It’s not that I don’t want to do this. Really, I do. Compared to the other hard things I had to put up with, going out with my boss should be a piece of salami. After all, Cel had given me the opportunity to do so after that Valentine’s dance. It’s like a rejected wish come true! Now that she has an opening in her schedule to let me take her out now the weather has warmed up. I should be vibrating with excitement like whenever Lu sees a new plush toy. Trust me; it would be nice if it weren’t for this one little problem: now what?
“How do I know? You’re the one that asked her out.” across from the table in the Teacher’s Lounge is one of the many teachers here at CHS that I’m having lunch with. Between us was a feast that even the Hawaiians would call excessive, was the only thing that separated me from the orchestra teacher. Mr. Harmonic Trotivari was, in my mind, the perfect guy to ask about this sort of thing.
“But she was your guardian at one point, wasn’t she?” I questioned, “You practically grown up with her for a while so you should know what she likes.”
“Yeah, but why are you asking me for? Luna knows a good deal better about her then I do.”
“I wouldn’t be doing that,” I shook my head, slicing up some pineapple glazed pork. “Luna isn’t the kind of person you want to ask from coming from the guy that had gotten her thrown in a mental hospital for a while.”
“Okay, good point.” He said reclining back in his seat. “Or why not ask Celestia herself? She’s just right over there,” he pointed over to the table where our boss is chatting with some of the teachers.
“And give away the surprise? Are you kidding? I may not have gone on dates since I was in college, but I do know that asking your date-to-be about what she wants to do isn’t exactly a good idea.”
“Then why are you asking me for? You know I don’t swing that way.”
I moaned, “Look, I just wanna know what she likes to do for fun – or maybe some advice that would be helpful. Harm, I’m asking you because that you had a spouse once that you went on dates. So logically, you have much more experience about this sort of thing then I have. I’m begging you here; I need to get this right.”
Sighing, he put down his lunch, “If you’re so desperate for my help, then I’ll do it. From what I know from living with her, there are some things that she does enjoy. I know she likes to collect art in her spare time, usually landscapes.”
“Okay,” I pulled from my coat pocket an enormous notepad with a peacock quill pen, “Anything else?”
“In her quiet time, she reads classic books like ‘Oliver Twist,’ ‘Shakespeare’s plays,’ ‘The Arabian Nights,’ things like that. I think she still does that before she goes to sleep.”
I jot down some notes, “Got it.”
“What else… she a fan of cake in general, but hates to do exercise to get rid of the excess calories. She likes to hear or see some good jokes when they present themselves like she and Lu would pull pranks on each other that, if not careful would cost millions of lives and dollars.”
Okay, I can work with that, “Anything else?”
“She loves her Harley.”
I looked up from my notes and blinked, “The motorcycle?”
“Oh yeah, she may not seem the type, but I’ve seen her plenty of times getting on that black bike and zoom off to…” Mr. H paused for a moment, “Come to think of it, I have no idea where she goes on that thing.”
“You’re pulling my nose, aren’t ya?”
He shook his head, “No, I saw the bike with my own eyes. I don’t think it’s anything new, the thing looks like it came out of the fifties or sixties. Like you would see from those greaser movies I guess.”
Ms. Boss, you’re much more curious then I gave you credit for. “Is that it?”
“In a nutshell… I think so, anything else?”
“Advice for me other than the cliché stuff like be yourself and don’t ask her if you want to have kids.”
“Oh, right. From personal experience Julius, I’ve learned that if you’re the one who’s organizing the whole date thing, think of it as a way of introducing yourself. Just to let Celestia know who you really are and how far you’d go for her. While at the same time, be mindful of some common courtesy like when either of you is talking, listen. As one of my students best put it, ‘Think of dating like a glorified version of hanging out.’
“Let’s see… what else am I forgetting…? Oh, there’s also plenty of ways of saying that how much you like her. For me with my spouse, there were three essential things that we’ve said to let the other know that we care.”
“Like what?”
“Well, such as, ‘I love you;’ ‘I’m sorry;’ and the most difficult of all: ‘We can’t afford it.”
Okay, that’s actually funny. “Is that it?”
Mr. H tapped his chin in thought, “One last thing, if you run into Lu, be extremely careful.”
I raised an eyebrow, “Why?”
“Now that I think of it, I should probably warn you to be extremely careful of both of them. Because they may be sweet women that as long as you’re nice they can be your best friends on earth. However, if you date one of them… let’s just say, be expected to be followed.”
“Oh I see, the Vice Principal is overprotective?”
“…. Something like that. Oh, that reminds me. The most important thing you need to learn: Whatever you do, do not make Celestia cry.”
“I’ve no intention to do so.”
“For your sake, I hope so. Because the last time that happened…” he looked over his shoulder before lowering his voice, “Let’s just say that a certain someone ended up in the hospital for a while.”
Gulping, I wrote that down as well, “Okay… I think I have an idea how I can do this.”
_*_
The house, 2320 Canterlot Drive, is located on the nicer side of town. It was in one of those higher up neighborhoods where the houses are twice the size of your average home, with a landscape that already look like they’ve been manicured in the early spring, and all of this is encompassed by a wall that let you know whose neighborhood you’re entering. In my opinion, they look nice, but they could have at least added some rusty tanks, bubblegum pink grass and maybe some squids searching for any signs of air pollution. But that’s my personal taste.
Looking at my watch, I was a bit early, but I came prepared.
I pulled my ride over to the driveway that’s in the dead center of the coal-du-sac. As I got out, I noticed that there was a puddle nearby so I clapped for the water to stand straight up as an impromptu mirror to make some final checks. Basically, I went for the vampire look minus the pale skin, the puncturing fangs, and me disintegrating in the fading sunlight with dignity. I adjusted the tie, pulled on the dark red vest, dust off my black suit and made sure my hair was messy and greasy as ever.
There, now I’m ready for a date with my Boss. With a tap of a heel, the icy mirror melted back into a puddle, and I headed up to the front door. While I rang the doorbell, I thought that something was missing. Something that I was- Oh! Bring my hands around my back; I snapped for her gift that I realized I left at home.
It’s good to have superpowers sometimes.
The door opened up, and there is a black t-shirt and blue jeans were Luna, “Julius,” she folded her arms. Clearly, she was expecting me.
I nodded, “Evening Luna. I know that I’m a little early, but is your older sis ready to go?”
“She’s in the bathroom,” she replied, “Putting on some of the final touches beforehand.”
“Oh,” enter in an awkward silence between us. The Vice Principal looked on at me with the kind of gaze that would easily give old Aunt Winter a run for her money.
“Have you taken your medicine before this?” she asked.
“Yes, yes. I had my meds long before I got here.”
“You have enough money for wherever it is you’re going?”
I nodded, “And I brought my credit card just in case.”
“And you don’t have anything on you meant for malicious intent?”
Frowning, I spread my arms out, “Search me if you really want.”
“What’s this?” she took the wrapped present out of my hand.
“Her present,” I said, “Now are ya gonna pat me down or what?”
Putting it on the ground, she felt up and down the sides of me. “You know, it would be easier if you had one of those machines that take a picture of me buff naked to convince you that I’m here what I said I’m here for.”
Ignoring me, she felt through my pockets, my legs, arms, and torso. At least I’m glad she did everything except molest me. “Just had to make sure,” she told me as she gave the present back.
“Remember, she was the one that took me out of the madhouse. You do not upset the person that freed you; I consider it to be rude.”
“Say’s the guy who had me committed there at one point.”
I took in a deep breath, “Look, Luna, I know we’re not exactly on good terms here, but at least I am with your sister. I wouldn’t dream of harming her since she’s one of the few that have been kind to me from the get-go. So the least I can do is to show her, in some way of thanking her for being such.”
“Who’s at the door Lu?” Celestia suddenly leaned over from the doorframe. I blinked, even when I can see half of her, she was… well… gorgeous. Everything from what I could see was in every sense of the word smart. From her hair that was held up together with a sun hair clip to her clothes, to the white sleeveless shirt that had a black and gold design of a rising sun, a black overcoat, and as she stepped out, gray pants with a white belt.
“Celestia,” I nodded, “Going for the art deco look I see?”
“It’s only something that I haven’t worn in a long time,” she then looked down at my hands. “What’s that you’re holding?”
“Oh,” I offered it up to her, “for you.”
Taking it into her own hands, she tore the wrapping paper away; it was a little red book. She blinked, “What’s this?” she opened to the first page, “Alice in Wonderland.”
“The first edition,” I informed her, “A very oversized birdy told me that you liked classic books. So I went searching in my attic and found that. I figured that I might give it to you so it would be doing something productive than sitting around talking to dust bunnies.”
“Wow, Julius this… is really thoughtful of you. Let me just put this away and I’ll be ready to go, okay?” I nodded before she disappeared into her house, leaving me alone with the overprotective little sister that’s missing her shotgun.
“Of course, I can trust that you’ll return her here, in one piece, human, happy, and unhurt?”
“You’ll have her returned undamaged and before three in the morning or your money back.”
“Julius!”
“Okay, I promise that,” Then I went through all the motions, “I cross my heart, hope to fly, stick a sickly sweet cupcake in my eye, promise that your big sis will be back safely.”
She only looked at me, “What was that?”
“That’s what the kiddies call it a Pinkie promise. If you make one, that means it’s a promise that lasts-”
“Forever!” Both of us jumped as Pinkie’s head popped out from the bushes, “Hi Vice-Principal, hi Mr. D.”
“Pinkie?” Lu blinked, “What are you doing in our bushes?”
“Oh, I was just-”
“It’s best not to ask, trust me,” I interrupted as I turned to the bright pink student. “You, shoo! You’re not needed in this story.”
“Awe come on,” she wined, “Of course you need me.”
“Nope,” I pushed her back into the bushes. “If I needed help, I would call you.”
“Okie Dokie lokie!”
“And don’t call Loki up; we don’t need his help to make this any weirder than it already is. Now go away.”
“Fine Mr. Serious, you should really lighten up a little.” There was some rustling of leaves before it went silent.
“Does that happen very often?” Luna asked.
“You have no idea,” I groaned before Celestia thankfully stepped out.
“Ready to go?” she inquired.
“Indeed,” I nodded.
Ms. Boss turned to her sister, “I’ll see you later Lu, and please try not to follow us this time.”
“I make no promises.”
“Luna!”
“Alright, fine,” she moaned. “Just, promise that you’ll be safe at least.”
“I will,” Cel turned to look at me, “Shall we head off?”
Nodding we started to head towards the car. “Your little sis is totally going to follow us, isn’t she?”
“More than likely, but don’t worry about that,” I opened the passenger side for her. “At the moment, let’s head out to that Thai place.”
After she stepped in, I rounded over to the driver’s seat and got in as well. “So Ms. Boss, are you excited for this date?”
“It’s been such a really long time since anybody asked me out.” She buckled her seatbelt, “Considering that it’s you I’m going out with, I admit that I’m rather curious of it all. Such as what are we doing after dinner?”
“Oh I have a few ideas, but first thing’s first,” I turned the key to ignite the engine. “Let’s get some food first, but after that, I think we’ll have to swing back to your house for a moment.”
She raised an eyebrow, “Why?”
“Later boss,” I waved a finger at her. “For now, let’s go pick up some dinner,” I said as I pulled back from the driveway and into a back alleyway. “Or should I say breakfast.”
Celestia looked around wildly as I clutched out of neutral and pulled forward into the street. Gone is the darkening sky which is now replaced with a bright baby blue. All around us there are honking of car horns, the zipping of bicycles, the chatter of people in the humid weather, signs that displayed in a language that I can’t read, and everywhere pulled up to the side of the crowded road are lines of pushcarts of sizzling meats. It’s not that surprising that we’re getting stares from all around since, by the looks of it, I have the nicest car on the street.
“Julius!” my date cried, “Where are we?”
I shrugged, “I don’t know, Bangkok maybe? I’ve never been here before,” I rolled down the window to get a whiff of that heavenly smell. “But I’m glad you chose Thai, it sounds good to me right now.”
“I thought we were going to that place downtown, you know, in Equestria?”
“Hey, if you want good Thai food, then why not go straight to the source? Besides, it’s a good deal cheaper if you don’t count the plane tickets. Ooh! That looks good,” I pulled up to a pushcart that has an open grill of succulent, unidentifiable meats.
“Julius,” Celestia said as we got out. “How are we going to pay for anything here? We don’t have any of their currency, or even know what they’re talking about no less.”
“Way ahead of you Celie,” I reached into my coat pocket and pulled out a notebook and a pencil. Behind the wall of steaming pieces of meat on sticks was a man in a red shirt that looked up at me. I opened it up directly at him as he spoke.
“สวัสดีคนแปลกหน้า,” He waved at us, “สิ่งที่คุณต้องการ ในเช้าวันนี้?”
My date looked at me with confusion, “Watch this,” I pulled the book up to her. There on paper were the man’s words in his language. But after giving it a few shakes, the meaning becomes clear.
Hello stranger. What would you like this morning?
“Huh, that’s surprisingly useful,” she said. “But how are you going to pay-”
“Just write down your order, give it a few shakes and I’ll take care of the rest.”
After she wrote down her what looked good to her, she showed the man in which he picked up a few skewers of freshly roasted meat in which he pulled them off and into a plastic bag of sticky rice. I wrote down I’ll have whatever she’s having and the vendor served up some for me too.
“ที่จะเป็น ห้าสิบ บาท,” the vendor said, and after looking up in the notebook, he said: That will be fifty Baht.
“What’s a Baht?” she asked.
“I think it’s the name of their currency,” I then used a pencil to draw out a rectangle bill, wrote the number fifty on one side and a stick figure of a person on the other. Once that was done, I put my whole hand over it and pushed the drawing off the notebook until a fifty, colorful bill was pushed out.
“ขอบคุณ ครับ,” he said with a smile.
I turned to my date, “So, anything else you wanna pick up since we’re in Thailand?”
“Can we go back to our town before Luna calls up mother saying that you’ve kidnapped me?”
Oh yeah, sometimes I forget that her mom is part of the CIA, “Oh alright, I guess it wouldn’t help my case if she finds out I took you over to southeast Asia for some takeout.”
We got back into the car when Celestia asked me, “Have you done this before?”
I shrugged as I turned on the engine, “It all depends what I’m in the mood for. Say I wanted to pick up some maple syrup I would grab a few bottles in Canada. Or I realized that I’ve forgotten to pick up hummus, I’d choose a few in Israel. Or maybe for lunch break, I wanted some Jerk Chicken; I would drive up in the Caribbean to get it right off the street. Besides, I’ve always been a fan of street food. You get the idea. But for now,” I turned right into an alleyway, “Let’s find a place to eat.” As we turned into the narrow space, the sky became dark once again and the noise of Thailand became still as we drove down Pony Hill Road. “Perhaps in the park if you don’t mind?”
Celestia looked around as she realized we’re back in town, “I’m not sure if I’m going to get used to that.”
“Yeah, I see what you mean,” I slowed the car at the stoplight, “When I first figured out how to teleport, I really freaked out, not to mention that it took a little while to figure out how to get back home.”
“When was this?”
“I think it was… I wanna say a month after we let the student’s duplicates running around the school for the first time. Come to think of it… I think it was on a very hot day that I’ve figured out how to teleport because all I could think at the time was how to cool off. Well, let’s just say I ended up at the South Pole for a good ten minutes.”
“Really?” my date asked surprised.
“Oh yeah, going from extreme heat to extreme cold is quite the shock to your body. Not to mention all the looks I got from the penguins asking what I was doing here.”
This got her laughing, that’s a good sign. “Are you sure you wanna eat outside? It’s still kinda cold out.”
Oh yeah, weather, “Let me fix that.” I snapped my fingers, “there, it’s a nice sixty-eight degree.” I rolled down my window to make my point and let the nice, warmish air in. “We’ll be over at the park in no time.”
A few minutes later, we pulled up to one of the town’s tiny parks. The kind where it has a playground of a slide, swings, and one of those bouncy things that are about a decade old. Letting my lady out with our meal, we sat down on the swing set.
With a snap, I created a low table between us, complete with silver candelabra that danced in the breeze. “Anything to drink this evening,” I asked as we set our Thai breakfast down.
She thought for a moment, “How about I let you chose.”
“Coming right up,” with a clap, two glasses appear on the table and with a couple of bonks to the side of my head, I caught the dusty bottle out of my ear. “What do we have?” In the flickering candlelight, I whistled when I saw the label. “You wouldn’t mind champagne, wouldn’t you?”
She shrugged, “Only on special occasions. Why?”
“Especially from a bottle that has the year 1837 on it?”
“What! Let me see that,” I hand over the bottle over to her as she dusted it off. “Julius, you do realize that this bottle was made when Queen Victoria ascended the throne, right?”
“Hey, you said my choice, so here you go.” I whipped out a sharp fingernail, “So how about we open this puppy?”
After uncorking the hundred-and-something-year-old bottle, we divided the still fizzy drink between us. We opened our meal from the plastic bags and just dig in.
“I never have taken you to be the kind of guy that would spoil me like this,” Celestia commented.
“Is that a good thing or a bad thing?” I asked between eating the sticky rice and rocking on the swing.
“I mean, it’s not even an hour yet, and already you’ve taken me to Thailand just to pick up dinner, and we’re drinking what could be one of the world’s oldest, drinkable beverage. Plus, you made so that the air isn’t cold. And the fact that I know that this is just for me, I admit it’s rather flattering.”
Sweet.
“True,” I smiled, “and remember, we’ve just got started. I have a few ideas here and there that we can do before you head off to slumberland.”
She nodded, “Yes, I suppose that’s… uh, Julius?”
“Hm?”
“Are you by any chance Indian descent?”
I tilted my head, “What are you talking about?”
“Hold still for a moment,” I did while she got up. She went all around me until she stopped, holding a hand out before moving it away from my head. Grunting, she turned around, “Luna!”
“Oh come on!” we heard little Lu whine as she stepped out of the shadows, dressed in a black marine outfit while swinging a rifle behind her back that I noticed has a silencer and a laser pointer… Ooh… Now that it makes sense.
“Really Lu,” Celestia folded her arms. “You brought Coraline with you?”
“Hey, you two disappeared from the driveway,” she said. “I almost had half a mind to call up mom until I spotted you a couple streets back. Where did you two go anyway?”
“Some takeout,” I said before turning to my date, “You have a gun that has a name?”
“It’s more of Luna’s hobby than anything,” she shrugged before returning to her little sis. “Besides, what did I tell you about following us? I said that we’ll be fine.”
“That’s what you said when you went out with Caesar,” Lu pouted. “You’re lucky that I had my sights on him at the time.”
“I know, but I trust Mr. Disc, although as unpredictable as he can be, I do think he’s proved to be harmless… most of the time.” I sighed. Why am I not surprised? “Besides Lulu, I know what I’m doing so there’s no need in following us carrying that thing – especially on a date.”
“Say’s the woman that spied on me when I went on a date.”
“Yeah, but I wasn’t carrying Coraline while doing it.”
“Ladies, Ladies,” I stood up from the swing. “Look, believe it or not, I’m not mad that Luna followed us anyway. If anything, she’s right in a way.”
“What?” my date asked.
“I’m not exactly the most mentally stable person to be around. Sometimes it helps to have someone like you two to help bring me back into reality.” I turned to the family bodyguard, “If it would make you at all comfortable, you can follow us, but only at a distance. Preferably where even we can’t tell where you are like the laser pointer for instance.”
Luna pinched her temples and sighed, “Okay. I see that as fair. But if you two suddenly disappear like that again, I will call mother to track you down.”
I raised my hands, “Okay, okay. Can I and your big sister have our dinner in peace?”
Thankfully she did, turning around to march back into the bushes; she did look back and gave the universal “I’ll be watching you” sign before disappearing from view.
“I am so, so sorry about that,” Celestia said as she sat back down on the swings.
“You’ve got nothing to apologize for,” I too sat back down. “If anything, it just makes your family background all the more colorful in my opinion.”
She huffed, “That’s an understatement.”
“I mean it. It’s kinda the reason why I like you: you’re a little screwed up like me.”
“Ain’t that the truth,” taking a sip from her glass of champagne, she realizes. “Hold on, how did you know that?”
“Your other little sis told me,” I told her as I ate some of the grilled meat. “A couple years ago when your mother interrogated me and took her to Ponyland, I’ve learned a few things about your family. Like, for instance, you had an abusive dad for example. Well, guess what, I had a drunken mother growing up, so… small world huh.”
For a moment my date didn’t reply except for, “Oh my… Julius, I didn’t know.”
“You’re fine,” I waved it off. “She wasn’t evil by any means. When she was sober, she was the sweetest woman you could ever meet. Truly. Although my memory is practically Swiss cheese, I do remember some good things when she wasn’t having her bad days. Like this one time she took me to the movies where they re-released Fantasia. I can tell you that I instantly fell in love with the film and its music right away. Even the demon part at the end, I still loved every second of it! I guess, if I recall this correctly, it was the moment that I asked her to teach me to play the piano.”
“But I’m guessing her personality changes after a few drinks?”
I nodded, “At the time, I had no idea what was wrong with her. When she’s sober, she’s a saint. Drunk, Satan. It was worst when she had me practice while she was there with a bottle in one hand and a ruler in the other. Sometimes she would wake me up in the middle of the night to play something until morning or she passes out. But it didn’t make me hate the piano if anything; I find it comforting to cope with all the stuff that I didn’t understand. Like a faithful friend in a way.”
“Oh don’t tell me that she hurt you.”
“What? Oh no, it wasn’t like that at all where she slaps me around. I mean I would get my wrists hit by the ruler when I miss a note. But that was as far as it went. If she was really drunk, she would break whatever she could get her hands on.”
“Did you have a dad?”
I shrugged, “Can’t say. I think I might have met him once, but again, there’s no way of telling.” I looked up at her, “I’m sorry, am I making you uncomfortable?”
“No,” she shook her head, “I just kinda wished I knew this a little earlier.”
“I wasn’t ready to talk about it for a long time, especially when you hired me. So I don’t suppose you wanna talk about your father?”
“Let’s not bring him into this,” she said as she finished her glass. “Well, I think I’m done.”
“Give me a sec,” I scarfed down the rest of my meal. “Okay, let’s swing by your place for a sec.”
“Why are we going back there already?”
“Because, from what I’ve learned from Mr. Trotivari, I think I should hand the reigns over to you for this next part.”
“Harmonic? What does that- Oh,” she said as we stood up and I made the table disappear while we started to head towards the car. “I’m guessing you talked to him?”
“Yep, he was the one that gave a few ideas what to do with our date. Especially about a black motorcycle that you sometimes go to some elusive place,” I smirked, “Mind taking me with you?”
“Julius? Are you sure?”
“Yeah,” I opened the passenger door for her, “I’m actually really curious about this side of you that I didn’t know existed. We’ll just head over to your garage or wherever you keep your bike and let’s take a ride.”
She got in, and I did the same when my date said, “Alright, I’ll take you. But I have to warn you, it isn’t exactly for the faint of heart.”
I raised an eyebrow, “Try me.”
_*_
Motorcycles are such noisy creatures. When there’s no stop sign or red lights, they let out one long roar that anyone with ears can hear a mile away. But since she’s the one that’s driving this thing outside of the city’s limits to who knows where I don’t think we’ll hear any complaints.
With only the light of the stars, moon and the headlight of Celestia’s bike, we descended into the darkness. The gray road slithered over farmlands for about half an hour until we went into the mountain region where all around us are towering pines. Or at least, I think they’re pine trees from what I could see from this helmet. I’m holding onto my date tightly as she zipped through the outer limits to who-knows-where with the cold air blasting at us with the force of an angry typhoon.
Now, normally I would be glad to have teleported us over to where she’s taking me except for two things: I’ve made a promise to Luna that I won’t teleport for the rest of the night, otherwise I’d have the CIA on my coattails. The other being I have absolutely no idea where my Boss is taking me is located.
Then the roar of the machine became weaker as we finally slowed down to a halt. “Ah, looks like everybody’s here,” my date said in a delighted voice. I let go of Celestia to take my helmet off to observe where we are. By the looks of it, there’s a huge group of motorcycles all around. The only lights I can see are a few lampposts, and the lit up sign over a wooden building that looks in desperate need of cleaning. The sign read: ‘Mountain Ram Bar and Grill.’
“Are you sure this is the right place?” I asked as we got off the bike.
“I tend to come here on the weekends,” she said as she kicks the stand of her antique bike and pulled the key out. “The guys would be expecting me tomorrow, but I think I can make an exception.”
“Guys?” I raised an eyebrow. “Is this some biker bar or something?”
“Look, I know the place seems a little…”
“Intimidating?”
“I was going to go with run down, at least on the outside, but trust me on this. The people inside really are sweethearts once you get to know them,” she said as we neared the oversized log cabin.
“If you say so.”
“Trust me Julius; you’re gonna like it here.”
On the outside, the place looks like it could collapse on itself at any given moment. Hanging on the edge of the roof were neon signs that advertise that it’s both open and has beer. On the inside where the air was perfumed thickly with smoke and spilled beer, there was a room full of masculine men in beards and a sea of black leather. They smoked out in the open, chugged down pints, played a game of billiards with no rules, or talked up a storm. The speakers all around played rock music so loud to the point that you could almost make out what anyone is saying. On the sticky floor, there were scraps of leftover food, peanut shells, hair, someone’s vomit, and broken glass.
“What do ya think?” Celestia asked loudly over the music.
I took one more glance around, “I’ll tell ya this: it’s intimidating, dangerous, unsanitary, loud and these guys look like they can snap our necks any moment… I think I can see why you like here.”
“Hey!” someone in the crowd shouted, “Arm-Breaker’s here!”
Nearly every guy in the room stopped for a moment to look at us in confusion. “What’s she doing here?” I heard one of them asked.
Then a big guy (and by that I mean the kind that has more muscles than any man should have on his bones) walks over to Celestia. Plus, whoever he is, he practically dwarfs me as I look up of his tattooed arms that even the Maori would say is bad news.
“Arm-Breaker!” he took my date’s hand and shook it, “what are ya doin’ here? It isn’t Saturday yet. Who’s the wimp?”
“Hey Broken Skull,” Celestia shook back. “Good to see you too. This here’s my date.”
“Get out!” he turned to me, “You’re datin’ Arm-Breaker!”
I craned my neck up to him, “…. Sure?”
“Sure!” he laughed while slapping my arm so hard I swear I could feel my skeleton vibrate. “He’s funny Arm-Breaker! So what are ya doin’ out here for? Itching for my rematch?”
My eyebrow already hit the ceiling when I turned to face her, “What rematch? And why is he calling you ‘Arm Breaker?’”
“I arm wrestle on Saturdays,” she said as we took our seats at one of the rounded tables.
“You’re kidding, right?”
“No, I’m really good at it. Wanna see?”
My eyebrow still refused to be lowered, “You’ve caught my interest, this I have to see for myself.”
“In that case, scoot over,” she turned back to the big guy. “Hey Broken Skull! You wanna rematch? Pull up a chair!”
A slam of a chair later, Skull sat down, elbow resting on the table and a palm open to her in which she took. Already, I can see that they’ve already attracted an audience from all sides that counted down for the match to begin. I saw the big guy flex his muscles, but Celestia, however, didn’t give anything outside of an eye roll.
“THREE! TWO! ONE!” and before my very eyes, without any help from me whatsoever, I witness something that made me wonder if my pills had worn off. For a moment, the big guy known as Broken Skull heaved and tried pushing his arm with everything he’s got – except it wasn’t budging. It didn’t last long before my date suddenly won with a loud “WHAP!”
For a split second, I wish I had a camera on me so I could capture the surrealist moment that had taken place. This woman, who I have known to be over busy with mountain ranges of paperwork, running a high school, dealing with me, her sister, lend a hand in negotiations for an alternative universe, one that has a love of cake and practical jokes… had just beaten a guy who’s arm is as thick as my torso.
Oh, wait a minute, I can! After pulling the developed photo out of my ear, I look again at Skull’s expression.
Yes, this would certainly be something I would- But then Celestia snatched the picture and ripped it apart before I could finish the thought.
“Hey!” I said before my date looks up at me, annoyed.
“Julius! What were you doing? I can’t have anybody take pictures of me in here.”
This piqued my curiosity, “How come? That was amazing!”
“Well, yes it was. But I’d rather not anyone outside of Luna and… well now, you, tell the school that I come here.”
“Why not? So that they’ll think you have a weird… hobby? You do know that the entire school already knows I’ve been locked up in the loony bin for a while, right?”
“Yes. But it would just,” she sighed. “It’s my little safe spot, this place. When people look at me, I have to fill out an expectation that I’m proper, ordered, hardworking, well disciplined and all that. Not that I have a problem with it, only…”
“Just want a place to cut loose for a while?”
She shrugged, “That’s one way of putting it, but yes. In here, nobody really knows what job I have, and they don’t really care. Sure they can be irresponsible from time to time like they’re reliving their teenage years, while I’m given the chance to experience what it’s like to be an adolescent.”
“Wait a minute,” I leaned back, “Let me get my head around this… You come here so that you can have the experience of being irresponsible for a while because you didn’t get to experience being a teen or something?”
“Yeah. When Faust took care of us, the three of us had to grow up quickly from being a kid to being an adult, skipping everything in-between. As I grew up later in life, I felt that sense of something empty where my wild years should have been.”
“Okay, I think I get that. But how did you find this place anyway?”
“My sister and I have a cabin that’s about half-an-hour away from here; we dive on this road to get there. So when I purchased the bike, I wanna go over here to see what this place is all about. As I said, they all look intimidating, but in reality, they’re all sweethearts once you get to know them.”
I looked around the place for a moment, “Looks like I’ve found another reason why I like you so.”
“Oh?”
“You, your Majesty, are full of surprises. Just when I think I’ve figured you out, you find out how to throw a curveball at me. Strange and out of the purple, just like me. Besides,” I half smiled, “What would your mother say?”
She laughed, “Probably along the line of, ‘Dearie, you really hang out at a biker bar? It’s so out of character of you!’”
“That’s what they’re probably saying in the comments,” I smirked.
“What?”
“Nothing,” I avert my eyes to look at anything else but her at the moment, taking notice of a blue lady in a fake beard in the corner.
“Hey Arm-Breaker,” one of them came up to her, “Can I get ya a beer?”
“Sorry Iron Spike,” she said, “I’m not here for that tonight.”
“Really? Could I get the chef to cook ya up something? Like those potato bites?”
“With bacon on it,” she leans forward to me, “Hey, how about I pay you back, my treat.”
“Oh come on, you really shouldn’t-”
“Hey,” the guy known as Iron Spike leaned over me, “You turning down Arm-Breaker offer?”
“Uh…” I looked between my date and the really intimidating guy, “M-Maybe just a little.”
“You won’t regret it,” Celestia smiled as she reached into her coat pocket and pulled out a ten. “Would you be a dear and get the usual for me?”
“No problem,” he took the bill and thankfully left us.
“That’s quite the security you’ve got there Cel,” I pointed out. “If you had those guys in your office, you’ll probably get a whole lot fewer complaints.”
This got her laughing, “Okay, I admit there were times I was tempted to do just that. But I don’t want to raise eyebrows from the school board.”
“Oh you’re no fun,” I leaned back when an idea popped into my head. “Out of curiosity, how long have you been arm wrestling here?”
“Ever since I’ve found this place,” she raises an eyebrow, “Why?”
I placed my elbow on the table, my palm open as in an invitation, “Well, how about it? Wanna go around?”
Within a nanosecond, I saw her smile drop, “Uh, Julius, I don’t think that’s a good idea.”
“Oh come on Celie, just this once.”
“I’m a professional Julius. I highly recommend you not do this.”
“Then I guess I won’t go easy on you.”
“Hey!” I heard someone shouted, “The wimp is challenging Arm-Breaker!” There was loud, drunken laughter that ricocheted in the smoky room. “Somebody better have 9-1-1 on speed-dial!”
“Come on,” I smirked, “I’m not afraid.”
My date did take my hand, readying herself, “You seriously have no idea what you’re getting into.”
“Try me.”
“THREE! TWO! ONE!”
I confess I was expecting some force of resistance from her. What I didn’t expect was the awesome amount in that grip of hers. I had to immediately reinforce my body position to compensate for the sheer pressure that her arm was giving. In a moment, when our fists were shaking on the table, it was like trying to lift a concrete elephant sitting on a grand organ.
Yet, neither of us could budge from the other’s palm.
I can tell that Celestia was giving her all, and so was I! It was if, in that bar in the middle of nowhere, two Titans went at each other with a force that shook the cosmos. Our strength could easily rival that of an earthquake that could shake up all time and spa-
Then suddenly, the table beneath us broke into pieces in which we immediately stood up.
“Woah!” was the cry around the room as we watch what remained of the table fall.
All the chatter died down except for the rock music. I blinked, and so did Celestia. After from what just happened, I had only one response from it.
“THAT WAS AWESOME!!” I screamed, raising my fists up. A roar followed as I high-fived everyone in that excitement. Even Celestia, grinning like a Cheshire cat, slapped my hand in the thrill of the moment.
_*_
I quickly tapped on Celestia’s shoulder, giving her enough time to slow down her Harley as she pulled over to the side of the road.
“What?” she asked, looking over her shoulder in that black helmet of hers.
“See that dirt path up ahead?” I pointed over to the top of the hill. “Make a left and keep going straight.”
“Why? What’s over there?”
“Our next activity,” I put my arms around her once more. “I wanna show you something.”
My date drove up to the lonely road and turned left in which I got a nice if not bumpy view of the lighted town from the hilltops for the next several miles. For the next several minutes, Celestia kept on driving until she slowed down; no doubt we’ve reached our destination.
“What is that?” she asked as she turned the engine off.
After pulling the helmet off of me, I clapped my hands for the lamps to be turned on. There with the perfect view of the entire town was a simple desk, a canvas with blue outlines that lay at an acute angle, some brushes, paints, a couple of stools and a handled radio.
“Tell me, Celestia,” I said, “Have you ever painted before?”
By the look of it, my date was taken aback, “Sorry?”
“It’s just a simple question, have you ever painted before?”
“Well… yes. But I got a D in my art class a long time ago.”
I harrumphed, “Then I suppose you had a poor teacher! Come, let me show you. It’ll be fun.”
“Julius, I don’t know-”
“Come on,” I waved over to her while I sat down, “I’ve already painted the outline for you. Trust me, this will be easy.”
Setting her helmet down, she walked up and sat down next to me, “You do realize I have no idea what I’m doing.”
“That’s good,” I grinned. “Then I’ll show you what to do step-by-step. We’re just going to be using acrylics for this so at least it’ll wash out.”
My boss looked over at the paints, the brushes, the nightly view, and finally at the canvas. “What are we going to do?”
“We are going to paint that,” I pointed at the town, “In the style of Van Gogh, where you do one half of the painting while I focus on the other.”
I think her eyeballs grew three sizes when she heard that, “Are you sure you’ve taken your pills?”
Rolling my eyes, I replied, “I have. Don’t worry, and trust me, this is a whole lot simpler then you’re making it out to be.”
“Julius, I don’t know,” she shook her head. “The last time I’ve picked up a brush, I had my teacher so frightened by my picture that he wet himself in front of the class.”
I couldn’t help but burst out laughing, “Good Lord! Are you serious?”
“It was practically a miracle that I didn’t get expelled from the class.”
Taking a moment to let my humor to subside, I said, “I’m sorry, but I just couldn’t help it. Anyway, as I said, I promise you that this will be really easy. In fact, with this particular style, there’s no need for accuracy. All you had to do is just get creative with the colors.”
With a defeated sigh, she asked, “What do I do?”
Smiling, I snapped for the radio to play some piano music while picking up one of the thinker brushes. “The first thing we need to do is to have a brush like this. We just need to cover the canvas in the paint as quickly as we can. We’ll use the lightest colors first before we move onto the darker shades, which come later.”
She picked up the brush before looking up at the sky, “What do you mean lightest colors? All I see is just black up head with millions of tiny stars.”
“No no no!” I shook my head, “The point in Impressionism has nothing to do with painting them with accuracy. Look up again, what is your impression of it? Do you see any blues or greens up there?”
Celie looked up again in thought, “I guess I just see some purple.”
“Good! We’ll start with the sky first,” I popped open a bottle of bright purple paint onto the desk. “You just paint your half and I’ll do the same with mine. We’ll work our way from here downward.”
To my delight, she quickly latched onto the idea. We painted the sky in bright purple, light turquoise and spring green for the mountains in the distance, and for the city, we’ve coated it in light blue. For the moon and very selective stars, we dotted the sky in bright yellow.
“Very nice,” I smiled. “Now here comes the fun part,” I said as we cleaned our tick brushes in which they were quickly exchanged for a smaller one about half its size. “Let’s take your mind back to the late 1880s in southern France, and let’s get into the shoes and socks of Vincent Van Gogh. Knowing him, they were pretty smelly, but that’s not the point! In my experience with his style, I found that it’s he has a simple, but very creative technique. He would take some of the basic shapes like what you see here, and he would add around it a kind of lose outline of it as it clashes with the other outline. For example,” I picked up a darker shade of violet to paint around the moon. “So in a way, you’re making ripples out of the shapes of the painting. At this point, if you wanted to add that famous swirl into it, now will be a perfect time.”
Celestia too picked up a blob of violet, “Suppose I mess up?”
“Cel, just remember one thing: it's only paint. Even if you mess up, you can either paint it over or use a different color to do just that. Because in a way, that’s what we’re doing, adding layers of color on top of another,” I said as I started to weave my side of the painting. “If there’s any other color combo you want to experiment with, you can go ahead.”
My date looked at the canvas for a moment before she started to add the swirl on – curving her brush into lines over the stars, mountains and the wind before she decides to add on the next color of light blue.
I decided to break the silence as I worked on the mountains, “You know, considering what I’ve learned about you and your family, it’s a little intimidating for me at the moment.”
“Huh? How come?”
“Well, think of it,” I said as I added on some forest green. “Your mother is a CIA agent, your little sister probably has a gun pointed at my head right now, and you have the surprising strength that could easily crush a mountain. I think that if I… pardon my English here, that if I piss any of you off, the next time anyone will hear from me is on the six o’clock news.”
This got her laughing, “Oh, I can see it now. ‘Hi, Kevin Bagger here. The high school art teacher, Julius A. Disc has been found today. His body is spread out into seven countries. CIA agents are baffled.’”
Her giggling is becoming infectious, “Oh gee, I wonder why?” We carried out painting, even when laughing. “Still, in all seriousness though. I don’t want to make you upset over it, if anything, I’m rather jealous of you.”
My date looked at me, taken by surprise by the statement, “Jealous?”
I stopped painted, quickly realized what came out of my mouth, “Uh…”
“Why would you be jealous of me?”
While I rinse my brush, I might as well tell the truth. “It’s nothing, really. It’s just that… at least you had a family, one that doesn’t leave. Or that you have a perfectly functioning mind that you can remember clearly of certain things, not to mention that you don’t know what it’s like to be hallucinating at random. Or that you know where your mother is. Or…” I had to stop myself, “I’m being too sentimental, am I?”
Out of the pink, before I could register what happened, I felt her arms constricting around me. Then I realized what she was doing. She’s hugging me. My six-year crush was hugging me!
“Uh…” I could feel the sides of my face warming up, “What are ya doing?”
“Wishing that I would have known this sooner,” she said. “You were always a mystery to me, that I didn’t know you’ve kept this hidden.”
I confess that I had to push her away, “You won’t want to hear it. The whole world is filled with problems that are far worse than mine. Those are the kind of stories everybody wants to listen, to pity at. Mine is nothing.”
She looked at me in disbelief as I resumed painting my side, “Julius, your problems aren’t nothing. You deserved to be heard like everybody else. Problems are still problems, no matter how small they are.”
“Yeah? Not to sound cold Celestia, but where were those pretty phrases when I got thrown into the asylum? Or lost my job? Or mom?”
She put a hand on my shoulder, “I do mean what I’m about to say, I am sorry. I know there’s nothing I can do to change how you view the past other than yourself. But don’t let it be the one factor of what determines the present and the future. You have your job back, I’ve already forgiven you for your vandalism, and I’m here on this date with you. Doesn’t that mean something to you?”
Sighing, I nodded, “I know you’re right. No, you are right. It’s not that I’m ashamed that my mind doesn’t function as yours does. But sometimes I wonder what it would be like to be normal. On the other hand, I wouldn’t trade it for anything because my insanity is my fingerprint of creativity. But I need someone to reel me back into reality every once in a while.” I look over at her side of the painting, “That’s pretty good what you have there.”
“I honestly have no idea what I’m doing.”
“Oh nonsense, here,” I lifted a finger over to her side, “Let me add something to improve the picture.” With a light touch, I slither it around the stars and the wind itself until the paints began to move. Celestia’s eyes widen as the short brushstrokes become animated as they slither and tumble across the sky over to my side of the painting. I smiled, “There, it’s getting so much better now, doesn’t it? Come on, let’s finish the painting.”
We’ve painted on, adding the yellows, the pinks, and whites to the stars, the sky blue for the mountains and the white lines for the town. With a touch of my hand, they too become alive. Celestia and I stepped back to admire the moving painting. “Well?” I asked.
“I can’t believe I made that,” she said.
“We’ve made it,” I corrected. “And as soon as it dries, it’s yours.”
Both of us looked at each other, “You’re giving it to me?”
“As a… what’d you call them? Souvenir of this night,” I gently smiled, “Once it's set, we have one last place to visit.”
_*_
In any town where there’s enough cash floating around, there are always certain holes in the wall places that are so small, that if one were to blink, sneeze, cough, turn their heads away or drive past it, they’ll simply miss it. It’s one of those special places where given its size, has some of the best pastries in Equestria. It’s a place that only the curious or the knowledgeable know where it is if they wanted to find the good stuff.
Such is the case for our last destination as my boss pulled up along Philadelphia St. “I don’t see any shop that’s open. Are we too late?”
“Nope,” I got off the bike while taking my helmet off. “The place is open twenty-four hours.”
“Then where is it?” she asked as she looked at the shops that had closed signs.
“It’s not on the street, if that’s what you’re thinking,” I said as I walked a little further down.
“So how do you know where this bakery is?”
“I got good and lost one day.”
“Lost?” she asked as she put her helmet on the bike.
“As the old saying goes, ‘In order to find something that can’t be found, you have to get lost. Otherwise, everybody knows where to find it.’” I then turned down sharply into a darkened alleyway. “Follow me,” I gestured as I went in.
My date did, taking out her phone to use it as a flashlight; we walked a little until we’ve reached a door in the back. Over it, a metal sign hung over it that was screwed into the brick wall. Cel shines a light on it, “Sweet Secret?”
“Yep, here we are,” I told her as I knocked on the door.
A slot in the door flew open with a pair of eyes peering out, “What’s the flavor?”
“Maple vanilla,” I answered before the speakeasy door shut for a moment for the locks to be opened.
The darken alley was bathed in light from the door as a chubby guy cracked it open, “Hey Mr. Disc. You’re out here a little later than usual.”
“Hiya Mr. Brown, I’m actually here on a date.”
“Really?” he looked over at Celestia, “Well this is new. Come on in, we’ve just got the good stuff out of the oven.”
The first thing that punches you in the nose is the incredible smell of freshly baked bread, sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, lemon, apple, and every blessed sent known to man. My date quickly flowed into the tiny place where although the place is practically microscopic where there’s only a tiny table, some chairs a counter that takes up half the room and a huge chalkboard overhead, there’s a certain charm about this place. Here and there, warm yellow and cool blue walls help tie in the framed pictures of Prohibition with sweets.
The guy that runs the place, Brown Sugar, walks behind the counter. “So, what are ya in for? Cheddar-Rosemary French bread? Almond horns? Sourdough? Cream Puffs?”
“As tempting as those sound,” I said walking up the counter, “I’m actually here to treat my lovely date to some of your cakes. What you got tonight?”
“Oh I see,” he clapped, “Here for the really good stuff! Okay, I’m afraid that I’ve sold out on my citrus cake some time ago, and I don’t have enough ingredients for Red Velvet. However, I’m about to put the icing on some marble cake that just cooled down.”
I looked over my shoulder, “You wouldn’t mind that Celestia?”
“Not at all,” she said, “But could I have just a thin slice?”
“Just give us the whole cake,” I said putting my money on the glass counter, “Along with some plates and silverware too.”
“For here or to go?”
“Plates for here, but we’re gonna need a box.”
“Sure, just sit yourselves down while I go finishing up.”
We did sit down on the tiny chairs when my date asked, “Why did you buy the whole cake?”
“Oh Cel, you don’t know what kind of a bargain you’re getting. This isn’t your average bakery with average cakes. No, this is so much more than that. This bakery has, I promise you, some of the best-baked goods that can easily rival Sugar Cube Corner in a heartbeat. Sure, it’s a bit pricey, but for what you’re about to taste; it’s worth every half-penny.”
“But we don’t have half-pennies.”
“My point exactly,” I leaned back. “Besides, one doesn’t just enter here to get a piece of cake.”
“Okay so, what makes this place so special?”
“His training,” I pointed a thumb over across the counter. “This guy had studied baking techniques and recipes from Spain to Austria, from Sweden to Italy. Then he used what he learned and how to prepare his ingredients with the recipes here. Mr. Brown has a library of sweets that he spent years to perfect and refine.”
“Well alright, but how come I’ve never seen any advertisement for this place?”
“You know, I’ve asked him that too. How come he placed his business here of all places and not on the street with a flashing advertisement? Well, he told me one day that he wanted his customers to come in not because of the atmosphere, but solely for the food. Besides, when he opened up, it was the only space he could afford and he could only advertise by word of mouth. So he came up with the idea that it should be like those speakeasies from the 1920s, which you only get in by invitation. In other words, you have to know somebody who knows the password."
“So how long has this place been open?”
I looked at my yearly watch, “Since last September, give or take.”
“Here you go,” Mr. Brown set the cake down on the table before he put a couple small plates in front of me and Celestia. “How you’ll enjoy, I’ll go get the box.”
Looking up at my date, I inquired, “Is this pleasing to you milady?”
Even before she answered, I could tell that she was impressed. I don’t blame her; the little cake held a bouquet of black and white frosted flowers on the very top that made up the sugary dome. The rest of the curved side is made up of simple lines.
“Is this real? It looks like it should belong in a museum.”
Picking up a knife, I cut a thin slice of light vanilla and heavy chocolate cake and served it over to her. “Try it, and you’ll know why this place is my favorite.”
While she took up a fork, cutting and picking up the holy of holies, from the corner of my eye I thought I saw a shadow dashing off from the tiny windows behind the counter. Shrugging, it’s either Luna sneaking around or a large cat. “Well?”
“It’s really moist,” my date said, covering her mouth, “And still warm.”
Smiling slyly, I replied, “Aren’t you glad I’ve ordered the whole cake?”
“Oh I’m definitely going to come back here,” Celestia told me as she picked up another forkful. “Now I’m curious about the other things he’s got in here.”
I nodded while I fixed up my own slice of goodness, “A change in subject, how is your family doing now?”
“As in how everyone’s doing?” I told her that’s what I meant. “Well, Lu and I are keeping each other busy with the school. Mom’s taking some time off from her job because she’s called in sick.”
“How serious is it?”
She waved it off, “She just has a cold, nothing to worry about. Anyway, and as for Harmonic, I’ve heard that his son’s wife might be pregnant.”
“Oh really? Harm’s gonna be a grandpa already? Now there’s an interesting thought.”
“Huh?”
“You kinda adopted him, didn’t you?”
“Well, I help him get back on his feet, but I do consider him as part of the family. Why?”
“Because if that were true, wouldn’t that make you a great-grandmother?”
“Careful with that, I don’t want Luna to make jokes like that around me,” she waved a fork at me. “Besides, I’m not that old.”
“Awe, come on Ms. Boss, there’s no shame in aging. Why look at me, I should be somebody’s gramps by now.”
This made her raise an eyebrow, “What are you talking about? You don’t look-”
“I’m a few years shy from sixty,” I interrupted. “I’m practically amazed that other than my goatee that I haven’t sprouted any gray hairs yet. But the point is, I know that I’m getting old, but there’s no shame in it Celie. After all, our counterparts are like, what? Thousands if not millions of years old? And look at them; you don’t hear them complain about it.”
“But we’re not immortals Julius. Deep down, we’re still humans that hear the ticking of our mortality.”
“Look who’s being overdramatic,” I took a bite of the cake. “I mean really, so we grow uglier over time, so what? Time eventually makes everybody ugly, but personality, charm, and having good taste in a wide range in life – now that’s eternal. If I were you, I’d take pride in aging; your inner beauty is forever young.”
“That’s got to be the sweetest thing I’ve heard you say all night,” Celestia said.
_*_
My date turned off the key to her motorcycle once we pulled into the garage. She hopped off of it to place her helmet on the shelf before gesturing at me to do the same.
“I hope you had a good night Celie,” I said as I handed the helmet over to her.
“Well, you know what? I did,” she smiled at me. “It was really incredible for what you’ve done for me, especially when you stepped out of your comfort zone for me back at the bar.”
“Likewise for you when you painted. Oh! That reminds me,” I opened up my suit-coat and took out the painting and the cake. “Man it’s good to have pockets that are bigger on the inside.”
“Is that a reference to something?” she asked while I shrugged.
“Could be, but in all seriousness, I had fun too.” I handed the souvenirs over to her. “Celestia?”
“Hm?”
“Do you think… I don’t know… could we do it again sometime?”
She put the painting and the boxed cake down, “Oh?”
“Well,” I rubbed the back of my head, “What I mean to say is that I… enjoyed our time. However, I do hope this won’t be a onetime thing. If it’s okay with you that is.”
“Are you asking me out for a second date?”
I shrugged, “Why not? We could always do something different like say… go into Ponyland for entertainment. Although it would be interesting to be dating a horse… unicorn… pegasus… thing that has your personality.”
My date smirked, “You’re so weird.”
“Why thank you. But anyway, we don’t have to go to the Alternative Equestria; I wouldn’t mind something quiet if you want.”
Celestia put a finger under her chin as she steps up to me, “You know what,” and before I could think, she suddenly kissed me. Leaving whatever functioning gears in my head to come to a grinding halt as she broke it, “Let me think about it. However, I do expect to see you come to work on Monday morning.”
I just nodded like an idiot.
“Great,” she said as she took the box of cake and the painting towards the door of her house. “Goodnight Julius, I’ll see you later.” With the closing of the door, I slowly regain consciousness of reality.
Stepping out of the open garage door, while my head was stirring around like a soup of complex emotions, the only response I could make was laughter. Yes, I was laughing at the impossible, and from a feeling that I haven’t felt in a very, very long time.
Joy.
Needless to say, that night I flew my car home laughing. I don’t know if she will go out with me again by the time we return to work. But you know what? I don’t care. There’s no worry in my chaotic mind, only the sound of joy echoing in my car.