It was late in the afternoon as Barrier and Fruity Punch sat upon the couch in the stallion’s living room. The rosey colored mare was rubbing her sore shoulders while Barrier relaxed against the comfy couch as he waited for Verdant to finish cooking dinner.
“You’ve certainly been improving, Punch,” Barrier said as Punch flopped down onto the floor before slowly pushing herself up and stretching her limbs. “You think you’ll be able to make it through class tomorrow? You pushed yourself pretty hard today.”
“Pretty sure,” Punch said as she lowered her front end and raised her back to stretch. Her tail flicked up, brushing against Barrier’s face and giving him a good glance at her rose-colored rump. The charcoal stallion looked away, hoping he wasn’t blushing. “I’ve tomorrow off work, so it’ll give me more time to rest and recuperate before class.”
“Alright then,” Barrier replied without looking at her as Hatty and Gem walked into the living room, looking directly at him. “Anything up, you two?”
“Besides Punch presenting to you, not really.” Gem smirked as Punch squawked and scrambled to sit down on the couch, her pink face turning scarlet. “At any rate, Hatty and I were chatting and we were kinda wondering if you had any plans for Hearts and Hooves Day.”
Ah, right. Barrier recalled the day of lovers was drawing close. I’ve little doubt I’ll be able to do something Daring and Fleet will like.
“I believe I’ll take the two out for a fanciful night on the town. Dinner at a nice restaurant, and perhaps a movie at the theater,” Barrier stated. As he finished, he heard a smack that was followed by a groan beside him. Looking to his left, he saw Punch had slapped a hoof against her forehead.
“Yeah, good luck trying that without getting a princess or someone to pull some strings.” Punch shook her head before prying her hoof from her forehead. “I know for a fact that pretty much every fancy restaurant is already booked up, so unless you’re taking your mates to McSoy’s, Al’s or Jungle Karma Pizza, you’re not getting into a restaurant at all. We got booked up at the start of January. I’m probably gonna be working overtime until then.”
“Hmm. That could be a problem. I’d rather not give either princess leverage of any kind,” Barrier said as he brought a hoof to his chin. Before he could begin to ponder, he found himself being pulled off the couch by both the pegasus and earth pony.
“C’mon, Barrier! Let us help you out here!” Hatty pleaded as he pushed himself off the floor to be eye level with the unicorn stallion. “Gem and I have been learning a lot about modern courting and how to have a good time, so we’d be great for how to have a romantic night with your mates.”
“How about we wait until after dinner before we try to work on a plan?” Barrier asked as Gem let go of him.
“Alright, but we will be going out to help you work on your romantic plans,” Gem stated as she and her housemates headed for the kitchen while Punch gave her goodbyes and headed for the front door. “Hey, Voredant! Any E.T.A. for dinner?”
“Voredant?” The shamrock stallion was confused for a moment before he turned his attention back to the stove. “The lasagna will be ready in about eight minutes.”
“And what’s this sauce you’ve got here?” Hatty asked as he examined the pot with a strange, bubbling dark purple brew. He reached for the spoon sticking out of the pot, only for his hoof to be lightly smacked by Verdant.
“That’s a potion I’m working on for my Hearts and Hooves date with Erica,” Verdant said as he turned off the burner under the pot.
“You’re making a potion for a date?” Gem’s eyebrow rose at his statement. “What kinda potion and plans do you have?”
“You don’t want to know,” Verdant replied without skipping a beat.
“Yeah, we probably don’t,” Gem agreed as she took a seat at the table. “Hatty and I have plans to see a wrestling show, a movie, and then to go up to a scenic hill to drink hard cider and enjoy the stars.”
“Well, try not to get arrested for lewd conduct or public fornication,” Verdant replied with a smirk as Gem gave him a half-hearted glare before having a slight chuckle. A moment later, the rest of the household came down to the table.
“Hey Swift, Forge, you got any plans for Hearts and Hooves Day?” Hatty asked as they slid into their seats.
“Well, Snow’s reserved a hotel room for his sister so we can spend the whole night at his place,” Forge answered warmly. “We’ll probably watch some movies, take a stab at making a home cooked meal, and just enjoy our time together.”
“As for myself, I have arranged plans to go to Canterlot and spend a fair amount of time with Spearmint,” Swift chipped in. “Minty has said she wished to surprise me for the night after what I did for her for Hearth’s Warming.”
“And I’m gonna try to relax since Stakes figures business is about to really pick up,” Windy said as she shuffled in her seat. “She says that with Hearts and Hooves Day over, a lot of ponies will be coming in with discount candy.”
“How about you, Barrier?” Daring asked from her seat across from him. “Anything planned out?”
“Not in full, but I am working on plans,” Barrier answered shortly before he felt a hoof strike him in the knee. Across the table, he saw Gem giving him a hard glare while Hatty was shaking his head in disappointment. “However, I do plan on doing my absolute best to give both of you the Hearts and Hooves Day you deserve.”
“Aww, thank you, Barrier,” Fleet sweetly said while he observed Gem mouth the words, ‘Nice save’.
***
After dinner had wrapped up, Gem, Hatty and Barrier had all headed into the city. While Gem’s eyes were sweeping over the various shops, Barrier saw that Hatty was using his left wing to read a book entitled “Baka no Tame no Neighpongo”.
“It’s a bit surprising to see you reading something like that, Hat Trick,” Barrier said, snapping the pegasus’ attention away from the pages.
“Yeah, well, I was thinking about how much Neighponese Verdant knows that I don’t,” the purple pegasus replied. “It’s kinda embarrassing to think I know so little when my parents actually were Neighponese and still spoke it around me when I was little while Verdant’s more knowledgeable because he likes to read manga. I decided to try and work on it in my spare time.”
“How’s that been working out?” Barrier asked as the trio trekked along.
“Boku wa Hatto Toriku desu,” Hatty said, sounding oddly serious to Barrier. “Boku wa Ekuesutoria kouma desu. Boku no sukinairo wa tiru desu.”
“Hmm… Not bad,” Barrier commented with a hum and a nod. “I didn’t know teal was your favorite color.”
“Thanks,” Hatty replied just as Gem came to a halt in front of a store, making the purple pegasus stow his book away in his saddlebags.
“We’re here!” Gem said as she looked up at a sign that read Suits of Utter Perfection. “I figure the first thing for a nice Hearts and Hooves Day date will be getting you a fancy suit.”
“That would likely be better than my dress uniform,” Barrier agreed as he followed the pair into the shop. “So, besides a suit, is there anything else we should pick up while we’re here?”
“Well…” A wicked smirk crossed Gem’s features as she reached into her saddlebag before pulling out a magazine that made him go pale.
On the magazine’s cover was the image of a somewhat annoyed and embarrassed looking Barrier in a frilly pink lingerie set. In an instant, a blast fired from Barrier’s horn had vaporized the rag. “Where did you get that?” Barrier asked through gritted teeth.
“Oh, that’s not important. At least not more than the fact I’ve got plenty of other copies elsewhere,” Gem replied with a small smirk. “At any rate, maybe some sexy clothes would make your mates happy for Hearts and Hooves.”
Barrier groaned, fearing what sort of things the pair had planned for him. “While I do want to make them happy, I will not wear something like that ever again.”
“Not a problem,” Hatty said as he placed a wing on Barrier’s back and started to guide him towards a section of the store where there was a large collection of socks. “I think some of these will help you out.”
Barrier rubbed his temples tiredly. “Alright, but I don’t want anything that comes near my loins. The fabric rubs me in a way I don’t like.” Barrier’s eyes started to sweep over the large assortment of socks, which had a large variety of colors and styles, from rather plain to frilly and translucent. “Hopefully this won’t take too long.”
***
After an hour of trying on a large variety of suits, shirts and socks, the trio had left the clothing store, a large bag carried in Barrier’s aura as they made their way back into the chilly Vanhoover streets.
“Well, now that we’ve finished that, what do you think we should do next?” Barrier asked as darkness started to fall over the seaside city.
“Next up, we should probably have you pre-order some bouquets of flowers,” Hatty said, flying close to his side. “There’s only two weeks until Hearts and Hooves Day, so hopefully we won’t have to pay through the flank to get these.”
“From what I’ve heard from Verdant, the best flowers to show you love someone are red roses.” Gem’s eyes fell upon the still open Pretty Petals store. She started to pull ahead of the stallions and looked over her shoulder. “I know Red’s place is sold out, but hopefully we’re in luck.”
With the ringing of a bell, the trio stepped inside, where they saw that behind the counter was an earth pony mare that dwarfed even Barrier. By Hatty and Gem’s best estimate, the light green mare with the ponytail was at least as tall as Princess Luna.
“Good evening and welcome to Pretty Petals,” the mare cheerfully greeted the trio. “My name’s Beanstalk. How can I help you?”
“Well Miss Beanstalk, I’d like to know if I could pre-order a couple bouquets of red roses for Hearts and Hooves Day,” Barrier stoically said as he stepped up to the counter, looking up and mentally noting just how much the young mare towered over him.
“You’re in luck, sir!” She smiled warmly before ducking behind the counter and pulling out a book. “We’ve got a few bouquets worth of red roses available. How many can I put you down for?”
“I would like two,” Barrier quickly replied. “Also, I am Verdant’s step brother.”
“Oh?” Beanstalk’s brow rose before she turned towards the door to the back room. “Miss Spectacle, Maua, could you come here for a sec?”
After a brief moment, an orange coated unicorn mare and a green eyed zebra with a long, straight mane stepped out from the back. “What’s up, Beans?” Sunflower asked as her eyes fell on Barrier and his companions.
“Wanted to know if you know this guy,” the gigantic mare asked as she pointed towards Barrier, accidentally booping his snout.
“Yes. I do,” Spectacle said with a warm smile. “He’s Verdant’s step brother and he hired Trixie to act for a birthday party they had.”
“Gotcha.” Beans nodded before turning her attention back to the onyx unicorn. “So, that means you’re eligible for the employee family discount. Anything else you’d like to go with your bouquets? Cards? Delivery?”
“No thanks,” Barrier replied as his horn gently glowed and his bit bag was pulled from his saddlebags. “I could use the walk.”
“No problem. That’ll come to one hundred and fifty bits,” Beans said before she started to quickly note down Barrier’s order. After taking his bit and putting them into the register, she turned her attention to the pair of ponies behind him. “Can I help you two?”
“Hmm, no thanks,” Gem replied as she swept her eyes over the flowers one last time. “We already have dinner plans for then.”
“Though I would like a few yellow tulips,” Hatty interjected. “I could use a little snack.”
***
Once the orders had been placed and the trio departed, they traveled through the lamp-lit streets, occasionally looking up as the moon and stars occasionally peeked through cracks in the clouds.
“So, since the restaurants are gonna be a no-go, any meal plans for your mates?” Gem inquired as Hatty munched on his small bouquet of tulips.
“Some salads with chunks of citrus chicken in them, perhaps,” the charcoal unicorn replied, looking towards the alabaster mare on his left.
“Well,” Hatty spoke up before swallowing some of his snack. “Would you be willing to help us work on making food for our little picnic?”
“If you’d like, but I believe the community center classes and Verdant would be far better for that than I,” Barrier replied as Hatty took another mouthful of flowers and shrugged.
“Fair enough,” Gem said as she walked ahead. “Maybe if we can find the time in our work schedules, we’ll try the community center. Hopefully it won’t go too badly.”
The next Tuesday, Gem and Hatty went to the community center to try to make the dish of the day, a mild apple and honey curry with rice.
Their curry was so bad, after Gem had hers, three ponies ended up wearing it.