> 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.
> High Fliers
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

High Fliers

"How much longer will it take to cure this?
Just to cure it 'cause I can't ignore it if it's love
Makes me wanna turn around and face me
But I don't know nothing about love."
-Accidentally in Love by Counting Crows

The cyan pegasus yawned loudly. She loved her lazy days. After that brutal storm the day before, she was glad that she had several days off. Not just today, but she was free all the way until after Hearts and Hooves Day. Being a team leader sure did have its perks.

One of her favorite spots to do absolutely nothing was on the large branch of a nice, big tree. While they were nowhere nearly as soft as a cloud, they supplied a great deal of shade and had a much more earthly atmosphere than up in the air. Plus, depending on which kind of tree she would rest in, there would be a snack waiting to be picked if she felt a little hungry. That last reason was mainly why she was taking her nap in Sweet Apple Acres.

She fell onto her back, putting her front hooves behind her head. With a satisfied sigh, she closed her eyes, enjoying the sunlight as it wrapped itself around her. Rainbow let her mind wander to the topic she'd heard of recently. To be more accurately, the topic she'd been hearing recently nonstop.

Like everyone else had already heard, the Hearts and Hooves day was going to be, "the biggest bash of the century; it would be so awesome, yadda, yadda, yadda." She repeated in her head.

Rainbow Dash was no anti-romantic, but she was getting the notion that the holiday was being seriously overhyped. It was just a holiday. How different would it be from Nightmare Night or Hearth's Warming Eve? She just couldn't figure out why a single day would be so special and exciting to so many ponies.

She would never openly admit it; the fact that she knew next to nothing about intimate relationships. All she knew was that it involved nuzzling, hugging, and somehow made babies. Thinking back on it, maybe sleeping through Sex Ed class wasn't the best idea in the world.

Rainbow's thoughts were interrupted when she felt a sudden jerk in her tree. She immediately opened her eyes and found herself falling to the ground. She tried to open her wing and take flight, but it was too late. She was falling too fast and was too close to the ground. She closed her eyes and braced for impact.

"Oof!" With a loud, crunch, she crashed to the ground. Funny, she thought the dry dirt would be a lot harder.

She opened her eyes, realizing her body was sprawled out on something slightly above ground level. She looked down, realizing she had landed on top of Applejack's brother, Big Macintosh; also spread out on the ground.

"Whoops," Rainbow Dash apologized. "My bad. Didn't know you were applebucking." She jumped off the stallion, allowing him to get up.

He shook the dirt out of his mane and turned his attention to the pegasus. "Well, this is an apple farm." He stoically replied.

Rainbow Dash cringed slightly in embarrassment. "Smooth move, Dash," she thought, scolding herself. "You just had to forget you're in an apple farm that ready to be harvested."

Any further conversation was interrupted by a familiar sounding, "Big Mac!" The sound of a galloping pony was heard heading their way. "I heard somethin' crash. Did ya'll knock a tree down again?"

The orange pony came into view, two baskets filled with apples attached to her sides. She looked around, looking for any damage done to the trees by her big brother. Thanks to his extraordinary strength, Big Macintosh would sometimes accidentally buck the entire tree down. He's been carefully calculating how hard he should kick since the day he accidentally bucked Bloomberg's "big brother" down and got a severe scolding from Applejack.

"Nnope." Big Macintosh said, calming Applejack down. He pointed a hoof to Rainbow Dash, who smiled guiltily at the blond pony.

The earth pony sighed. "Okay. Big Macintosh, you mind takin' these ta Fluttershy on the edge of the Everfree Forest? I need ta have a private word with Rainbow."

"Eeyup." The large pony responded. He took the baskets from his little sister and headed off to the yellow pegasus's cottage.

"As fer you," Applejack scolded, turning to her friend. "Why in the hay were you on my farm in the first place? Ain't clouds s'posed to be softer than trees?"

"I won't have to fly far if I wanted a snack." Rainbow Dash replied honestly, yet bluntly. "Besides, I needed a break. Do you realize how hard it is trying to coordinate ten pegasi to move the clouds into the right place at the same time, one of them being Derpy?"

Applejack sighed. "I understand ya need yer time off an' all, but you can at least help us out with the preparations."

Rainbow Dash quizzically raised an eyebrow. "What preparations?"

"You know," The farm pony said as if it was obvious. "Fer Hearts 'n Hooves Day."

The pegasus groaned, earning a questioning glance from the earth pony. "That's like the eighth time I heard about Hearts and Hooves in the past two hours!" She complained, stomping a hoof into the ground. "I'm really getting sick of it."

The farm pony scowled. She knew this would end up happening. Being the tomboy she was, Rainbow Dash would have definitely been turned away from such a festivity. She just didn't know how long it would take until she would reach her breaking point.

"Look Rainbow," Applejack said, trying to calm her friend down. "It's just one day. 'Sides, there's gonna be a party at Sugarcube Corner. You like parties, don'tcha?"

"Yeah, but not when they have pink, swirly hearts every five inches." The pegasus replied. "Besides, this is the time of year you see everypony cuddling and stuff. It's just… weird." She said that last part with much uncertainty in her voice.

Applejack smiled coyly at her. "Ahh… I see what yer problem is."

"What problem?"

"Ya'll just dateless to the party!" Applejack snickered, leading the pegasus staring at her, confused. "Big, bad, dangerous Dash all shook up 'bout showin' up with no date to the party." She mocked.

Rainbow Dash blushed slightly, though it was mostly out of annoyance. She didn't really care for a coltfriend, assuming having one would only drag her down. "Hey! I could totally get a date to that dumb party if I wanted to."

"As much as I'd love ta' pester you 'bout this," Applejack admitted. "I've still got unfinished business with these apples." Rainbow could've sworn she had said something underneath her breath.

"So what do you want me to do then?" The pegasus asked. Now that the farm pony riled her in the mood, she didn't feel like continuing her nap.

"Hmm," Applejack thought, putting a hoof to her chin. "I think Pinkie Pie might need help with the party setup, ya know, thanks to her injury."

"Again with this party thing?"

"Well, I don't see you with a booked schedule."

"Fine. Whatever."

Rainbow Dash got off the ground and let her wings lift her up high. "I'll see you later." She said to her friend, waving. The farm pony waved back before heading towards another tree to buck.

Rainbow Dash began a relaxed, slow glide to the bakery. After a few minutes of flying, Ponyville came into view. The town was pretty hard to miss, considering how the pink-decorated buildings stuck out against the green grass and blue sky.

Almost immediately upon entering the town, the pegasus saw at the very least three different couples walking about. If it were a normal day, it'd be quite hard to find so many lovers out about during the day; however, it was mainly because Ponyville was notorious for having the highest mare-to-stallion ratio in all of Equestria.

While she was pretty neutral when it came to colors, the overdose of pink that the town was on was also becoming stale to her. Hanging around Pinkie Pie was already enough pink enough to last a lifetime.

She decided that it would probably be better to just get little favor over with. She gained some more altitude and scanned for the bakery. She was able to find Sugarcube Corner fairly quickly, just a little over a minute. The unique, frosted roof was pretty hard to miss.

The pegasus was about to close the distance between her and the ground when a blue flash zipped past her. She looked towards where it flew, seeing a blue blur speeding away.

She didn't understand how something managed to move so fast. Was that another pegasus or some animal? Her curiosity got the better of her and she turned around. "I can visit Pinkie later. I gotta see what the hay that was!"

The object was still in sight, although much farther away. Rainbow Dash headed forward and flapped her wings harder, gaining much faster speed compared to her relaxed glide earlier. She felt the wind try to fight against her, but the pegasus kept pursuing her target, accelerating all the way.

As she got closer and closer, she noticed that whatever she was chasing had pale wings. She squinted, trying to get her eyes used to having the rushing air in her eyes. She also noticed that it had a tail, a large, navy blue one at that. It definitely was a pony. She couldn't make out the rest of the pony from the distance she was at. Using all of her strength, she used a burst of speed, nearly catching up to the pony.

Now nearly within touching distance of the pony's tail, she continued her flight. "Just a little closer…" she said out loud.

She nearly got a nip of the tail, but then it just disappeared.

"Huh?" Rainbow looked around her to see where the pegasus had gone, but all she saw were a few small clouds. No other living being around her. "Where'd you go?"

Just who the hay was that pony? And how did he or she manage to somehow get away? The pegasus would've loved to get a good look at whoever managed to match her speed. Finding a pony who could outfly her was rare.

She groaned and sighed in defeat. Whoever that pony was, he or she managed to get away. She turned back, starting a much slower glide to Sugarcube Corner.

"Phew." She heard. Immediately her ears perked up. That pony was still here. This time, she looked up to see a large cloud about ten feet above her.

"Aha!" She whispered to herself, careful not to get noticed by the other pony. "So that's where you're hiding."

She slowly hovered up to the edge of the cloud. If she flew any faster, the noise of her wings flapping would've scared the other pegasus off. Once she got within a few inches from the edge, she suspended herself in the air.

With a great burst of speed, she flew up past the cloud, then came swooping down at the now-resting pony. She didn't bother paying attention to the pony's features, only focused on pinning down the pony.

The other pegasus, on its stomach, realized too late. Rainbow Dash was coming to him too fast for him to pick himself up and speed off.

Rainbow was getting closer and closer to her target. The tired pegasus flipped onto its back and faced the incoming cyan pony. Her arms were extended forward, ready to pin down the pegasus's front hooves once she reached the cloud. Unfortunately, the other pony managed to roll away just before Rainbow touched him, leaving her unable to stop her momentum and pass right through the cloud.

"That was close." The pony said with masculinity in his voice. He sighed and wiped a small bit of sweat on his head.

His relief was cut short when the mare rose up from under the cloud and quickly tackled him to the ground. He struggled underneath the mare, who had now pinned his shoulders down with her own hooves.

With all his strength, he managed to roll over and the tables were turned. He was on top of Rainbow Dash with him pinning her down. She was a fighter, he could tell. She growled dangerously as she struggled and squirmed under his weight.

The stallion was soon overpowered by Rainbow, who used the same tactic as he did to get on top of her. This process repeated itself, kicking up puffs of the cloud.

Eventually, the stallion became tired from the fighting, but Rainbow Dash still had plenty of energy. She managed to get on top of the exhausted pegasus. He showed little resistance against the cyan pony.

Now that she had dominion over the stallion, she took a better look at him. Now that she managed to stop and look, she immediately recognized the Wonderbolts outfit he was wearing. He even had trademark goggles resting on his forehead. She mentally slapped herself in the face, realizing she had just tackled and wrestled a Wonderbolt. Judging by his opened wings and exposed snout, he had a pale, azure coat that complimented his messy, navy blue mane and bright green eyes.

"Oh horseapples," She thought guiltily. "Did I just wrestle Soarin'?"

As if knocking a Wonderbolt over after a chase scene wasn't enough, the peculiar position of her on top of him, her hooves pinning his shoulders down made the awkward moment even more awkward.

Rainbow Dash blushed madly and scrambled to get off of the stallion. Once she got off of Soarin' she looked away, shamefully expecting a scolding or him flying away. She couldn't think of any worse way to get on a Wonderbolt's bad side than doing the idiotic thing she just did.

"Stupid, stupid, stupid!" She scolded herself. She hung her head. "I should've just listened to Applejack and just go to the dang bakery. No, I just had to follow and attack Soarin'. Way to go."

As she silently cursed herself, Soarin' gave the sulking mare a questioning gaze. He didn't like the fact Rainbow Dash just came out of nowhere, followed him, and then assaulted him, but he was also curious how she even managed to do all that. He knew he was a very fast flier. The only one in the Wonderbolts that could manage to keep up to him was Spitfire, and there were quite a few of Wonderbolts. It wasn't often that somepony could keep up to him, let alone outfly him. And then, of course, she managed to beat him in a wrestling match just now.

He did, however, like seeing that familiar face again. Rainbow Dash was the one who saved his life during that Young Flier's competition, then later save his pie at the Grand Galloping Gala. He also remembered how ecstatic she looked when he signed an autograph for her at one of their shows.

"Ohmygosh, ohmygosh," He remembered her stutter after he signed his photo. "This is so awesome!" He would've been lying if he said Rainbow Dash didn't look flat out adorable when she practically jumped after receiving the photograph.

He remembered the few times Spitfire would pester him, jokingly asking if "you and your number one fan" became an item. Even though Soarin' had only met Rainbow a few brief times on separate occasions, he had developed a crush on the rainbow maned filly.

He put on a straight face and approached the sulking pegasus, still faced away from him. "Here goes nothing," he said to himself, as he tapped Rainbow's shoulder gently.

Rainbow looked up to the stallion, a miserable expression on her face. "What do you want?" She asked dryly, not understanding why Soarin' bothered to stay.

"Well, you look like you're in a bad mood." Soarin' replied honestly. "Me leaving won't fix anything, now will it?"

Ironically, Dash thought it would've been better if Soarin' indeed just left. She just wanted to have a good sulk at that moment, but by the look of it, that wasn't going to happen anytime soon.

She faked a small smile and chuckled lightly. "Heh… I guess it won't."

"So what's up?" The stallion asked.

"Well, I did just assault you two minutes ago." The mare replied, looking away again. She was still ashamed for attacking her idol, as well as embarrassed about the pose they were in when she pinned him down.

Soarin' laughed heartedly, confusing Rainbow. "Do you know how many times I've been attacked by a group of vicious fans? What you did to me is like one slice out of a huge pie."

Rainbow Dash felt her shoulders relax. "So you're not mad?"

"Of course not." Soarin' replied, a smile still on his face.

The mare sighed in relief. The superstar wasn't going to hold a grudge against her for that little fight. But Soarin' wasn't exactly off the hook himself either.

With her mind no longer fixated on worrying about her reputation with the Wonderbolts, a question was brought into her head. "Wait, just what are you doing in Ponyville anyway?" She asked.

"The Wonderbolts are trying to book a place to do a show on Hearts and Hooves Day. Canterlot and Manehattan were both busts, so they sent me to Ponyville to find a gig. No luck so far." He put a hoof to his chin in thought. "Say, you wouldn't happen to know anypony needing an air-show, would you?"

Rainbow Dash's memory instantly went back to Applejack mentioning the Hearts and Hooves party. Pinkie Pie was going to need all the help she could get for the party planning. So why not book the entertainment early?

The cyan pegasus spoke, "My friend Pinkie Pie is holding a big party on Hearts and Hooves Day at Sugarcube Corner. I don't know if she's planned any entertainment, so let's go see if she's okay with you guys doing an air-show."

"That'd be great!" Soarin' exclaimed. "That's the place that looks a big gingerbread house, right?" The mare nodded. He spread out his wings and walked to the edge of the cloud. He looked back to Rainbow Dash, who stretched out her own wings. "I betcha can't catch up this time!" He flipped his goggles on and quickly took off.

Rainbow Dash smirked. "Oh, you're on!" She made a sprint followed by a jump and started her flight, not that much further behind Soarin'. In hot pursuit, she sped up, wings flapping harder and faster.

Soarin' noticed her increase in speed. She was quickly gaining speed and catching up to him. He took note of her flying being superior to his. Then again, this was the mare that pulled off a Sonic Rainboom and saved the world, both twice.

Not being the kind of pegasus to give up easily, he also sped up, keeping an eye out for the bakery below. He realized he must've flown far to escape Rainbow Dash before realizing it was her, because he saw he was over an empty field.

"Whoa," He muttered, keeping his flight steady. "That'll teach me from trying to get away from a pony who can break the sound barrier."

"What was that?" A familiar mare's voice asked. Soarin' looked from the ground to his left, seeing that Rainbow Dash managed to fly right next to him.

Soarin's eyes went wide under his goggles and his jaw dropped. "Jeez, she's fast!" he thought.

Rainbow Dash laughed. She admitted to herself that he looked funny and cute with that wild, shocked expression on his face.

Wait, did she just think he was cute? She never thought that way about anypony before. She looked back at Soarin', who snapped out of his stupor.

"Uhh… Nothin' important." He replied.

Rainbow Dash smirked at the stallion at her side. "Good to hear. Later!" She sped off once more, leaving Soarin' in the dust.

"That sneaky filly…" The Wonderbolt thought, flying faster to keep up. "That's it! You're gonna get it!"

The stallion managed to catch up to Rainbow Dash fairly quickly, trailing behind her tail. He looked down. They were finally in Ponyville after their long flight. He looked back up and flew a bit faster to get next to Rainbow Dash.

"We're right over Ponyville. Do you see the bakery anywhere?" He asked.

Rainbow Dash looked down. She scanned the town for the bakery. "Yeah, it's down there at ten o'clock." She quickly sped downwards.

She was still flying at fast speeds, as was Soarin'. Their little race wasn't over until one pony touched the ground first. Rainbow was still hanging onto her lead, but Soarin' was steadily gaining speed. The mare wasn't about to let anypony beat her, even it was her idol. She unleashed yet another burst of speed, managing to strike the ground before the Wonderbolt did.

"Yes! I win!" Dash announced. She panted, finally getting the chance to breath. She felt proud of herself for managing to beat one of the fastest ponies in Equestria in a race, even if it was just a small, unofficial one.

Her victory was cut short when Soarin' came crashing into her. He managed to strike her by her side, making them fall and roll over. They tumbled on the dirt, rolling on top of each other and letting the dust kick up, gathering many of the nearby ponies' attention. When they finally stopped tumbling, they were caught in an embarrassingly familiar pose.

Soarin' was on top again. However, this time his curled up back legs were on top of hers and his front hooves were pinning hers down. His face was also fairly close to hers; almost to the point his snout touched hers. In the little squabble, his goggles flew off to who-knows-where, revealing his bright green eyes.

Rainbow's mane was dirty and messy, as well as her coat. Her legs were sprawled out, pinned down by the stallion's buff ones. A variety of scratches decorated her skin, but she didn't care. For some reason, she didn't mind being covered in dirt and scratched up. She just stared into Soarin's wide eyes, a hot blush visible on her face.

She didn't fully understand what was happening to her. Just why was she feeling so hot all of a sudden? She'd been tackled to the ground by Pinkie Pie plenty of times, but this time with Soarin' felt… very different. Plus the way he stared right back at her made her heart beat faster. The pegasi were unaware of the several ponies watching them. It was as though the two were in their own little world.

After what seemed to be like an eternity, Soarin' felt himself unconsciously inching forward. He let his eyes droop slightly, not taking his gaze off of the mare.

Oddly enough, Rainbow Dash mimicked his actions. She also leaned in slowly and let her eyes close as he did the same. Her mind was blank and her heart was pounding, face still red.

Their lips connected. Even the bold Rainbow Dash was shy at first, but put more force into the kiss after getting used to the closeness. The Wonderbolt didn't seem like he was used to kissing either, but enjoyed it nevertheless. The sound of awing ponies fell on deaf ears and they let themselves get lost in each other.

They finally pulled away for air, their faces both red, even if Soarin's was hidden under his costume. Rainbow Dash just couldn't stop smiling at the colt on top of her. She just kissed her idol, and it felt pretty darn good.

He smiled back at the mare. His little crush was indeed the real deal. Even with the dirt in her mane and coat, she was still beautiful in his eyes.

Soarin' gently got off of the other pegasus and offered a hoof to help her up. Rainbow gladly accepted it and was up on her own hooves as well.

"So," Rainbow Dash said, redirecting her gaze to Soarin'. "Am I your fillyfriend or what?"

The stallion responded by giving Rainbow Dash a small peck on her cheek. "Take a wild guess." He whispered.

In a rare, possibly once-in-a-lifetime event, Rainbow Dash squealed like a schoolfilly that got asked out for the first time.

She never intended to get a coltfriend, let alone so soon. Earlier that day, she didn't understand why everyone was so hyped up over a dumb holiday about the color pink, hearts, and pink hearts. Now that she had her own somepony to love, she realized why the day meant so much to so many ponies.

And the holiday itself hadn't even begun.
> The Luckiest Colt in the World
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

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.
> White Magic Mare
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

White Magic Mare

"Though I've tried before to tell her
Of the feelings I have for her in my heart.
Every time that I come near her
I just lose my nerve as I've done
From the start."
-Every Little Thing She Does is Magic by The Police

The dragon took a deep breath. He stared down his reflection, scanning for flaws. He wore an elegant tuxedo top, complimented by a ruby-red bowtie and red carnation. He was determined to look the very best as he could when he would pop the question to Rarity.

"Would you go to the Hearts and Hooves Party with me?" He rehearsed. He was grateful that Twilight had left hours earlier to assist Pinkie Pie in the last of the party preparation. While she wouldn't exactly interrupt Spike during his rehearsal, he would've rather kept his little role-playing sarcastic-joke free.

The little dragon frowned. He just wasn't sure if Rarity was really going to accept him. Who knows, perhaps she already found a colt to take her to the party. The idea that she would not attend did not enter Spike's mind. Being the typical glamour pony she was, Rarity would've joined, if anything, just to get in on the recent gossip the romantic season flared up.

He straightened his scales and gave himself a final check in the mirror. "Lookin' good, Spike." He complimented. "Lookin' good, Spike."

Spike left the bathroom and headed downstairs. The library was quiet, the only sound coming from the sleeping owl and occasional wind.

The dragon headed out the door, but not before picking up the bouquet of brightly red roses he left in front of the door. He placed them there in advance so he wouldn't accidentally leave them in a fit of nervousness.

The spirit of the holiday was getting stronger with each day in Ponyville. More ponies were out, buying last-minute gifts or simply causing commotion with one another, but this kind of thing was predictable; there was only one day until Hearts and Hooves Day after all.

The baby dragon left his humble home. The sun was slowly setting, giving the sky an orange hue.

Spike silently hoped that Rarity was at her home and not at the spa or some other place. He was felling an increase in his confidence and he wasn't going to let the chance slip by him.

The little dragon would've been lying if he said that his friends and a few other ponies hadn't influenced him; even if it was indirectly. He had overheard Sweetie Belle telling the other Cutie Mark Crusaders that Rarity was quite upset with not having a date to the party. Pinkie Pie had delivered an invitation to Spike earlier that day with Pokey. When he inquired why the unicorn was with her, he was met with a similar answer that Applejack and Rainbow Dash had received ("What." He asked afterwards).

Even though Pinkie had met the stallion only recently, even someone as young as Spike could see they already had a growing connection. This indirectly sparked an idea in Spike; if these two ponies could hit off in only a few days, why not he and Rarity? They've known each other for about a year and half, plus he's helped her and generously assisted the purple-maned unicorn on many instances. Not to mention how he's given her gifts, such as the fire-gem. If two strangers could fall in love, why not two close friends?

Spike smiled to himself. He would ask the pony of his dreams to allow him to accompany her to the party and then…

He paused. "Huh, I haven't really thought that far ahead yet…" He realized. "Oh well, it'll come to me when she says 'yes'."

The dragon checked the flowers again, making sure there were no impurities with them. None. Spike picked up his pace, eager to ask Rarity the big question.

The Carousel Boutique was in his sights. He ran to the fashion building as fast as his legs could carry him. He got near the entrance and noticed how festive the structure looked.

It stood out from most of the regular buildings. Instead of just pink or red with hearts splattered all over it, the boutique was elegantly decorated with a white color on the walls, with a single purple heart every several feet or so. The purple was replaced with pink and the windows were tinted slightly redder. Spike also took notice of the small, orange flag at the top being replaced with a larger, pink one with a lavender heart on it.

"Cool…" He admired. While he was impressed by the decoration itself, he also admired how quickly Rarity had managed to decorate her boutique. He distinctly remembered the building being in its regular color that morning.

"Heh," he chuckled to himself. "Well, it is Rarity. It figures she'd glam out her boutique in an afternoon."

He walked up to the doorstep and knocked on the door with his free hand, clutching the roses tightly with his other. A few seconds later the door opened, revealing a small, white unicorn, about the same height as the dragon that waited to be answered.

"Hi Sweetie Belle." Spike greeted politely. "Is Rarity home?"

The filly nodded. "Yeah, but she's working on some super-secret thingamajig that she won't even tell me about!"

"Why not?" Spike asked, curious on what would make the mare so secretive.

"She says it's because I would end up telling everypony in town," Sweetie Belle scoffed. "But that's totally not true. Like the time I said I wouldn't tell anypony about that really interesting book she hides in her closet and I haven't told a single soul!" She flashed an innocent smile, oblivious that she had just broken her promise.

Spike raised a quizzical eyebrow at the filly. After being in Ponyville for such a long time and getting to know everypony, it was no surprise to him that Sweetie Belle had just contradicted everything she just said. He still, however, debated whether or not to tell her of her error.

Deciding that Sweetie Belle would figure it out eventually, he cut right to the chase. "That's nice…" He replied in a Fluttershy-like way. "But I need to see Rarity. I need to tell her something."

Sweetie Belle's smile degenerated into a small, apologetic frown. "Rarity said that nopony was allowed to come in here until she was done."

"Oh…" Spike said, rejection evident in his voice. "Okay… I guess I'll just go back home then..." With spirits crushed, he turned around to start his trek back home.

He was about to take his first few steps back into the direction he came. He stopped himself when he felt a hoof on his shoulder. The dragon knew it was Sweetie Belle, but just why did she stop him? He turned around, his questioning eyes darting back to the small unicorn. Her usual smile was back.

"What is it?" The dragon asked.

Sweetie Belle's smile turned into a more devious looking smirk. "Rarity said that nopony was allowed in here."

"And?"

"Well… You're not a pony."

"Umm… I'm not sure that's what-" He mentally stopped himself. Maybe Sweetie Belle's literal sense of direction could come in handy. "Actually, you're right! Mind if I come in?"

The filly stepped aside to let the dragon in. "Come on in!"

Spike's smile returned to his face. He walked into the boutique, which appeared to be as heavily decorated as the outside of the building. The walls were given a clean layer of light pink paint. Scattered red heart stained the walls, as did several framed pictures of happy couples. He noticed that all of the ponies in each picture were dressed elegantly.

The rest of the room looked as though a twister had run amok through it. Threads, cut-up fabric, thimbles, and all sorts of other materials were scattered across the floor

"Before you say anything about the mess, I didn't make it." Sweetie Belle said quickly. "Rarity had a bunch of customers earlier and things got kinda turbulent."

The purple dragon turned back to the unicorn with confusion evident in his eyes. "Got kinda what?"

"Turbulent. You know, chaotic, raging..."

"Dictionary," Spike quietly muttered to himself. For such a young filly, she had a large vocabulary; even if she was a little scatterbrained. More clearly, he said, "So, where's Rarity?"

"Up in her room at the top floor." Sweetie Belle replied. "Here, I'll walk you up there." She slowly headed towards the staircase at the other side of the room. The young dragon followed her.

The staircase, thankfully, was free of debris. During the mad rush of last-minute dress shopping the second floor was most likely kept off limits.

"Hey Spike," the filly asked out of the blue. "Why are you all dressed up? And what's with the flowers?"

Spike had almost forgotten he came dressed up in a tuxedo top and the bouquet in his hands. He had come to Rarity's boutique quite often, so the feeling was quite casual, walking freely in her store and engaging in conversations with Sweetie Belle.

At that moment, he was both thankful for and annoyed by Sweetie Belle's inability to put two ideas together. He was relieved that she didn't understand of romance, causing an awkward scene between the two. But now, he might just have to explain it to her.

"Umm…" Spike awkwardly began. "Well, you see… Umm…" He scratched the back of his head, looking for an answer. "When one… living being likes another-"

"Oh, you mean that? Nevermind then."

Spike almost stopped. He looked back at the unicorn. "You mean you don't want to know?"

"Rarity already told me about it!" Sweetie Belle replied innocently.

The dragon's legs stopped with their movement. Rarity knew about his crush? Sure there was the incident when he nearly destroyed Ponyville in a greed-fueled rage when he hinted at it, but how would she know that he was planning to ask her to the party?

"W-what?" Spike stuttered. "H-How'd she find out about my secret plan to ask her to the party?"

Rather than seeing her with an eager-to-explain face, Sweetie Belle seemed as though she were confused and shocked. "You were going to ask my sister out?"

The confused dragon shot the same look Sweetie Belle. "Wait, that's not what you were talking about? I thought you just said you knew about why I was all dressed up."

"I read that princes wear that getup when they ask the princess to marry them." Sweetie Belle replied. "I thought it was kinda weird that you had all that stuff even though you weren't a prince…" Her eyes went wide in realization. "You're not here to play 'Princess' with my sister are you?"

"No," Spike replied. He could see that Sweetie Belle had gotten her information from a Cindermarela book or a similar source. "I just wanted to ask Rarity to the party, that's it."

The filly still looked at the dragon strangely. "Whatever you say…" She cautiously said, as if still untrusting of the dragon's intentions.

Spike mentally decided to stop explaining. He would've just been fighting a losing war with the young pony. In the middle their conversation, they had wandered in front of Rarity's door, so it would've been pointless to continue arguing anyway.

"Well, we're here." Sweetie Belle said. "Rarity's right inside."

"Thanks Sweetie Belle."

"You're welcome!"

Spike was about to go in through the door, but quickly realized that Sweetie Belle was still there. "Um," He said uneasily. "I'm going to go in…?"

"Okay."

"And well, I want the conversation between me and Rarity to be… private."

Sweetie Belle's ears flopped down and a lonely expression decorated her face. "Fine... I'll just go back to my room and read Rarity's interesting book I borrowed from her closet." The filly walked away back downstairs to read whatever novel Rarity was into. Spike mentally took a note to ask Rarity exactly what that book was later.

Once the smaller unicorn was out of sight, Spike straightened his scales and dusted off his tuxedo. Once he was done checking himself, he knocked on the door and hid the flowers behind his back.

"Rarity?" He asked through the closed door. "It's me, Spike."

He waited about half of a minute until he heard the sound of the door unlocking. The white pony opened up the door, looking tired, but in a good mood. Her mane was slightly out of place in a few areas, but other than that, she looked as she always did to him: stunning.

"Hello Spike." She greeted. "I wasn't expecting a visitor tonight. I thought I told Sweetie Belle that nopony was allowed in."

"I'm not a pony." Spike reminded.

Rarity brought a hoof to her face in realization. Spike could vaguely hear her mutter, "Next time, I'll tell her 'no-living organism'."

The unicorn put her hoof back down. "Well, I suppose that while you're here you can come in." She walked back into her room and the dragon followed.

"Okay…" Spike thought. "So far so good…"

He immediately noticed six mannequins, each one with a beautiful dress adorned on them. The dragon assumed they were for his friends. They looked much like the dresses they wore to the Grand Galloping Gala (that they destroyed); however, they were even further detailed and the colors were more vibrant. It was clear that Rarity had improved quite a bit, and she was already very adept at her craft before.

"Wow!" Spike awed. "Those dresses look amazing."

"Why thank you, Spike." Rarity replied. "They're not even completely finished yet. I was thinking of publishing the old dress designs after I enhanced them."

The unicorn followed up with a question. "I see you're in that tuxedo again. What's the occasion?"

Spike knew this moment was going to come sooner or later. Fate apparently went with "soon". He swallowed a lump in his throat and shyly looked away.

"Umm…" Spike began. "If… umm… you w-wanted to…" He was visibly sweating, his face turning pink.

Rarity raised an eyebrow at the nervous dragon. "'If I wanted to' what, Spike?"

"I-If…" Spike's words were failing him. The premade plan in his head was erased from his memory and he found it impossible to vocalize his request.

"Yes, Spike?" Rarity asked, now becoming a little worried at Spike's excessive sweating and stuttering.

Finally, he revealed the bouquet behind his back and presented it to the mare. Almost immediately after, he quickly let it out, "Willyougotothepartywithme?"

Rarity took a step back in surprise, though it wasn't because of the shock from Spike's request. In all honesty, it was more because of the fact she didn't expect the dressed up dragon to suddenly whip out a bouquet of beautiful, yet thorny, roses that was roughly half as tall as him from behind his back.

The unicorn looked down at the dragon with an unreadable expression on her face. A feeling at the back of her head told her that something like this would happen. Ignoring it was a bad idea, she knew.

Rarity bit her lip. She may have wanted to go to the party, but having a childish, little dragon who was only slightly older than her sister as her escort? The thought never crossed her mind. She would've thought that one of the stallions in town would've asked her by tomorrow's time.

Admittedly, the pony was worried more of her own social status. She had no idea what the kind of rumors would go about if she let herself get seen with Spike as his date to the party, but it surely wouldn't be good.

After a long pause, Rarity finally responded. "I'm sorry Spike," she began. "But I don't think it's such a good idea."

Spike's nervous face turned into one of disappointment. "Why not?"

"Well, there is the species-boundary." Rarity replied.

"But it's not like we're getting married." Spike defended.

Rarity sighed. She knew it would be hard trying to break it to the young dragon. "Yes, that is true," She said. "But you need to think for a moment. Do you realize what kind of rumors could go around town if you would take me to the party?"

"Ohh…" Spike realized. He didn't think about what would happen to their social lives if she said 'yes'. He still remembered all the rumors that went around after his friends wrecked the Grand Galloping Gala. The gossip didn't die down until almost a month after that incident passed, and even then it was because of a scandalous story about a celebrity couple in Canterlot. "I didn't know." He said dejectedly, looking down to his feet.

He may have been young, but he wasn't stupid, not by a long shot. Spike became aware of the rumors that would spread. Thinking it over, Rarity was near the same age as Twilight. He was born when Twilight was still a filly, meaning there was also an age gap.

Rarity's face turned apologetic. "I'm sorry about this Spike. You do understand, don't you?"

Spike looked up at Rarity with a sigh. "I guess."

Rarity immediately regretted her decision. Seeing Spike's saddened face matched his crushed spirits made her feel awful for denying him.

The dragon turned around and shuffled towards the door, head now hung again. "I guess I'll see you later?" He asked, turning his head to the pony.

With hesitation, the unicorn replied, "Yes. Goodnight Spike."

"Night." He replied, depression coating his voice. He opened the door and left without another word.

Rarity mentally hit herself across the face as soon as he left. What was she thinking, sending Spike away for her own wants?

She wasn't exactly in love with the dragon. Through her eyes, she saw him as a very good friend, though she did keep her knowledge of his crush on her secret. She would've rather not talked about it, especially since the dragon was so young. She supposed it was just infatuation with her, though it was slowly turning into something more.

Rarity always avoided the topic, though she would occasionally take advantage of his crush by making Spike do something for her, such as digging out gems for her, getting supplies for her in town, and the like. But she enjoyed his company.

The unicorn thought it over. She realized that she already hangs around with Spike quite often, both with the rest of her friends in adventures and such, but also alone, like when she'd have him help out with tasks.

She stomped a hoof on the ground. She knew she had done wrong, and she was ready to right it. "I have to fix this." She said, determined.

She scanned her messy room for an idea. Her eyes darted from the new dresses to a few discarded pencils and prototype dress designs in a corner. After nearly a minute of searching, she was about to give up in her room and start looking somewhere else. But as she walked past her closet, she noticed a little pedestal with the fire-gem necklace resting on top of it.

"That's it!" Rarity squealed. "This little gem just gave me an idea."

Before she could get started, Sweetie Belle called out her name. A few seconds later, the filly walked into the room.

"Hey Rarity," she said. "You got a minute?"

"I suppose," Rarity replied, a bit uncertain about delaying her plan. "What is it?"

"Well, I was reading this book and I don't know what this word means." Sweetie Belle reached behind her and brought it in front of Rarity. She flipped it open to a page near the middle point. "It's right there, at the top page."

Rarity looked into the book. Almost immediately after, she closed the book, face reddened. "I think it's about time to go to bed, Sweetie Belle." She declared, levitating the book away.

"But I'm not tired."

"GO TO BED!"

------------------------------

Tonight was finally the night. The night everypony in Ponyville had been waiting for. After furious preparation and work, it was finally the night of Hearts and Hooves.

Surprisingly, remarkably little happened during the daytime of the holiday. Of course there was the usual exchanging of presents and heart-candies, but it was small in comparison to the nighttime festivities.

Nearly every pony in town crowded around Sugarcube Corner. During the daylight, more ponies had come to set up tents outside of the bakery to sell things and host activities for the younger audience. Pinkie Pie had called them, knowing that even with her renovations in the bakery wouldn't house so many ponies.

At least half a hundred equines were lined up at the doorstep. A burly, brown pegasus was stationed, keeping the ponies in check. While everypony within a five-mile radius was invited, the bouncer was only there to make sure that nopony would get trampled in a mad rush to enter, something that would happen far too often in previous years.

Only a few minutes had passed since the party officially began. Inside, there were already a sizeable amount of ponies, almost all of them in pairs. From Rainbow Dash and Soarin' talking amongst themselves near the punch bowl to Derpy clumsily dancing with a well-dressed, brown colt, there were a wide range of couples. Even the famous DJ-Pon3 stood closely to a male, slate-colored DJ at the turntables as they played music.

In the line, Twilight was waiting in the middle of the line with Spike. For the occasion, she wore the simple, yellow dress that Rarity made for her on her birthday. While Rarity insisted that she take the dress back, Twilight convinced her to let her keep it. Spike was in his tuxedo that he wore the day before.

While the purple unicorn herself didn't have a date, it didn't bother her. She saw the party as a learning experience, to see other couples and interact with them. Of course, having her friends there did not dampen the mood either. From the recent news, she was actually quite eager to meet the ponies her friends seemed to like so much.

As for Spike… well, things could've gone better. Twilight Sparkle had to use some rather powerful telekinesis to drag Spike out of his bed so he would come to the party. He wasn't in the "Hearts and Hooves Day" spirit; how could he with a broken heart?

He didn't bother to hide his sad expression, head hung low. He had a nagging feeling in the back of his head that told him it would've been better if he never tried to ask Rarity out in the first place.

Twilight seemed not to notice, even though she already had. After several hours of trying to get Spike to cheer up –she would later admit it would've gone better if Pinkie was there to help- she decided it would be better to just leave him be for the moment. But when the time for the party reared its head, Twilight saw the dragon still moping. Rather than leave him behind, she forced Spike to come with her, hoping that the party would cheer him up.

The duo slowly moved forward, constantly stopping and going so that the burly pegasus could make sure no one would trample each other. At least five minutes had passed by until somepony in a glittery, red dress caught Twilight's eye from a small distance.

"Rarity!" She shouted. She waved to the other unicorn, who waved back. Spike immediately jerked out of his stupor, looking towards the direction Twilight shouted. Indeed, there was a familiar-maned unicorn not that much farther from then.

After a few seconds, Rarity closed the gap. "Good evening, darling!" She greeted, a little bit over enthusiastic. "How are you?"

"Great," Twilight replied. She put a hoof on top of Spike's head and replicated a playful noogie. "Spike here's a little down, but I'm sure a classic Pinkie Pie party will cheer him up."

Spike dared not too look at Rarity. He felt it would be too awkward for him to face the unicorn again. Plus, Twilight being right there didn't help either.

"I see. Speaking of Spike," Rarity said. "May I borrow him for a moment? I need his help for a little task." Spike felt a leap in his heart. Just what would she need him for? Even though he was used to doing favors for Rarity often, he was curious for what she would need his help to do on this holiday.

"Of course Rarity. You don't mind, do you Spike?" Twilight said, turning to the dragon.

"Uhh, no. Not at all." Spike replied. He stepped out of the line and walked next to Rarity. They made their departure.

Spike didn't speak yet, and neither did Rarity. They were just walking away from the bustling bakery and its huge line. Spike got curious on why she didn't bother explaining where they were going.

"Where are we going, Rarity?" Spike asked. "And what am I doing anyway?"

"You'll see." Rarity replied, not bothering to look at Spike.

Eventually, the two had gone back to the Carousel Boutique, where Spike would usually perform his favors. This struck Spike as odd, considering that Rarity would want to have him perform his task here, when she could have easily asked him some other time after the party.

They both walked onto the doorstep. Spike reached for the door, but was stopped by Rarity blocking him with a hoof.

"Just wait out here for a short moment, please." Rarity said. She entered her shop, leaving Spike on the doorstep.

Spike was left to his thoughts. Usually when he would assist Rarity, she would have him go inside to fetch a tool, or other item they would need. Maybe it wasn't a task he was supposed to do at all. But he realized that would bring up the question of why she dragged him to her boutique in the first place.

Rarity came back much sooner than expected, a small, decorate box levitated by her magic. "I want to apologize for my… negligence earlier."

She placed the silver box in his hand. Spike hesitated for a moment before opening it. Inside was a gold ring, with several, tiny blue gems encrusted in it.

Before any other question appeared in his mind, he asked the immediate one. "What's this for?"

"Consider it an 'apology ring'." Rarity replied. "Forgive me if it's the wrong size; we ponies are not used to making rings for obvious reasons."

Spike looked back at the unicorn with wide eyes. "An apology for what?"

Rarity sighed. "I'm sorry that I turned you down yesterday. I realize now that I was being selfish for sacrificing your wants for my own."

"Wait, you mean you were lying when you said everyone might start rumors?" Spike asked.

"Well… no," Rarity said. She shamefully stared down at the ground. "But after you left, I realized that you meant more to me than what other ponies think."

"Oh," Spike replied, somewhat unsure how to string the conversation along. "Well… Thanks for caring. It really means a lot." He said shyly. He put the ring on his right hand, admiring the craftsmanship. For a pony who was unfamiliar in jewelry making, Rarity was quite good.

"It's the least I can do." Rarity replied.

Abruptly, she walked past him, away from the boutique. Spike raised an eyebrow at the retreating pony, not sure why she would just leave him without another word. He felt a twisting pang in his chest. Did she really just give the ring to him as an apology, nothing more?

Rarity looked back at the dragon. "Come on Spike," she called out. "You are taking me to the Hearts and Hooves party, are you not?"

Spike's scales stood up in surprise. "What?" He said blankly. He could've sworn his hearing was deceiving him.

Rarity turned towards Spike, a gentle smile on her face. "Well, it would make sense that after making you so grumpy, giving you what you asked for in the first place seems like the best thing."

Spike shook himself out of his stupor and grew a cheeky smile. Thankful he wasn't dreaming, he hopped off the doorstep and ran up to the unicorn. When he got close enough, he jumped and gave the unicorn hug around her neck. She returned the hug.

"Thanks Rarity." He quietly said.

Rarity smiled at the dragon in her hooves. She felt that she did the right thing. Even if the other ponies thought that a dragon and unicorn was an odd couple to the party, it didn't matter. As long as Spike wasn't hurting, she felt her conscience clear.

Spike pulled out of the hug. A blush covered his face as he nervously scratched the back of his head. "Hehe… Sorry." He said, embarrassed.

"No apology needed." Rarity reassured. "Shall we?"

Spike nodded, bowing before her. "Of course, milady." He said formally.

Rarity smiled, walking forward with Spike following at her side. Even if it was a romantic holiday, she would've much rather been spending it with a good friend than some stranger stallion. She stole a quick look at Spike.

"Hmm…" Rarity thought. "Maybe when he's older. He already makes a much better suitor than Prince Blueblood."
> Once Smitten, Twice Shy
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Once Smitten, Twice Shy

"I'm the one who wants to be with you.
Deep inside I hope you feel it too.
Waited on the lines of green and blue,
Just to be the next to be with you."
-To Be With You by Mr. Big

While mostly everypony was having a fantastic time tonight, not all the guests to the party had a special somepony (or in one case, dragon).

Now eight o'clock, the party was in full swing. Ponies were dancing wildly with one another on the center floor and the punch bowls were emptying faster than Pinkie Pie could replace them. If somepony was paying attention he would've noticed the Cutie Mark Crusaders running around on a sugar-induced high caused by an overdose of cupcakes.

Still, even with all the excitement, a lonely Fluttershy nervously sat in a chair near the punch bowl, with a small cup of sarsaparilla in her hooves.

Fluttershy was never a fan of large parties. Whether it was because of the absurd amount of deafening noise or the fact she didn't like crowds, Fluttershy was just uncomfortable in a huge party. If she was a more vengeful pony, she would've thought of a way to get back at Pinkie Pie for inviting her to a "small party with just our friends" ("Well, everypony in town is my friend!" Pinkie defended).

But it wasn't just the fact that she was surrounded by a bunch of ponies that made her feel uncomfortable; it was the fact that she was surrounded by a bunch of ponies with dates that made her feel like she shouldn't have even been invited. She had no special somepony that everypony else had. She felt that she was just too timid to start anything with anypony… even if she really wanted to.

As much as she wanted to just leave and spend the rest of the night in a restful sleep, she felt obligated to stay for the full duration. This was mainly because she always feared that Pinkie Pie would possibly explode in rage if anypony upset her ever since Applejack had broken a Pinkie Promise.

Fluttershy sighed, taking another sip of her drink. If the night hadn't been worse enough for her, three stallions had attempted to flirt with the shy pegasus. Much like the encounter with Big Macintosh several days previously, she resorted to squealing, followed running away.

Nearby, Pokey fought his way through the crowd, levitating both a plate of pink cupcakes and pitcher of pink lemonade. He found his way over to the table Fluttershy was sitting near and placed the food and drink on the table.

"Some party, huh?" He said. "Pinkie Pie really outdid herself this time."

Fluttershy nodded silently in agreement. She had met the unicorn when Pinkie Pie delivered the invitation to her. When Pinkie had told her that he was her date, Fluttershy had responded with a very unsure "that's… nice…"

"Say," Pokey said. "Why aren't you out dancing with everypony else?"

Fluttershy looked down at her hooves. "I-I'm not good at dancing." She mouthed.

She wasn't a hundred percent sure that Pokey heard her. He must have, however, when he laughed. "Don't worry, nopony here is." He took a look at Fluttershy's face. "You… don't look that excited. Aren't you having fun?"

The pegasus sighed. "Actually… No. I think I would've been better off staying at home."

Pokey levitated the empty pitcher. "Well if you feel that way, no pony's stopping you."

Fluttershy was still unsure. "But won't Pinkie Pie get mad?"

"Nah," Pokey replied. "She'll understand why you left. Anyways, I gotta get this back to the kitchen. I'll see you around!" And with those last words, he left, taking the empty pitcher with him.

Fluttershy let a smile creep onto her face. Now no longer feeling bound to the party, she was free to go. She disposed of her empty cup and scanned for the door out. The exit was blocked by the sea of ponies.

She braced herself and headed into the crowd.

"Excuse me. Pardon me. Oh, so sorry!" She muttered, trying to squeeze in between partygoers. She could finally see the door, now closed. Nearly all the ponies who were attending had come by now, so the bouncer was no longer needed. She trotted up to the door and extended a hoof to open it.

SLAM!

Fluttershy instantaneously found herself smashed against the wall and the now-open door.

"I thought ya said ya lived on Maple Street!" She heard a familiar, farmpony's voice say in an annoyed tone.

"I said 'Apple Street!'" A male voice replied. "Besides, the party's still going on, so we haven't missed out on anything." Fluttershy could've sworn she heard a giggle, followed by a sound that closely resembled a kiss, then a deep, annoyed groan.

After a few seconds, the door let itself close, letting Fluttershy fall to the ground. She could've sworn she'd never felt her left wing bend that way before. She muttered an "ow" upon hitting the floor, getting another pony's attention.

"Hmm?" Big Macintosh asked, turning around. He saw the injured pegasus, quietly muttering to herself how the night could get any worse. "Fluttershy? That you?"

Fluttershy looked up the stallion and turned red in the face in embarrassment. "H-h-hello Big M-Macintosh." She stuttered, scrambling to get up. She had a feeling that the large stallion hadn't completely forgiven her for slamming a door in his face days before.

"What happened to ya?" He asked curiously, pointing at a small bruise on her knee. Other than the mark on her knee, a few scratches were also apparent on her body.

Fluttershy looked away shamefully. "I just… wanted to leave…"

"Huh," the stallion said. "So did I."

Fluttershy's ears perked up and she looked back at the stallion. "Pinkie told you it was going to be a small party too?"

"Eeyup." He replied. "I ain't so fond of crowds. Would've rather been at home sleepin' instead." He yawned sleepily right after.

"It's as if he was me." Fluttershy thought. "Except he's a stallion… a really, really handsome stallion- Did I just think that?"

It was no surprise that Big Macintosh was one of the most eligible stallions in Ponyville. With all of the physical labor he does at the farm, he was larger and muscular. The farmpony rarely went into town for the sole reason to avoid the many mares pining after him.

Still, the thought had never occurred to Fluttershy, considering she had seen him about next-to-never.

"Uhm," Big Macintosh said, snapping Fluttershy away from her thoughts. "Yer wing's bent."

The pegasus looked at her left wing. She yelped at the sight of the misshaped part. Feathers were out of place and the whole wing was bent out of shape. She did feel her wing bend awkwardly.

She tried to tuck in her wing, but only succeeded in setting off a splitting pain in her wing. She yelped in pain. Fluttershy knew she had definitely broken it.

Big Macintosh grew a concerned frown. "Ya'll need to get that fixed. But Nurse Redheart's outta town today an' all the doctors are takin' the day off."

"Oh…" Fluttershy said quietly. She shook her bent wing slightly, still feeling a deep pain from it. "I-It's no big deal. I-I can wait." She lied, biting her lip, trying not to scream (softly) in pain again.

"Uh huh," Big Macintosh said, seeing right through Fluttershy's bluff. "That wing ain't gonna get that much better on its own. We've got a first aid kit at the farm; I could patch ya up there."

The pegasus froze. Being taken to a stallion's home was not something that happened regularly for her, or at all for that matter. "O-Oh," she stammered, breaking into a nervous sweat. "But d-doesn't Sugarcube Corner have one?"

The farmpony responded by pointing towards a wall. Fluttershy looked, seeing several trouble-making colts playing Hot Potato with the first aid kit. Pinkie and Pokey were attempting to get it back in vain, making it look more like a game of Monkey in the Middle.

Fluttershy winced at her wing again. She looked back at the stallion. Agreeing to go with Big Macintosh back to his home was not the greatest abstinence action, but she just felt that he was… very trustworthy, for lack of a better term.

"Okay." She finally said.

Big Macintosh nodded. "Let's go." He carefully opened the door, pushing outside instead.

The two made their departure from the party. Thankfully, there was no longer an enormous crowd hanging outside of the bakery as there was an hour ago.

They walked in silence, Fluttershy's broken wing still out with the other one tucked in. She tried her best not to let it move, and was doing quite a good job at it. She would shift her eyes to the large stallion next to her thinking, "Why can't I stop staring?"

As for Big Macintosh, he would occasionally give the pegasus a glance as well; mainly to check on her wing, but also just to look at her too. "She's pretty," the farm pony thought. "At least fixin' up her wing'll be better than spendin' the night at a party filled with crazed lovey-doveys."

As their silent journey continued, Fluttershy found herself taking more and more looks at the stallion. There was just… something about him that made it hard for her to looking. She knew if she kept glancing, it wouldn't be long at all until Big Macintosh would catch her.

"Just one more look." She thought. "Then I'll stop."

She looked back up at the stallion, only be met by a pair of green eyes staring right back at her. She yelped and looked away, trying to hide her reddening face behind her mane. Big Macintosh also looked away, his face flushing and usual stoic expression one of embarrassment.

They continued their slow walk, avoiding any conversation. The air was filled with awkward silence between the two, not daring to face each other. Both Fluttershy and Big Macintosh could've sworn they heard a nearby pony mutter "what a couple of babies" at their direction.

Fluttershy was ever aware of her steps, trying to keep a distance between her and the stallion. The last thing she'd want to do is accidentally trip over a stray rock or something and fall on top of him. The atmosphere between the two was already tense and awkward; there was no need to complicate further.

Although she wasn't comfortable being with a stallion, she was glad that out of all of them it was Big Macintosh. He wasn't a talkative pony, so she wouldn't have to face him and speak.

The pegasus took her gaze from the ground to in front of her. She could see the farm not much farther, easily seen thanks to the lights were on.

Seeing the illuminated house made Fluttershy realize something, it was really dark at the moment. She'd been so preoccupied staring at Big Macintosh and the ground she had forgotten it was so late. The pegasus wasn't very fond of the dark at all either. She was just grateful that Luna's stars and moon shed at least a little light for her to see.

Her ears perked up at the sound of a rustling from a nearby tree. She stopped and snapped her head towards it, involuntarily getting her escort's attention.

"Somethin' wrong?" The stallion asked.

The pegasus let her guard down when a squirrel crawled down the tree. She embarrassedly faced the large stallion, yet looked down at her hooves. "Oh, umm… It was nothing. I just get nervous when it's dark."

"Hmm," The stallion turned towards the building. "We ain't far now. Just bear with it for a lil' bit and we'll be inside."

"Okay," Fluttershy responded quietly, not making any eye contact.

The two continued their walk, quiet as usual. No further drama escalated and they were able to get to the farm. Fluttershy could hear childish laughter in the distance, most likely the Cutie Mark Crusaders who had planned a sleepover at their clubhouse for the night.

They were walking by the side of the barn towards the front door when Fluttershy had gone back to looking up at Big Macintosh in secret. She still kept wary, should he decide to look at her again. She just felt something about the stallion that she'd never felt in any other pony before.

Unconsciously, she walked closer to Big Macintosh, only about an inch away from him. Unluckily for Fluttershy, the stallion noticed and caught at her looking at him again. Fluttershy yelped softly, turning red in her guilty face, expecting her escort to give her a disappointed look.

Instead, he just smiled a little at her and looked back at the road without saying anything. He had definitely caught her staring at him and deep within his personal space, but he didn't seem to mind. If his slight change of expression meant anything, he probably wanted it too.

Not wanting to push her luck, the pegasus turned her red face back towards the road again, yet still staying close the stallion. She was thankful she decided to walk on his left side. Having the crippled wing in between the two would've just made the event harder.

Unknown to either pony, a certain trio of fillies was watching them. Well, not exactly watching; more like happened-to-be-in-the-area-eavesdropping. They were hiding in the very tree Fluttershy was startled by earlier, attempting to go get their "Scavanger Hunt" Cutie Marks. It wasn't going very well.

"Didja find the golden apple yet, Scootaloo?" Applebloom asked, hanging onto a thick branch.

Scootaloo, slightly higher in the tree, shook her head. "Nope. I found a camera though." She pointed at the camera that now adorned her neck. "Hey, maybe after this we can try being the Cutie Mark Crusader Photographers."

"Good idea, but let's focus on scavenger huntin'." Applebloom said. "What 'bout you, Sweetie Belle?" She called out.

Sweetie Belle, on another thick branch, wasn't paying attention. She was still thinking about what had just happened between Fluttershy and Big Macintosh a few minutes before. They had heard hoofsteps and tried to keep themselves quiet, but a rogue squirrel who was hopping around had crashed into Scootaloo's face, causing a confused fray in the tree between a clawed Scootaloo and irritated Applebloom against a seemingly-ninja squirrel with Sweetie Belle desperately "shhhing" at them. After the squirrel had climbed away, the rustling stopped long enough for Sweetie Belle to peek out of the tree and at the two older ponies.

But one thing that stood out to her was Fluttershy's wing. It was all bent and crooked. Pegasi didn't hurt easily, so it came to her as odd on why she would have such an injury. And why was Big Macintosh there? He was supposed to be at the party.

"Hey! Sweetie Belle to Equestria!" Applebloom said loudly, waving a hoof in front of the unicorn's face. She snapped out of her trance. "What's goin' on with you?"

"I was still thinking about Big Macintosh and Fluttershy." Sweetie Belle replied. "Don'tcha think it's weird that Fluttershy had a broken wing?"

Scootaloo hopped onto the branch the other two were on. "I guess, but it's just an injury." She said. "She'll get better."

Sweetie Belle still wasn't convinced. "Don't you guys remember that Miss Cheerilee said that pegasi are more resistant to being hurt?"

"She's Fluttershy." Applebloom argued. "'Sides, my brother's with her, so no timberwolves or manticores or anythin's gonna hurt her."

"And you don't find it weird that your brother was with her?" Sweetie Belle interrogated. "They've never talked before or anything."

Scootaloo snorted. "Maybe they were having a secret affair!" Sweetie Belle turned bright red, but Applebloom raised an eyebrow in confusion.

"What in tarnation's that?" Applebloom asked.

"You should know, Sweetie Belle. I saw that word in your sister's book." Scootaloo said.

"Okay! So what about Fluttershy and Big Mac?" Sweetie Belle said loudly, wanting to change to subject. "Don't you guys think we should give Big Macintosh a helping hoof in making Fluttershy feel better, I think we should!" Without giving the other two any time for a choice, she jumped down from the tree and onto the ground. "Let's go!"

Scootaloo and Applebloom shared a confused look at each other. Scootaloo shrugged before hopping down after the unicorn. Before the last filly made her descent she muttered, "I still don't know what an affair is."

------------------------------

"Well, make yerself at home." Big Macintosh said as the two ponies entered the home. He let Fluttershy step in first and take a look around.

The home wasn't anything overly fancy or bland; it was a cozy, yet spacious house with a few decorations here and there. Since they thought no pony would come to their farm during this holiday, the outside of the building lacked any decorations, as did the inside.

The only thing that signified any holiday was going on was a heart-shaped photo with a pink frame sitting on the fireplace, a very recent addition to the house. Applejack and her coltfriend, Caramel, who wearing Applejack's hat, were captured in the photo. Big Macintosh was still a little skeptical about his sister's new relationship ("Break her heart, I break your spine." He threatened uncharacteristically at one point.).

Fluttershy stopped scanning the room and looked timidly at Big Macintosh. "It's a wonderful home." She said finally.

"My room's upstairs," the stallion said. "Ya'll go on up while I get the first aid kit and sling. It's the red door."

Fluttershy didn't object. The sooner she got some aid for her wing the better. The pegasus headed upstairs while Big Macintosh started rummaging in the kitchen for the sling.

"I know it's 'round here somewhere." He muttered to himself as he checked several cabinets. "And… there it is!"

He leaned into one cabinet and pulled out the sling with his mouth. He silently prayed that a leg sling would work fine for a wing. He turned around only to be met by the Cutie Mark Crusaders.

"Hiya Big Mac!"

"Whatcha got there?"

"What's an 'affair?'"

Big Macintosh spat the sling out and said, "This ain't the best time to talk. Miss Fluttershy's got a broken wing and I'd hate to keep her waiting." When he said that last part, he could've sworn Sweetie Belle flinched.

He picked up the sling again and walked past the fillies. He was, however, stopped again by their conversation.

"Can we help?" Applebloom asked. "We could get our House Doctor Cutie Marks!"

Big Macintosh mentally sighed. There was little use in arguing, so he might as well let them help in some way. He looked back at the Crusaders and pointed a hoof at the first aid kit hung on the wall above the fireplace.

The trio got the picture and headed towards it, leaving Big Macintosh to finally go upstairs and get Fluttershy's wing into the bandage. At the moment, he was thankful that they put the first aid kit so far up high. It would take a while for the trio to get the kit.

"Hopefully they don't burn the house down while I'm gone." He thought. Being the Cutie Mark Crusaders, that idea was entirely plausible.

He made his way upstairs, out of the fillies' sight. He stopped dead, realizing that he would be with Fluttershy, in his room… alone. Obviously, some conversation would come up but he didn't know what to say. He wasn't the most social pony; heck, he's probably one of the very few ponies in the town that would regularly decline an invitation to a typical Pinkie Pie party. So just how was he supposed to communicate with the mare that his sister unknowingly smashed with a bakery door?

He shook his head. "Not the time." He told himself. "She needs medical attention. Small talk can wait." He continued his little journey until he reached the closed door to his room. He knocked twice with a hoof then entered.

Big Macintosh's own room wasn't anything fancy. There was a simple drawer next to his large bed, both decorated with small apples. There was a hook on the wall, where he'd put his harness. Other than the single window on the wall, there was nothing else notable about the room.

Fluttershy was lying patiently on the bed, wing still bent out awkwardly. She looked up when the stallion entered the room. "Your room is nice." She said quietly.

For a moment, Big Macintosh stopped to decipher whether she was being sarcastic or not. He shrugged the thought off when he remembered that Fluttershy was probably too kind to insult anypony, even indirectly. He spat the sling onto the bed and smiled at her.

"Thanks," he said. "Well, the sooner we get this sling on ya the better."

Fluttershy nodded in response. But before Big Macintosh could grab the sling again, he heard her voice again.

"Um… before you start, can you tell me why there's Smartypants doll in your bed." Realizing she was being a bit rude, Fluttershy quickly said, "I-If you don't mind of course."

The pegasus noticed that Big Macintosh turned redder than usual.

------------------------------

About ten minutes later, the Cutie Mark Crusaders finally managed to retrieve the first aid kit and were heading upstairs to give it to Big Macintosh. In whatever efforts they used to get it, they were battered, bruised, and covered in tree sap.

"At least we got it," Sweetie Belle chimed, trying to find a positive in the whole mess. "I didn't think that catapult idea would work."

"Shh!" Applebloom whispered. "I hear… laughin'."

Now in front of Big Macintosh's now closed door, the trio heard the sound of soft laughter from the room. They exchanged a couple of confused looks before deciding to stack on top of each other and putting their ears to the door.

"…so is that why you didn't show up to that party?"

"Eeyup. Somepony had to keep an eye Winona."

"What are they talking about?" Scootaloo, who was in the middle, whispered.

"Sounds like one of Pinkie's parties." Sweetie Belle replied from above. "Shh! They're still talking."

"Besides, she's real… affectionate."

"And athletic."

"An' cute."

"And brave."

"An' smart."

There was a long, awkward silence, which was finally broken by a familiar (and most likely embarrassed) squee.

"I don't get it." Scootaloo said. "What the heck are they doing?"

Sweetie Belle shrugged. She looked down. "What do you think, Applebloom?"

Applebloom, however, was actually looking through the lock hole. "I can see 'em." She whispered. "An'… Fluttershy's 'bout to eat my brother's face!"

Scootaloo made a funny sound before stumbling and nearly falling over. "What?"

Applebloom shook so that the others got off. "I said Fluttershy's gonna eat my brother's face!" She whispered. "We gotta stop her!"

Before they even thought about what they were doing, the trio of fillies kicked the door open, although Sweetie Belle was a tad bit too late and fell over when there was no door there to absorb her kick. A furiously blushing Big Macintosh and Fluttershy (now wearing the sling on her wing) were on the bed, who appeared to have just pulled away with a sudden jerk.

"Get away from my brother, you cannibal!" Applebloom snarled. She then pounced at Fluttershy, who covered her face from the impending attack. Thankfully, she was stopped in midair by Big Macintosh's extended hoof.

"What in Sam's hill are ya doin'?" He asked, half angry and half curious.

"She was trying to eat you!" Applebloom said, flailing in her brother's grip. She pointed an accusing hoof at the pegasus on the bed. Her face turned slightly redder.

Big Macintosh's eye widened slightly. "That can be explained."

The other two crusaders looked up. "Okay, explain then!" They said ecstatically, seemingly unconcerned about the fellow filly's head filling with blood from being hung upside-down from her brother's grip.

The red pony bit his lip. "Erm… Well… I can't really… Umm…" In his nervousness, he dropped Applebloom to scratch the back of his head. "Well, ya see… When a mare and stal-"

Fluttershy finally decided to step in. "Girls," she said softly, getting the fillies' attentions. "It's late and Big Macintosh is not in the mood to talk. Don't you all think it's time to go to bed?"

The fillies exchanged glances. From their own experience they knew that whatever Fluttershy said goes, lest they succumb to her stare. After a short while they left the room, with Scootaloo muttering, "Maybe Rarity's book will tell us what this whole face-eating thing's about."

Big Macintosh sighed in relief. "They're more trouble than they're worth." He said. He turned to Fluttershy. "Erm… I'm sorry that I… err… tried to kiss ya." He looked down, not willing to look up at the mare. "It… it wasn't right of me to take advantage of ya."

Fluttershy looked back at the stallion. "It's not your fault," she said. Big Macintosh looked back up. "b-besides… I kinda…" She mumbled out her next few words incoherently, turning red in the face again.

"Couldn't catch that." Big Macintosh said, leaning in to have a better listen should she repeat herself. "Come again?"

"I said I kinda li…" More mumbling.

"One more time?" The stallion requested. "A lil' louder?"

"I liked it!" Fluttershy finally choked out quickly, turning crimson. "J-Just a little!"

As Fluttershy hung her head as if she had just been punished, Big Macintosh turned redder as well. "Oh…" He smiled nervously at her. "Well… I-I kinda liked it myself."

Fluttershy looked up, still pink in the face. "Y-y-you did?"

"Yeah," he replied. "Erm… This is a mite awkward of me askin', but… ya wanna… try again?"

The pegasus's eyes widened. "O-Oh…" She paused, as if seriously considering his offer. "Um… I… yes."

The two looked up at each other once more. Their gazes were locked and faces were reddening. Once again, the ponies found themselves leaning closer and closer with closed eyes…

But the kiss never came. Fluttershy suddenly jerked away at the very last moment. Big Macintosh opened his eyes, confused.

"I-I can't do it!" Fluttershy stuttered."I-I just can't!"

Big Macintosh raised an eyebrow, not exactly sure why she would cut the kiss short. "Why not?"

"We barely even know each other," she said. "We met only one hour ago and I don't know anything about you!"

"Well, who says we can't start now?" Big Macintosh asked.

"Okay. What's your favorite color?"

"Red. Ain't it obvious?"

"What's your favorite food?"

"Apples. Ain't it obvious?" He sighed. "Look, we ain't gettin' nowhere like this. Maybe we should try some other way to get to know each other?"

Fluttershy put a hoof to her chin. "Well… the Hearts and Hooves party is still going on."

"There we go," Big Macintosh said, smiling at the mare. "Once you're completely patched up, we'll go back to the party."

He got off the bed and picked up the first aid kit the Crusaders left behind. "'Sides, it'll be much more fun now that we both have date to actually go with."

Fluttershy smiled and nodded. She couldn't believe it. Just yesterday, she was avoiding every colt in the world and absolutely dreading the party. Now she couldn't wait to go back to the party with her date. If her wing hadn't been broken, she would've done a few laps around the room.

In a moment of excitement, she leapt up to give Big Macintosh a hug and a small kiss on his cheek. From the looks of it, Fluttershy was about as shocked at her sudden boldness as Big Macintosh was.

"Oh, um…" She said awkwardly, blushing again. "S-sorry… I just… didn't know what came over me."

The stallion smiled at her. "Don't worry 'bout it." He whispered. He kissed her on the top of her head. "'Sides, I could get used to that."

Fluttershy giggled and cuddled up to the stallion. Big Macintosh did not object, instead he lightly nuzzled the top of her head. Neither of them knew if a relationship between them would last or if they were even ready, but they were willing to give it a shot.

Unknown to either of the non-official lovebirds, Scootaloo was taking pictures of them from the still-open door with her new camera, ready to show her friends what the whole face-eating thing is supposed to be about.
> Somepony Saved My Life Tonight
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Somepony Saved My Life Tonight

“Wherever you are
Whenever it’s right
You’ll come out of nowhere and into my life.”
-Haven’t Met You Yet by Michael Bublé

Things at the party were in full swing. Vinyl and her companion retired temporarily to allow Octavia and her classical group to perform a slow song for everypony to dance to. Pinkie was showing Pokey what a “sideways Pony Pokey” was (much to his and all the onlookers’ confusion) and Rarity had let Spike take her dancing. Spike learned it’s much harder to dance with someone who had different anatomy than you.

Applejack, Rainbow Dash, Caramel, Soarin’, and Twilight were all sitting a particularly large VIP table. The farm pony and pegasus talked amongst each other while the stallions got to know each other on the other side. Twilight was listening to both conversations with great interest.

Twilight herself didn’t have a date, but it didn’t bother her. As her usual reaction any big event, she was seeing it as a learning experience more than anything else. This was most likely the reason she was furiously scribbling down notes in a notepad throughout the entire night.

“...So he’s that colt who bought the only apple pie I was sellin’?” Applejack asked, looking at Soarin’, who was wearing his Wonderbolt costume, although without his mask on. "Thought he looked familiar."

“Yeah,” Rainbow Dash replied, taking another sip of her punch. “In fact, we hit it off after I left the farm that day.”

Applejack would’ve normally cracked a joke at this point, but instead she paused. “Huh,” she said. “So I guess ya did follow up on what ya said. Hehe, sure did beat me to it though; I oughta congratulate you.”

Rainbow Dash smirked. “Well I can’t really argue with that, especially since it’s coming out of your mouth.” She chuckled a bit then stopped. She turned to Twilight, who seemed to be writing every word they were saying. “Are you a like a pony-tape recorder?”

Twilight looked up from her little notepad, which was held up by her glowing horn’s magic. She was currently taking notes on her old friends’ conversation this time. “No, why do you ask?”

“You’ve been writing everything we said in your book thing for the past ten minutes straight.”

“Oh,” Twilight said. “It’s nothing. I just thought I could get some information from this event.”

This time Applejack looked up. “Gettin’ information from a Hearts n’ Hooves party? Ain’t that a little… I dunno, weird?”

“Weird or not,” the unicorn replied. “I’m sure that I’ll learn something that’ll be worth sharing with Princess Celestia.”

Rainbow leaned over to Applejack and whispered, “She talks about the princess so often she might have forgotten there’s a second and third one.” Applejack held in a laugh.

Whether Twilight heard or not was a mystery, for at that moment a familiar “Hi!” was heard. The others looked over Twilight’s head to see that Pinkie and Pokey were both heading towards them. They both held a mug of cider in their hooves.

“How’d everypony doing?” Pinkie Pie asked as she bounced onto a seat next to Twilight.

All of the other partygoers at the table said “good” or “great”, bringing a big, triumphant smile to Pinkie Pie’s face. In Rainbow Dash’s case, she commented with “awesome!”

“Great, great!” She beamed, taking a sip of her cider. “Too bad Fluttershy couldn’t stick around. She loves big, loud, noisy parties!”

“Actually,” Twilight interjected. “She doesn’t.”

Pinkie spit her cider at Twilight, resulting in an aggravated moan from the unicorn. “She doesn’t?!” Before Twilight could react, Pinkie grabbed Twilight by her shoulders and started shaking her as if she were a ragdoll. “Do you realize that this invalidates everything I have ever thought of in my life?! DO YOU?!”

"PINKIE! CALM DOWN! SOMEPONY! HELP!"

While the party pony relentlessly turned the poor unicorn into her squeaky toy, Pokey exchanged glances with the other ponies. He nodded and charged some magic into his horn. When it started to glow, he poked her flank. Pinkie’s eyes went wide, then sleepy. She let go of Twilight and fell backwards into Pokey’s lap, sucking on her hoof like an infant.

“She might have had a little too much cider tonight.” Pokey said.

Applejack looked at Pinkie’s snoring body and then back at Pokey. “How many?”

“I stopped counting after twenty-six.”

Twilight sighed. She partially lifted a bundle of her soaked mane. “Well, I’ll be in the little fillies’ room getting all this cider out of my mane.”

“It’s in the back, on the left side.” The other unicorn replied, rocking Pinkie’s head as if she really were an infant.

She got up from her seat and headed towards the bathroom, leaving her friends behind. She made a mental note suggest Ciderholics Anonymous to Pinkie. She sidestepped away the dancing, unaware ponies. The second last thing she needed was to have her sticky self fall over somepony, the first being her sticky self falling over a stallion in a compromising position as he was dancing with his date.

Thankfully, neither of those happened and she had made it to the bathroom safely. Apparently, Pokey and Pinky's wild preparation did not exclude the restrooms either, as there were balloons, streams, and noise makers that were scattered festively around the place. Even the soap was a pink-and-white color for the night.

Twilight trotted to the sink and turned the faucet. As she let the water run on her front hooves, carefully trying to keep balanced on her hind ones, she couldn't help but think about how many ponies were out there dancing with each other. They all looked as though they were having a great time. Even though she too was having fun, it irked her slightly that they were partaking in a way that she couldn't, with a partner.

It was sort of weird, she thought, being that she wanted to dance with a partner, but did not want a relationship. It was because she only wanted to see what it was like. She remembered that what she wanted was called a "One-Night Stand". Expectedly, she had gotten that information out of a book (A Handy Guide to Defining Every Relationship-Related Word by Written Script).

She ran her wet hooves through her mane, wincing at separating the sticky strands of hair. Then she realized something; all of her friends managed to get dates within just a few days. So how hard could it be just trying to get one dance in?

But another voice in her head reasoned that it would probably take a miracle to get a dance in without some sort of great difficulty. It reminded her that her friends got dates from falling off ladders after getting hit by lightning, tackling celebrities and racing them, getting smashed in the face with a door, etcetera.

Twilight realized that in the middle of her internal rambling, she had finished washing her mane, no longer smelling of sweet, fizzy cider. Deciding to go back to her friends, she stopped the water and headed out the door.

The unicorn tried to maneuver through the crowd. Unfortunately, the current song was even faster than the last one, so everypony was wildly dancing with each other, paying no attention to the fact that other ponies were within five feet of each other.

As Twilight dodged another incoming hoof, she felt another hoof tap he shoulder, as if trying to get her attention. She turned to meet face-to-face with an earth pony stallion.

He had a very light yellow coat and a short, spiky, light blue mane and tail. His somewhat muscular build was decorated by his cutie mark of two bunches of green grapes. She might have seen him in town before, but... just who was he?

His confident, blue eyes met hers. He cracked a half-smile and said, "Hey, you're the librarian mare, right?"

Twilight, not really sure what he wanted, nodded. "Yes, I am."

"Great," Without warning, he stepped closer to the unicorn. He bent and whispered in her ear, "I love the book worm types..."

"Excuse me?" Twilight said, feeling a cross between disgusted and somewhat fascinated on what he was trying to do, mostly disgusted.

"You heard me," he said deviously. He pulled her closer. "Now how does going back to my place sound?"

Twilight backed off, liking the stallion less and less. "No thank you," she said, still trying to be diplomatic. "But my friends are probably waiting for me, and I should really get back to th-"

"Oh come on," The stallion interrupted. "They'll understand if you snuck out with a handsome stallion and a few ciders." He got closer to her face again.

Twilight felt a sudden urge to kick the intruding pony as hard as she could, but before the stallion could advance further, another stallion's voice yelled, "Hey! Back off of her!"

They both turned to the sound of the noise to see another pony heading towards them. He was a golden unicorn with a similarly spiky mane to the current suitor, as well as a similar, if not slightly less buffer build. His cutie mark was a blue star-a comet- with a crescent-shaped tail.

Unlike the first stallion, the second was much more familiar, to Twilight. He had stood next to her when Applejack had left for the rodeo contest. They had talked casually about astronomy for a minute or two before separating, but they would still say "hello" or a similar greeting when they'd pass by each other.

"Oh look, it's goodie two-horseshoes Comet Tail." The first stallion remarked sarcastically. "Come to save another fair maiden from me?"

"The last time I didn't," Comet Tail said. "The poor mare got pregnant, Goldengrape."

"It ain't gonna happen with this one." Goldengrape replied, pointing a hoof at Twilight. She felt readily offended at him referring to her as "this one".

"She has a name you know," Comet Tail retorted. "And I'm pretty sure she'd like you to refer to her as-."

Goldengrape interrupted with a sigh. "You know what, you're making this much more complicated than it should be. Do you realize how much effort goes into getting mare to-" He made two clicking noises with his mouth and whistled twice.

Apparently, it turns out that Twilight knew what it meant. "WHAT?!" She yelled furiously.

Goldengrape looked at the mare. "Hey, did I say you could talk?"

She just stared at him with a disbelieving look. How could anypony be this rude? Gilda and Trixie were nicer than this twit. "I am absolutely disgusted." Twilight finally said. "You should be ashamed of yourself."

"Whatever," he said, sounding remarkably like a disgruntled teenager to his mother. "There are plenty of other fish in the sea. 'Sides, you're not that pretty anyway." And with that insult, he stormed off into the crowd, most likely to victimize a more gullible mare.

Comet Tail sighed. "That guy's a bit of a... reputation."

"No kidding." Twilight replied. She looked at the stallion. "Thanks for getting me out of there, Comet Tail was it?"

"Yeah."

"Great to meet you... again." Twilight replied, sticking out a hoof. "Twilight Sparkle."

The stallion grabbed her hoof with his own and shook. "Nice to... more formally meet you."

Comet Tail shook her hoof about six times before finally realizing that he should've let go earlier. He blushed slightly and pulled his leg away, then intentionally looked elsewhere, trying to act cool. He was failing miserably.

Twilight silently nodded to herself. At least Comet Tail was a gentlecolt instead of that disrespectful earth pony.

"Well," Twilight said after the awkward pause. "My friends are most likely waiting for me."

"Yeah," Comet Tail replied, looking back at the mare, still with a pink tint on his face. "My friends are probably wondering where I ran off to. I guess I'll see you later?"

"Mm-hmm." Twilight nodded.

With the muffled statement, she proceeded to head back to her table. That was an... interesting experience, to say the least. She did, however, like seeing Comet Tail again. She made a mental note to ask him about a recent star should she run into him later.

Twilight was snapped out of her thoughts when she heard a rather distinctive sound of a hoof being rammed into somepony's face. She hurried to the table and noticed a few changes.

For one, Rarity, Spike, Fluttershy, and Big Macintosh had finally arrived. Fluttershy's wings were in poorly made slings, and she had several pained tears in her eyes. Big Macintosh was rubbing her back with a hoof. Pokey Pierce, sitting next to Big Macintosh, now had a black eye and his date was back to drinking cider in excess. Rainbow Dash, Applejack, Caramel, and Soarin' were all betting on how much more cider Pinkie could drink before passing out in a diabetic coma.

Twilight stared for a minute before walking up next to Rarity and Spike. "What happened while I was gone?"

"Well," Rarity began. "Fluttershy came back in those slings with Big Macintosh at around the same time I came back to the table with Spike. Pinkie's date -Pooky was it?- suggested using a spell to fix her wings."

Spike continued. "He forgot to mention that it would involve stabbing her wings with his horn. So Big Mac punched him in the face."

"As for Pinkie Pie, she finally woke up from that last spell." Rarity said. She looked at the pony in question, to see her downing three mugs of cider at once. "She's at seventeen already."

----------

The party, at least for the little group, was back in order again, or lack of thereof. Fluttershy was soon able to get out of her slings, wings no longer broken. Some of the ponies occasionally left the table to dance to a song or to get a refill of cider or punch only to come back right after and continue socializing. Despite the absurdly high numbers they had bet, Rainbow Dash, Soarin', Applejack, and Caramel all lost after Pinkie hit forty-eight mugs of cider.

Twilight's mind was far away from the stallions she met earlier as she laughed at another one of Pinkie's jokes, but the idea of dancing with one was still on her mind. She was curious about what it was all about; what magical feelings it would show and make realized, how it would affect relationships, and if there really was a difference between the waltz and slow dance.

The party pony was in the middle of another story with her audience of Twilight, Fluttershy, Big Macintosh, Applejack, and Rainbow Dash. "So then I said, 'Petunias? Are you cra-'" Pinkie stopped mid sentence. "Hey Twilight, aren't you listening?"

"Hmm?" Twilight said, breaking out of her thought. "Oh, it's alright. Keep going."

"Okie dokie!" Pinkie continued telling her little made-up story of magic bats and walking flowers.

Twilight was acutely aware of how much cider everypony had consumed, especially Fluttershy, who was reddening in the face and giggling excitedly, though she only had two mugs. Big Macintosh must have been aware of this too, since he slipped Fluttershy's drink away when she was busy laughing her head off at the end of Pinkie's story.

Funny, Twilight thought. We're drinking non-alcoholic cider... She made another mental note to take Fluttershy to a doctor to see if getting intoxicated from drinking non-alcoholic drinks meant anything serious.

Speaking of cider, Twilight finished off what was left in her mug. Not wanting to go the rest of the night thirsting for more of the sweet drink, she excused herself from the table to get a refill.

Like she and her friends have done many times that night, Twilight dodged and slipped past the crowd while avoiding rogue hooves and flailing tails. She had, once again, safely made it to the punch table.

She put her mug under the pipe of the cider barrel. She heard a wooden clank and looked to see she had hit another pony's mug, most likely with the same intention as her. She looked up to see Comet Tail, staring back at her.

"Oh, my bad,"

"So sorry,"

The moment became awkward when the two ponies realized they had just said what they said simultaneously. The awkwardness increased tenfold when they stumbled trying to get their mugs back onto the table while both embarrassingly trying to avoid eye contact like a disease. After they accomplished that, they immediately pretended to become interested in something else, but still standing where they were.

After about thirty seconds of uncomfortable silence (strictly between the two ponies only), Twilight turned her attention back to the stallion, who was still staring at the floor, as if fascinated with it.

"So," she said, getting Comet Tail's attention. "Great party, right?"

"Yeah," he said shyly. He looked at the mugs that remained on the table. "Uhh... you can go first."

Twilight smiled awkwardly. "Thanks."

She put her mug under the pipe, but it started pour cider in without her turning the faucet. She noticed a light blue glow around it. No doubt Comet Tail was controlling it with his own magic. She looked up and met eyes with Comet Tail again. He grinned sheepishly and stopped using his magic to turn the faucet.

She had a distinct feeling that if somepony else was watching, they would most likely shove their hoof so hard into their face it would come out the other end.

"Err... Sorry." Comet said, taking a step back.

"It's okay," Twilight convinced. "Here, mine's full. You can go."

Before Comet Tail could do so, the music stopped suddenly. This made everypony (and Spike) look at the DJ station. The two DJs had done the stop on purpose, though there was a gray earth pony with a cello among them. A little further behind the earth pony were the rest of her quartet who were heading to the stage just a little bit away from the DJ station.

"Okay, my friend Octavia," DJ-Pon3 said. "Insisted that we do at least one slow song tonight. As much as I personally disagree, they think it's appropriate for a romantic holiday. Totally uncool, but whatever."

Octavia shot a dirty look at the DJ, who did not seem to notice. The male DJ just shrugged at the audience.

DJ-Pon3 took a swig of her cider and continued. "So grab your special somepony -or a pillow to sleep on- and get ready to waltz or whatever it is the dance is called. That goes for you too, awkward-looking unicorn couple by the cider station."

At once, all eyes turned to Twilight and Comet Tail, who both blushed at the many eyes suddenly watching them. Thankfully, they all near-immediately turned back to the DJ station at the sharp sound of Octavia hitting DJ-Pon3 on the head with her cello for that invasive last comment.

"Ow!"

Octavia took her exit. After DJ-Pon3 had recovered from her minor concussion she shouted, "Somepony sure seems moody 'bout not having a special somepony tonight!"

Many ponies left the dance floor, but several more jumped in as well with their dates and began to waltz.

"Err..." Twilight said shyly. She was inclined to dance with him by a slightly intoxicated DJ to a slow song. Plus, she was curious about what it would be like. "Do... do you want to dance?"

Comet Tail, for once, smiled in a relaxed way instead of his perpetual stressed smile that he seemed to always have when she was close. "S-Sure."

With the mugs of cider left forgotten, the two headed into the crowd, but this time to join them instead of dodge them. Secretly, they both privately hoped that they wouldn't dance that badly.

From there, the night should have been a magical experience for Twilight, who would dance with her partner under the moonlight, look deeply into his eyes, and share a kiss as everything slowed around them, realizing that everything she ever wanted was in front of her the entire time.

Then again, fate has a funny way of taking whatever plans you had and tossing them out of a six-story window onto a bed of coal.

A familiar stallion crawled out from under the table. He was grateful that the hosts of the party decided to put surprisingly thick covers on the tables. He looked around for the two ponies who were just here.

It was Goldengrape

"Okay, coast's clear." He called out to under the table once he was sure that Twilight and Comet Tail were not there.
From out under the table came two more stallions. One was a gray unicorn with a purple, somewhat messy mane with a scroll for a cutie mark. The other was an earth pony with an equally gray coat, though his mane was a very dark shade of it, almost black. Unlike the unicorn's cutie mark was three four-leaf clovers.

"Okay..." The unicorn said once he was out. "So... what exactly are we doing again?"

"For the last time, Written Script," Goldengrape warned. "We're gonna get back at ol' Comet for ruining my chances at getting date."

"Comet Tail?" The other stallion asked. "You mean that guy you held a grudge against back in Grade School for beating you in the science fair?"

Written Script spoke again. "You sure know how to hold a grudge. Can you tell me more about it? This gives me so many ideas for some short stories."

"Shut up," Goldengrape growled. "Lucky, do you have the goods?"

"Uh, yeah." The earth pony replied. He pulled a small vial of blue liquid from under the table. "Are you sure about this? If that stuff ends up being overly potent and doing something... drastic to him and we're found to be guilty... well, that'd be very unlucky."

Goldengrape snatched the container from him. "I really don't know or care at the moment."

He ignored his friends'(?) worries and quickly popped the cap off. He lifted the tiny container and poured some of the blue contents into one of the mugs.

The other ponies looked over Goldengrape's shoulders. The mysterious fluid mixed with the cider before finally fizzing and bubbling then dissipating.

"I'm not sure if it's supposed to do that." Lucky commented.

The song ended and the ponies were starting to return. Goldengrape realized that any second his enemy would show up. He quickly shoved the other two ponies under the table again, hoping that Comet Tail and Twilight had not seen them. Come to think of it, it was a miracle no pony had noticed them at all.

Comet Tail and Twilight returned to the table, both quite cheerful. They had danced very slowly, their calculative minds trying to remember the basics of waltzing without tripping over each other. Amazingly, neither had fallen once during their waltz.

"But if that constellation is supposed to be found within a small radius of the Big Dipper, wouldn't it have been discovered much sooner?" Twilight asked inquisitively.

"It would have," Comet Tail replied, stopping at the table to face her. "But as it turns out, there was actually a look-a-like constellation only a few thousand miles from the original, so the world astronomers got very confused."

"Fascinating," Twilight awed. "What was the name of the constellation again?"

Comet Tail grew an awkward look and quietly said, "True Lover's Stars..."

"Oh." Twilight said, turning slightly red in the face. She looked away from the stallion again. "Well... That's... er... creative."

"Y-Yeah," Comet Tail stuttered off-handedly. "Well, I don't know about you, but I'm thirsty. I think we left our drinks here."

Twilight, relieved that the stallion had changed the topic so quickly. "Yes. Ah, I think those are the ones." She tilted her head towards the full mugs next to the barrel. The two unicorns used their magic to lift the mugs to them.

Unknown to them, Goldengrape and his acquaintances had migrated from under the table to behind a conveniently placed potted plant.

"Come on... drink it, you little sissy!" Goldengrape growled at Comet Tail in the distance.

Lucky and Written Script exchanged concerned glances. They looked back at the aggravated stallion.

"Goldengrape," Lucky said slowly. "Are you sure you're not taking this a little far?"

"Just shut up and keep lookout." Goldengrape snapped. He looked back at the couple, who were engaged in a quick conversation. "Just drink it already..."

Before Comet Tail could drink his cider, a record scratch sounded, followed by and interrupting high-pitched voice over a speaker.

"HEYA EVERYPONY!"

"You have got to be kidding me."

Pinkie, standing on her hind legs on the DJ table. The two DJs seemed to be as surprised as everypony else. Pokey was behind her, still worried that she was still a bit intoxicated from her cider binging.

"Pinkie Pie here, gracious hostess and party planner extraordinaire!" She announced into a microphone. "I just wanna tell you all that this party, minus a few exceptions, has gone well without a hitch! This Hearts and Hooves Party totally blew last year's out of the water! So let's raise our glasses, or mugs, or cups, or bottle, or whatever you're drinking out of, and let's keep this party going all night long!"

Everypony cheered and 'wooed' and did as Pinkie said, and raised their drinks high into the air. Satisfied, Pinkie jumped off the DJ set and made her departure, staggering slightly. Pokey followed close behind in case she fell. The music began again and several ponies were already drinking their cider.

Twilight tapped her mug against Comet Tails. "Cheers!"

And with no further hesitation, the two ponies took a happy swig from their drinks.

"Yes!" Goldengrape laughed. "Now it will only be mere moments until the poison flows through his veins, and sends him reeling into an uncontrollably immense state of pain and agony!"

Written Script and Lucky exchanged looks again.

"I just remembered that an alchemist fellow I saw earlier was carrying a bag of bits." Written Script mentioned.

"Well, that explains a lot." Lucky replied. "Here's to hoping we don't get arrested for Goldengrape's crazy plan."

Suddenly, Comet Tail choked.

He hacked and coughed, almost dropping his cider. Goldengrape smiled with delight from his hiding spot, though Twilight was very concerned. She patted him hard on the back and after a few more coughs, he stopped.

"Sorry, went down the wrong pipe."

"Oh come on!"

The two ponies instantly looked at the direction the loud complaint had come from. Goldengrape was hidden behind the thick, bushy leaves of the plant he was behind. Lucky and Written Script were both covering his mouth to prevent him from yelling again.

"That was... odd." Twilight remarked.

"Quite," Comet Tail said, still accusingly raising an eyebrow at the plant. He thought -no, knew- that Goldengrape's voice was the one he heard.

Twilight, unfazed by it, took another sip. "Does your cider taste a bit... off?"

"No, why?" Comet Tail asked.

"I don't know... Mine kinda tastes a little like-" She cut herself off with a pained groan. She quickly fell to the floor, starting to stutter. Her eyesight sudden became hazy and blurred, becoming worse with every second.

"Twilight! Twilight!" Comet leaned down to her side and tried shaking her. "Please wake up!"

For once, the nearby crowd actually did take notice of the panicked stallion and his consciousness-losing partner. They circled around him and Twilight, wondering what was going on.

Goldengrape's eyes went wide. "Oh horseapples."

Lucky nodded. "Well, that certainly wasn't lucky."

"In fact," Written Script continued. "It's almost as if it were just waiting to happen, like the suspense of waiting to get to the end, neck-at-neck with your opposition, and-"

"We get it!" Goldengrape snapped again. "You're a superstitious freak and you're an awful writer! I GET THE IDEA!"

"Hey!" Written Script retorted. "I am not an awful writer! I had one of my books published!"

"Oh yeah," Lucky recalled. "That dating dictionary, right?"

Written Script's ears flopped down. "... Why couldn't've my cutie mark been a music note? I don't even like writing."

"Shut UP!"

Back with the crisis at hand, more ponies arrived at the scene.

"Outta the way! Outta the way!" Pinkie shouted, pushing past several ponies. The rest of the Mane Six were behind her, along with their respective dates. "Ohmigosh! Twilight!" She turned to Comet Tail. "What happened?"

"Food poisoning. Really bad." Comet Tail said immediately.

Rainbow Dash pushed herself to the front from behind Fluttershy and Soarin'. "Twilight! Are you still awake?"

Twilight couldn't respond.

"Oh man oh man," she said. "Where's Nurse Redheart when you need her?"

"On vacation." Big Macintosh, Fluttershy, Pinkie, and Pokey all said at once.

Twilight felt as though she would lose consciousness at any moment. All was a blur in her eyes, though the rest of the conversation she heard; however, she couldn't tell whose voice was whose.

"We gotta do something! We just can't leave her!"

"Don’t worry, Spike. We'll figure something out and she’ll be fine!"

"Well... I know some basic first aid... Just a little. Who is willing enough to perform chest compressions on her?

"If ah do it ah might just break 'er ribcage."

"Huh... that's the first time I've ever heard your brother talk, Applejack."

"Focus! I can probably do chest compressions as fast as I can fly." Her senses were fading. She assumed that whoever answered started pressing on her chest. Considering how fast it was, she assumed it was Rainbow Dash. "Anything else?"

"Well... Um, we're going to need to get her into a bed as fast as possible without disturbing her."

"Can't do it here, my bed was turned to ashes because somepony thought it was funny to set it on fire!"

"Okay, for once that wasn't me."

"Okay, okay, we can talk about the tragic death of your bed later, but we still need to get her into a bed!"

"I think I can help..."

Her head was spinning, and her sense of hearing was gone. She felt like throwing up at any moment. Still, one last thought managed to survive in her head before she blacked out entirely.

Dumb cider...

----------

Ponies would be talking about that night for years to come. Not only because of the hours lost in a Dance-a-thon, Wonderbolts show, or the fact that pretty much all the partygoers had lost the bet concerning Pinkie's ability to consume several times her own weight in cider. It would be remembered for being the only Hearts and Hooves Day in all of Equestrian history where something as close to a murder attempt happened.

The next day was a beautiful, sunny morning. The birds sang songs of love and there was not a single stormy cloud in the sky. The ponies were out, doing their daily business. The children were in school again, while several ponies shared teary goodbyes to each other at the train station.

Whatever happened that night, Twilight was not aware of. In fact, she was actually in her bed at the moment, still unconscious. There were a few dimly lit candles and the only other light was Celestia's sun pouring in through the slightly opened curtains.

The sick unicorn felt a sudden feeling of nausea that woke her up. Her senses were still dull; everything looked blurry and she wasn't even sure she was under a blanket.

Her brain took a moment before realizing that she was in a bedroom. A sudden flow of questions entered her mind. Was it hers? Or was she sitting in Pinkie Pie's bed? And that glare... was that the sun? How long had she been sleeping?

To get a better idea of where she was, she stirred what little bit of her body she could move. Apparently, whatever poison that was appeared to be more effective when it came to paralysis than most poisons, considering her little amount of motor control.

That's just great, she thought bitterly. How am I supposed to find out where I am?

"Ah, you're awake." A masculine voice said.

Twilight froze. Whoever just spoke to her must have been alone, judging by lack of other voices. She knew the voice was deep enough to belong to a stallion (or "Flutterguy"), though it didn't sound like anypony she had met before. Then again, her hearing was pretty off too, so it could've been anypony.

The first pony to come to mind was Comet Tail. She tried to speak, but no words came out. Instead, a sound remarkably similar to a dying animal came out instead.

"I'm really glad you're okay." The voice said again. "You wouldn't believe how worried I was. Considering all that poison that was in the cider, you are a very lucky mare."

She tried to vocalize her thoughts on his statement, but again, the dying animal was heard. She felt quite embarrassed to be in such a vulnerable position and only making weird sounds.

"I'll take it that you can't talk," the stranger said. "Hold on a second,"

Twilight's blurry vision of the ceiling was brought to her left, where the stranger was standing. She couldn't even tell what color he was. Everything was black and white.

"Can you move your head?" He asked.

Just who is this pony? She thought. The voice is too deep to belong to a mare. It can't be Big Macintosh; this guy doesn't seem to have an accent. Probably not Caramel either, and Soarin' was supposed to leave after the party...

Luckily, her paralysis did not get to her neck. She nodded lamely.

"Good," the stranger replied, relieved. "I know you probably might want to know who I am, but that is neither of our concerns. I just want to make sure you're alright."

Won't tell me his name? Okay, definetly not Comet Tail or Pokey. They'd tell me who they were...

Twilight nodded again. While she was still bedridden, she knew she would be safe at... whereever she was.

Gotta find out where the heck I am. She told herself.

She tried lifting one of her front legs. With some effort, it rose. Smiling inwardly to herself, she pointed her hoof at every direction she could.

The stallion followed her hoof before saying, "You're at the Ponyville Library. Your friends said you lived here."

Phew, she thought. That sure is a relief. But I still don't know who mister mystery is.

"Well," the stallion said. "I guess I should explain why I'm here."

The guy won't tell me his name but he'll tell me how he got here? Twilight thought.

"That party last night..." He began "Someone spiked the cider... Actually, it was your date's mug of cider. From what I can tell, you probably grabbed his by accident. Anyways, it was only a small dose, but that poison was extremely potent.

"It's a rare, illegal potion called 'Interius Ardens.' You may still have to be in bed for a few days, but you have had a very quick recovery. You must have probably been through a lot worse than some poison."

Twilight was shocked. Who would want to poison Comet Tail? Okay, Goldengrape did seem like a jerk, but it's not like he would go and try to flat out kill somepony. She spoke again, this time managing to croak out, "Who... poisoned...?"

"That, I have no idea. Comet Tail is actually looking into that as we speak." The stallion replied. "You seem to be getting better already. Once the dragon comes back, I'll take my leave." He seemed sad by the way he said that last part.

Twilight tried her best to speak again. She wanted some answers, and now. "How... did I get ... here?"

"Actually, I carried you back to your home." The stallion replied sheepishly. "And since you weren't awake by the time I got you into bed... Well, I stook around and waited until you woke up... I do have to admit... you looked very peaceful when you were asleep.'

Twilight was getting tired of this stallion's tricks. She tried to think of every stallion she'd met in her life. Her brother was all the way in Canterlot, Goldengrape was nowhere near this nice, and there were many, many doubts about this being Braeburn.

"I want," she coughed. "to know... who... you are..."

The stallion gulped. "I... I really can't answer that."

Twilight's pained face became cross. "Why?" She choked out. "Are you... hiding something?"

"Yes, and no." The voice's owner replied. "The thing is that if I were to tell you my name, I wouldn't know where else to go or what else to do."

She was getting increasingly more frustrated with this stallion's game. Just tell me your name already!

"And..." cough. "how... is that?"

"I told you, I can't tell you my name!"

Twilight's patience was boiling down. "And why not?!" She angrily shouted, hurting her throat in the process.

The stallion went silent. Twilight thought that she might have gotten him upset enough for him to stop talking. Finally, he spoke.

"Because I like you."

Twilight's eyes went wide. "What?"

"Yes, I really do. Ever since you first came to Ponyville, I've been admiring you from afar. I felt that I could never be good enough for you."

Twilight's anger vanished and was replaced with inquirey. "But why?"

"Well, it started back when you had just moved in to Ponyville. I thought I could say hi at the party Pinkie threw at your house and get to know you, but you disappeared. I thought you were at the Summer Sun Celebration, and you were. I was going to greet you again, but then Nightmare Moon showed up and you vanished again.

"It was only until after Nightmare Moon I heard about you. You... you were a hero, an amazing, talented, beautiful mare... I was just a nopony... I felt that I could never come up to you and reveal how I felt."

He sighed deeply. "It went on for a whole year. I'd just go with the crowd and pine after you from afar, wishing I had the courage to go and ask you out.

"Just when I thought that maybe, just maybe, things could work out, Discord broke free and attacked. When you and your friends beat him too, I felt that I could never, not in a million years, ever have a chance with you. I couldn't think straight, I was always sad, and I just didn't have the ambition to go and find somepony else. I was really in love with you.

"But then a golden opportunity showed up. You were poisoned and needed help. I volunteered to bring you home and take care of you until you felt better. I thought that if I could save you, I'd have at a chance with you..."

He made a sad, short laugh and sniffled. "I-I'm just being stupid. I never had a chance... Besides, you are going out with Comet Tail..."

Before Twilight could speak up, the sounds of footsteps was heard coming up the stairs.

"Must b-be Spike... I... I gotta go." The stallion said sadly. Had her vision not been blurred, she would've seen a few tears strolling down his face. "And... and..."

She didn't expect the sudden feeling of a pair lips on hers, nor did she expect it to be so... strained; as if he were waiting just to do this and feeling forced back.

The kiss ended almost the second it began. She could hear him whisper, "I'm sorry," before the sound of the clip-clop of hooves against the wooden floors began then started to fade.

Twilight didn't know what to feel. She had managed to get a date, nearly die, and break the heart of somepony all in a span of a few hours. It was too much to take for the girl. Was she supposed to be happy that she survived a fatal poisoning or feel guilty for unintentionally crushing a stallion's heart?

"Twilight! Are you feeling better?" Spike's voice said, interrupting her thoughts.

Twilight recognized a short, purple blur coming into her view. She nodded.

"Just let me rest. I'm still feeling kinda sick." She insisted. She was glad her voice was returning, no longer sounding like something that would make Fluttershy faint.

"Are you sure?" Spike asked. "I mean, if you need anything,"

"I'll be okay Spike," Twilight replied. "I promise. A lot has happened and I'm still really tired."

Spike nodded. "Whatever you want, Twilight."

As Spike left, the unicorn shifted under the covers and closed her eyes. Right now, she was feeling exhausted, sick, sad, and tired. Twilight just wanted to let go of it all and have herself a nice dream.

I'll figure this out later. She told herself. I'm tired.

She still had things to do. She still had to figure out who had the nerve to try and poison Comet Tail, as well as try to find the stallion she had met and settle things out.

But no matter what had happened, Twilight silently agreed with herself that this was by far the most interesting day she had ever experienced. Between the chaos of the celebration, she and her friends had managed to live through it and see another day. She was a little distraught by the fact the holiday had gone so terribly chaotic, but it was okay.

Besides, she still had a letter to write...