getting to know each other now? I'll order us some tea." "I'd love to, sugarcube." Applejack replied, shooting a smile at the stallion, making him blush slightly. Caramel ordered the tea for Applejack and himself. Once the waiter left after jolting down what they ordered, the two immediately started a conversation afterwards. They discussed trivial things, such as favorite foods, favorite drinks, what they liked and didn't like. It slowly transferred to more personal topics, such as them talking about their families and homes. Caramel was given the full synopsis of the Apple Family, which wasn't really that notable. Applejack had been living on the farm her whole life with Granny Smith, Big Macintosh, and Apple Bloom, minus a short detour to Manehattan and back. However, Applejack learned that Caramel really wasn't from Ponyville. He was actually from Manehattan and had moved to Ponyville when he was older and had been living off odd jobs and such since. She'd always wondered why the colt looked so familiar when she first met him when he was placed onto her Winter Wrap Up team. The blond pony figured she must have seen him around at the time she stayed with the Oranges. "…And that's why I applied for that rodeo job." He admitted. He took another sip of his tea. "By the way, you were great out there." "Heh, thanks." Applejack turned her head away to hide a tint of pink on her face. Applejack was starting to like the stallion more and more. He wasn't perfect, but she felt very happy just being around him, talking. It was if she knew him for a long time now. Maybe this was Pinkie Pie and Rainbow Dash were feeling when they met their dates. But even with all the knowledge about Caramel, he was leaving one glaring thing out. "Caramel," Applejack asked. "Mind if I ask how you got yer cutie mark?" The stallion looked at his flank for a brief moment. There were three blue horseshoes that decorated his flank. He looked back towards Applejack, rubbing the back of his neck with a spare hoof. "It's actually a long story." He narrated. "You see, when I was a young colt I saw this one filly. She was really pretty and I liked her a lot, but I was too shy to talk to her. One day, I didn't see her anywhere. I was worried about where she went, but I couldn't find any clues anywhere." He paused to sip his tea. Applejack felt a pang of jealousy, knowing that Caramel had a crush on somepony else. She didn't like the idea. "A few years passed, but I never forgot about that filly." Applejack's anger started welling up. "One day, I was walking through town and I found a single cent on the ground. As I picked it up, I noticed another one, and then another, and then another. I followed the trail of money that nopony else had noticed. It didn't stop until I got to the edge of town. And low and behold, I saw Ponyville behind the sunset. I had magical feeling that the filly I saw before was there." He paused again to look at his cutie mark. "The horseshoes symbolize how lucky I was to find those cents that would lead me to a window to see where my future home would be, because in all honesty, Manehattan was a pretty nasty town." Applejack was very interested in the story, but she was still jealous of whoever managed to catch his eye before. "And just who was this mystery mare you were fallin' head over hooves fer?" She asked, anger quite noticeable in her voice. Caramel only shyly smiled at the scowling mare, much to her confusion. "You." Applejack's eyes went wide. He was pining over her before they even met? That meant he moved to Ponyville in the first place… Just for her. "Me?" She asked in disbelief. "Ya just dropped everythin' over a trail of coins leadin' to Ponyville… just cause of me?" "Yup." He responded simply. His former nervousness was gone, replaced with confidence and gentleness. "I really like you, and… well, I guess you know why now." The farm pony hunched over the table and embraced the stallion, despite the awkward position. He returned the hug with much vigor. Their faces tinted red. Applejack pulled away and looked into Caramel's blue eyes. "I think I like ya too." The stallion smiled warmly at her. "Then I guess if I ask you to the Heart and Hooves party you'll-" "Yes!" The overexcited mare leaned in again, grabbed the unsuspecting colt by the neck, and forcefully kissed him on the lips. The sudden kiss assault took Caramel by surprise, his eyes wide open. He was initially shocked, but quickly adapted, letting his eyes close and enjoy the kiss. He moaned slightly through the kiss, as did she. As nature demands, the two's interlocking lips were separated for the sake of oxygen. Applejack looked warmly towards her date. She felt the magic that Pinkie Pie was feeling with Pokey, the happiness, the bliss, and it was great. After what seemed like an eternity, Caramel broke the silence. "I feel like the luckiest stallion in the world right now." Applejack smiled back at the colt. "That is what your cutie mark'sposed to mean, hon." "Huh," Caramel noticed, still looking up at the other pony. "You've never called anypony else that." "Why not?" Applejack asked. "After all, gotta give my special somepony a little special treatment." She said with a wink. Admittedly, the way she said that last part made Caramel feel a little uneasy and excited at the same time.