The Fillydelphia Experiment: Hearts and Hooves Day

Sugar Rush flew a kite in the park, the noisemaker attached to it giving off its signature whistling drone. Like clockwork, her pegasus friend Lightning Zephyr peeked out from her cloud house's balcony. "Hey Rush! I'll be down in a sec!" Lightning flew down to meet her friend.

"What're your plans for lunch today, LZ?" said Sugar Rush

"Nothing, til you stopped by. Why, do you wanna do something?"

"Nothing fancy, just thought I'd invite you over to my place for some sandwiches, see if you wanted to try the new candies I've been working on."

"The new batch you're preparing for Hearts and Hooves Day? I'm there." The pegasus grinned and hovered beside Sugar Rush as she walked back to her apartment.

Inside Sugar Rush's apartment, the two of them munched on dandelion-and-daffodil sandwiches and made conversation. "So, Hearts and Hooves Day is coming up. You got a very special somepony to spend the day with?"

LZ snorted and grinned. "Right, because I need to spend an entire day fawning over some stallion. An excellent use of my time."

"Yeah, me neither. Never seem to find the time between work and Treble Clef's schemes to get me noticed."

Lightning took a big bite out of her sandwich and continued talking around it. "Your time is better spent at your booth anyway - what stallion could resist buying your sweets for his sweet?"

Sugar Rush giggled. "I doubt any stallion worth having is gonna be buying on Hearts and Hooves Day."

"Right, the smart ones would think ahead, but some always forget, and you'd be a fool to not take advantage of that," Lightning said.

"See this?" Sugar Rush trotted over to her cart, opening its display window, showing dozens of varieties of heart-shaped sweets. "I fully intend to be 'taking advantage'."

"Wow, these look amazing, Rush."

"I do take pride in my work, Lightning." The two of them went back to eating. "Say, uh. Elzee?"

"Mm?" she asked around a mouthful of sandwich.

"I don't much like to talk about this, but Hearts and Hooves Day sets me to thinking. And I figured you were the filly to talk to about it." She took a sip from a glass of water. "Sometimes I feel like I only talk about colts because I'm supposed ta. N-not saying I like fillies or anything. I just... wonder sometimes."

Lightning blinked. She sat down her sandwich. She finished chewing and swallowed. She took a drink of water. "Who says you're 'supposed ta?'."

"Well, you're a pegasus, I know you saw those films growing up. And they may not have used so many words back in Mare Valley, but the message was the same."

Lightning snorted, clearly amused. "Want to know a secret about those filmstrips, Rush?" She was grinning broadly.

"What's that, Elzee?"

"They're old and nopony really takes them seriously anymore. They're all 'Your Role as an Efficient Pegasus' but that's not what we really care about. The important thing to pegasi is that you pull your weight and follow orders, not living some standardized lifestyle."

Sugar Rush smiled, relaxing a bit from before. "That's what the earth ponies back home value, too. I just... I think about Blackstrap and little Taffy and I just feel horrified that I might disappoint them."

"You're their sister. You're there for them when they need you, you care about them, why should it matter who you'd rather spend Hearts and Hooves Day with?" Lightning had both hooves planted on the table, her nostrils flaring a little.

"Well, that's the problem, LZ. I'm not there for them." She hung her head, her mane hanging over her eyes.

"That may be the case but it's got nothing to do with this. This kind of 'wondering' you're doing isn't a disappointment because you're not doing anything wrong." She tried to think of a suitable analogy. "It's like... clouds. There are all kinds of clouds in the sky, even if they all just look like clouds to you earth ponies. Pegasi know that we need all of them for things to work right, and we can't just pretend there's only one way for a cloud to be."

"Like how I have all kinds of candies because everypony likes something different!"

"Right, exactly! And just because you'd rather have chocolate and somepony else wants candied clovers doesn't mean either of you are wrong. Candy is beautiful and should be celebrated no matter what form it takes!"

"... I think that last one stretched the metaphor a little, hon." Sugar Rush grinned across the table at her friend. "It's just that Blackstrap sent me a bottle of rum last week, with a note saying to share it with my very special somepony." She sighed and propped her head in her hooves. "I haven't even opened it."

"Well, uh..." Lightning looked around awkwardly, rustling her feathers and inspecting her hooves. "You could use some of it in candy? Then all of Fillydelphia would be your very special someponies."

Sugar Rush giggled. "I suppose that's one way of solving it. Thanks, Elzee." She clapped her friend on the back. "I don't feel so lonely with you and Treble Clef around."

"Aww, what are friends for?" She finished up her sandwich. "I know sweets are your thing, but you're just fine at sandwiches too."

"Thank you kindly, Lightning." Sugar Rush beamed, before turning serious again. "Hey, uh. Do me a favor and don't mention this little talk to any of our friends? Cloudburst is shy enough around me as it is."

"I won't, don't worry. And I don't mention ANYTHING to Cloudburst anyway."

Rush laughed. "I don't know why you get so strange about that filly. She just wants to impress you."

"We work together, and that's all. She doesn't need to impress me, it's not going to change anything." Lightning looked upset. "And I'm not sure I like how she's trying to make friends with my friends."

"Well, I invited her to my birthday party next Friday night, I hope you don't mind."

Lightning sighed and placed a hoof to her forehead. "I'll go anyway, because it's you. But don't try to make me get along with her."

"She's a good pegasus, Elzee, even if she weren't raised in Cloudsdale like you. I don't know why you dislike her so much."

"Where she was raised has nothing to do with it! It's just... she's too much. She gets all worked up about me, like I'm special somehow, and all I want to do is my job, and for her to do the same." Lightning was sounding frustrated. "It's not that I dislike her, I just want us to get our work done without her bugging me or trying to impress me or be my friend."

"If I can speak my mind on the subject, I think that just makes her want to impress you harder."

Lightning let out a prolonged sigh, dragging her hooves down her face.

"She feels like if she just tried hard enough, you wouldn't feel that way."

"Sugar Rush, she just doesn't get that I don't want to be her friend. Just because she thinks I'm special, or cool, or a real pegasus whatever that means, doesn't mean I'm obligated to spend time with her."

Rush turned away, holding herself in her front hooves. "...Do you feel that way about me?"

"What? What? N- no!" She flew over the table, landing in front of Sugar Rush so she could look her in the eye. "I chose to be friends with you! I met you and said, 'hey! here's a pony who needs backup!'. Ever since you thought I was a cloud." She grinned mischieviously, remembering.

"I was kinda hoping you'd forget about that." Sugar Rush grinned too.

"I'm sorry, it was just too funny for me to ever forget. If it helps, I haven't told anypony else that story."

"Good, the fewer ponies know about that, the better. I've learned a lot since I met you. You've been a good friend, Lightning."

"All I really did was point Treble Clef in your direction and help you find your hooves." She shrugged. "And eat lunch with you a lot."

"You can't discount the emotional aspect just because it wasn't as big a deal for you, Lightning. You were there for me when I didn't have anypony else."

"I know, you're right, I just don't feel like I did anything special."

"Well, you did." After an awkward silence, Sugar Rush took a bite out of her sandwich, which had been neglected for the past few minutes. The pair finished their sandwiches in silence.

"Okay, Rush, I can tell something's on your mind. What is it?"

"I'm just hoping you find your very special somepony someday, is all."

"That's pretty low on my list of priorities, but I appreciate it."

Sugar Rush carried their plates to the sink. "Well, you got anything else going on this afternoon?"

"Bringing in some clouds around four. Nothing til then."

"Maybe you'd like to help me with those rum candies you suggested?"

Lightning snapped a salute. "I'm your mare! As long as you don't think I'd get in the way."

"I doubt you'd ever be in the way, hon."

"Right, like that. We need to get the mixture consistent or the filling won't turn out right." Sugar Rush held the bowl steady while Lightning beat the contents. "And now we add the rum..." She poured in a small amount of the bottle's contents. "Good. I'm sure my customers will enjoy this." Lightning was balanced on her back hooves, the whisk held in both of her forehooves, her face screwed in concentration. Sugar giggled inwardly at the sight of her friend. Maybe this isn't what her big brother had in mind when he sent the bottle, and maybe this isn't how she had hoped things would happen, but she couldn't think of anything she'd rather be doing, or anypony she'd rather share it with.