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Cotton Candy Hearts

Morning. Early morning to be precise. Normally this would still be a time of sleep and rest for the inhabitants of Ponyville, and for the vast majority of them it was. All save for one. A lone, pink earth pony in the heart of town, deep within the depths of the Candy Corner. Her name was Pinkie-Pie, and today, was a very special, VERY important day.

Today was Valensbridle Day.

A day full of celebration of everyone’s cherished loved ones, of joy and happiness that overflowed from the heart. But most importantly of all, this was the busiest day of Pinkie-Pie's year. As she prepared herself for the veritable marathon of baking ahead of her, a look of utmost seriousness crossed her face. Apron? Check. Chefs hat? Check. A hoof dipped into a jar of chocolate frosting, the mare painting lines beneath her eyes like war paint, before flexing and giving a fierce growl into the mirror before her, only to break into a giggle and prance her way to the kitchen. Mr. and Ms. Cake wouldn't be up for quite some time, so that left Pinkie all to herself, to mix and prepare all the goodies she had in store for the inhabitants of Ponyville!

It was around early afternoon that the energetic filly finally was able to set off on her mission, saddlebags overflowing with all manner of sugary treats – cupcakes, candies, chocolates, jellies and jams – nearly every dessert that could possibly exist jam-packed into those leather packs. She hummed a merry tune to herself as she bounced along, getting the odd look from a few ponies who could never get over just how joyful the pink pony always was. As Pinkie-Pie skipped along towards her first target, her curly mane and tail bobbed along with her, before she stopped at the doorstep of Ponyville's premiere fashionista extroidinaire. Setting the basket that had been firmly clamped between her teeth, she reached up and gave a firm rapping to that wooden door, sitting back on her haunches and pulling out a party blower.

“Just a minute~” came the voice from within, the sound of hoofbeats approaching the door before it swung open. A loud 'FWEEEEEEEEET!' sound greeted Rarity, caught completely off-guard as she leaped into the air in surprise, Pinkie-Pie giggling madly as she gave her friend a cheery smile. “Happy Valensbridle Day Rarity! I made you something extra extra super duper special just for you on this very merry wonderful day!” Her head dipped down, picking up the basket from before, holding it out to the frazzled unicorn, who held a shaking hoof to her chest as she tried to get her pounding heart to settle. “I...wh...Pinkie-Pie, darling, what have I TOLD you about scaring me like that! You gave me such a fright dear! Oh, goodness me if I had been holding a pair of fabric sh-wait, is that for moi?” Pinkie nodded energetically, leaning her head forward and offering the basket to Rarity. “Mh-hmm! Hiih haed hyoo fuhm shukuhlets!” The unicorn pony raised an eyebrow, staring blankly at Pinkie-Pie. “Er...please, dearie, don't talk with your mouth full...one can hardly even hear you.” Pinkie looked at Rarity with a perplexed gaze, before leaning up and hanging the basket upon her horn. “Silly Rarity! I said I made you some chocolates! It's Valensbridle Day, and I couldn't just let the day go by without showing my friends how extra special they mean to me! I'd stay and chat but I'm not done yet! Bye Rarity!” With that, Pinkie-Pie turned and bounced away again, humming happily to herself as she left a confused, albeit grateful Rarity to pluck the basket from off of her face, digging a hoof in and pulling out a decadent looking sweet from within. “Cherry Cordials? Why, these are simply DIVINE! But...how did she know how much I like these...?”

And so Pinkie-Pie's journey sent her all over town, to each of her friends. Danishes for Twilight Sparkle (The unicorn wondered just how one made a pastry 'crumb-proof'). Ooey-Gooey milk chocolate truffles for Fluttershy (and a carrot cake that simply dwarfed the poor rabbit for Angel). Chewy, sticky taffy for Applejack and her family (How Pinkie-Pie managed to get ahold of a hot-air balloon and a wagon to hold all of that taffy was anyone's guess). Even Ponyville's resident Mail/Moving Pony got her own special treat, a veritable treasure trove of muffins ranging from chocolate chip to blueberry and more! But there was still one pony who was mysteriously missing. One whom Pinkie-Pie had saved for last, because this was an extra super special surprise for that one pony.

“Rainbow Daaaaaaaaash! Where aaaaaaaare yooooooooou?” The pink pony sang out as she bounded through Ponyville. Hmm. She wasn't at her home...and she's wasn't in her normal napping tree. Where could that speedy little filly be? She pondered. It was just then that something hit her. Quite literally. A foil-wrapped chocolate bounced off of her nose, landing to the ground below. As she peered down at offending morsel, a note fluttered down from above, landing squarely on her snout, causing the filly to shriek out and gallop around in circles. “EEEEEK! BAT! BAT! BAT ON MY FAAAAACE!” Looking down at the small piece of parchment, she suddenly came to an abrupt halt, crouching down to the ground and creeping forward, giving it a testing bat with a hoof. Finding the thing to be harmless enough, she picked it up, raising an eyebrow at its contents.

Drop by drop they fall from the sky

leading the way on the ground they lie

Follow them soundly, I wont deny

at the end there's a treat for my sweet Pinkie-Pie

A hoof scratched at her chin. Obviously this was some sort of secret note! For her! An admirer? She gave a fierce giggle, hugging the note tightly against her as she bounced around giddily. “I've got a secret admirer, I've got a secret admirer!” A soft thump of another chocolate hitting the ground grabbed her attention, Pinkie-Pie giving a grin as she snatched it up, as more chocolates slowly dropped down to the ground. “Alrighty then, Mr. Secret Admirer! I'll find you, whoever you are, as sure as my name is Pinkamena Pie!” and with that, she skipped off, snatching up chocolates and following the winding trail to wherever it lead her.

Her trek brought her far from Ponyville, the earth pony having grown quite adept at timing the drops of the small chocolates that she was able to let them drop right into her saddlebags as she skipped along, humming happily to herself. She wondered who her admirer was. Maybe a fun, dashing stallion who knew ALL the right ways to party? Or maybe it was a rich, dashing unicorn chocolatier who had heard of her prowess in the kitchen, and wanted her all to himself! She swooned a little, giddy at the fact that she had someone who was taking such effort to get to her, until she finally noticed that the soft drops of chocolate had stopped, herself standing in a wide, vast field full of multi-colored wildflowers. She ooohed as she frolicked through those plants, sniffing here and there before giving a soft sigh as she flopped back into the mass of flowers, gazing up at the sky. Heee...that one looks like a bon-bon! Ooh, and that one like a lollipop! And...wait a minute, that DOES look like a lollipop! And a bon-bon! They look exactly like candies! She may be one of Ponyvilles oddest pony's but that didn't mean she was an airhead. Something was up. There was no way that these clouds could look exactly like their real-world counterparts. Pinkie-Pie sat up, tapping a hooftip at her bottom lip as she thought, so immersed in her thinking that she didn't even notice the figure creeping up on her. At least, not until the rainbow-colored heart-shaped box dropped into her lap. She gave a soft gasp, looking back behind her to see a blushing Rainbow Dash, hovering in the air behind her with hooves behind her back. “Uh...sorry for the runaround...I'm not uhm...I'm not all that good with this mushy stuff in...y'know, public.” Pinkie-Pie looked back up at the candy-cloud sky, then at the rainbow of colors surrounding her, a sly grin spreading across her muzzle. “Rainbow Dash, did you do all of this just for little old meeeee?” She inquired, the pegasus pony dropping down to the ground and looking shyly away from the earth pony, a furious blush burning on her cheeks. “M-maybe. I kinda...had some help. Like I said, I'm not...good at mushy stuff. Hard to, get the words out right, y'know?” Pinkie-Pie gave a chuckle, trotting over to the adorably blushing pegasus pony, sitting down next to her and leaning up against Dash. “You silly billy...you didn't have to do all this just for me...you had me feeling all sad that I wasn't going to be able to give you your Valentine when I couldn't find you anywhere in Ponyville. But then you go and do something like this? I mean...I didn't think you had it in you!” Dash mumbled something under her breath, obviously quite nervous with the whole situation. “Sh-shut up...I did it 'cuz I wanted to. Not 'cuz I had to. I mean...if it was any day to do this it would be today, y'know?” Pinkie-Pie giggled again, reaching into her saddlebag to pull out a carefully wrapped object, nudging Dash in the side and offering it to her. “Aww, you're such a big softie Rainbow Dash...here, this is for you. Happy Valensbridle Day!” Dash gingerly accepted the gift, turning the heart-shaped object around in her hoofs. “What is it?” Pinkie only grinned, leaning further against Dash and resting a chin on her shoulder. “Open it, silly! Open it open it open it! I spent all morning on this just to make sure it was super-duper-extra-mega-special just for you!” Dash gave a little laugh, still unable to break that blush from her cheeks. She gingerly unwrapped the gift, giving a soft gasp as its contents were revealed. It was candy, yes, but it was a very unique piece of candy. An exterior of hard, pink candy, with an interior of rainbow-colored sugary jelly within. Dash's lower lip trembled as she read the engraving upon the front of the decadent, nearly jewel-like treat.

For my Tutti-Fruity sweetie cutie~

Forever the gooey center in my heart~

Forelimbs wrapped around her middle, Pinkie-Pie planting a soft smooch to Dash's cheek as she sighed happily against the pegasus. “I wish I had known you were going to do something like this, Dashy-Washy...I would have made you something even more super wonderous than that...” Dash merely shook her head, a smile cracking on her muzzle, as tears streamed down from her eyes. “D-darn it Pinkie-Pie...I'm supposed to be the cool one...how can I be cool when you keep melting my heart like this?” She nuzzled against Pinkie's cheek, the cotton-candy mare just giving a happy grin and wrapping her lover up in her arms. “Because, silly...someone's got to make you slow down every now and then~” She pulled the blue mare against her, lips meeting hers as they shared a passionate embrace, rolling about amongst the wildflowers as they shared this extra special Valensbridle Day together. Two hearts, dipped in chocolate, and smothered in the powdered sugar of love.

“Uh, Pinkie?”

“Mh-hmm?”

“Your uh...saddlepack is digging into my side, owowOW...”

“Oh! Heehee, oopsie~”

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