I don’t think a day passed into evening quicker in my entire life. Perhaps Celestia had been watching and lowered the sun a couple hours early? It would certainly make the expression ‘time flies’ a bit more literal. In any case, the day was passing and the sky was painted with red and purple hues when I stood in the bedroom I shared with Fluttershy, looking at myself in the full length mirror.
I’d told nopony except Fluttershy what had happened up in Cloudsdale, and promptly sworn the mare to secrecy. The last thing I wanted was for this thing to get out. Yes Flitter had already stirred up rumours, but they were just that for the moment. If Roseluck, or Celestia forbid, Rarity found out what the two of us were up to, she’d be on me in a flash. I wanted this evening to be fairly low key; no fancy dresses, no roses or grand gestures, just two ponies going out for dinner.
Still, I never had actually done this before in my life. I’d originally not thought that I’d be the one doing the asking. But as much as Dewdrop likes me, as far as I can make out, his shy nature would mean that I’d be waiting an age before he popped the question. So I’d broken with gender norms and took the initiative.
While I didn’t want to make too much of a fuss, I was going to put a fair bit of effort in. I was going to dress up nice, put on some make up and perfume, and generally do all I could to woo Dewdrop. Hence why I was standing in front of a full length mirror, with Fluttershy on hoof to offer advice. She claims to be a novice, but I know from Bones and Rarity that she used to be a full blown model, and she knows way more about sewing than she lets on.
I didn’t have that many clothes to pick from. As you might have noticed, ponies as a rule don’t wear them in their daily lives, unless they're snobs, or they need them for work. While I may have had a sizeable collection back on Earth, here I had far less. A patrol officer’s pay, while good, doesn’t allow for monthly clothes binges. Still, Fluttershy and I were of a similar build, and she’d said I could borrow something for the night if it took my fancy.
“What about this one?” Fluttershy suggested, bringing over another dress.
The trouble with pony fashions is that dresses seem to be the only option for mares. Stallions get jackets, mares get dresses. I’m sure Henry ford would love the amount of choice. While they were all very nice; quite a few of them were Rarity’s work, they were a bit too over the top for me.
“It’s a bit too much, Fluttershy,” I replied, shaking my head. “I’m going to a nice bistro, but it’s not a three horseshoe place. If I go dressed to the nines, I’ll look too formal.”
Fluttershy paused to think. Like I said, she knows more about fashion than you might think.
“You want something informal, right?” Then how about this?”
Trotting over to the wardrobe, she pulled out what initially looked like another Rarity designed over the top dress. But as I got a closer look, I saw that it was far more simple than that. It wasn’t plain by any means, but it was just right for what I needed.
The dress was fairly short, though not so short as to be scandalous. It was mainly a light purple colour. My coat is somewhat of a greyish blue really, so it contrasted quite well. It also went alright with my dark brown mane, which is something of an oddity among ponies, at least among mares. It was simple enough, but it sure made me look good. I guess it gave off a sort of subtle beauty if that makes any sense.
Fluttershy had already helped me do my mane and tail up a little, another hidden talent of hers. Again, I didn’t want to do too much, but just enough so that I looked as if I put in some effort tonight. We kept the style mainly as it was, adding a few curls here and there. I considered putting in some highlights, but Fluttershy advised against it.
The last thing was a touch of perfume. Mum had gotten me some high end bottle for my birthday last year, and this seemed like a good time to put it to use. With that done, I checked myself in the mirror one last time. While I don’t consider myself an expert in understanding stallions, or males in general, I thought I looked rather appealing. Fluttershy agreed with me. In an adorable effort to try and get some male opinion, she brought Angel upstairs and asked him his opinion. Given how that rabbit and I don’t get on, he simply blew a raspberry at me and sodded of. I just decided to use the fact that he hadn’t burst out laughing to my advantage.
So, at seven o’clock, I was ready to go. I grabbed my small handbag; somehow I doubted I’d look good carrying my essentials in a saddlebag, and made for the door.
“Good luck tonight, Lizzie,” Fluttershy said as I headed out the door. “And have fun!”
With a smile and a wave, I headed out and started for Dewdrop’s house.
I had quite the journey to make. Normally, it would just be a matter of flying over to Dewdrop’s; as a rule that took four or six minutes at most. But because I didn’t want to mess up my outfit or mane, I had opted to walk, which would take a good deal longer. Dewdrop’s home you see, was on the opposite side of Ponyville. I would have to cross most of the town to get there. Hence why I was setting out a good half hour before the appointed time.
It was now early evening. The sun was just about visible over the horizon and was dropping at a steady pace, courtesy of Princess Celestia. By the time I got to Dewdrop’s it would be almost dark. For now though, it was a pretty autumn evening in rural Equestria. The sky was filled with red and gold hues as the remaining sunlight lit up the clouds. The first few stars, high up in the indigo sky were now beginning to appear. In a way, rural Ponyville was a lot like my old home, only with far few storms and overcast periods.
Before long, I came upon the first few houses that marked the effective border of Ponyville. It started with small, isolated cottage, not dissimilar to Fluttershy’s own home. As I went on though, these gave way to larger dwellings, shops and businesses, as I drew nearer to the town centre.
There were still quite a few ponies about, some, like me, preparing for a night out. Others were just closing up shop as the work day came to an end with the rise of Princess Luna’s moon. I actually passed the bistro Dewdrop and I were planning on dining in. It was, by Ponyville standards, a very up market place, although I doubt it would be looked on as any but a hovel in Canterlot. Presently, there was a modest queue out the front door, although I doubted the place would be completely full.
Passing the restaurant by, I continued on my course. It was a little odd actually. I’m used to just shooting over Ponyville on the wing. Buildings that I normally thought of as mere moments apart, now took a few minutes to pass between.
I soon found myself at Town Hall, which marked the near epicentre of Ponyville. From here, you could get pretty much anywhere, from Carousel Boutique, to the schoolhouse, or Twilight’s castle, which shimmered in the fading light, dominating the skyline.
The house I was interested in though, was a little ways beyond all that. As I said, Dewdrop lived on the other side of Ponyville, not too far from the train station. It was your typical Ponyville design; that odd blend of Swiss, German and Austrian architecture. The place was fairly small; similar in size to a semi-detached council house, although with far superior aesthetics. Dewdrop had been quite lucky in getting the place when he first arrived in Ponyville. I’m sure there were more than a few buyers vying for it.
Trotting up to the front door, I paused for a moment and checked the nearby clock tower. It was twenty five past; I was five minutes early. Not bad considering how far I’d come. Walking up to the front door, I rang the bell, hearing it clang somewhere inside. A moment later, I heard Dewdrop’s voice.
“Just a minute!” he called out. I heard hooves on the wooden floor. A moment later, the latch went and the door opened, revealing Dewdrop.
He was quite a sight. Like me, he’d apparently strived for a balance between formal and casual. He was wearing a suit dark suit jacket, along with a nice shirt and collar. A black tie, tied up in a classic bow completed the image. He smiled at me in that awkward way of his.
“Hey…hey there, Lizzie,” he said, blushing a little, quite visibly under his aqua coat. “You look lovely this evening.” I smiled back at him.
“You look great too, Dewdrop.” I pulled him onto a quick hug which no doubt got him to blush even more. “So shall we head out?”
“Sure,” he agreed. A moment later though, he doubled back to his front door. He returned with a single yellow daffodil.
“I got this for you,” he said, a little coyly before tucking it just behind my left ear.
“Aww, thanks, Dewdrop,” I replied, giving him an quick, innocent peck on the cheek. “Now come on, it looked pretty busy down there on my way here.”
The two of us walked back towards the bistro. Dewdrop was a little quiet, which I put down to nerves. He’d told me some time before that he’d never been out on a date with a mare. I was a little nervous too to be honest. I’d had a couple of boyfriends, but those relationships had been pretty informal. And as I said, it was still a little odd to be taking the lead here.
Leaving Dewdrop’s house behind, we headed back into Ponyville proper. The market was now pretty much deserted and the streets were noticeably quieter. Having only one pub and a couple restaurants, the village doesn’t exactly have much of a nightlife. We did however see a few ponies out and about, including a few heading to the same restaurant we were bound for.
As we rounded the corner, we came upon the place. It did indeed look fairly busy. For a moment, I regretted my hasty actions. Asking Dewdrop out this weekend meant I hadn’t been able to book a table. I began to wonder what I was going to do if they were full up. Still, they seemed to be taking in customers for the moment, so we joined the queue. Imagine my mixture of shock and surprise when I spotted who was in front of us, or rather, when they spotted me.
“Well hey there, sis,” an unmistakably southern accent greeted me. “Ah didn’t realise y’all would be out here tonight.”
Standing there in front of me was my brother, Bones. Like Dewdrop, he was dressed up a little, with a jacket and collar. And standing beside him was his own marefriend, Applejack. I’ll be honest, I was mortified.
“B-Bones!” I stammered out. “Wha-what are you doing here?” He smiled at me and quickly explained.
“Believe it or not, sis, today is the day when AJ and me first started datin’. We’ve been goin’ a solid two years now. How about you, what brings y’all out here tonight?” As he asked, he cast a quick, disapproving glance at Dewdrop, who was standing just behind me.
I decided that I had to nip this in the bud. Bones may be my big brother, and he did look after me when we were younger (mostly), but who I chose to go out with was no business of his, and I wasn’t about to let him try and intimidate Dewdrop or scare him off. You’d have thought having to deal with that from Big Mac would have made him realise how silly it was.
“I asked Dewdrop out on a date,” I replied matter of factly.
“Well ain’t that sweet,” Applejack said kindly, smiling at us both. I noticed her subtly elbow Bones in the ribs, making him wince slightly. Good to know I have somepony in my corner.
“Tell ya what,” Applejack went on. “Ah hear this place is mighty busy tonight. How ‘bout you folks join us, and we can split a booth?”
It seemed a bit of an odd arrangement for a first date; both to share a table and have my older brother there too. But Applejack was right, the place looked to be filling up fast. And hey, it never hurts to have another mare close by in case some red flag crops up.
“Yeah, sure,” I replied. “We’d love to join you, right, Dewdrop?” The stallion nodded a little uncertainly. Presumably he was torn between keeping me happy and keeping away from Bones.
So I found myself inadvertently on a double date, of sorts. It was kind of Applejack to help ensure we got a table. I know for a fact that not five minutes later they were turning ponies away, saying that the place was full. However, double dating with your brother is somewhat…awkward.
As we sat down, nopony said much. Applejack smiled at me in an effort to be reassuring, but Bones had a stare fixed squarely on Dewdrop. He in turn was being very quiet and doing his upmost to look inconspicuous. I now had a sinking feeling in the pit of my stomach.
A few minutes after we arrived and had settled in, a waiter dropped by with menus and took our drink orders. I used to do a bit of waitressing myself when I was in high school, so I knew the worst thing I could do was take it out on him. So I put on a faux smile and did my best to be polite, as did everypony else.
We all decided to split a very nice bottle of red between us. I half hoped that that would help the evening pass a little more smoothly. On the other hoof, I was hoping that Starlight was nearby. Perhaps she still remembered Starswirl’s time travel spell and take me back ten minutes so I could politely refuse AJ’s offer.
Unfortunately, no such crazy cult mare was forthcoming. I decided to have a go at breaking the ice. This near total silence between us in an otherwise busy restaurant was ridiculous.
“So, Applejack,” I began, turning to my one ally. “How have things been at Sweet Apple Acres?”
“Well, we’ve been mighty busy up there, Lizzie,” the orange mare replied. “Applebuck Season’s just gone, so we’re gearin up for makin’ cider in a few weeks.”
“I’ll make sure to keep that under my hat,” I replied with a laugh. “If Dash hears one whisper about cider, it’s all she can think about for the next week!”
At this point Applejack took note of her coltfriend’s continued silence. Bones was sitting perfectly still, and continuing to glare with barely contained anger at poor Dewdrop, who was pressing himself further and further into the chair. All that was missing was the sound of his teeth gnashing. Other mares, like Twilight or Rarity, might have done their best to skirt around such a problem and try and ease him into polite conversation. Applejack though, has no problem being blunt; very blunt. That’s what you get for being the Element of Honesty I suppose.
“Oh, Bones!” she exclaimed, punching him lightly on the arm. “Will ya stop scarin’ the poor colt? He’s nervous enough about tonight as it is! Besides, it ain’t your place to tell your sister who she can and can’t go out with.” At this point, she turned to me again.
“Big Macintosh was just as bad when Bones first started makin’ eyes at me. When Bones told him he liked me, the two went for one heck of a long walk. Mac told me he took him out by the old tree graveyard, and told him exactly what he’d do to him if he hurt my feelings. If this lug ever hurts my feelin’s, he’ll know ‘bout it long before Big Macintosh finds him!” I laughed with her and decided to join in.
“I’ll tell you what this is about, AJ,” I said. “It’s because my last boyfriend back home was a bit of a tool. So now he feels justified in looking out for me.”
Finally, Bones could take the embarrassment no longer.
“Alright!” he yelled. “Enough! Ah get it!” Then, in a quieter tone to Applejack. “Ah’ll be good.” The two then shared a loving nuzzle.
“That’s better,” AJ said. “Least now we can enjoy some fancy food like civilised ponies.”
At that point the waiter returned to take our orders. We all quickly scrabbled to pick something out. I went for the ratatouille; a favourite dish of mine since I saw the film and got my mum to make it for dinner. As the waiter departed, it was as if an oppressive cloud had been lifted. Bones finally relaxed and loosened up, and most importantly stopped trying to intimidate Dewdrop. Dewdrop in turn relaxed and started being more open with his affections towards me. In short, it turned from a sort of Mexicolt stand off into an actual double date.
Things picked up greatly from then on out. Bones stopped being an overprotective jerk ass, and Dewdrop stopped trying to disappear into the seating. We actually had a really nice time together chatting over good food and drink. I had a really great time, and based on how things had gone so far, there was definitely going to be a second date.
Bones and Applejack enjoyed themselves too. Neither of them, as a rule, are given to overly romantic gestures. Applejack is a workaholic and Bones, by his own admission, is something of an asexual. I always found their relationship a little odd actually. They love each other, care about each other, and they’ve been going strong for a while now. But I’ve not heard anything about them tying the knot. But hey, who am I to stick my snout in my brother’s life, eh?
We all had a desert after our main meals, with me guiltily picking out the chocolate cake to split with Dewdrop. While it was starting to get a little late, particularly for the two farmers in our party, who didn’t have the luxury of a weekend off, we all agreed to stay a while and have some after dinner drinks.
By now, Bones had really warmed up to Dewdrop, and the two were chatting like old friends. It got to the point where Bones started spinning a few yarns.
“So anyway,” he was saying. “There Ah am, standing at the crossroads, just waitin’ for this herd of cows to mosey on over. Suddenly, Ah start hearin’ this rumbling. Ah mean, the ground is now starting to shake. Ah look up and Ah see Mac, runnin’ fer his life, hollering at me to get up a tree. The whole herd is stampeedin’, and they ain’t gonna stop ‘til they hit water.
“So Ah’m thinkin’ ‘Well, today could’ve gone better!’. These cows are really tearin’ up the fields towards me. There’s nowhere for me to go, and Ah’m just waiting fer them to hit. And then, right before they reach me, Ah hear this hiss, a snake right, and the whole herd starts trippin’ up!”
We all burst out laughing at the mental image as Bones continued.
“Ah reckon the poor thing must’ve bitten the lead, and then they all just ploughed into each other. It was a thing of frickin’ beauty!”
The story was funny as hell, and true, since Applejack backed up the facts. And it would have been just another enjoyable part of the evening, if Dewdrop hadn’t said what he said, and given Bones one last chance to mess with him.
The aqua blue stallion laughed and, in the most innocent way remarked.
“You’re really funny, Bones!” I didn’t even have time to facehoof.
Instantly, Bones’ smile faltered and faded as he looked at Dewdrop with a slightly offended air.
“What do ya mean Ah’m funny?” he asked. Dewdrop half realised the hole he’d stepped into and tried to explain himself.
“It’s funny, you know. It’s a funny story. You’re a funny guy,” he replied. He laughed trying to lighten the mood again, but Bones was having none of it.
“What do ya mean? Do ya mean the way Ah talk? What?” My own conversation with AJ had also now ground to a halt as we both realised what was going on. Still, poor Dewdrop tried to backtrack.
“It’s just…you know,” Dewdrop replied. “It’s funny, you know, the way you tell the story and everything.” Bones’ tone now changed to a much harder tone.
“Funny how? What’s funny about it?” Trying to smooth things over, Applejack stepped in.
“Sugarcube, ya’ll got it all wrong,” she said, but Bones cut her off.
“No, ‘Jack, Dewdrop‘s a big colt, he knows what he said. What did ya say? Funny how?” Bones’ horn now started to glow ever so slightly with his magic, and Dewdrop began to get seriously worried.
“Just…” he stammered.
“What?” Bones demanded.
“Just…you’re funny.” Bones frowned again.
“Ya mean, let me understand this because, ya know maybe it’s me, Ah’m a little tired. But Ah’m funny how, like a clown, Ah amuse y’all, Ah make y’all laugh? What do ya mean funny? Funny how? How am Ah funny?” The sweat was now pouring off of Dewdrop’s brow.
“Just…you know…how you tell the story,” Dewdrop said, looking around for possible escape routes.
“No, Ah don’t know, you said it! How do Ah know?!” Bones snapped back. “You said Ah’m funny. How am Ah funny, what is so funny ‘bout me? Tell me, tell me what’s funny!”
The whole restaurant had now gone pretty much silent. The two stallions were staring at each other; Dewdrop close to panicking and Bones close to losing his temper and doing something rash. Finally, after several tense moments, during which neither side so much as blinked, Dewdrop spoke with a laugh.
“Get out of here, Bones!” he exclaimed half seriously.
To my amazement, Bones too broke out into a laugh and was suddenly joking with Dewdrop just as before. I swear to Celestia, I will never understand the psychology of guys, of any species!
“I almost had him! I almost had him! Ya stutterin' feather duster!” Bones was saying with a smile, pointing at Dewdrop, while Applejack batted him behind the ears, knocking his hat off.
Dewdrop too was laughing, albeit still a bit nervously. Still, he seemed okay. And I knew precisely what my idiot brother was doing. He was having one last go at Dewdrop to check if he was ‘good enough’ for me. Evidently, he’d passed.
After that, everypony settled as the evening began to wind down. We finished our drinks and asked for the cheque. We all decided to split the bill, since we didn’t all originally plan on dining together. Bones’ paid for his and Applejack’s meal, while Dewdrop footed the bill for us, despite my request that we go Dutch. It later dawned on me that the phrase ‘go Dutch’ probably had no meaning in Equestria, since neither the Netherlands nor the Dutch people exist.
With the bill paid, the four of us prepared to go our separate ways. The evening had started off a little strangely, and there had been one or two hiccups, mainly due to a certain grey unicorn, but overall things had gone well. As I said before, there was now no doubt in my mind that I’d be asking Dewdrop out on a second date. Or, who knows, maybe after tonight, he’ll pluck up the courage and ask me.
Bidding our two friends goodbye, Dewdrop and I set off. It was now dark outside, although a silvery moon gave us more than enough light to see by. Surprisingly, I found that Dewdrop intended to take the lead, and after a moment, I realised we were heading the wrong way.
“Hey, Dewdrop,” I said, nudging his shoulder. “Your place is back that way.” I gestured with a hoof towards his home. At the moment, we were heading in the completely opposite direction. Dewdrop turned and smiled at me.
“Well, since you asked me out, picked me up, and generally did most of the things the stallion is supposed to do on a first date, I thought the least I could do is walk you home.”
I found my cheeks blushing ever so slightly. The last time he was more confident than normal was after he saved me from getting pulled into the rising water during hurricane season. I guess earning Bones’ approval had given him a bit of a confidence boost. He certainly seemed to walk taller as we wove our way through town. I decided to stroke his ego a little more.
“You know, I had a really lovely time tonight, Dewdrop,” I said. Leaning close, I nuzzled him slightly. And this time, he didn’t so much as flinch. “We should do this again sometime.” Dewdrop nuzzled me back, wrapping a wing over my back.
“Sure, Lizzie,” he replied. “You know, I have a couple days leave coming up, and I plan on using them.”
“Oh, where were you thinking?” I asked coyly. Dewdrop thought for a moment.
“Maybe the Crystal Empire?” he suggested. “I hear it’s beautiful this time of year with all the snow.”
I realised that the two of us had, seemingly without noticing, stopped walking. We were a little ways outside Ponyville now, perhaps a quarter mile or so from the cottage. I found Dewdrop’s eyes meeting my own. We leaned closer to each other, I even closed my eyes.
However, before anything could happen, the two of us were startled by the signature pop and flash of a teleportation spell. The road in front of us briefly lit up, dazzling us and making us both shield our eyes with our wings. When I peeked to look, I was confronted with a less than ideal situation.
I had thought it might be Bones doing one last thing to mess with Dewdrop. While he isn’t very powerful in terms of magic, he can very rarely pull of a short distance teleport. But no, it wasn’t my older brother, or Twilight, or any of the princesses. It was the last person I wanted to see. There, standing before us, a daft grin on his face, was Discord.
“Lizzie!” he exclaimed, throwing his arms wide and pulling me into a hug that lifted all four feet off the ground. “So wonderful to see you!” He now turned his attention to Dewdrop, whose ego trip had come crashing down with a thud.
“Oh and look,” the draconequus went on, his yellow and red eyes picking out my companion. “It’s adorable, shy, generic male love interest!” Dewdrop backed away a couple paces as Discord set me back down.
“What are you doing out here this time of night, Discord?” I asked with no small amount of suspicion. The Spirit of Chaos grinned again.
“Why it’s funny you should ask, roomie!” he replied. “Fluttershy and I were just heading out for a little sleepover at Twilight’s place.” A snap of his talon caused a very surprised Fluttershy to appear next to him, bags at her sides.
“Discord, you could have just waited for me to catch up,” she admonished. I turned my attention back to Discord.
“And you just happened to do this now, right? There’s no ulterior motive here?” Discord now took on a slightly hurt expression.
“Goodness, no!” he replied in an unsuccessful effort to be reassuring. “I certainly didn’t mean to catch you off guard. But you’ll be alright, won’t you, Lizzie, in an empty cottage with nopony around to disturb you all night, and nopony having seen the two of you come out all this way, and no work tomorrow morning?”
At this point, Fluttershy cleared her throat, catching her best friend’s attention. Discord quickly wrapped up his little spiel.
“Anyway,” he said, clapping his mismatched hands together. “Got to be off, must dash, bye now!” With a snap of his talon, he and Fluttershy once again disappeared into the night.
I turned to Dewdrop. It was pretty obvious how the land lay. And it was even more obvious what Discord had done, leaving me and potentially Dewdrop alone in an isolated cottage until morning. He might as well have just come out and said it! I was certainly surprised that Fluttershy went along with it, but she too seemed to be in on things.
So we plodded on towards the cottage. Before long, we came upon the little bridge that spanned the nearby creek. Crossing over it, we passed the chicken coop and the new brooder coop, and soon found ourselves at the front door.
Now we found ourselves at a crossroads. What to do next? Discord and Fluttershy had vacated the house for us, along with seemingly all the animals. We had the place to ourselves. I found myself in two minds. Yes, I liked Dewdrop, but I wasn’t planning on going that far with him, at least, not yet. Plus, while I don’t like to admit it, I still have a few hang ups about doing…that as a pony. Dewdrop, seeing my indecision, spoke up.
“Lizzie,” he said softly. “You don’t have to do anything you don’t want to. I’m sure Discord was trying to be nice…in his own screwed up way, but I don’t want to pressure you into anything.”
I thought to myself. Dewdrop had been a perfect gentlecolt all evening, treating me well, and not even once rising to by brother’s bait. I knew him and I trusted him completely. While this might only be our first proper date, we’d known each other for months.
What harm was there in asking him in for a drink?
And so, the two of us went inside.