“Look, it’s still Hearts & Hooves Day,” Twinken said to his friends as they walked through Ponyville.
“You still have a chance to confess your feelings to Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle!”

“I don’t think they’re in the mood for romancing while they’re doing back-breaking labor,” Rumble deadpanned.

“Well… Maybe we could do something special to cheer `em up,” Button suggested as his brain slowly hatched an idea.
“I know! Let’s go to Sugarcube Corner and get them something!”

“Button, you are a genius,” Twinken held up his hoof, saying, “High-hoof!”

They did so and scurried into Sugarcube Corner nearby, but what they saw made them screech into a grinding-freaking halt!

“You take the first bite, moony-woony huggy-bug!”
“No, you take it, shiny-winy, wuvvy-doo!”

What the boys saw was Midnight and Twilight sitting at one of the tables, a frosted cupcake between them but it was the furthest thing from their minds, evident by how they stared happily into the other’s starstruck gaze.

“I insist, Nighty-wighty!”
“Ladies first, Sparkly-warkly!”

“Midnight?!” Twinken went over and hopped onto the table, waving a hoof in his brother’s gaze but nothing doing! Midnight and Twilight continued to hold each other’s gaze as if the little colt wasn’t there.

“Twilight, are you okay?” Rumble asked, him and Button going over to her.

“I have a very special somepony!” Twilight responded, “A snuggy-wuggy, honey-funny puppy-wuv!”

“You’re my hearty-smarty, smoochy-woochy baby-waby!” Midnight responded in equal saccharine love, rudely pushing Twinken aside so he and Twilight could rub noses.

“What happened to them!?” Twinken gaped at his friends, but they had no answers.

“They’ve gone crazy!” Button tried clapping his hooves near Twilight’s ear but it didn’t do anything.

“Wait, didn’t Big Mac and Miss Cheerilee say the girls got punished because of a love potion?” Rumble brought up and it suddenly made sense!

“Midnight and Twilight must’ve drunk the potion!” Twinken realized aloud. “We have to get the book the girls got the recipe from, we’re not gonna do any good here.”

Recalling how the girls had been in the clubhouse earlier, the boys found the book no problem and looked it over.

“Okay,” Rumble said as he looked into the book. “The recipe for the potion says…

This must be what the girls were gonna give to Mac and Cheerilee but for some reason Midnight and Twilight drank it instead!”

“But this can’t be love, this is just too - Too…! BLAUGH!” Twinken couldn't hep but gag as he recalled how his brother and Twilight had acted.

“Maybe the girls got the recipe wrong,” Button suggested.

“Or maybe- Uh-oh!” Rumble double-checked what he’d seen in the book to be sure.

“What’s uh-oh?” Twinken asked fearfully.

“I don’t think the girls made a love potion,” Rumble said hesitantly, “I think they made a love poison!”

“Love poison?!” Twinken and Button echoed.

“Well, according to this book, a very long time ago,” Rumble explained, “the prince of the earth pony tribe fell in love with a princess of the unicorn kingdom but she didn’t return his feelings. So he made this recipe and tricked her into drinking it with him in a toast. He meant for it to be a love potion but… things… didn’t work out so well…”

“How not ‘so well’ did things turn out…?” Twinken feared what the answer might be.

“Well… according to this, the prince and princess were so lost in each other’s eyes they couldn’t perform their royal duties,” Rumble went on. “Because of that, the kingdom fell into disorder and then… Omigosh!”

“What?!” the other boys demanded.

“Because the prince and princess were both out of the way,” Rumble said as he read, “Equestria was taken over… by Discord!”

“Discord?!” the boys echoed in horror, Twinken saying, “That’s that psycho monster our brothers and the girls beat a while ago, the ugly drac…qus… thing that made a mess of Ponyville!”

“Exactly!” Rumble said, “And Discord ruled Equestria until he was overthrown by the Royal Sisters when they used the Elements of Harmony!”

“But there has to be a cure!” Button insisted.

“There is!” Rumble exclaimed. “In order to break the spell, the affected ponies must be prevented from looking into each other’s eyes for one full hour.”

“Come on guys, we got work to do!” Twinken declared as he ran out of the clubhouse, the boys following him.

Finding the loony lovebirds wasn’t all that hard. All the boys had to do was follow the ponies who’d been driven sick to their stomachs, scarred for life, or fainted from having taken too much.

The trail led them to the park where they saw Midnight and Twilight on the seesaw, and of course they were still staring longingly into the other’s eyes.
“Having fun, my sweety-peety sugarpie?”
“Lots, my cutie-patootie jumpycake!”
“I’m so happy, sugga-rump!”
“You’re so cute when you’re happy, cookie-lips!”
“No you’re cute, pookie-pie!”

Now that they had reacquainted themselves with the insanity, the boys felt their enthusiasm deflate, and their stomachs fighting the urge to heave and the compulsion to scrub their eyes and the desire to pin their ears closed.
“How are we gonna get them apart, much less away from each other for an entire hour?!” Button wailed.

“I hate to agree, but Button’s right,” Twinken lamented. “Those two are not gonna leave each other’s sights.”

“Hmm,” Rumble considered, letting his eyes wander when he noticed a billboard and what was on it struck him with inspiration as he looked upon the advertisement for wedding décor.
“I’ve got it! Midnight and Twilight should get married!”

“How is tying the knot gonna keep them apart?!” Twinken gave him the stink eye.

“They’re not actually gonna get married,” Rumbled amended, “they’re just gonna prepare to get married!”

He approached the seesaw, Twilight rising as she said, “What should we play on next, my cuddly-wuddly kissy-wissy sugar bear?”

“Whatever you like, my smoochy-boochy snuggy-wuggy pumpkin pie,” Midnight responded as he rose up, Twinken and Button going “Ee-yech!”

“Hey Midnight, what’s up?” Rumble asked, all casual-like.

“I have a very special somepony,” Midnight sighed as he held up a heart-shaped framed picture of Twilight. Where he got it the boys didn’t wanna know.

“I have a very special somepony, eeh!” Twilight squealed, holding a framed picture of Midnight and hugging it to her barrel.

“You don’t say…” Twinken deadpanned when Midnight and Twilight Flashed off the seesaw and onto the park bench nearby, and started nose-nuzzling again.

Rumble hurried over and got between the two unicorns, ignoring their distressed looks as they tried to reach for the object of each other’s affection, as Rumble commented, “Wow, you two are so in love, next thing you know, you’ll be getting married!”

He got out of the way, the two unicorns bumping noses as they suddenly echoed, “Married?!”

“Yeah, married…!” Rumble said not-so-subtly.

“Married…” Midnight and Twilight sighed dreamily as they locked gazes again before they resumed their nose-nuzzling.

Twinken retched but Rumble elbowed him, and Twinken got the idea. His horn glowed and enveloped Twilight in a red aura, levitating her away, neither unicorn lover noticing, as Twinken said, “Why, if you’re gonna get married, you’re gonna want a really beautiful dress to look your best for you’re…”

He forced himself with a grimace.
“Smoochy-boochy… cookie-lips?”

“Dress?!” Twilight gasped before galloping off, Midnight calling after her in distress.

“Smoochy?!” he whined as Rumble and Button stopped him, struggling as Rumble said, “Well, don’t you wanna pick out a really nice wedding diamond for your – Egh! – shiny-winy baby-waby?”

“Diamond?!” Midnight realized before he leapt out of the two colts’ embrace and took off.

The boys galloped after them, Rumble explain, “Now we make sure they stay apart for the next hour! I’ll handle Twilight, you two keep an eye on Midnight!”

“We’re on it, come on Button!” Twinken and Button veered after Midnight while Rumble followed Twilight to Carousel Boutique as the clock tower struck five o’clock in the afternoon.

At Carousel Boutique, Twilight frantically looked at dress after dress, her neurotic nature finding fault after fault, which Rumble was thankful for. But he decided he’d rather be safe than sorry.
“How `bout this one?”

Twilight looked at it but suddenly Rumble shoved her into the changing room, saying, “Better try it on, to be sure. In fact, try `em all!”

He punctuated that by pushing in the whole rock of dresses and then started stacking furniture against the changing room door. Satisfied, he looked out the window to check the time.
“Ohh, ten minutes through, fifty minutes still to do!”

At the local jewelry store, Midnight was browsing the diamonds and gemstones in the display case. The jeweler-pony pointed at one and Midnight excitably nodded his head, but then Twinken popped up beside him shaking his head, “No.”

The jeweler pointed at more and more diamonds, Midnight kept nodding his approval but Twinken would give a big fat, “No” and criticize the choice somehow.

He then whispered to Button, who was keeping watch out the window.
“How much longer? I’m running out of constructive criticism!”

“Still another twenty-five minutes,” Button reported, much to Twinken’s chagrin. But when he turned around he gasped at the severe shortage of a certain blue unicorn stallion. He hurried up to the counter, asking the jeweler-pony, “Where’s my brother?!”

“He made his purchase and departed out the back, said something about needing to see his…” the jeweler-pony could not believe the word coming out of his mouth, “smoochy-boo…”

Twinken and Button both went ‘hurk’ and covered their mouths before they ran out the backdoor.

5:45 p.m.

“I’ll do everything I can to slow him down,” Twinken said as they ran. “Run ahead to Carousel Boutique and warn Rumble!”

Button nodded and veered off as Twinken easily spotted Midnight, hopping happily towards the pony of his love poison-induced dreams. Twinken leapt and grabbed Midnight’s tail in his mouth, only to get smacked onto the ground and thrown up in the air a few times before he let go. Midnight hadn’t been impeded in the least!

Twinken ran ahead of him and tried to push him to slow down but Midnight easily hopped over him, causing Twinken to fall face-flat into the dirt. Then he noticed an ox-pulled wagon of anvils, along with a rope.

Since he’d been living at Sweet Apple Acres, Applejack had taught Twinken how to lasso, and put those skills to good use. He took the rope and threw it with surprising skill. The lariat fell over Midnight’s head but right at the moment before it went taut…!

Flash!

Midnight had teleported, causing the rope to fall onto the ground, and Midnight was still hopping!

He didn’t even see me throw it! Twinken gaped at him and ran to catch up, noticing they still had six minutes!

At Carousel Boutique, Button whammed on the door, and Rumble opened it.
“What’s up? Is Midnight coming?!”

“Yeah” – Pant! – “Twinken” – Pant! – “is trying to” – Pant! “slow him down…” Button keeled over, having run a little too hard.

Rumble brainstormed, knowing Midnight would be here any minute and they still had five minutes! Then he had another idea!

Twinken managed to get a lasso onto Midnight after his third try, and quickly looped the other end around a house.
Try and hop away from that, big bro!

But as Midnight started pulling, he snorted and grunted, his horn flaring, his whole body enveloped in his aura, and he sweated as he began to drag the whole house! And still at a brisk pace!

Growling, Twinken hurried up and jumped onto Midnight’s back, hoping even his minuscule weight might help slow his brother down. Nothing doing. And they were getting dangerously close to the boutique!

“Twinken, take this!”

He looked to see Rumble throw him something. He caught it in his telekinetic hold to see it was a balled up wrap of cloth. He looked to Rumble questionably, and the little gray pegasus colt said, “Blindfold!”

Twinken got the idea and quickly covered Midnight’s eyes.
“Hey!”

“Sorry, big brother! This is for your own good!” Twinken quickly secured a knit behind Midnight’s head and held on.

“Smoochy-boo!” Midnight hollered, and inside Twilight heard him.

“Baby?!”

*Wham-wham-WHAM*

Rumble and Button flinched to see Twilight had broken down the boutique’s door and was wearing a wedding veil.
Growling, Rumble jerked his head towards Twilight and Button got the idea.

The little brown colt dove for Twilight’s front legs and latched all four of his around them, clamping them together, while Rumble zipped up and made sure the veil stayed down.

“Smoochy-boo!” Midnight wailed

“Huggy-bug!” Twilight answered, the two of them trying to shake off their unwanted passengers.

“Less than a minute!” Twinken hollered to his friends, and they held on for dear life.

“Smoochy-boo!”
“Huggy-bug!”

The two lovestrucks had finally pinpointed each other and Midnight dove for his beloved.

*CRASH*

Twinken, Rumble, and Button groaned in pain as they hoisted themselves up and gasped to see Twilight had already thrown up her veil and raced to Midnight.

*BONG*

She had just undid the blindfold and Midnight looked into her eyes.

…

…

…

“Am I wearing a wedding veil?”
“Eeyup.”
“And are you sitting in a the dirt with a diamond on your person?”
“Uh, that would be an affirmative…”

They then noticed the boys and the looks on their faces was easy to interpret. They wanted answers.
“Uh, Midnight, Twilight?” Twinken stepped forward. “We… think you might have drunk a love potion which turned out to be a love poison and… you kinda… made complete fools of yourselves to everypony in town…”

Midnight and Twilight looked at Twinken, then each other, the wedding things they had, as it all came back to them.

Back at Sweet Apple Acres, the girls were working up a sweat, Big Mac and Cheerilee sitting under a large umbrella, drinking ice tea.

Suddenly, they heard a distant yet clearly loud…
*KABLOOIE*

“GIRLS….!!!”

Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle, and Scootaloo all felt a chill go up their spines while Big Mac and Cheerilee could see in the far distance what looked to be a mushroom cloud shaped like a pair of very familiar yet angry looking unicorns.

Rather than confront the girls about the love poison, Midnight and Twilight opted instead to act like the whole thing had never happened. Neither had ever been so humiliated.

Wherever Midnight walked as he made his way home, he noticed ponies giving him odd looks and shuddered at the horrendously syrupy garbage that had spewed from his mouth while under the poison’s effects.

…But it wasn’t total garbage, he thought to himself sadly.

True, the love poison had blown it out of proportions and to a most exaggerated effect, but in his heart, Midnight knew that the feelings had been real.
But now that everypony’s seen us like that…

He sighed morosely. He was heartbroken. Midnight had actually been planning to give Twilight a Hearts & Hooves Day present of his own, nothing big, just a simple something that represented how he actually felt. But if he gave it to her now, she might think it had only been because of the love poison.

He couldn’t help but shed a tear as he slammed the door to his workshop shut.

In the library, Twilight moaned face-first into the pillow on her bed. The humiliation, the gossip to come, she’d never hear the end of it.

Twilight sighed sadly, as she laid onto her side and looked out the window. For some reason, the moon made her think of Midnight, and she wished with all her heart this had not happened.
For the first time, in my life… I thought I’d-

She sniffled a little when she heard a knock at her bedroom door.

“Twilight, Midnight’s at the door, he wants to see you!” called Spike.

Jolting, she hurried downstairs and threw the door open, Midnight flinching at her sudden approach.

For a few agonizingly awkward moments, they just stood there, neither bold enough to make the first move. Finally…

“…Hey,” Midnight said.
“Hey…” Twilight replied and again there was more awkward silence.

“Twilight, uh…” Midnight nervously rubbed the back of his head. “Listen… about today-

“Let’s not speak of it, please,” Twilight asked.

“I just wanted to… ask you…” Midnight pressed hesitantly. “would you… be willing to have more magic sessions with me?”

Hearing that, Twilight brightened up.
“Midnight? I would like that very much.”

They smiled at each other awkwardly, and blushed a little.

“Well good! Uh, I guess… uh, good night,” Midnight turned to leave when he felt a whirl of magic turn him back towards Twilight and felt her lips on his!

…

…

They stood there, digesting what had just happened, and looked at each other curiously. Their lips tugged back into the slightest of smiles, but they knew without saying it to each other. That was real.

“Good night,” she whispered to him, giving Midnight a beautiful smile, and closed the door.

With a spring in his step, Midnight trotted home with a goofy smile on his face, looking forward to what may come.

Next Chapter: 79. Friend in Deed Estimated time remaining: 87 Hours, 55 Minutes