Author's Notes:

Oh, Look! A Hearts and Hooves chapter, and in time for the corresponding holiday in our world too. I think some of you will get a kick out of this one. Next chapter, we get to see where Daring spent her foalhood.

Daring couldn’t believe it; it was already Hearts and Hooves Day. Of course, if she’d bothered to actually read a calendar she would have probably not been surprised. To make matters more interesting, Daring was with Spike in the Crystal Empire. What had surprised her when she woke up, aside from Spike bringing her a five-course spread for breakfast in bed, was the news that Princess Celestia actually had well-preserved mane samples of both her parents to use for comparison.

It was no wonder Cadance was confident of the genetic testing; Daring had known the tests needed somepony to test them against. She just hadn’t expected Princess Celestia, of all ponies, to have a way of being able to do that without disturbing their graves. What surprised the princesses, Cadance and Twilight included, was the fact Daring’s claims were spot on. The very idea that one of Equestria’s greatest explorers was the foal of two of Equestria’s lesser acknowledged innovators was more than a little surprising.

A few hours after they got the results back Twilight came up to spend some family time with everyone, her surprise when she found the document confirming the results was so amusing Cadance, and Spike couldn’t resist getting it on film a few times. Cameras had made some fantastic leaps over the past few years, thanks in part to Twilight’s minor obsession with improving things. Daring made a joke about Twilight having missed the opportunity to have a tech company at her disposal that sent Twilight herself into super planning mode. Apparently making plans for her own publishing house wasn’t enough of a challenge, and her reaction to Daring’s joking statement sent a wave of chuckles through the rest of the family.

Before either of them knew it Cadance and Shining Armor, along with Flurry Heart, had practically shoved them out the door with a small sack of bits telling them to have fun. Before that happened, Daring had been dragged to the royal tailor’s place and come out in a pink knee-length dress that had her mark on it with Flurry holding onto a bag that contained her clothes from earlier. When Daring had tried to retrieve the bag from the younger mare she was told she would have to wait until after dinner. For the first time in a very long time, Daring made a pouting face.

She hadn’t made such a face since the time her mother decided to put dye in the shampoos that she and Star Log had used when they were much younger, things only got worse when Cadance used a camera to catch the image on film and made a compliment about Daring having a cute pouting face. Both Cadance and Flurry went around singing about how Daring was more adorable than she let on all the way back to the castle. When Spike finally saw Daring in the carnation pink dress he just stared at her in surprise, Shining would have gawked with his mouth open if his wife and daughter hadn’t been there to give him a few good smacks.

While it was true Daring had a sexy body now, something about a more official romantic attire seemed to elevate her looks to a point that hadn’t been considered before. And now, she and Spike were practically forced to spend the whole day going about like an official couple. This was made a bit more tricky by the fact crowds virtually congregated around Spike, even after all these years, whenever somepony noticed him.

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Spike found this year a bit more amusing, especially after Daring challenged every mare that came within twenty feet of Spike to fight her. Something that took the crystal ponies over an hour to realize meant she and Spike were trying to have a romantic time together despite the fact both had said as much but had only gotten looks of fascination. Now, with Daring’s open challenge to anypony that potentially obstructed them, they were getting a hint that the two wanted to go about without being hindered. Of course, this still didn’t stop lines from forming on either side of them to observe almost every action they did. When Spike and Daring made a few comments about getting lunch at around noon the two had been literally picked up by the mass of groupies following the two around and plunked down in front of the fanciest dining establishment in the Crystal Empire, the owner of which said they were free to order anything off the menu free of charge.

Out of frustration Daring just grabbed Spike and dragged him to a fast food establishment, making good on her promise to deck anypony that got in her way as she went. Spike found it incredibly hot, more than he probably had a right to think. He remembered some of his talks with Ember telling him about how dragons prized physical capabilities over all else for generations, hence why her father had arranged things the way he did in the challenge for the scepter. On some fundamental level dragons, at least the ones that lived around Equestria and its borders, had an instinctual attraction towards others that were physically capable or seemed to exude an immense level of power. Daring was doing both right now, and Spike thought of her being at her hottest in this moment.

He remembered the other night at dinner Cadance had made a comment about Daring being a firecracker in her youth; it looked she might have had a few fireworks left in storage from back then. Thinking back, he came to the realization he’d seen some of her fireworks before. He silently chuckled at the thought of their offspring carrying on that tradition.

“I don’t want anything fancy,” said Daring with frustration as she tossed another couple that intentionally got in her way as she pulled Spike along, “I just want something cheap and tasty.”

“I would just like to say, you are at your hottest right now,” said Spike with a goofy grin, which Daring didn’t see due to looking the opposite direction at the moment. “And I’m sorry about all this, the Crystal Empire sees me as some amazing hero. Here I have some serious celebrity power.”

“Yeah, and your fan club is going to get decked by your new ‘wife’ if they don’t ease up on the groupie act!” Daring said with fervor.

“Is it true?” Came the voice of some random mare that he couldn’t see despite being tall enough to see well over the surprisingly large herd of ponies.

“Um, yeah,” said Spike, “we kind of unintentionally ended up as lifemates when we tried out an ancient ritual we had less than basic info on.” It wasn’t quite the truth, but close enough to it to suit their needs.

“Praise be to the Crystal Heart,” came the voice a stallion from somewhere, “we learned about this on Hearts and Hooves Day, truly this day is more magical than any time before.”

At that moment both Spike and Daring froze up for a moment, suddenly the two being forced out until dinner coupled with the fact Cadance and Shining were excited to have Twilight and Flurry out of the castle became far more apparent. Apparently, both them weren’t entirely aware of what day it was, which was something that Cadance decided to take full advantage of.

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Almost as soon as they heard Spike’s confirmation, the entire flow of the crowd changed. Next thing Daring knew she and Spike were in a park surrounded by crystal flowers with three crystal ponies setting down just as many separate picnic baskets, which were actually two substantial picnic baskets and a large bento box that clearly had four chambers. A quick look at what was beneath them showed a blanket that was far too ornate for being used as a tool to picnic on. After all that the crowd retreated a good sixty feet and the sounds of ponies setting up to take amateur pictures and video of their favorite celebs could be heard. Daring let out an annoyed sigh, which coincided with a camera flash that irked her further.

“Okay, three things to remember for next year.”

“Check the calendar, make sure no visits bring us close to the Crystal Empire on Hearts and Hooves Day,” said Spike as he ticked things off on his digits, “and what’s the third?”

“Make sure somepony doesn’t further invade our privacy. I have plans for you,” she brought her face so close they almost touched then gave him one of her erotic kisses, this one last a good three minutes, “got it?”

“Yes ma’am,” said Spike, “I think our watchers are enjoying the show, especially the part with the kiss.”

“Probably going to be all over the front page of the morning edition tomorrow. Now, I’m usually wary of food given to me by other ponies. Seeing as I’ve nearly fallen prey to unscrupulous individuals that tried to drug me through food and drink, which they or their subordinates tried giving me.”

“Oh, come on,” said Spike with a goofy grin, “they’re mostly harmless,” he took the lid off one of the bento style lunch box that was between to large looking picnic baskets. Inside were a variety of sandwiches and carefully placed collection of fruits and vegetables that made out his face and head, “Although, there are times where it can get a little unnerving. I get the feeling they planned to try getting me alone for these but decided to alter the plan after your comment about us being married. I’m not sure if that was a good call or not at the moment.” He reached in and grabbed a random sandwich and chewed on it for a bit.

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Since Spike got such a kick out of cooking, thanks in part to him having to learn the skills very early on because of Twilight’s personality in those early days, and the fact Twi’s mom, who also had the name Twilight amusingly enough. Not to mention, Princess Celestia insisted on him trying and using high-quality food for most of his early life, Spike had developed a refined palate that could tell just how good the food was.

What he tasted of the sandwich, which appeared to be a crystal daisy and crocus sandwich, was that it was subpar. The flowers weren’t as fresh as they could have been and the bread was a little undercooked. He was dealing with novice cooking, something that was a bit of pet peeve for him. The food decoration was excellent, practically a work of art unto itself. But the actual cooking part of the whole set was lacking on the most basic of levels; Spike wasn’t happy.

“Although, I can appreciate your point of view,” said Spike as he set the rest of the sandwich down next to him and put the lid back on the box. “It looked nice but was subpar, all the food needed a bit more attention before it was even considered for consumption. The bread wasn’t baked all the way through, it was far too doughy for the function it was used for, and the flowers weren’t at the level of health they should have been for use in a dish of any kind.” The mare in the crowd who had set the box down in front of the two looked nervous, almost as if she was expecting some sort of retribution for failing to perform basic cooking.

“And I’m guessing the rest of this spread is going to be potentially equally as lacking,” said Daring. She seemed to be lost in thought for a moment, Daring turned the crowd and said, “We thank you for your thoughtfulness, but it seems you need to put a little more patience and practice in before you can provide something worthy of his praise.” The crowd seemed to take her word choice well; she turned to Spike, “How about we head to the castle and you commandeer the kitchen to make us a proper lunch?”

“Sounds like a plan,” said Spike, “time to see what the Crystal Empire has for us to work with.”

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Twelve minutes later they were back at the castle, and the kitchen staff was more than happy to let Spike have their usual workspace all to himself for a few minutes. Also, they thanked Spike for giving them some additional free time to spend with their loved ones on this day. After a few minutes of prep work, which thankfully involved Spike’s definition of proper ingredients, he had made a small stack of sandwiches and a small bowl of salad for the to of them. The sandwiches were to share, and maybe let a passerby snag if they felt the need, while the bowls were prepped for the two of them.

On his way out of the kitchen with the sandwiches, Spike snagged a passing maid and requested she tell whoever had the duty to bring him and Daring a bottle of white wine. The flowers and bread he used didn’t work well with red wine, at least that’s what Celestia had told him quite a few times when she had decided to have wine with a similar set of sandwiches. Spike was aware a red wine would probably look better for the holiday, but he preferred to do away with aesthetics at the moment. He’d had enough of aesthetics for their own sake for the day, mostly because the situations he and Daring had just barely managed to escape.

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Daring was feeling ravenous for food; she could “eat” Spike later. She was just beginning to get a sandwich from the pile when one of the castle’s maids brought a bottle of white wine in a very crystal looking bottle, with a pair of very crystal looking wine glasses. Spike thanked the maid and didn’t bother with bottle opener she offered him, he actually motioned for the maid to return the opener to its storage, and used his tail to pop the cork from the bottle and pour them both some of the very shiny white wine, calling it sparkling would be a tremendous understatement.

Daring managed to suppress a giggle, with the cork on his tail’s tip Spike looked a little comical in his indigo suit with a pink shirt and green tie. All of which did nothing to “de-masculate” him. But adding a wine cork to the tip of his tail somehow made him look comedic. Spike seemed to realize the how silly he looked with a wine cork on his tail and carefully pulled the cork off, transforming his image from one of comedy to one of class.

Daring was just starting to bite a sandwich with Spike reaching for a sandwich the flash of a camera caught Daring’s eye. With the sandwich still in her hold and mouth, Daring turned her head to see Twilight and Flurry both with a new looking camera. The camera looked more like an ellipse that had Twilight’s mark for the flash and what looked like one of Pinkie’s balloons for the lens.

“Something you’ve been working on with your friends, I see,” said Daring after she finished the first bite of her sandwich.

“Yep,” said Twilight with a smirk, “we’ve been going all over town trying these little beauties out.”

“Wait, there’s more than one?” Spike said with shock with his sandwich inches from his face; the cork was still in his other hand for some reason.

Flurry produced a similarly designed camera, the only differences being the flash modeled after one of Rarity’s diamonds and lens modeled after one of Applejack’s apples. “Auntie Twilight and I have been having a ball taking pictures of couples all over the Crystal Empire, only you two and my parents were left. And I have to say, your photos are probably going to be the best. It was like a romantic comedy when you had that cork on your tail but when you took it off it turned into a romantic drama, either one works for me. I know mom is going to enjoy those photos.”

“Indeed I will,” came Cadance’s voice as the cameras were pulled out of the hold of Twilight and Flurry by Cadance’s magic. “I’m sorry to say, Twilight,” she continued, “you won’t be taking pictures of me or Shining with these anytime soon,” she floated a sandwich from the stack to her mouth and took a bite, “delicious, you do good work in the kitchen, Spike. I think that bottle of wine you’re sharing with Daring should do as a downpayment.”

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Dinner was beyond awkward, Flurry and Twilight looked like they were sulking while Cadance and Shining were reviewing the pictures Twilight and Flurry had taken throughout the day. Cadance’s giggling and commenting on the cuteness of every image with Daring and Spike in them, while also showing the now thoroughly embarrassed couple, wasn’t helping matters either.

Things were only worse for Daring because she could hear Zelshirska laughing in her head, mostly about the aspects of the modern era she found amusing. A snickering dragon goddess in one’s head was not something anyone should hear during a meal. Her attempts at “special” time with Spike already felt like they were going to be ruined, for the first time since her changes Daring worried what the future would hold.