“This is incredible! Look at all this ornamentation!”

Quirky's eyes twitched. She hadn't realized that she had dozed off, and the sudden clarity of voices cascading through the foyer came as a rude awakening of sorts.

“Whoa, tell me about it; totally forgot about Hearts 'n' Hoofs Day, too. Wait, wasn't it like a week ago or something, though?”

Quirky could make out the voice of Vinyl – her accent was one of a kind at the academy – as well as that of Twilight's and some other pony's.

“Who set all this up?” Twilight wondered aloud. “Wait, look! Who's that over there?”

The actress could hear hoofsteps pattering in her direction until the noises against the marble and carpet encircled her. Before the silence could last long, whispers started to shoot back and forth as Quirky, unwilling to open her eyes, lie on her back as though dead.

“Is she breathing?” the stranger asked.

Quirky felt a hoof poke her in the side, to which she flinched and grumbled loudly. Those surrounding her recoiled, but didn't take the obvious hint to leave the light lavender mare be where she had collapsed.

“Seems pretty alive to me,” said Vinyl. “Question is, who's the mare behind the mask? Last time I saw this Mare-Do-Well get-up was when you had it on, Twilight.”

“You wore that outfit, Twilight Sparkle?”

Twilight cut in, “Never mind that, girls, let's just get this mask off-”

Quirky had had enough; she jerked her head forward and sat up in the blink of an eye. “I'm up, I'm up!”

The ponies around her jumped back in shock as the actress removed the disguise of her own will. She waved her silvery hair about, but the bedhead-like effect did not leave. Rather, her hair only turned into more of a twisted, curly mess. Quirky opened her eyes to see Twilight, Gallant, Vinyl and a petite, white pony standing over her.

“Hey, Quirky!” Vinyl asked. “What, uh, what're you up to this morning?”

“Oh, nothing much,” Quirky replied, “just lying around.”

The others exchanged confused glances, followed by heads cocked sideways to silently display their comprehensive lack of understanding.

“That's cool, I guess,” Vinyl said. “Any particular reason you're all sprawled out on the floor? In here? You know there're couches and stuff around-”

“I'm on the floor here because I'm exhausted! I must have dozed off after decorating last night... er, this morning?” She patted her muzzle a few times as her mind wandered off. She gathered herself upon realizing all eyes were still on her. “What, did you think I like to just pretend I'm a rug or something and just sprawl out in the middle of nowhere in particular?”

“Well, I wouldn't put it past you,” Twilight spoke up with a giggle. “You were pretending to be a statue earlier.”

Quirky rolled her eyes and sighed.

“Why are you so exhausted?” asked the unfamiliar pony, a tiny white mare with curled, pink hair. “Did you not sleep well last night?”

“Psh, come on, Twink, what else-?” Vinyl laughed.

“Actually, I didn't sleep at all,” Quirky confessed with a groan. “Guess who set up all these decorations last night?”

The four standing over the actress looked at one another until a silent consensus arrived.

Twilight guessed, “Princess Luna?”

Quirky stared at the ceiling as her final bits of expression drained like the color and last bit of joy in her face.

“Not all alone, she didn't!”

“You helped her?” the mare named Twinkle inquired.

Quirky rolled over and got on all fours as she stretched her legs. “Yeeeep, I helped her. Forced to, courtesy of our very own... ugh, never mind. I was enjoying setting the scene for a while, but once I could see the sun coming up I felt like I'd been at rehearsal from sunset to sunrise. Now you all can see why I need sleep.”

“Good thing it's still the weekend,” Vinyl said. “Plenty of time to take a nap or somethin' before classes start up again tomorrow.”

“I think I'll do that,” Quirky remarked as she wiped her dry eyes. She stumbled and bonked her head into a marble column nearby, but caught her balance just in time to keep from collapsing. “Enjoy your Hearts and Hoofs décor.” She suddenly stopped and turned to reveal daggers in her eyes. “By the way, have any of you seen... Lyra?”

Those present looked around, but no sign of the mint-colored mare stood out. Each one present.

“Be sure to warn her... she's in for a world of PAIN,” Quirky said, and then drudged off in the direction of her suite. “Tha's awwlll. Time for my sweet, sweeeet nappie...”

The others, contemplating her parting words, simply shrugged.

“Well, she seemed nice,” Twinkle remarked with a chirp. “Should we get breakfast, then?”

The others agreed, and soon the group was off. One that had not yet spoken, however, was too busy staring at the assorted embellishments with wide-open eyes.

Gallant could feel his hoofs shaking at the thought of what the day held in store.

The worst day of the year...

It was the single event he dreaded every year. Academic tests were nothing he couldn't handle; physical training was something the stallion rather enjoyed. Travel always turned out to be enjoyable occurrences throughout the years, and lazy days were welcome on occasion.

But Hearts and Hoofs Day didn't fit any of these cases; it was a twenty-four hour period of its own. Gallant feared it with every fiber of his being.

“Gallant?” Twilight called as the group headed into the glass hall.

The stallion turned his head, unable to wipe the alarmed look off his face. Twilight could only stare as she noticed the extent of dread covering her friend's face. As the others initially pressed on without notice, Twilight trotted back to the frozen figure of the faded white stallion.

“What's the matter?” Twilight asked.

Gallant shook his head as his mouth continued to hang open.

Twilight scanned the foyer for a minute, but nothing seemed out of the ordinary.

“Did you see something strange?”

Again, the stallion only motioned a negative response with his head as the short, dark silver hair on his head stood as though on end like the hair on his neck.

Twilight tilted her head down and muttered, “Would you care to tell me anything?”

The stallion took in a large breath, as though he were about to dive to the bottom of the sea, and held it in for a good minute. When the air came back out, his words slowly trickled out, “I... can't... stand... Hearts... and Hoofs.”

Twilight blinked. “You mean the holiday, or you literally can't stand the sight of hearts and hoofs-?”

“The holiday! What else coud I mean!?” Gallant said in a panic. “Oh, I'm sorry Twilight. Of all the worst possible things... why would Princess Luna want to bring that wretched celebration here!? All it does is get my nerves strained.”

“What's so wrong about Hearts and Hoofs Day?” Twilight asked cautiously, hoping not to push Gallant too far; he already seemed on the verge of exploding with hysteria.

Gallant held his breath as his eyes shot in every direction, as though searching for some means of escape. Suddenly his eyes froze. Twilight examined the stallion for a minute as the silence grew awkward, until she realized that her friend's face had gone completely red. His eyes fixed on something moving across the far side of the hall. The mare slowly turned and followed where his gaze was pointing.

Stepping across the dormitory foyer to the corridor was a most determined-looking mare. Her emerald eyes were slanted and held a stare of tremendous intensity. Her red hair, long and trailing behind with an admirable sense of grace, flowed as though they were wings of a wonderful flier dashing across the sky with the greatest of ease.

Twilight looked back at Gallant, whose taken expression hadn't shifted in the slightest, even after the mare had left the scene.

“Don't tell me-”

“WHAT!? No! I mean, what? You were saying?” Gallant said with a nervous chuckle.

Twilight raised an eyebrow.

“No no no, it's not what you think!” Gallant pleaded. “Please, Twilight, stop looking at me like that-!”

The mare only laughed. “I think I understand, Gallant. You're not the romantic type.”

Gallant let out a sigh of relief.

“So, what's her name?”

The name spilled from out of Gallant's mouth with the sweetness of honey, “Prim Rose.”

Wait-

“I MEAN, who? Ha ha, what are you, uh, what you talking about, Twilight?” Gallant tried to back away, but Twilight had a smirk on her face. She knew.

“That's quite a name she has. That almost seems kind of intimidating, if you ask me.”

The stumbling stallion dug at the section carpet beneath him with a shaking hoof. “Oh, she certainly is. She's as strong as – if not stronger than – me. She's of royal descent, too; a real noble and well-trained mare from Fillydelphia. From what I understand, she wants to become a royal guard in Canterlot.”

Twilight, amazed at the detail of Gallant's recollections, tried to flash a comforting smile.

“So, you've spoken to her?”

Gallant shook his head violently. “Oh no, no, I couldn't. But maybe someday...”

Gallant started floating his way over to where Prim Rose had disappared into the glass corridor, his gaze blinded by a blanket of his imagination.

“Well, today seems the best time to get to know her even more then, right?”

“What!? Dear Celestia, no!” Gallant stammered, suddenly snapping out of his hypnotic state. “I-I couldn't! Like I said before, Hearts and Hoofs is a cursed time of year.”

Twilight rolled her eyes. “I don't get it; what makes this celebration so bad?”

Gallant looked around with a few quick glances and began whispering, “Let's just say romance is not allowed in the royal guard.”

Twilight said with thick skepticism, “You're making that up, aren't you?”

Gallant, defeated, bowed his head. “Okay, maybe I did make that up. I'm really just... scared. No, not scared; I'm not scared of anything. I'm going to be a guard, after all.”

“Aren't you scared of caves-?”

“Oh, every guard has some weakness, of course. That's what I was going to say.”

Twilight narrowed her gaze. “This whole Hearts and Hoofs Day thing doesn't count as a second?”

“Allow me to explain,” Gallant said. “I've been scarred ever since elementary school-”

“You were rejected in elementary school?” Twilight asked, then quickly changed the focus as soon as she spotted Gallant's dejected face. “I mean... it couldn't have been that bad, could it?”

“I wasn't outright rejected, mind you! I did have a jar of jelly stuck over my head for nearly an hour, though. The whole school witnessed it.”

Twilight could only stare for a moment. “That doesn't seem so bad.”

“The note I wrote that day was spread around the class, and then the school, until everypony had memorized the poem I wrote.”

“That sounds like a nice little thing to have done,” Twilight remarked.

“If it was actually a good poem it would have been,” Gallant remarked. “Everypony was reciting it for the next month to mock me.”

“But-”

“They even wrote it on our school flag and raised it, chanting it as though they were hoping to scare away evil forces throughout the following days.”

Twilight paused, and Gallant eventually ceased his storytelling.

“Are you done?” Twilight asked, to which Gallant nodded slowly. “Look, Gallant, that's just ridiculous. You have plenty of things going for you now! Maturity tends to increase the farther along as you get older-”

“Oh come now, Twilight, you don't think I've heard all this before? I know we've all changed. Unfortunately, my approach hasn't. I'm no more a poet or artist than I used to be; trust me, if I had something clever to say or do, I would do it in a heartbeat. I’m just not... resourceful! Yes, that’s it. The reason I hate this holiday is because it forces me to reveal this sad fact every waking minute.”

“Hearts and Hoofs Day isn't all about drawing and writing heart-warming notes, Gallant. Come on, I know some of the others might have some advice. I could always help you find a book on love and romance from the library, too, if you'd like!”

With the cheery thought on her mind, the mare led the way to the dining hall. Following behind her with his head drooped was a far less delighted Gallant. His eyes dragged along the floor, unable to behold the sights of the red, pink and white decorations hanging all around him. A glimmer of hope was shining, but Gallant wondered just how long it would last that day.

Please, Celestia... have mercy on my soul.

Next Chapter: Chapter 28 (Episode 8): Hopeful Hearts but Empty Hooves Estimated time remaining: 4 Hours, 18 Minutes