Nyx's Hearts and Hooves Day: A New Heart's New Joy

Nyx’s Hearts and Hooves Day

Chapter 2

“Oh, no! Where is it, Where is it?” Twilight exclaimed in a panic. Despite Spike’s recommendation to her to her try and calm down, Twilight was simply too worried about this morning’s conversation with Nyx. Even though she has gone through the books so many times, though, Twilight simply cannot find her parenting book.

Only the bizarre sight of Spike walking through the door in what could only be described as a daze, wobbling and sighing like a loon, would cause her to shortly pause. The bouquet he was carrying earlier was gone, replaced by a small box with a tag that simply said ‘To: Spike From: Rarity”. Also another bizarre finding was a kiss mark on his cheek!  This further halted Twilight’s rampage for her to simply stare at him in confusion. However, after Spike somehow managed to keep upright long enough to get upstairs and into their room, Twilight soon snapped back into her groundless panic to continue her search.

Not long after Spike returned did Rarity and Applejack run in, Rarity appearing quite scared. Applejack, in addition to her giggling that sounded like she was trying to keep herself from bursting into an all-out laughing fit, was for some reason wearing a frilly white and brown outfit that looked nearly completely torn instead of her usual cowpony hat. When Twilight noticed her two friends, she gave a winded “Hello”, not even stopping her desperate hunt. Rarity was trying to get her attention, but Twilight was simply too engrossed to notice them any further. In the end, Applejack had to hold down Twilight by the tail with her hoof to get her to stop and calm down.

“Whoa-ho-ho, there, missy,” Applejack laughed, “What in haysake are you doin’; getting ready for a twister? Cuz, uh, you do realize doin’ it’s work for it won’t stop it from comin’, right?” she asked, using her free hoof to point at the large mess of books.

Only now that Twilight had stopped did she fully notice the large mess she made, books thrown around the floors in every way possible. Only after she was completely calm did Applejack release her tail.

Twilight gave a heavy sigh before saying, “I’m sorry, girls. This really does look bad doe… uh, AJ, what’s with the dress?” she asked, only now noticing the torn dress Applejack was wearing.

“Oh, this?” Applejack replied before giving an annoyed sigh and turning to the other unicorn in the room, “Rarity, why was it you needed me to do this, again?”

“Oh, come now, Applejack, you remember. I needed somepony to model my brand new winter-line outfits so I could see if I needed to change anything. Oh, and thank Celestia I found somepony. Just look at how much I had to take off!” It was true. The dress looked like it had been thrown into a thorn tree at the gorge.

“Ok, so, why me?”

“Well, you were the only one left who could, of course! Fluttershy is still traumatized by last time, Pinkie Pie and Rainbow Dash simply can’t keep still, and Twilight was busy watching the library. Or at least, I thought she was watching the library.” Rarity sternly stated, moving her gaze all over the area.

Twilight gave a slight chuckle before responding, “Yeah, I’ll admit it’s pretty bad. But wait, if you don’t need me for your modeling, why are you here?”

“Ah, yes, you see, Spike came over to my boutique a little while ago,” Rarity said, putting on a smile, “and, well he being such a gentlecolt- or gentledragon, in his case- had brought me simply the most fabulous bouquet of flowers. They were so beautiful; I simply had to give him something in return. I had completely forgotten to finish his present, since I was so busy with my project, so I decided to give him some gems. They were going to be for my new dress, but I just knew Spike would love them. Anyway, I quickly got them into a box before Spike could notice, but when I walked over to get them to him…”

“Then,” Applejack interrupted, “she tripped over what looked like one of Sweetie Belle’s saddlebags and fell on Spike, face straight on the cheek. And then,” Applejack was beginning to look like she was having a hard time keeping a straight face, “when she got up off of him, he looked at his cheek in one of Rarity’s fancy mirrors before putting his claw up to it,” she was now unable to control her laughing, “He smiled the most bizarre face, and started to laugh and wobble around like some kinda drunk. I’m tellin’ ya Twi, I didn’t wanna do this for Rarity at first, but that made it so worth it!” By now, Applejack was on her back, hind legs kicking the air, and front hooves clutching her rib cage while she laughed uncontrollably. By now, even Twilight began to laugh relatively loudly.

Rarity, however, hadn’t nor has noticed her accidental peck to Spike or the kiss mark on his cheek, so she was not seeing just what her friends were laughing about. “I honestly don’t understand what you two find so amusing about this.” She growled, a great frown upon her face. “Spike could’ve been severely hurt. Why, if I had given the poor thing a concussion, I don’t know what I would do.” She became angry again, only now with a pony who wasn’t even there, “Oh, honestly Sweetie Belle, this is all your fault. Just because you didn’t need your bag today doesn’t mean you can leave it anywhere. I mean where do you think you live, Swee…”

“Before you finish that sentence,” Applejack interrupted, her face now void of all prior amusement and now holding an angry glare at Rarity, “Make sure you remember who’s gonna hear it.”

“Oh, very well. Anyways, Twilight,” Rarity redirected her attention, her face once again one of worry, “please, tell me, is Spikey-wikey ok? I don’t know if I’d be able to live with myself if I’d hurt him.”

“Relax Rarity,” Twilight assured, trying to keep her face straight, “Spike is fine. I’m sure he’s is just tired. Nyx and I had him up kinda early with our chatter.” She admitted

“Chatter? Whatever about?”

“Well, you know how today is Heart’s and Hooves Day? Or about the problems Nyx has been having with Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon?”

“Why of course we do, sugarcube. But what in tarnation do those two have to do with today?” Applejack asked, one eyebrow raised.

“You see, I told Nyx that if she were to give them a card for today, they might stop bullying her.” Twilight drooped her head depressed. “So then, she asked me if I ever get a card for today. And well, I don’t. Just what does this mean? Is she expecting a father? I’ve almost destroyed the library looking for my parenting book, because I thought it would have some answers, but I can’t find it anywhere.”

“Oh, I think I know what’s going on.” Rarity said, wrapping her hoof around her friend.

“YOU DO?” exclaimed not only Twilight but Applejack in confusion.

“Yes, I do. Twilight Sparkle, you are lonely.”

“Huh?” Now Twilight was really confused. “What do you mean Rarity? I’m not lonely. I mean, I’ve got you guys, Spike, Nyx, my brother…”

“No, no, not that kind of lonely, Rarity said, chuckling the negatives. “I mean you feel alone, like you need a good stallion in your life. A coltfriend, if you would

“Ah, and now couldn’t be a better time! I mean really, with the tri-annual Hearts and Hooves Day fair coming up! Why, there couldn’t possibly be a more perfect place for him to ask you to be his marefriend!”

Twilight was now beginning to turn a bright red at what Rarity was saying. “Oh, no, really Rarity. I’m very certain it’s nothing it’s nothing like that. I just nee…”

“A-pup-pup, not another word, dearie. I have decided I will help you. After all, nopony can tell the perfect stallion quite like I,” Rarity lightly gloated, bumping her mane elegantly with her hoof.

“This comin’ from the pony who tried to get hitched to prince “snobby-blood” back at the gala?” Applejack laughed, if only to deflate Rarity’s ego, “Boy, if that’s your idea of the perfect stallion, I can’t wait to see who ya get Twilight with!”

“Oh, honestly Applejack, what was I supposed to expect? He was royalty, and they are supposed to be gentlecolts. However, the only thing royal thing about Blueblood was that he was a royal pain!”

“So, in other words, the only reason ya liked him was because he’s royal? Geez, Rarity. I knew you were a diamond hunter, but I didn’t know you was also a gold digger.” In response to this insult, Rarity merely grunted angrily.

“Anyways, Twilight, I will help you find just the stallion you need. However, please come over tomorrow. I have a lot of work to do on this new dress,” she paused shooting a subtle yet evil smile at Applejack, “and as it is, it will take me all… day… long.” Upon this, Applejack scowled and unwillingly went along, out the door.

However, before leaving, Applejack quickly popped her head into the doorway and told Twilight, “By the way, didn’t you tell us that you kept yer parenting book upstairs on your bookshelf?” Twilight thought for a second, and then slapped her face with her hoof, remembering it was upstairs. However, once she and Rarity left, she instead decided to clean up the gigantic mess of books on the main floor, giggling about Rarity’s ‘absurd’ plan.

That’s just silly Twilight thought. I’m not lonely. I don’t need a special somepony. Besides, it’s not like I need to know about relationships now.

Suddenly, Nyx burst through the library door, breathing heavily and sweating like she had just finished a marathon. “Oh, hello Nyx. How was your day?” she greeted her daughter. Fortunately, she was able to get quick work on the mess, and had just finished putting up all the books using her magic. It was bad enough to Twilight that her friends had to see her in panic, but she didn’t need her own daughter to see it as well. Trying to keep a face on that showed nothing was out of the ordinary, she listened to Nyx’s story of the party.

Nyx wasn’t all that happy about telling it, though. Sadly, she described the day. She had made her cards for Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon, yet neither showed the slightest bit of gratitude or even caring. She then told her mother of how almost everypony didn’t give her a card and were afraid to play with her.  She said she spent most of the party in the corner reading, constantly on the verge of crying about her being shunned.

“Wait a minute,” Twilight stopped her, catching on to a few certain words, “What do you mean most of the day? Did they finally choose to play with you?”

“No. But,” Nyx said, perking up, “But I did make a new friend! His name is Pipsqueak! He was the only one to play with me or give me a card other than my friends. And he is just super sweet!”

“Really? Well, it sounds like you really like Pipsqueak.”

“Umm, yeah, I guess.” Nyx began to blush.

“HEY NYX!” yelled a new voice from the doorway. It was Scootaloo, and her surprise shout frightened Nyx quite. Instinctively, she ran over to behind the checkout corner. Once she got over her fright, she began to half-yell, half-complain at her friend, forgetting her mother was still standing there in the room.

“I already told you guys, I am not in love with Pipsqueak! He is just nice and kinda cute!”

Wait, Nyx thinks a colt is cute? Twilight thought, staring at her daughter in amazement. Nyx, however, didn’t notice, waiting for Scootaloo to say something.

“Ugh, no not that.” Scootaloo replied, “Come on, we need to get over to the tree house. We have a new member of the Cutie Mark Crusaders!”

“Wait, we do? Yay! Let me go get my cape!” Nyx squealed, running upstairs to get the ‘trademark’ cape, ran back down the stairs, and off through the door before Twilight even had time to get a word in. She was now very troubled.

She likes a colt now?! Oh, no. What do I do? I know for a fact my book doesn’t say anything about when your elementary school daughter falls in love! Now Twilight, instead of going to her shelves upstairs, was simply running around in a bug-eyed panic. After some time, though, an idea popped into her head. “Maybe I should go to see Rarity for advice. If I can understand relationships, I’ll be able to help Nyx. But wait,” Twilight said, coming to a realization, “In order for me to understand relationships, I’ll need to be in a relationship, which means I’ll need, a coltfriend!”

“So, who is the new Crusader, Scootaloo?”

“You’ll find out soon.” Scootaloo giggled. She and Nyx had quickly made their way from Twilight’s house down to Sweet Apple Acres to their clubhouse, Nyx very eager to meet their partner. However, when they were almost there, Nyx began to slow down and stop when she had thought of something. “Hey, Nyx. What’s wrong?” Scootaloo asked, slowing her running to a halt as well.

“Well, is it really ok for the new member to see me?”

“What are you talking about?”

“You remember the party at school today. Nopony wanted to be near me! Maybe I shouldn’t go. I don’t want to be the reason we lose a member.” Nyx sighed, drooping her head sadly.

“Ah, don’t worry about that,” Scootaloo laughed, putting her hoof around her friend, “Our new member already knows your with us, and he still says he wants to join us!”

“Really? Well, then let’s go!” With new energy, Nyx and Scootaloo ran excitedly to the clubhouse. When they finally arrived, Nyx wasted no time to get up the ladder and inside to greet their new crusader, to find Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle, and Twist standing in a line, smiling.

"Introducing, our newest member," Sweetie Belle announced before they stepped back dramatically  and exclaimed in unison, "Pipsqueak!"

Nyx simply was standing there, mouth agape, at her crush's unexpected joining. Pipsqueak, however, didn't seem all that surprised, and was leaping with joy. "Oh, wow, isn't this awesome, Nyx?" he squealed joyfully "Now we can have even more fun. And just look at my cape, isn't it the coolest?" He referred to the cloth on his back. It wasn't at all different from any of the other crusader's, but to Pip it was still unbelievable.

"Anyways," Apple Bloom said, "We've already gotten him through the initiation, so now we need you to give him the rundown of our clubhouse, and our mission."

"Wait, what?" but it was too late. By the time Apple Bloom's words had hit her, the other four had run out of the tree house, leaving Nyx and Pip alone for the tour. Trying to keep calm, Nyx simply decided to try and get the 'tour' over with. "So umm, this is where we do roll call." Nyx stuttered, pointing toward a point on the wall that had two pieces of paper on it. One had a picture of Sweetie Belle, Apple Bloom, and Scootaloo's heads next to a check-box. The other had a picture of Nyx, Twist, and now Pip with the same features.

"Ooh," Pipsqueak said in wonder, a little too much fascination, Nyx thought.

"This is where we eat, and over there is the 'thinking spot'" she referred to a small table left to the door, then a target on the floor under a lamp and near a window respectively.

"Cool!" Pip gazed all around the tree house as if it was Canterlot Castle.

"And, uh, o-our mission is..." Nyx stammered, simply amazed at Pip's childish fascination, before he excitedly finished.

"To help our members earn our cutie marks! Oh, this is going to be so much fun! We're supposed to do fun stuff like comedy, hang-gliding, or slaying hydras, right?

"Umm, yeah, I guess so."

"Oh, and Twist said we're going to the Hearts and Hooves Day fair that's coming to Ponyville soon. I just can't wait!"

"You really like Hearts and Hooves Day?" Nyx asked, her face turning a bright red that was slightly hidden by her dark coat.

"Uh-huh. It's my second favorite holiday."

"Second? What's your first favorite, then?"

"Oh, that's easy. It's N..."

"NOVEMBER!" Scootaloo screamed putting her hoof over Pipsqueaks mouth. The other crusaders had left her outside the window to watch and make sure that nothing went wrong, and she was just in time now to stop Pip from revealing the one holiday Nyx should never know about, or at least in her mind. However, now Nyx and Pip were staring at her like she was some kind of crazy pony, wondering both where she came from, and why she yelled what she did.

Scootaloo needed to figure out an excuse, and fast.