A Helping Hoof

by kbooms

Chapter One

It was market day in Ponyville, a day similar to any other. The sun shone gaily down on the residents bustling about their business.

As usual, a particular pink Ponyville party pony pranced peppily as she perused pecks of pumpkins, pies and paraphernalia present in the pragmatic populous of potential possessions. But, as she peeked at a pair of perky parsnips, a peculiar protest perturbed her person!

Twitchy tail. Eye flutter. Knee wobble. Grumbly tummy.

Pinkie Pie could barely contain her gasp of joy as she realized somepony was going to fall in love with somepony else! (The cause of her grumbly tummy seemed to be the delicious smells of market.) She twisted her head around impossibly to see where the feeling emanated from.

The Apple Stand.

Her eyes widened as she watched Applejack chat amiably with Fluttershy, who, it seemed to Pinkie, was blushing slightly as she trotted away from the stand. It was simply too adorable. There was no more time to waste!

“Hiya, Fluttershy!” Pinkie bounded up to her friend. “Whatcha doin’?”

“Oh! Hello, Pinkie Pie.” Fluttershy smiled at her friend. “I was just getting some apples for Angel.”

“Anything else?” Pinkie leaned in close, willing her friend to spill the beans.

“Um… no?” Fluttershy began to shrink back from the scrutiny.

“No sudden feelings of… LOVE… or anything?” She grinned wide with anticipation.

“Um… I… don’t think so?”

“Are you suuuuuure?” Pinkie’s nose almost brushed against Fluttershy’s.

“No. I mean yes! I just….” The yellow pegasus leaned away from the huge blue eyes boring into her soul. She let out a small, soft, high-pitched squeal.

Pinkie squinted suspiciously at her friend, then smiled brightly. “Okie dokie lokie!”

Fluttershy blinked in confusion, only to realize the earth pony had vanished. She looked around to see where her friend had gone, but couldn’t find any of the correct shades of pink in the bustling crowd.

“I was trying to say… no new or sudden feelings,” the pegasus whispered to herself. “Just old ones.” She looked back briefly at the orange earth pony and heaved a tiny sigh.

From her new lookout point, Pinkie Pie was grinning impossibly wide. She lowered her binoculars – that she was perhaps two pony-lengths away from her quarry didn’t matter. She’d heard Fluttershy’s confession, and that meant that she could put her plan into action. First, however, she would need to talk to Applejack. She rubbed her forehooves together in anticipation, a determined smirk upon her muzzle.

Pinkie Pie often let her enthusiasm run away with her, but she also couldn’t bear to be impolite to other ponies. So she waited patiently in line to speak with Applejack, a few bits in her saddlebags for a small apple purchase. She could hardly contain her excitement as the pony in front of her finished his purchase, and had to interrupt the pleasant – and slow – goodbyes being exchanged.

“Hi Applejack!” She beamed as she dropped her bits onto the wooden surface of the stall, pushing a protesting stallion to the side. “It’s a love-ly day, isn’t it?”

“Sure is, Pinkie! What can Ah do ya for?”

“Just a few Galas today.” Pinkie watched closely as the farmpony gathered the apples and placed them on the counter. She glanced around, glad to see that no others ponies were behind her in line or loitering around the stall. Conspiratorially, she leaned toward her friend, her foreleg resting near the apples she’d just purchased.

“Anythin’ else Ah can do for you t’day, Pinkie?”

“Actually, yes.” The party pony leaned in close. “I got a tail twitch earlier—“

“Twitchy tail?” Applejack’s eyes went wide, and she scrambled to get underneath the awning of her stall. She looked fearfully up at the sky, a hoof clasped to her hat.

Pinkie couldn’t suppress her giggle. “Not that kind of twitch, silly! It was a combo!”

Applejack relaxed at her words, curiosity replacing the fear on her face. “So what kinda twitch was it, then? Do we need t’ go save Fluttershy again?” She looked frantically around for the pegasus, missing the satisfied smirk on her friend’s face.

“No, no – it was a good twitch! I sensed that two ponies near your Apple Stand were going to fall in love!”

Applejack froze, then turned her head slowly back to the pony next to her. Pinkie noted the tiny bead of sweat beginning to form on her brow, just beneath her golden mane.

“Uh, Ah don’ s’pose that’d necessarily include me! Heh, since y’know, there have been plenty o’ other ponies over here t’day.” She smiled, but her eyes still held a trace of fear.

“It probably does, silly filly!” Pinkie Pie beamed. “Now, you can make it easy on all of us and tell me which pony it is or you can make me do it the hard way.”

“Ah don’t know what you’re talkin’ ‘bout, Pinkie.” Applejack shook her head firmly. “Ah ain’t been fallin’ for nopony t’day.”

“Okie dokie,” she sang, sweeping her apples unceremoniously into her saddlebag. “Have it your way!” She turned and began bouncing toward Sugar Cube Corner. “See you later, Jackie!”

Applejack breathed a sigh of relief, shook her head once more, then frowned menacingly at the queue of ponies that had just formed.

“If’n any of y’all try callin me ‘Jackie,’ you’re gonna find out jus’ how mah trees feel during Applebuck Season!”

“So let me be perfectly clear,” Rarity was saying, a look of skepticism on her face. “You are asking me to help you meddle in the lives of two very dear friends of ours, without their knowledge or permission, solely for the purpose of making them fall in love?”

“But they’re already in love with each other!” Pinkie objected with a smile. “They just don’t know it yet!”

“So you said.”

“Then… yes! That’s exactly what I’m asking!”

“Pinkie Pie,” Rarity said, all seriousness. “As much as I am in favor of romance and affairs of the heart, it is the worst kind of faux pas to meddle in other ponies’ lives!”

“Well….” Pinkie raised a hoof to her chin thoughtfully. “I guess I could always ask Twilight. Ooh! Or Rainbow Dash!” She giggled. “She is super close to Applejack, after all.”

The fashionista let out an outraged gasp. “Pinkie! You cannot be serious! Rainbow Dash? Twilight?!” Her eyes widened as she realized she’d lost her point. She took a deep breath to compose herself. “Alright, you have forced my hoof. I will help you. But we must desist immediately if they ask it of us.”

“Wahooo!!” The pink earth pony began bouncing around the small, chic table in Rarity’s dining area. “Just think how adorable it will all be! And all we need to do is get them to realize that they both love each other!” She couldn’t contain her giggles of delight.

“I admit, they are practically perfect for one another,” Rarity mused. Suddenly, her eyes lit up and she let out a rather un-ladylike squeal of excitement. “Oh! Just think of all the lovely matching outfits I could design for them! Their coloring works together so elegantly and their shared love of nature is perfect!” She dashed over to her work area, already beginning sketches.

Pinkie watched in confusion. “Um, Rarity?”

“…Yes, Pinkie?”

“Shouldn’t we maybe get them to start dating first?”

“Oh.” The sound of the creative process being shattered sounded much like disappointment. “Yes, of course. Did you have a plan?”

“Do I!” Pinkie beamed. "It's a classic!"

Rarity raised an eyebrow. "Go on, darling."

“OK, first we have to go to them separately….”