Holding Hooves

by Ex-Ed

Sugar-Coated Sweetness

Sugar-Coated Sweetness

"She loves to laugh
She loves to sing
She does everything
She loves to move
She loves to groove.
She loves the lovin' things."
-Any Way You Want It by Journey

It wasn't a normal day in Ponyville. Then again, it never was in the land of candy-colored ponies. From the usual chaos of half-blind mailmares, the town being threatened by a disaster of some sort every other week or so, and a certain group of six ponies, there was no truly "normal" day for Ponyville.

Blackened clouds hung over the town, brought there by the pegasi of Cloudsdale. A heavy storm was called in for that day, much to the dismay of all the ponies. From what was told by Rainbow Dash, the leader of the weather team, it was going to be a big one. The rain itself, however, had yet to come.

Rarity was in her boutique continuing her designing of some new dresses, while Fluttershy was in her cottage, housing several animals who could get hurt by the storm. Twilight was doing her usual studying of magic and arcane history in the library as Rainbow Dash commanded her co-workers to position the clouds. The Apple family was doing some last-minute applebucking before the rain would start.

Pinkie Pie, however, was probably the busiest of all her friends at the moment. She was preparing Sugar Cube Corner for one of the most anticipated holidays of the year: Hearts and Hooves Day.

Hearts and Hooves Day is essentially the Equestrian equivalent of Earth's Valentine's Day. There was the typical "hearts everywhere" look on every building and much of the town colored in pink, red, and white. Unsurprisingly, not many of the young fillies or colts took interest in the holiday, but if it excused them from their classes it was great in their books.

Pinkie Pie tied another heart-shaped balloon to the weighted basket. "Gummy!" She called out to her pet. "How are you doing with the streamers?"

The alligator in question was sitting in a corner with a pink streamer in its mouth. It mindlessly stared off into oblivion with his wide, purple eyes.

"Great job! Keep up the good work, Gummy." Pinkie congratulated. She walked up to the baby gator and patted him on the head lightly. "It won't be much longer until the whole set up is ready. I still can't believe we actually did it all on our own in only an hour."

Sugar Cube Corner was filled with all sorts of colorful, pink decorations. The tables had white, hearted tablecloths over them, each with a small, weighted basket with balloons attached to them. Rogue streamers littered the floor and the bright lights from the lamps lit up the room. The walls had pictures of hearts, flowers, and ponies holding hooves. Being Sugar Cube Corner there were also plenty of candy designs on the walls as well.

Pinkie sighed in relief, glad she was finally done with her project. Most parties weren't as hard to plan, as they were usually totally prepared in only about thirty minutes. But this event was going to be big. Just the decorations took an hour. There was still the food, entertainment, and schedule she still had to come up with in three days' time.

The earth pony slumped down on a chair and yawned loudly. The pink pony may have a seemingly-endless sugar buzz, but even she could get exhausted from time to time.

"Too bad none of my friends have dates to the party." Pinkie admitted. "But there are still plenty of available colts in town and plenty of time. And whoever said you needed to bring a date to a party this big?" She got off the chair with a bounce. "Well, back to work. I still have to make all those cupcakes with that red special ingredient."

Gummy blinked in response.

"No not that one," Pinkie replied, walking towards the kitchen. "I mean the other special ingredient. You know; the one with the cute, little candy hearts with words on them."

The pony thought for a moment. "Speaking of hearts, I haven't put up nearly enough heart decorations outside yet!" She turned around, new goal in mind. "The cupcakes can wait! Where's my trusty ladder?"

The party pony looked around for her stepladder. After searching in the kitchen and her room she found the ladder in the basement. Belonging to Pinkie Pie, the ladder was expectedly pink with blue hearts all over it.

The earth pony grabbed the ladder with her mouth and lifted. The ladder was quite heavy, so she was extra cautious in bringing the ladder upstairs. One false move and she would've gone tumbling down to the bottom.

After a minute or so, she made it to the top of the staircase. Now back at regular elevation, she heard the cackle of thunder. The storm would soon begin. If it did begin while she was out, it would be quite dangerous.

Pinkie Pie immediately shrugged off the danger. "If it gets too bad," she said to herself. "I'll just dash back inside." With that in mind, she dragged her ladder to the door. About another minute later she also brought some large, plastic heart décor.

She kicked the door open and immediately felt a chilling wind. But now was not the time to waver over a chilly breeze. The pony dragged all of belongings outside. As she set up the ladder she noticed that the town was desolate of any ponies. It was just her.

The sky was dark and gloomy, filled with the gray clouds. The rain was tempted to fall at any moment, so Pinkie Pie had to work fast. She did not hesitate to grab a couple of plastic hearts in her mouth. She climbed up the ladder which now up against the bakery.

The earth pony carefully stood on her back legs, cupping the decorations in her front legs. After wobbling for a few seconds, she regained her balance on the step she was on. She tried her best to keep her back hooves from slipping. She knew that a fall from as high she was would hurt. Not like it wouldn't.

She bent her neck down and grasped one of the decorations in her mouth. She picked out a small, pink heart with a bunch of smaller, white hearts on it. It was somewhat simple, but she felt it would great outside.

After an incident involving Pinkie Pie, the decorations, and a box filled with nails about three Hearts and Hooves Days before, the party pony (after recovering from the multiple wounds) decided to use special decorations that had a plastic hook on the back of them from then on. They were enhanced with magic so that they could piece through a wall, but not injure a pony.

Pinkie chose a spot right above a pink-tinted window. She leaned forward to stab the hook into the wood. Once she was sure that the heart was secure, she let go and leaned back to her regular position, wobbling again. Once more, she stood her ground, unwilling to budge.

She looked to her right, noticing a perfect place to put another decoration. She was sure that the Cakes wouldn't mind if she covered up the cupcake sign sticking out of the building with a shiny, magenta heart.

She grabbed a large, magenta colored heart lying in her bundle. Again, she leaned towards the sign, this time making the ladder tip towards that direction as well. Pinkie realized that she was about to fall, so she quickly hooked the sign with her decoration and leaned back, making her pink ladder rock back and forth. She quickly used her left front hoof to stop the ladder, holding the last heart in her other, curled up hoof. The ladder's movement stopped.

"Phew," The pony muttered. "Now it's time for the last one." She looked down at the last decoration.

The last decoration was her favorite one. It was a picture of a pair of pony silhouettes, one a mare the other a stallion, nuzzling together with a small, red heart above them against a pink background. It held a lot more meaning and emotion than just a heart alone.

Pinkie smiled as she gazed at the picture. It was one of the few things that would make her wonder about her own love life. But usually, those thoughts would be very quick and not have much time before Pinkie Pie would get distracted or realize she had more important matters. In this case, it was the latter.

She took her eyes off the picture and returned her sight to the bakery. She scanned the building for a proper place for this picture. Leaving it carelessly on the side of the building or something just wouldn't do it justice. She had to find a place that everypony could see as they walked by.

Then it hit her. "The very tip of the gingerbread-styled awning would be perfect!" She thought. Being nearly right above the door would surely grab anypony's attention, whether they were just passing by the bakery or actually going in.

With the idea in mind, Pinkie Pie climbed down her ladder, picture in her mouth. She carefully placed her picture on the ground and pushed the still-open ladder towards the steps that led to the door with her head.

She looked up and saw that the height distance between the top step and the awning was a bit too high for her to reach. Pinkie heard another clash of thunder that made her jump. She knew she had to work quickly if she wanted to get all the decorations up.

Pinkie Pie ran to the other side of the ladder and pulled it up two of the steps with her mouth. The ladder had one side touching the ground and the other was about four inches over the ground It would be dangerous, but no party was worth not perfecting.

The pink pony grabbed her picture and climbed up the steps. Once she got to the top step she faced the awning. It was still pretty far away.

Pinkie stood on her back hooves, her front limbs outstretched to keep her balance. She leaned towards the awning, hook ready to pierce the wood.

"Just a little closer…" She said to herself. She leaned in further and further. "Just a little more…"

Zap!

The storm had officially begun, and had just claimed its first victim. Pinkie Pie was hit with hundreds of volts of electricity, leaving her stuttering and shaking. Thanks to the initial jump that she made, the ladder was rickety again. This time, Pinkie couldn't control it. She was paralyzed.

The ladder tipped backwards, taking Pinkie with it. It hit the ground with a metallic crash with the earth pony right under it. As if that weren't bad enough for her, Pinkie landed on her head.

Pinkie Pie twitched under the heavy ladder, sparks escaping from her frizzy mane and coat. Her eyes were wide open with shock and pain, all limbs spread out as if hit by a train. Her head was spinning and she couldn't see straight. Her body just shut down and she passed out on the cold, hard ground.

Of course, the incoming rain isn't going to help either.

------------------------------

Pinkie batted her eyes open. She grumbled at how she couldn't hear anything and that everything looked blurry. Her senses were dulled thanks to the injury. Her mental processes were greatly slowed. She felt as though she forgotten how to move her limbs.

It took about ten seconds for her to realize she was lying down in a bed, wrapped up in thick sheets. She recognized the material of the sheets and mattress. She was somehow back in the bakery and in her bed.

She shifted her neck to the right, noticing a blue blur in front of the wall. She couldn't make out what it was.

The blue blur noticed her move. The enigma got closer, as if inspecting her. Two separate parts extended and Pinkie felt herself being shaken by a pair of hooves. Whatever that blurry figure was, it was a pony.

Pinkie couldn't hear correctly, but she thought she heard something being said. "Come o… ease w… ke up…" The pink pony didn't respond. She just sat there, motionlessly in the bed.

A barely (to her) audible sigh was heard. "Y…'ll ha… me fo… is, but… it's th… nly th… can do…"

She heard the sound of magic, as if charging. Twilight would do magic very often, sometimes creating a clear sound. Whoever the mysterious pony in front of her was, it was a unicorn.

Pinkie jumped up back into consciousness with a loud yelp. A sharp, stabbing sensation hit her flank. Her first reaction was to kick whatever pony just stabbed her. With an audible crack, the other pony was sent spiraling backwards into the wall.

The mare immediately realized what she just did. A deep sense of guilt and embarrassment washed over her as the other pony slowly got up. The pony shook its head, revealing a broader-shaped face and horn. Pinkie's feeling of the second emotion surpassed the other when she realized she had just kicked a stallion.

Immediately, Pinkie ran up to the stallion, ready to apologize for her assault. "I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to-" She stopped. The colt was saying the exact same thing as her. Oddly enough, he stopped at the same time she did.

"It's okay you didn't mean to-" They said it again. "I mean you-"

The pink pony stared at the other in wonderment. Just who was this stallion in front of her? She swore she'd seen this stallion before; maybe not on a personal level, but just in the crowd or something. He had a silver mane in the weirdest looking wavy fashion she's ever seen, as well as a sharper and longer horn than most other unicorns. All in all, he was a very distinct-looking stallion.

The colt noticed her intense staring. Realizing that he would get nowhere from the current position, both physically and socially, he decided to break the ice. "Umm… hi?"

Pinkie tilted her head to the side, still with a questioning gaze on him. "Hello," She said cautiously. "Who are you?"

"I'm Pokey." The stallion replied. "Pokey Pierce." He extended his hoof for a shake.

"I'm Pinkie Pie." The earth pony replied, using her own hoof to shake his. "How'd I get back into my room? Come to think of it, how did you get in here?"

"Well," he began. "When the storm ended, I decided to take a walk outside. I saw the ladder in front of the bakery and you knocked out, so I brought you inside the bakery. I decided to bring you upstairs and... Well, I've just been waiting for you to wake up since."

Pinkie raised an eyebrow at the stallion's story. "You just… waited? For me to wake up?"

Pokey swept his hoof back and forth, facing turning a bit pink. "Erm… yeah…"

The earth pony was about to interrogate him further, but she realized something. She gasped. "Oh no!" She started zipping through the room, trying to find what she lost. "Where is it?"

The stallion, somewhat relieved that the mare wasn't standing so close, raised an eyebrow. "Lost what?" He inquired as Pinkie stuck her head in the closet.

She pulled her head out of the area, seeing that it wasn't there. "My picture! My favorite sweet, little picture and it's gone!" Pinkie cried as she checked under her bed.

"Wait," Pokey said. "You mean the one with two ponies and a heart, pink frame?"

Pinkie rushed up to the other pony at speeds rivaling Rainbow Dash. She stopped close enough for her nose to touch his. "Yes! You saw it?"

Pokey nodded proudly. "It was right next to you. Thankfully, it wasn't damaged by the rain. I thought it looked good there, so I hung it up for you on the awning. You wanna see it?"

"Yes yes yes yes!" Pinkie excitedly dragged her newfound friend out of the door and down the stairs. She made a sharp turn, accidentally flinging Pokey into a drawer, and galloped out onto the doorstep. She looked up at the awning from the front and smiled.

The picture stood proudly on its structure. The pink image stood out against the gingerbread-designed building top. She noticed that some of the other ponies nearby were also looking at the picture, just like she planned.

Once again, she soon found herself thinking about her own love life. Of course she had her parties and friends to keep her social life occupied, a small part of her always felt empty. As she stared at the art piece, she came to wonder why that picture would always make her feel happy and sad at the same time.

By now, Pokey had finally caught up. He shook the white flour out of his mane he accumulated from crashing earlier. He smiled, seeing the pink pony happily gazing at the picture. He walked up beside her and turned to look up at the picture as well.

"It's a beautiful picture." He commented. Pinkie turned to him as he did the same to her. "I can see why it's your favorite piece."

Pinkie felt a surge of heat reach her cheeks. "That's weird," she thought. "That's never happened before."

Out loud, she just gave a big grin at the stallion. "Yeah, the couple just has that kind of sugar-coated sweetness in it."

The two returned their gaze to the picture in silence. Pinkie felt the gaze of several ponies on her and Pokey, but she didn't really care at the moment. She was actually more concerned about the stallion next to her. She started to think about her previous actions, namely when she kicked the poor unicorn squarely in the face. She knew that she wasn't exactly strong enough to harm him, but that didn't ease her guilt.

She decided to just spit out an apology. She took a deep breath in. "Hey P-" She stopped midsentence. Pinkie couldn't help but giggle at the fact they said another thing in unison. "My bad, you go first."

"No no," Pokey politely insisted. "You go first."

"Okay," The earth pony began. "I just wanted to say I'm sorry for… you know, kicking you in the face into a wall earlier." She smiled when the unicorn actually laughed at the mention, seeing that it was all water under the bridge now. "It was wrong of me and I just feel awful for doing that."

"It's fine." Pokey replied, giving her a warm smile. Once again, Pinkie's face turned a deeper shade of its regular color. "I'm feeling kinda guilty myself. I had to wake you up by poking you with my horn and I've been told more than a few times how unsatisfying it is to be poked by something as sharp as a razorblade."

Pinkie giggled at his joke and he laughed along with her. After a bit of rousing laughs, he got back on topic. "Anyways, I had to do it to help wake you up. I actually invented my own little spell just help ponies recover from injuries. The downside is that I have to jab my horn into their flank. I'm still working around that, but I'm no magician who can make days turn to minutes."

Pinkie's smile widened in amusement. That last part brought up another question in her mind. "Speaking of minutes, how long was I out?"

"Do you really want to know?"

"Sure! How long could I have been sleeping? Ten minutes, fifteen minutes at the most-"

"An entire day."

"WHAT?" Pinkie cried, jumping into the air for emphasis on her shock. Her eyes became wide and panicky. "Oh no no no no! I'm going to be so behind my schedule!" She started pacing around. "Entertainment, food, invitations, I can't fit it all in just two days!"

Pokey grabbed Pinkie face with his hooves. "If you slow down, I'll let go. Okay?" Pinkie nodded in between his hooves. "What are you talking about planning?"

Pinkie sighed deeply. "I'm in charge of the Hearts and Hooves party. It's going to be one of the biggest bashes of the year, but thanks to me acting like a dumb dummy and hurting myself, I won't have enough time to get the party ready." She lowered her head down depressingly, tears welling up.

The look on her face broke Pokey's heart. Seeing that bubbly, happy-go-lucky pony suddenly depressed and on the verge of tears was just heart wrenching.

The unicorn decided to set the party pony straight. "Pinkie, it's okay." He used his hoof to bring Pinkie's head up. The two ponies met gazes. "Listen, I'll help you set up this party. I'm right behind you on this."

Pinkie Pie sniffled and smiled. She didn't notice the several ponies staring at her and the colt. "Thank you." She looked down again, but not out of grief this time. She'd felt another wave of heat hit her cheeks. "But are you sure you want to do this? I mean, that'll be two days straight of preparation, probably even more."

"It won't be any trouble at all." Pokey replied, letting go of Pinkie's chin. He gestured to the bakery. "Shall we?"

By now, Pinkie was feeling a bit hesitant. She was really appreciative and happy that this colt just popped out of nowhere into her life. Should she ask him to the Hearts and Hooves party?

Realizing that Pokey had already gotten a head start on her, she dashed forward. "Wait!" Pinkie called out. This evidently got Pokey's attention, as he turned around. "I wanted to ask you a silly, little question."

"Sure." Pokey said.

Pinkie swept her hoof back and forth across the floor. "Oh I was just wondering if you were taking anyone to the Hearts and Hooves Party…" She said, intentionally feigning innocence.

"Actually, no," Pokey replied in an equally fake-innocent voice. "But I do plan on taking someone I met recently to that very party. She's funny, compassionate, and has an amazing talent at hosting parties."

"I wonder who that could be…" Pinkie said in a sing-song-like voice.

The two ponies shared glances for a few seconds before bursting out into laughter once more. When their joyous laughter subsided, Pinkie walked up closer to the stallion. "So I'll take that as a yes?" Pokey asked.

"More like a super-duper yes!" The pink pony replied happily. She captured Pokey in an embrace, front hooves around his neck. She felt the stallion do the same, each pony leaning on the other.

Pinkie pulled away and gave Pokey a big smile. It might have been entirely because of her ecstatic, spontaneous attitude, but she quickly leaned and planted a kiss on Pokey's mouth.

When she pulled back, she was indifferent, but still grinning happily. Pokey, however, just stared forward, slightly dazed and blushing heavily. Pinkie stifled a laugh, seeing how cute the other pony was with his dazzled expression and bright-pink cheeks.

The earth pony winked at the unicorn and trotted past him. "Come on!" Pinkie sang as she began a bounce into the kitchen. "Those cupcakes aren't gonna bake themselves!"

Pokey continued to stare forward like a statue. This pony he met just seemed to be craziest, insane, caffeine overdosed pony he'd ever met. And frankly, he didn't mind at all. He shook himself out of his trance and looked back towards the kitchen, hearing the sound of musical humming coming from the party pony.

The stallion smiled to himself. "She's such a sweet filly," he said to himself. "I could definitely get used to this." He headed into the kitchen, ready to assist his to-be date in any way he could.

Comments

[Razvan563]

Hurah, hurah. My favorite Shippings in one story perfect