Seasons of Love

by PeacefulKnightofChrist

Winter

A heavy blanket of snow carpeted the earth and the roofs of the town of Ponyville. The citizens of the town spent most of their time indoors, curled up by a roaring fire. Grey smoke came up from the chimney tops, matching the grey sky. The greyness of the town made the colorful houses stand out for Ponyville was nothing if not a colorful town and not even the grey-and-white of Winter could disguise that.

The few ponies that did go out wore thick saddles to shield themselves from the cold. Several adventurous colts and fillies, as well as a few adults, galloped in the snow or threw snowballs at each other. Their laughter echoed through the village streets. A team of skiiers sloped down the snow-covered hills, kicking up a the snow into a fine, white dust. The jingling of their bells joined with the laughter of the playing foals and the whoosh of the wind. Some were forced out into the weather on various errands. Shivering, they sought the warmth of their homes.

Two such ponies were out carrying baking supplies. One was a thin, yellow stallion with an orange mane by the name of Carrot Cake. His companion was a heavy, blue mare with a curly, pink mane by the name of Cup Cake. Her ancestors had come from the frozen north and her body was built for this wintry weather. The icy wind did not bother her. Nonetheless, she leaned on the stallion, enjoying the warmth of his body against hers. He leaned against her, using the warmth of her fur like a shield against the flurries of snow that settled upon the rooftops.

Their destination was a large building that had the unusual distinction of being shaped like a gingerbread house. It had only been built a month ago, a new addition to Ponyville. Already, it had become a popular hangout. It was closed at the moment while the couple that owned it had gone out for new supplies. They had a list of orders. Filthy Rich had ordered a cake for his daughter's second birthday party. Berry Punch also needed a cake for her daughter's birthday. Cheerilee had ordered cupcakes for an end-of-year party she was throwing. That morning they had ran out of flour and frosting and been forced to close the store as they'd had no one to run the store in their absence.

'We ought to hire some help.' Carrot absently thought as he opened the door and flipped the sign to open. He nuzzled his wife-the word still shocked him-and opened the door for her. She trotted inside and he walked in after her, his hooves trotting on the brown, wooden floor.

'Green tile. That would look good.' Cup Cake thought to herself looking around the shop. Swirling designs were carved into the wood over the counter. They had both discussed other decorations, but they hadn't even paid off the land they had built the shop on yet. There would be time for adding decorations and putting their own spin on the store.

"So, what she would start on first?" Carrot asked.

"Mr. Rich's cake." Cup decided. They trotted into the kitchen. A pile of unwashed dishes greeted them.

Carrot groaned. "I'll handle that. You focus on the cake."

Cup nodded and Carrot turned on the faucet. Cup took a pan and poured the flour into a mixing bowl. Then she took two eggs and cracked them, letting the yolk slide into the flour.

Cup tried to focus on scrubbing the dishes, he really did. But he couldn't help noticing his wife's rump as it moved up and down as she mixed the flour and eggs. He noticed the spigot. He could easily pick it up, it was attached to the sink by a rubber tube. It was supposed to make it easier to wash dishes even though Carrot still preferred his own two hooves. He looked from the spigot back to his wife's shapely rump. She was completely focused on making the cake.

'Don't do it, Carrot. Don't do it.' He finished washing a pan and laid it down on the drainer. Cup was now humming a happy, holiday tune. She swished her tail. Carrot couldn't take it anymore. He pulled out the spigot and aimed it at his wife's rear end. He wasn't sure what compelled him to press the lever down. A rare moment of playfulness or a rush of hormones, he was still a young stallion after all.

She screeched as the jet of water smacked her straight in the rump. She jolted straight up and quickly turned, Tartarus blazing in her rose-colored eyes.

Cup dropped the spigot onto the counter. "Um, sorry dear."

A wicked grin spread across the mare's face and she lept towards him. He dodged her, but she grabbed the spigot and pulled it out.

He backed away. "Can we talk about th-"

He was cut off as a jet of water smacked him in the face. He ran as she chased him around the kitchen waving the spigot. He was driven towards the back of the room, holding up his hooves to block the flow of water. Suddenly, Cup slipped over a water puddle and crashed into him. Her lips crashed into his. He lifted up and captured her lips with his. The cakes, the orders, the spigot was all forgotten as they lost themselves in the taste of each other. He shifted position and deepened the kiss, wrapping his forelegs around her. She wrapped her forelegs around him and kissed his neck. He sighed in pleasure as she kissed all of his most ticklish, sensitive spots. He giggled helplessly as she held him down and licked a ticklish part of his neck.

In revenge he ran his hooves over her stomach. She giggled and fell off of him. He pounced on her, continuing to tickle her stomach. She tickled his stomach back. He distracted her with a kiss as he straddled her. Their love play continued, both rolling around on the floor, vying to be on top. Both lost themselves in their love for one another and when they were done they laid side-by-side panting.

"Um, hello?" A voice called out. "Are you two okay back there?" Cup and Carrot jumped up. A brown, earth pony stallion stared at them. "There's a bit of a line and I'd like a hot chocolate."

Cup galloped to the front, Carrot close behind her. Like the stallion had reported, there were several customers waiting in line. Cup shot a glare at her husband who's ears wilted.

"Hello, Dearies, forgive us for the delay." She said. Most of the customers wanted hot chocolate or various pastries. They quickly delivered the orders before going back into the kitchen.

"I can't believe you distracted me like that!" Cup grumbled as she took a look at the bowl. It had sat out for too long so she decided to start over. She poured the substance into the trash and washed out the bowl. "You act like a little colt!"

"Hold on one minute!" Carrot said as he handed her a bag of flour. "I distracted you? You were the one that chased me around with the spigot!"

Cup poured the fresh flour into a bowl and got two new eggs. "You started it!"

Carrot turned the faucet back on. "You kept on! And you kissed me first!"

"Did not!" Cake shouted back, cracking the eggs back into the bowl.

Carrot washed out a glass. "Did too! And you fell into me!"

"You know I didn't mean to do that!"

They lapsed into silence.

"You meant to kiss me." Muttered Carrot as he picked up a plate and started drying it.

"You kissed me back." Cake muttered to herself as she mixed the flour. Satisfied with it, she poured it into a pan and slipped it into the oven. Carrot put up the last pan and got a new bowl, pouring flour into it and broke two eggs. He stirred it altogether. Beside him, Cup started on the cake for Berry Punch's party. She bit her lip. "Did Berry Punch order a strawberry cake or a chocolate one?"

Carrot looked up. "Strawberry, I think."

"Did you write it down?"

"Did you?"

Cup sighed and banged her head against the wall. "No. I thought you did."

Carrot banged his head on the wall next to her. "I thought you had."

A laugh built up in Cup's throat. Finally it bubbled out into a belly laugh. Carrot stared at his wife like she had gone insane before he started laughing with her, throwing a foreleg around her. She chuckled and pushed it away. "No more of that!"

He leaned against the wall, trying to get his giggles under control. "Right. Back to work. And maybe we ought to go check on Berry Punch to see what the heck she ordered?"

"I'm on it, Sweetie." Cup said, nuzzling him before she paused. "Hold on a minute." She opened a drawer and pulled out a schedule book and flipped through it. "Berry wanted vanilla cake."

Carrot frowned. "Then who wanted strawberry?"

Cup flipped through the book. "Mr. Rich."

"I thought he wanted chocolate."

She flipped through it again. "No, that was Cheerilee."

Carrot slapped his forehead. "I'm just going to focus on these cupcakes."

Cup slipped the book back inside the drawer. "I'll get started on Berry's cake."

They baked throughout the afternoon. More and more customers trickled in throughout the day. When the cakes were finished they covered them in frosting. Carrot watched as Cup covered Berry's cake. She was so beautiful. Every movement she made entranced him. He shook his head to clear his mind from those thoughts. It was nearly closing time. He walked to the front to deliver a hot chocolate and a cookie before going back. Cup had finished the cake. The entire kitchen was filled with the aroma of baked goods and frosting. A little bit of white frosting was on her nose. He licked it off, eliciting a giggle from her.

"Can you just not control yourself?" She mock scolded.

"Baby, you make me lose control." He said, giving her a kiss.

She rolled her eyes and pulled away, booping his nose. “We still have customer orders, don’t we?”

“Y’know I was thinking. Why don’t we hire someone?”

She put a dab of blue frosting on a cupcake before putting it on a plate and hoofing it to him. “Do you think we have enough money to do that?”

He delivered the cupcake to the front and to the happy, yellow filly that was waiting for it then returned to the kitchen. One customer had been waiting on a butter croissant. He took it out of the oven and drizzled some honey over it. “It would be easier than handling all these customers by ourselves. I’m surprised at how busy we’ve gotten-and this is only the first month!”

“That’s because we’re good.”

Carrot carried the croissant over then returned to the kitchen. “So, how about it?”

“We can talk it over more later, Honey.” Cup told him before dabbing some chocolate frosting on a slice of cake. He delivered this one too.

As evening came, the tide of customers ebbed. Their last customer was a grey, pegasus mare who ordered a blueberry muffin. While Cup cleaned up the kitchen, Carrot stacked away the tables. The moonlight danced on the snow and cast shadows on the walls. He stacked away the last chair. She walked from the kitchen, a sway to her hips and trotted up beside him. They stood side-by-side, looking out at the winter wonderland. She wrapped a hoof around him.

“Happy anniversary.” She whispered in his ears.

He paled. Was it their anniversary already? Had he forgotten? Wait, they’d gotten married in the summer. “It’s not our anniversary, yet.”

“I mean the anniversary of opening the store. It’s been a month already.”

She leaned into him. It hadn’t even been six months since they’d exchanged their vows. They’d only opened the store a month ago. Everything felt fresh and new and a little scary and a little exciting.

He leaned into her. “Happy anniversary.”