"The food's great, Spirit. As usual"
"Thanks, Sweet Treat. It was a combined effort."
The pink mare nodded. "What good things aren't?"
Spirit looked around. The heat of Hearts and Hooves Day had chased ponies out of their homes and led them to the Shipping Bar. Half of the interior was already filled with happily feasting couples. Spike and Rarity had gone back to the boutique, but promised Spirit and Twilight they would return later, as had Applejack and Rainbow Dash. Wave Ride and Paint Splash hadn’t moved an inch and were quite happy with that. Broken Gears and the Doctor had scooted over to a window seat. Cheese Sandwich, Cotton Pop and the two Pinkie Pies and taken tables outside to let the newcomers enjoy the indoor service first. Crimson Shadow had moved with Luna to the second floor, a balcony ringing the upper level of the Shipping Bar, accessible via a staircase in the corner.
At that moment, Twilight was serving a garden salad to Applejack and Rarity, while hovering a large wobbling jelly up to Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash on the second floor. Scattered around the Bar were similarly surprising and unexpected pairings, but nobody was making a fuss. Everyone was accepted.
“Everything gets better when done together,” Spirit concluded.
“Sure does,” Sweet Treat agreed.
Leaf Turner, Sweet Treat’s marefriend, lifted her face from her helping of Zap apple fruit salad. “Everything going all right with Twilight?” she asked, her mouth stained from the multicolored apples.
“Leaf!” Sweet Treat scolded, but Spirit waved her down.
“It’s okay, Sweet,” he announced. “It’s Hearts and Hooves Day.” Turning to Leaf Turner, Spirit replied, “Just fine, Leaf. Our studies are coming along fine, even better since we combined our efforts. Especially for spellwork.”
On the next table, Sunset Love and Black Canvas had overheard. “I take it that some harder spells are easier to cast when you pool your magic?” Black Canvas guessed, fluttering her wings so that her rainbow-colored mane floated.
“Aboslutely.”
Leaf Turner looked around shyly. “I don’t suppose you would mind talking to us for a few minutes?”
“Well, I don’t know,” Spirit replied honestly. “I don’t want Twilight to be put-upon. That won’t end well.”
Sweet and Leaf exchanged glances with Black and Sunset. “Yeah, you’re right. Talk to you later then?”
“Maybe.”
“It’s just that we need, I mean, we’d like to know a bit more about….. that.”
Sunset Love’s eyes went wide. “It was so confusing,” she muttered dreamily, “yet the proof is all around us. Do you know more about it?”
Spirit stared at Sweet Treat, his mouth a straight line. He turned around and found Black Canvas holding Sunset’s hoof comfortingly. “Don’t worry, everypony. Soon enough, one way or another, you'll get your answers.”
The four mares sighed in relief. “Glad to know,” Sweet Treat said.
“I’m gonna enjoy hearing when you’re ready,” Black said eagerly. Sunset nodded in agreement
“We trust you, Spirit,” Leaf Turner added.
“Glad to hear. Now if you’ll excuse me, I’d better go take a share of the work.” Spirit left the table and hurried to the kitchen, where Sweet Blasphemy, despite Twilight and Spirit’s polite objections, was mixing punch in a large glass bowl. “So what did we miss?” Twilight asked when she saw him.
“Eh, some of the ponies wanted to talk about the event,” Spirit answered, picking up a tray of cupcakes and sliding them into the oven to bake. He then pulled out a tub of chocolate glaze and started spreading them on the donuts. “I told them we’d talk about it later.”
“You’re so dependable,” Twilight complimented. “We all know you keep your promises.”
“I just hope what we have is satisfactory for them,” the dark blue unicorn replied. He shook sprinkles onto the donuts. “There, that should satisfy some of our customers.”
Sweet Blasphemy looked over. “They’re lovely!”
Twilight sniffed. “And they smell brilliant too.”
“No doubt they taste amazing,” Spirit added. “Thanks to you.”
“Oh, stop it,” Twilight said, giving him a light push. She floated the donuts off their tray and onto a platter. “I’ve got several ships wanting donuts. I’ll go give them out. You can take care of the cupcakes and finish the punch. You might want to mix up more batter, though.”
“More?” Spirit repeated. Then he shrugged. “What the hay, let’s do this.”
Twilight couldn’t help but chuckle as she left the kitchen, bearing the donuts on her back. She weaved through the tables, dropping baked goods on the tables of those who ordered. When she reached the door, the tray was empty and half the couples were munching away.
A loud noise caught Twilight’s attention and she looked up. Flying in the sky were nine pegasi, one she recognized as Spitfire, Captain of the Wonderbolts. What are the Wonderbolts doing here? Twilight wondered.
The answer came quickly as one pegasus did a loop-the-loop, high-hoofed Spitfire and streaked towards the ground, pulling up and landing firmly on his hooves. Twilight recognized Soarin, one of the male Wonderbolts and a big fan of pies.
“See you tomorrow, Soarin!” one of the flying pegasi called down at him. But Twilight was surprised that the speaking pony was Soarin. She looked down at the Pegasus who’d just landed. He must be a Mirror Pool clone, she deduced.
“Bye!” the Soarin on the ground shouted at his comrades. The eight pegasi veered and flew off towards Cloudsdale. Now that Twilight was paying attention, she saw clearly that this was the real Soarin. But what really bothered her was that the pegasus was alone. And he knew it. The minute the Wonderbolts were out of sight, Soarin circled a patch of grass under a tree and sat down, looking depressed.
Why did he leave his friends to be by himself on Hearts and Hooves Day? Twilight found herself wondering as she turned to go inside. While facing the road, she noticed four figures approaching the Shipping Bar: Fluttershy, Discord, Sweetie Belle and Button Mash.
“Hello everyone,” she greeted.
“Good afternoon, Twilight,” Discord replied, flourishing his claw in a way that made Twilight uneasy. She heard a shout from the back of the café and turned to see Derpy Hooves hurrying away from the TARDIS parking. The Doctor, the real Doctor, followed shortly, galloping back and forth as his TARDIS zoomed up and down, slamming into the ground inches away from wherever the stallion was.
“Doctor, make it stop!” Derpy begged.
“I didn’t do this!” the Doctor declared as he dodged the wild TARDIS again.
Twilight turned. “Come on, Discord. I thought you were above this kind of thing.”
“Oh, do lighten up, Twilight Sparkle,” Discord insisted. “It won’t land on him…. Maybe.”
“Now, Discord,” Fluttershy said gently. Twilight was glad to see that it was the real Fluttershy. “You know better than to pick on the Doctor.”
Discord considered this for a moment, just long enough for Derpy to accidentally fly into him. With the wall-eyed mare perched on his head, he had to sigh. “You’re right, Fluttershy.” He snapped his tail and the TARDIS stopped in mid-air, shivered, and then floated back to the café.
The Doctor was on the Lord of Chaos immediately. “Do you have any idea what messing with my TARDIS’s systems could do?” he demanded.
“Create a black hole the size of Belgium?” Discord offered.
“Not exactly,” Derpy said, climbing off Discord’s head. “Sorry about that.”
“Have no fear, Doctor,” Twilight comforted the Time Lord. “Spirit’s studied Discord’s chaos magic. It can’t passively damage the TARDIS.”
The Doctor looked relived. “Well, that’s good to know. We’ve only just arrived for Hearts and Hooves Day and we hope to have a meal at the Shipping Bar. Do you think we could?”
“Sure.” Twilight waved towards the café interior. “Spirit should be there to take your order.”
The Doctor beamed. "Oh, this is just terrific. Allons-y, Derpy!"
“Yay, muffins!” Derpy cried happily.
“With butter! And tea, and eggs-“
“No pears!”
Twilight watched the two ponies enter the café and spun around to face the other newcomers. Fluttershy was patting Discord’s back and the draconequus was scratching his head unsurely. Button Mash had pulled out his joyboy and was mashing away at the buttons. Sweetie Belle just stood beside them, grinning uncertainly. "That was interesting," she noted. "Right, Button?"
Button looked up from his game. “Huh, wha?"
“Okay, you two,” Twilight said, taking the hint that they wanted to move on. “Go in and get a milkshake; take the table by the kitchen.”
“Alright!” the school-age couple cheered, rushing past the purple unicorn.
Fluttershy smiled. “Young love. It’s as strong as any.”
“Quite so,” Discord said. “And now Twilight. Do you think there’ll be a problem with me and Fluttershy having a bite?”
Twilight looked up at the draconequus. If he wanted, she imagined he could hide the fact that he was a Mirror Pool clone, but Twilight was quite sure that it was the real Discord. Not that it made her feel any better or any worse. “No, it should be fine. Just… would you mind sitting on the second floor?”
“Hmm,” Discord mused, tapping his chin and both his knees while he thought. “What do you think, Fluttershy?”
“Oh, I really don’t mind, Discord,” the yellow pegasus admitted, beginning to blush.
“Alright then Twilight, we’ll seat ourselves upstairs.” Gently throwing an arm around Fluttershy, Discord snapped his claw and the two disappeared. At once, Twilight heard a shriek from the café and Discord calling out, “Barkeep!”
"Oh Discord," she laughed to herself. "You’ve changed so much." She looked back at Soarin, sitting under the tree. He really did look lonely. “Rainbow Dash would know what to do,” Twilight said aloud, knowing her friend's connections with the Wonderbolts. “She knows him as well as any of us.”
“NEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEOOOOOOOOOWWWWWWWWW!”
“Gah!” The sudden sweep of guitar strings frightened Twilight so much, she jumped and fired a beam from her horn, which exploded in the air like fireworks.
A white unicorn stallion on the side of the road chuckled lightly, tapping the soundboard of his guitar. “I didn’t think that would work, Muse,” he said to the red pegasus beside him.
“You really shouldn’t have done that, Riff,” the pegasus scolded him. “It’s not April Foals’ Day.” She bent down and helped Twilight up. “I hope you’re not hurt, Twilight.”
“No, I’m alright. Just a little startled.” Twilight recognized the ponies. They were both musically talented. Riff was an exceptional guitarist and Muse knew every musician, band and song in Equestria. They were a perfect match.
“Sorry, Twi,” Riff apologized. “It was a bit too tempting for me to resist, an inconspicuous pony right in front of me.” He peered unsurely at Twilight. “Maybe there’s something I can do to help?”
“No thanks, I’m good Riff. Really, I am.” Twilight’s gaze wandered again to Soarin. Sadness crept into her heart as she watched him paw at the ground. Nopony should be alone or sad on Hearts and Hooves Day, she thought to herself. “Actually Riff, there might be something you can do.”
“Oh, please tell me Twilight!” Riff requested, bouncing up and down beside Muse. “I want to help, I do!”
“I need you to go to the Crystal Empire and invite my brother Prince Shining Armor and my sister-in-law Princess Cadance to the Shipping Bar, and bring them here.”
Riff’s face fell. “The Crystal Empire? That’s kind of far away.”
“There must be a way we can get their quickly,” Muse speculated.
The ponies hear another whirring sound and a new TARDIS appeared beside them. This time, a Twilight Sparkle clone and a Doctor wearing a blue suit and red tie stepped out. “There must be a reason for the TARDIS bringing us here of all places, Doctor,” the other Twilight said, looking about.
The Doctor looked up at the Shipping Bar. “Oh, is it Hearts and Hooves Day?” he wondered. “Lovely.”
Twilight, Muse and Riff approached the new arrivals. Things escalated smoothly from there. They explained their predicament to the Twilight clone and the Doctor and the two time travelers agreed to take Muse and Riff to the Crystal Empire and back, including the Prince and Princess. After they’d whirred off in the TARDIS, Twilight glanced once more at Soarin before turning to go back inside.
Spirit was on her at once. “Thank Luna, you’re back. Discord’s being silly. He keeps ordering glasses of water and making it chocolate rain into them.”
“That doesn’t sound so bad,” Twilight commented.
“Yeah,” Spirit agreed. “Until he tips the glasses over the balcony onto the couples below. Good thing there were Pinkie Pies on the nearby tables.”
Twilight laughed so hard she had to put a hoof on Spirit’s shoulder for support. “Hey, it wasn’t that funny,” Spirit said defensively.
“Spirit, we need more cider over here!” Dregon called from the other side of the Bar. He too stubbornly insisted on helping serve the ships.
“I’ll take care of it,” Twilight said to Spirit. Then she told him about Soarin, Riff and Muse, the time travelers and her idea.
After she’d finished, Spirit nodded. “Good thinking. Cadance will probably know something that could help. And even if she doesn’t, it’ll be nice to see her and Shining again”
Twilight kissed Spirit on the cheek. “I hope it all works out.” And with that, she rushed off to the kitchen.
Spirit stepped outside and looked at Soarin from the doorway. He really did look sad and lonely, just like Twilight had said. The normally energetic pegasus just didn’t look right sitting by himself. While he waited for the TARDIS to return, Spirit sat down at one of the outdoor tables.
Presently, another couple came down the road. They were actually flying, both being pegasi, and were chasing after a knot of giggling colts, who were carrying what was probably stolen goodies between them. The older ponies looked angry.
“You bring that back right now!” the stallion shouted.
“We’ll tell your parents!” the mare yelled.
These two were Bulletproof Love and Vapour Wisp. A recently married couple from the event, they’d quickly found their place together in ultimate friendship. And now they were chasing after kids.
“Come and catch us, lovebirds!” one of the colts called pompously over his shoulder. The other foals laughed, looking back at the pursuing couple. They were so youthfully giddy with laughter they didn’t even notice Spirit pinch the load off their backs and top them with substantial illusions he created with his magic. The colts ran right past the Shipping Bar, around the corner and out of sight.
“You’d think that they’d expect something like that from a passer-by,” Spirit muttered.
Bulletproof and Vapour came to a stop at the Bar. “Oh man, thanks a bunch Spirit,” Bulletproof said gratefully. “We caught those boys raiding an open stall while the owner was talking to her friends.”
“We said we get them back for her and return them as soon as possible,” Vapour continued in between breaths. “Uh. Chasing after foals isn’t as fun as it sounds.”
“And now we need to go back with the goods.” Bulletproof extended his wings. “We’ll probably have to walk there.”
“Don’t leave yet,” Spirit asked of the exhausted pegasi. “It’s Hearts and Hooves Day. Stay for a snack.”
“We couldn’t,” Vapour apologized. “We need to get these things back to their owner before she starts to worry more.”
Dregon teleported into the empty seat next to Spirit. “Sounds like you’ve a job and I’m going to take it,” the grey unicorn said. “You two will stay here and enjoy Hearts and Hooves Day to its fullest.”
“Dregon, buddy, you really don’t-“ Bulletproof started to say.
“Nooooo,” Dregon uttered, giving the two pegasi a little push inside. "You go enjoy some donuts. Cupcakes, tarts, punch, whatever. And don’t you dare worry about the stuff getting back safely!” he added when they turned around to object.
Spirit grinned. “Nice work, Cupid,” he joked.
“It was too easy,” Dregon admitted, levitating the stolen goods onto his back. “See you soon.” In a flash of light, he teleported away.
Still smiling, Spirit turned his head to see how the outdoor couples were doing. Cotton Pop and Cheese had struck up a conversation with Trixie Lulamoon and Maud Pie over various types of entertainment, while the two Pinkie Pies with them had seen something far more engaging.
“Ooooh, look who’s coming!”
Being the calm and collected pony he was, Spirit gullibly glanced up the road. He was astonished, however, to find two gryphons walking towards the establishment. Two gryphons that looked familiar. “Excuse me,” he said politely. “I don’t mean to intrude, but have I seen you before?”
The male gryphon looked surprised. “Don't you recognize us?”
“Hush, dear,” the female gryphon said peacefully. “It’s been a while and we haven’t exactly checked on him ourselves." Then she addressed Spirit. “We’re also here because of what happened.”
Spirit clopped his hooves together. “Oh, now I remember. Galileo and Auxesia. You two were very much missed during the first few gatherings.”
“We found our schedules rather full,” Galileo admitted. “We never found the time to visit.”
“Well, let’s remedy that,” Twilight declared, walking through the door with Sweet Blasphemy close behind. “SB, please take our friends inside and get them a nice meal.”
“Absolutely,” Sweet Blasphemy complied. She led the two gryphons inside, asking them about their preferred beverages.
“Have they returned yet?” Twilight whispered to Spirit, sounding more concerned than before.
“Not yet,” Spirit replied morosely. The two unicorns watched Soarin from a distance, observing the lonely stallion’s actions. Soarin looked so somber that if he had a guitar, he could probably compose the most touching tune ever.
“This is really beginning to hurt,” Twilight mumbled, putting her head on her coltfriend’s shoulder.
Spirit picked up Twilight’s hoof and squeezed it reassuringly. “There’s nothing we can do but wait. They will come.”
And at that moment, the TARDIS reappeared in the exact same spot it arrived in. Riff and Muse poked their heads out and looked around. “We made it!” they cheered, stepping out of the TARDIS.
The suited Doctor was the next one out, closely followed by his assistant Twilight. “Well, we said we’d be back and I’d say we did just that,” the Doctor said, pushing the TARDIS door open.
Standing just inside the time-traveling vehicle, regal-looking as ever, were Prince Shining Armor and Princess Cadance. Both had gone without their regalia for the trip and looked just about as ordinary as two rulers could.
“Twily!” Shining Armor whooped, pulling his sister in for a hug. “I’ve missed you, little sis!”
“Me too, Shiny.”
Cadance approached Twilight and Shining stepped back. The two mares preformed their chant.
Sunshine, sunshine,
ladybugs awake!
Clap your hooves
and do a little shake!
Shining and Spirit beamed at their marefriends. “Riff and Muse told us what was going on,” Shining told him. “ We came here as fast as we could.”
“Your speed is appreciated.”
“I’ll say it is.” Dregon reappeared beside the motley group, speaking as though he’d been there the whole time. “Spirit, the goods were returned and the owner is happy.”
“Thanks, Dregon. You’re a great friend.”
“Hmm. Okay folks!” he shouted, his hooves connecting with a loud clop. “Riff, Muse, Twilight, Doctor. Everypony in!”
“YAY!” The four ponies rushed past the grey unicorn, almost trampling him. Both royalty and magic students chuckled as their friend dusted himself off. “Should’ve expected that,” Dregon admitted, rushing in after them to help his marefriend.
“If that’s what happens at work for you, I wanna get a job here,” Shining said eagerly.
“Maybe next time, Shining,” Spirit told the bigger stallion. “But right now, we’ve got a special-somepony crisis.”
“A pony all alone on Hearts and Hooves Day,” Cadance stated sorrowfully. “I never thought I’d come across such a situation.”
“Can you do anything about it, Cadance?” Twilight asked her old foalsitter.
Cadance looked at Shining Armor, who frowned unsurely. “That’s not really how my magic works, Twilight. It’s made for existing couples and ponies who are seeking love. Soarin is just alone. He’s not trying to look for a way out.”
This piece of information made Twilight and Spirit even sadder. If Soarin wasn’t interested in escaping his seclusion, Cadance wouldn’t be able to help him. The Shipping Bar aside, she and Shining Armor had come all this way for nothing.
“I’m so sorry, Twily,” Shining apologized. Cadance looked distraught
Twilight put her head on Spirit’s shoulder and sobbed earnestly. Spirit felt tears forming in his eyes too. In one moment, Hearts and Hooves Day had lost all its magic. After everything he and Twilight had done that day, after everyone they’d met and served, they still couldn’t save one pony from self-seclusion.
Suddenly, Cadance said, “Who’s that?”
Twilight and Spirit perked up and turned to see who she was talking about. Up in the sky, bucking a cloud into shape, was a bright-red pegasus mare with a dark-grey mane. Her cutie mark was a game controller.
“I know who that is!” Twilight said. “She’s Cutie Control, a game-playing master. She managed to knock out Button Mash in every game they’ve played in.”
“Strange,” Spirit murmured. “She’s on her own too.”
“Is it some sort of Ponyville tradition, being alone on Hearts and Hooves Day?” Shining wondered.
“Shining!” the other three ponies scolded him, although they knew he was kidding. Still, Shining Armor had a point.
“Ooh!” Twilight exclaimed. “Maybe Cutie can help us!”
Spirit looked at her. “Hmm?”
“If Cutie Control is by herself,” Twilight reasoned, lifting up a hoof, “and if Soarin is alone,” she lifted her other hoof and brought the two together, “then maybe-“
“We can’t force two ponies to fall in love,” Spirit said sternly. “I think some of us learned about this last Hearts and Hooves Day when a certain somepony loaned a history book to a trio of inquisitive fillies.”
Twilight flushed. “Oh right. Sorry, my bad.”
“That’s quite alright.” Spirit looked up at the pegasus mare, who’d started spinning the cloud and kicking it methodically. “Unless Cutie Control gave us some sort of sign to show that she is indeed interested in helping Soarin out of the gutter, then it might be okay.”
Up above, Cutie Control gripped the cloud and stopped its revolving. She smiled sadly and lifted the cloud over her head. It was in the shape of a heart. A big, fluffy heart.
Cadance smirked at Spirit. “Is that enough of a sign for you?”
The dark-blue pony nodded. “Let’s do this.”
“I’ll go invite her down.” Cadance spread her purple-tinged pink wings and flew up towards Cutie Control. Shining Armor leaned in. “Do you think we’re doing the right thing?” he whispered to the two smaller unicorns.
“We’re about to find out,” Twilight replied.
Cadance had returned with Cutie Control. The pegasus looked calm and happy, but her eyes were tinged with red. “Hey guys,” she said in a quiet voice. “Can I help you?”
Twilight was worried. She wasn’t used to seeing Cutie sounding so down. “We were just wondering…” Twilight began. “ If maybe, you know, if you could…”
“How’s life treating you?” Spirit put in.
Cutie brightened, just a bit but it was something. “I beat Button Mash at Mega Mare earlier. Man, did he whine afterwards. After that he challenged me to Super Smash Ponies with Sweetie Belle, but he lost that too.”
Spirit nodded and hummed in agreement, but he could tell that everything Cutie was saying with her smile was forced. Inside, she was crying from heartache. “Have you spent some time with anypony… around your own age?” he asked carefully so as not to upset her.
Cutie’s smiled faded slightly. “No. I’m not really good with older ponies. They just don’t have the same gaming soul that colts like Button have.” She turned away and looked up at Cloudsdale. “Besides, there’s only one pony I’d want to spend time with, and he’s probably off training with his friends.”
Spirit exchanged glances with the others. It was clear to them now that Cutie felt towards a Wonderbolt, but which one remained to be seen.
“What I wouldn’t do for a pie I could give him,” Cutie added wistfully.
She said this so unexpectedly, Spirit and Twilight almost burst out laughing. Now they were sure it would all be okay. “Actually, Cutie,” Twilight said, sidling up beside the pegasus and pointing to the tree, “the pony you’re talking about is right over there.”
Cutie followed Twilight’s hoof and her eyes went wide when she saw who was there. “Ohmygosh, ohmygosh, ohmygosh, ohmygosh, ohmygosh!” she squealed. “It’s Soarin! Now there’s a stallion I could spend Hearts and Hooves Day with, and any other day for that matter.”
“He’s actually been waiting for somepony himself,” Cadance said. “You may very well be that somepony.”
“I’m gonna go for it!” Cutie declared. She cantered off towards the isolated Wonderbolt, all her gaming cheer returning to her face.
"Yes!" Twilight cheered, just loud enough so that Spirit, Shining and Cadance could hear. "Now Soarin can celebrate Hearts and Hooves Day properly. And he won't be sad anymore either!"
"It certainly is something worth celebrating," Spirit said. "Come on, Shining. You and Cadance need a cool refreshing drink."
"Hold on, Spirit," Cadance warned. "This isn't over yet."
"What?"
"What do you mean it's not over?" Twilight asked the pink alicorn. "Those two are perfe-" Then she looked out at the tree. "Oh."
Cutie Control was standing in front of Soarin, petrified. Twilight and the others could see her mouth move, but she must have been incoherent because Soarin was just looking at her with a puzzled expression.
"Oh, you have got to be kidding me!" Spirit ranted. "She's too shy to ask him to be her special somepony. Now I've seen everything."
"It's not that easy, you know," Twilight reminded him. "It took me a while before I plucked up the courage to ask you."
"Yeah, but we learned in the same library," Spirit pointed out.
"The question is: what do we do now?" Shining wondered.
"We need Cutie Control to show Soarin how she feels," Cadance concluded. "So that he can see how much Cutie wants to be with him."
"How do we do that?" Spirit inquired. "Cutie can barely move, let alone speak. How're we going to help her if she can't say a word or even mime?"
Twilight's gaze wandered skyward, where Cutie Control's heart-shaped cloud fluffed about in the breeze. "I've got it! That cloud that Cutie made.
"The one she cloud-busted into shape," Spirit remarked. "Only a truly passionate pegasus could create such a piece."
Twilight gripped Spirit and shook him enthusiastically. "Don't you see? It's perfect! If we can get it down to her, Soarin will see how she feels!"
"Okay, we'll do it," Spirit complied, making sure his words got through despite his marefriend's lovingly rocking him. "Just please stop shaking me and calm down."
"Oh, sorry."
Shining looked up at the crafted cloud. "So we just float it down to the tree?"
"It could work," Cadance said gingerly. "But we might want to hurry it up before their asking first date takes a turn for the worse."
Twilight pulled Spirit, Shining and Cadance into a semicircle. "Okay everypony. Lights!"
As one, the four ponies activated their magic, lighting their horns and surrounding Cutie Control's cloud in four colored auras. Then, like a party balloon, they slowly tugged the mass of vapor downward. Their minds focused and their best interest at heart, they brought the cloud down to Equestrian. When it reached the tree, they tugged it past the branches and floated it down towards the two pegasi.
When Soarin saw the enormous heart, his eyes grew wide as wagon wheels. "What's this?" he asked Cutie, fascinated by the cloud and curious of its origin.
Cutie was just as shocked as he was. "M-m-my, h-h-how did, it..." She glanced sideways at Twilight and the others, who were all beaming hopefully. Cutie smiled and winked at them. She'd regained her composure. "It's for you, Soarin."
The Wonderbolt walked around the cloud and looked at it from Cutie's side. "For me?" he repeated.
"Happy Hearts and Hooves Day."
The smile that appeared on Soarin's face, while not surpassing Pinkie's, was certainly a smile to remember. "Cutie Control..." he said quietly turning his head.
"Yes Soarin?"
Soarin reached down and picked up Cutie's hoof. "Will you be my special somepony?"
Cutie's smiled tugged at her cheeks as she leapt onto Soarin, knocking the both of them behind the cloud and out of sight of Twilight, Spirit, Shining and Cadance. "That went well," Spirit said optimistically, his less-expressive face becoming jubilant.
"It certainly did," Cadance agreed.
"Now we can all enjoy Hearts and Hooves Day," Shining said gladly, nuzzling his wife.
Twilight pointed. "Look, here they come."
Soarin and Cutie, with their heart cloud in tow, skipped towards the Shipping Bar, both pegasi radiating an aura of pure joy that the unicorns and the Princess felt. "Thanks guys," Cutie said appreciatively.
"Yeah, thanks," Soarin echoed. "If it wasn't for you, I'd be spending the rest of the holiday in solitude, dreaming away."
"You're both very welcome," Twilight said, feeling elated from their success.
"It was our pleasure," Spirit assured.
Soarin squinted at Spirit. "Hey, I know you," he said suddenly.
Spirit coked his head to the side. "What do you mean?"
"I've heard about you," the pegasus stallion went on. He glanced at Cutie, who was looking a bit embarrassed. He looked over at the tables in front of the Bar, where Cotton Pop was laughing at one of Cheese's jokes. From the window, Soarin could see Auxesia and Riff chatting with Wave Ride and Broken Gears. In the second-storey window, Crimson Shadow was hunkering behind a wall of donuts as Bulletproof Love and Sweet Treat pelted him with cupcakes, to which he responded with a wave of cherries. "Aren't you one of the ponies from the Equestrian Exodus?"
The temperature seemed to drop several degrees and rise at the same time. The sky darkened and then brightened again. A sudden breeze blew a tumbleweed between the new couple, the students and the royals. Spirit turned towards Shining Armor and Cadance. "Go to the kitchen. Tell Dregon and Sweet Blasphemy it's time."
Shining Armor nodded, his expression serious. "Okay." He and Cadance turned and entered the Shipping Bar.
"You two should come in with us," Spirit said to the pegasi. "Twilight, round up any ships outside. They'll need to sit on the floor, but it's the only way."
Twilight looked uncomfortable. "Do we really have to do this now? Today?"
Spirit looked into Twilight eyes. "We've already been asked to share what we know. It really is time to tell."
Twilight turned away for a moment, but nodded. "Okay. If you say so."
"Mmm. Soarin, Cutie, let's go inside."
The unicorn stallion led the two special someponies into the Shipping Bar while his own marefriend rounded up the couples at the outdoor tables. It was time everyone knew the truth behind their own arrivals.