Jaze had not been this happy in months. Despite the massive amounts of paperwork he was failing to catch up on, and the fact that reinforcements were not going to arrive anytime soon, he could not be more excited. Humanity was no longer waiting for the next attack, they were preparing for an attack of their own. The troops had been told hours after the Colonel had been informed of the foray deep into Cye space in order to find their home world. Celebrations of the highest order had been held; everyone, human and pony, had been invited.

Nothing stopped the celebrations for several days. Pinkie Pie had setup the parties for the troops and ponies, and had been the life of the party. Her skills did wonders for the troop morale, the only disappointing part being that the soldiers could not share their happiness with their families. So instead, they poured the joy out to the local inhabitants; sweeping the ponies up and carrying them along on a wave sheer elation.

There was something else that had the soldiers riled up. The assassin’s internal clock tried to tell him what it was, but his mind was too busy trying to process all the implications of the potential attack.

He was sitting in his office, still trying to catch up on the mountains of paperwork. If Jaze did not know better, he would guess that he had two unicorn assistants whose talent in magic was summoning endless forms for him to initial, reports to read, and various other papers from the bowels of the military bureaucracy. After hours spent trying to focus enough to actually get some work done, Jaze decided to call it an afternoon. Until, that is, he heard worried, hushed whispers outside his door.

“You ask him, Vin.”

“Oh no, he’s scared of you. You ask him.”

“Ask me what?” Jaze called out with a grin. He could hear Shelby and Vincent jump. They opened the door and came into the office, slightly red in the face.

“How you doing Jaze?” Vincent asked, trying to avoid eye contact.

“Quite well, even though this job wants to kick me around.” Jaze’s grin grew a little wider and he crossed his arms, “But you’re not here to inquire as to my health, are you?”

“No, we, uh…” Shelby took in a deep breath, “Can we have a dance tomorrow?”

“Huh, what?”

“We wanted to hold a dance, in honor of what tomorrow is.” Vincent explained unhelpfully

The assassin’s face contorted in confusion, “What day? What did I miss?”

“You don’t know?” Shelby’s voice was incredulous, “If you don’t know, then I ain’t gonna tell you.

“Come on, tell me.”

“Jaze,” Vincent asked, laughing, “you really don’t know?”

“No! That’s what I’m trying to tell you!”

“So, can we have a dance?” Shelby asked again.

“Not unless you tell me what I missed.”

Vincent wore a wicked grin, “Let us have a dance and you’ll find out.”

“Fine, you two plan it and you can have it. But you two really should let me know.”

“Nope.” the grinning couple called in unison as they left to begin the planning of this mysterious dance. Jaze leaned back in his chair, staring at the ceiling. What, he thought amusedly, are those two hiding?

Jaze stood up, frustrated with work, and decided to hunt the two Angels down and get them to tell him what he missed. He dodged around his desk; throwing one last look to the mountainous piles adorning it, which seemed to grow as he watched, before leaving. He glanced to the aide outside his office.

“Before you ask, sir.” He said with a smile, “Those two ordered me not to say a word. Then they asked me politely.”

“So you’re not going to tell me either?”

“No, sir. Not unless you order me to.”

“I won’t put you in a spot like that. But will find out, one way or another.” Jaze said with passion, drawing a short chuckle from the tired aide. The Colonel set out on his quest to figure out what day he had forgotten, and why his friends had thought it so important.

Jaze had been all over the camp, and not one soldier seemed willing to remind him what was coming. They all just gave him incredulous looks and shook their heads; one even going so far as to burst out laughing in his face. The assassin had no problem being the butt of jokes, but more than anything he felt that tomorrow was important, but what could it be? He wished he had a calendar, but had found his to be strangely missing. No doubt the work of his friends.

The Colonel finally decided to find Shelby and Vincent and force them to tell him what was going on. The question would gnaw at his mind for the rest of the day unless he learned this secret. If need be, he thought with a smile, I’ll order them to tell me. He searched the camp high and low, trying to find the couple. But they continued to elude him for the better part of two hours.

Until, at last, he caught sight of Vincent’s large frame disappearing between two prefab buildings, Shelby by his side. Jaze snuck up on the pair, all his skills as a silent killer now used to stalk his friends to find out what they were hiding. They had stopped and were discussing in low whispers what the Colonel believed to be plans for the dance.

“Okay,” Shelby said excitedly, “I can get ahold of heart shaped confetti, no sweat.”

Vincent smiled and nodded, “Pinkie already told me that she would get us several large, red-velvet, heart-shaped cakes. So long as she was invited, that is.” Hearts, was Jaze’s confused thought, what do they want with all this heart shaped mess? The assassin carefully pasted himself to the wall and peeked around the corner. The couple was lovingly holding each other as they whispered their plans back and forth. Seeing the two act so close brought a broad smile to Jaze’s face. He was truly happy that the pair had found love, even if he was a little jealous. Not of their love, but of their freedom to express it openly. Come on, a voice in his head chided, you don’t love her, just like her a lot. Right?

“Do you think we could get Applejack to supply some cider, Vin?” Shelby asked, breaking the assassin’s foolish line of thought.

“Prolly,” the large man replied, “and I’ll bet that Pinkie could get some food coloring to make it pink and red for us to.”

“That would be so corny, let’s do it.”

“Uh, Shelby…”Vincent looked disturbed, “do you think that we should have told Jaze?”

“What, about what tomorrow is?”

“Yeah, I feel bad keeping it from him.”

“If he ain’t gonna keep up with what the date is, that’s his fault.”

“Yeah but, what if he has a special someone that he wanted to do something for?”

“Did you forget? About him and Evelyn? Honestly, I think that it’s better that he doesn’t know, it would make those memories fresh again.”

“Yeah, but he could have found…”

“He has only recently been in any position to start trying to find love again. I doubt he has made good with any of the ladies on base this quickly.”

“Well, what about some of the locals?”

“What, this again?” Shelby let out a deep sigh, “I highly doubt that.”

“Hey, don’t say you haven’t seen the looks that pass between him and that blue one. Trixie, right?”

“C’mon, they’re too different. Love starts with a physical attraction, and there is no reason for those two to be attracted.”

“Love has this way of not behaving like you think it should.” With that statement, Vincent leaned down and gave Shelby a deep, passionate kiss. Out of respect, Jaze dropped back behind the wall to give the two the privacy he would desire in an intimate moment. He finally heard the two break the kiss.

“Hmmm,” Shelby hummed contentedly, “I guess you do have a point there.”

“So, should we tell him that tomorrow is Valentine’s Day?”

“I don’t think so. I don’t want to risk him shutting down again. That was too sad to watch.” She let out a brief smile, “Besides, he’ll find out soon enough.”

“I guess so…”

“So, what else do we need?” Jaze noiselessly crept away to allow the couple to continue planning. When he was finally far enough away so they could not hear him, the assassin slapped his forehead in stupidity.

“How,” he asked the air, “in the name of all that is good did I forget that tomorrow was Valentine’s Day?”

In fairness, the voice from before answered, you have been away from humanity for these last few months.

“Oh, shut up.” Jaze growled, trying to ignore his own thoughts. A few sudden realizations hit the assassin. First, he had the most caring friends in the universe. They wanted to avoid giving him any pain. The second, and far more pressing matter, what was he going to do for Valentine’s Day?

Jaze walked the streets of Ponyville, wondering at his predicament. On the one hand, he felt he should do something for Trixie, but would she even understand the gesture? And, more importantly, what should he do? He wanted to get her something nice, but he could not think of anything that she would like, and that would be a meaningful gift from the heart. He passed by all the shops, glancing at their wares before passing on. Nothing was jumping out at him, everything seemed trivial and hollow in his eyes.

“Anyone can buy something,” he thought aloud, “so maybe I could make something? No, I don’t have the skill. But maybe I could pay to have something made. No, that wouldn’t have the same meaning…”

“Whatcha doing, frowny-frowning-Mcfrowny Pants?” Pinkie suddenly asked from the assassin’s elbow.

The mighty Colonel jumped like he had been touched by a live wire, “P-Pinkie! What are you doing here?”

She gave him a snorting laugh, “I’m always at Sugar Cube Corner this time of day, silly.” Jaze looked around, suddenly realizing that he had been walking and talking to himself and he had ended up outside the bakery. The pink pony gave him a wide smile as she bounced around him, “Isn’t this party gonna be fun? At first I didn’t know what a Valendine’s or whatever’s Day was, but then Shelby told me and I was all,” she gave a deep gasp, “and now I’m going to help make the cakes and treats and I even heard they wanted to invite the Princesses and…”

“Whoa, whoa,” Jaze pressed his hand to the excited pony’s mouth, “did you say the Princesses?”

“Mm-hm,” Pinkie mumbled around the hand trying to silence her and nodding enthusiastically.

“They really are pulling out all the stops on this, aren’t they?” he laughed.

Pinkie pulled away, “Yeah, we’re gonna have so much fun!”

“Don’t you have cakes to make?”

Pinkie’s eyes went wide in panic, “Ohmygoshyou’rerightgottago,bye.” She took off into the bakery, a pink blur tearing off to begin the preparations for the party.

Jaze could not force the smile from his face after seeing the party pony. He slowly managed to force his mind back to his original direction: what to do about Trixie and Valentine’s Day. He had decided that making or buying something was out of the question. He needed something that he could give her; something that held meaning for both of them. Something from the heart. As he walked, the answer finally struck him. A slow smile spread across his face as he left for home to get everything ready for the next day.

Trixie was beginning to get a little worried. Jaze had been avoiding her since the day before, only stopping to tell her that Shelby and Vincent were holding a dance in honor of some human holiday. With an almost stupidly large grin, the assassin had asked her to go. He had insisted, to the point of almost begging her. The blue unicorn had finally agreed, much to the happiness of the silver-eyed human. Since then, he had stayed away from her, and the few times she had caught sight of the Colonel he had been wearing that same, dopey grin. Now it was nearing dark, and he was still nowhere.

The party was set to begin in less than an hour, and she had seen Jaze since that morning. He had left early after cooking a big breakfast, saying something about piles of paperwork at the office. She had stopped by around midday to drop off some lunch for him, yet he had been oddly absent. The aides had been smiling, and absolutely refused to help her in any way. So she had prepared for the dance as best she could and hoped that he found her. She would have hated to be stuck there, with nopony, or human, that she really knew.

“Oh you idiot,” unicorn whispered loudly, “where the hay are you?” The dance was drawing to an opening, and still she had not seen hide or hair of the assassin. With a heavy sigh, she resigned herself to an awkward night and made her way to the field that had been cleared to give the dancers plenty of room and a chance to watch the beautiful night sky as the sun gave way and disappeared beyond the horizon. Trixie could see several long tents housing tables laden with all kinds of foods. From human favorites to pony-friendly dishes, anything imaginable was served on those tables, such as a bright red and pink cake almost as big as a pony in the shape of a heart in the center of one of the tables. There were also several smaller cakes of similar shape and numerous heart-shaped cupcakes

“Would you like to join me, my dear lady?” a long awaited voice asked from behind.

A smile graced the unicorn’s face as she turned, “Jaze where have you…” She was stunned speechless as she saw him for the second time that day. He had managed to sneak home to get his full dress uniform complete with the several medals and campaign ribbons polished to catch and reflect the dying sunlight, and the shoulder cape that Rarity had made for the Gala. Sairugi graced his hip once more, and Jaze looked every inch of what he was; the most powerful human on the planet.

“Do I look as foolish as I feel?” Jaze asked quietly.

“I think you look quite dashing, for a human.” Trixie responded with a wink.

“What’s that mean, ‘for a human’?”

“Oh, nothing…” she giggled at the confused look that had been grafted to the Colonel’s face.

“Whatever, the dance is going to start soon. Shall we go?”

“I suppose, good sir.”

The Colonel strolled to the front of the field and stepped onto a small stage on which several ponies and soldiers with instruments had gathered and shouted over the soldiers, “Good evening everyone, ladies and gentlemen, fillies and gentlecolts. Put your hands, hooves and what have you for, all the way from Canterlot, the Royal Ensemble featuring cellist Octavia; as well as several players from right here in the camp.” The musicians raised their hands in greeting to much cheering from the crowds. “It is my great pleasure to announce this Valentine’s dance as open.” The soldiers roared their elation to the skies, “Have a great time everyone, that’s an order!” Jaze hopped off the stage and made his way through the crowds back to Trixie as the artists began to play, the first song something fast-paced and up lifting.

“So Jaze,” she asked as he joined her, “what is Valentine’s Day?”

“It’s, well, you see,” his face had turned as crimson as the cakes, “it’s a day to celebrate those special to you. Usually a person gives another a gift of some kind.”

“Oh, so you mean it’s a day to celebrate friends.”

“Well, really,” he somehow managed to get even redder, “it’s really for those who are more than friends.”

Understanding crossed her face, and the realization had her turning red as well, “Oh, I see.”

“Um, so, would you like to dance?” The assassin had not felt so awkward in years, and he could tell that the unicorn was feeling the same way.

“I, uh, don’t like to dance so much. Four left hooves, as it were.”

Relief washed over his face, “I’m glad that you said that, I am a terrible dancer myself.”

“Hey there,” The pair looked up to see Shelby waving enthusiastically, Vincent by her side, “Jaze, glad you figured it out in time.”

Vincent tossed Shelby a knowing glance, “Is this Trixie your partner for the dance?”

“Well,” the blue unicorn interrupted, “we aren’t going to dance.”

“What?!” the female pilot yelled, “You have to dance, it’s traditional!”

“Yeah, Jaze,” Vincent mocked, “if the Colonel doesn’t dance then everyone will think that he is not enjoying himself.”

The assassin turned to Trixie with an almost pleading look, “Trixie?”

“If those two,” she indicated the other Angels, “say it’s tradition I guess we don’t have a choice.”

“Fine, but don’t get mad if I step on you your feet, er… hooves.”

“Don’t worry,” Vincent winked, “the next one is a slow dance. One and you two can be done.”

“Alright, alright. I’ll do it, but,” he pointed at the already grinning couple, “I am going to hate you two for the rest of the night.”

“We can live with that.” The pair said in unison as they left. Trixie guessed that they were going to find a spot that they could watch her and Jaze make fools of themselves.

“Damn those two,” the assassin laughed, “they drive me to dance.”

“Yes, well,” the unicorn glanced worriedly to the band when they began to play, “should we dance?”

“I guess. But if we’re going to do this we’re going to do this right.” He dropped into a deep bow, “May I have this dance?”

“Yes you may.”She, too, gave a bow, and then looked up, “How are we going to do this?”

“Let’s try this.” He bent down and took her fore-hooves in his hands and lifted her until she was standing on her back legs. She was now almost as tall as he, although unstable.

“I’m going to fall!” Trixie said in a near panic.

“Don’t worry,” Jaze assured, placing a hoof on his shoulder and gripping the other tightly, “I won’t let you fall, I promise.”

The pair slowly started moving across the dance floor. The Colonel could see humans and the few ponies who had attended throwing stares their way, but he utterly failed to give a care. He was beginning to have fun, and could see his partner was relaxing enough to enjoy the dance as well. They continued their dance, until another couple smacked into them; knocking Trixie from her hooves. Jaze managed to catch her in his arms before she hit the ground, and gave her a wide smile.

“Told you that I wouldn’t let you fall.”

“But you did.” She said with a flushed grin.

“At least I didn’t let you hit the ground.”

“I still think that you owe me; for breaking your promise, I mean.”

“Oh really?” Jaze asked as he slowly leaned in, heedless of the others around them. Suddenly there was a snorting laugh that brought the pair back to what was going on around them.

“This is a great party!” It was Pinkie, standing next to them with a plate of cake that she was tearing into. “Thus ish really ‘ood.” she said through a mouthful of cake, “You should try shome!”

Jaze set his dance partner back on her hooves, said “I think that I will.” And quickly

“Dang it Pinkie,” Trixie whispered as the party pony danced away, “why did you scare him away like that. She stayed where she was, waiting for Jaze to return and hoping that nopony thought her awkward for standing around at a dance.

Suddenly, she heard the party-goers behind her part, and the sound of hoofsteps. She turned slowly to see Princess Celestia striding towards her from between rows of humans and ponies. Trixie bowed low as the Princess of the Sun joined her. The partiers continued to dance around them, but gave the pair a wide, respectful birth

“And how are you, my little pony?” Celestia asked with a graceful nod.

“I am very well, Your Majesty.” The smaller unicorn assured.

“I hope you’re night is progressing well.”

“Very well, Princess.” She brought her eyes up to meet Celestia’s, “May I ask why you’re here?”

“Of course you may.”

Several seconds passed before Trixie finally asked, “Are you going to tell me, Your Majesty.”

“I will.”

The blue unicorn waited a full minute before asking, “Then why have you not told me?”

“I have not said anything, because you have not asked.” The Sun Princess answered with a smile to Trixie’s confused stare, “You asked if you could ask, you asked if I would tell you, and you asked why I had not told you yet. You never actually asked me your question.”

Trixie smiled in spite of herself, “Then I shall ask; why are you here, Your Majesty?”

“Luna and I are here to foster relations between the diarchy and the human soldiers.” Her smile grew a little bigger, “And, of course, to attend a party that is not utterly dull.”

This managed to draw a life out of the unicorn, “I see, that makes sense. How do you find the party.”

“I like the humans that do not know who we are. They treat us like anypony else, until somepony tells them.” Her face fell, “Then they shy away, like everypony else.”

“I… am sorry, Princess.”

“It’s part of the burden of ruling; you are treated as different no matter what you do.” Celestia let out a tired sigh, “I have come to accept it, but I worry for Luna.”

“Why do you worry for Princess Luna?”

“She is much younger than I and wants nothing more than to have close friends. She has lost a thousand years of learning to handle the pressures of being alone.”

“Princess, you are not alone.” The Princess cocked her head at the smiling unicorn, “Everypony loves and respects you both, they only shy away from you out of respect.”

“Maybe so,” the Princess said as she turned to leave, “but it still hurts Luna more than anypony knows.”

Jaze stood at the food tables, trying to calm his shaking body. I almost did that, he thought nervously, I almost kissed her in front of everyone. What the hell was I thinking. He grabbed two plates of cake and turned to leave, but was brought up short by Airman Shar; this time minus the smell of the bar.

“Hello sir.” She gave him a crisp salute.

“Hello Shar.” The Colonel said as he waved his hand, “You can cut the saluting for tonight; this is a social gathering and I’m just another party goer.”

“I just wanted to let you see that you caught me at a bad time. I don’t generally get drunk, and I am more than capable behind the stick of my bird.”

“You flying one of the Thundercats?”

“Nope, I fly a Valkyrie.”

“What were you doing here before your bird?”

The Airman rolled her eyes, “Typical screw-up; they sent me orders to come here, then tell me that I won’t have naught to fly but paper airplanes for a while.”

“I know that one, actually.”

“Yeah, but at least I had some time to catch up on the sleep I’ve been missing. And to think about where everything is going.”

“Really?”

“Yes,” She shifted her feet nervously, “I, you said that your just another party goer, right?”

“Yes, I am.”

“Then, do you have a partner for the dance?”

Jaze put on a sad smile, “Sorry, I already gave the one dance I had in me to someone.”

“You mean that pony girl?” A nod from the assassin, “I see, guess I can’t win ‘em all.” She pointed to the cake in his hand, “That’s a little greedy, isn’t it?”

“One is for a friend.”

“Well, tell her I said hi. And good luck.” She walked away, hiding her rejection well. Jaze shook his head, trying to figure out what she had meant by “good luck”. With a shrug, he set out to return to the unicorn he had left so abruptly.

He followed his path from the table back to where he had left Trixie. His cheeks slowly colored at the sight of her; at the memory of what had just happened. She sauntered over to him; appearing unfazed, or at least uncaring.

“Is that for me?” she asked at the sight of the cake.

“Yes ma’am.” The pair walked away from the dancers and into the cool dark of the night. They found a convenient hill overlooking the festivities and sat to watch and enjoy Pinkie’s delicious baking.

The minutes slowly ticked by in silence, Jaze trying to bring up the courage to give her the box. What if she doesn’t like it? he thought fretfully, What if she doesn’t like what it represents? And what if she gets angry? No, don’t back out now; you did this before and you’re not going to do it again. Just give it to her!

“Um, Trixie.” He slowly pulled the box from his pocket again, “I have a little something for you.”

“What, why?”

“It’s another part of the Valentine’s holiday; you’re supposed to give things to those who mean something to you.” He placed the box at her feet, “It’s not much, but it means a lot to me for you to have it.” Trixie picked the box up with magic and carefully unwrapped and opened it. Inside was a familiar ring on a chain.

“Jaze,” she breathed, “isn’t this…”

“Yes,” he nodded, “that was the ring meant for Evelyn.”

“I can’t take this, it means too much for you.”

“Please, take it.” He put the chain around her neck, “It means more to me to see it on you than to see it dangling on this sorry hide.”

“Okay Jaze, I’ll wear it if you want.” She floated the object in front of her eyes, “It really is a beautiful ring.”

“Thank you for taking it, this means more to me than you could ever know.”

[A/N] I would like to take a moment to do some thanking to the various people that have been helping with this fic. First off, I want you all to thank Dark Datum for pre-reading this fic and ferreting out my missteps. Secondly, I want to thank Doc Delray for helping to turn this fic into what it is today. Show your love this Valentine’s Day by giving his story a read; it is one of the most well written and funniest stories I’ve read in a long time. And finally, I would like to thank all those who have reviewed, favorited, et cetera my story. Seeing the reviews always makes my day. Have a good one, everypony.
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