//------------------------------// // 6. A Magical Date // Story: Her Knight in Sunlit Armor // by AliceLiz //------------------------------// Sunset led Twilight through the city. The sun was starting to set, and the streets were packed with pedestrians going every which way. “Why are you even insisting on making our destination a surprise?” Twilight complained. “It’s not like I’d recognize the name of any of the restaurants here, anyway.” “It’s the principal of the matter,” Sunset replied, smirking. “And the reveal is more fun the less you know beforehoof.” “Fine, but at least tell me if we’re almost there,” Twilight grumbled in reply. “If I remember correctly, it should be just over-” Sunset was abruptly cut off as a purple pegasus mare jumped out in front of them. “Sunset Shimmer! Oh my Celestia, it’s been so long!” the mysterious mare pulled Sunset into a tight hug. Twilight glanced in confusion at her girlfriend. The amber unicorn looked at her with wide, shocked eyes. Once the mare released her, Sunset spoke up in a nervous voice. “H-hey, Vi. Long time no see.” “Yeah, you just up and disappeared,” the mare accused playfully. “Where have you been all these years?” Sunset’s eyes darted to her sides for a moment before she answered with a stilted smile. “It’s a state secret, actually.” “Aha, so the princess really did send you on a secret mission!” the mare said triumphantly. Sunset chuckled awkwardly. “I can neither confirm, nor deny that statement. But what about you? Did you manage to finish your degree?” The pegasus raised herself to her full height proudly. “Yup, I am now a medically trained nurse. Even got a job at Canterlot General.” “Oh yeah? Was it everything you imagined?” “Everything I wanted and more,” the mare chirped happily. “So, are you gonna introduce me to your friend here?” she added, turning her attention on Twilight. “Right, sorry,” Sunset said. “This is my marefriend, Sweet Cheeks.” “A pleasure to meet you, Sweet. My name is Violet Dream.” Violet nodded her head at Twilight. “It’s nice to meet you, too,” Twilight smiled. “So, you were a friend of Sunset’s before she, uhm… ‘disappeared’?” “You could say that. We were very close, if you know what I mean,” Violet winked. Twilight looked at Sunset for clarification. Sunset blushed, determinedly not looking at either of the other mares. “Yeah, we used to date, way back when I was at school here.” “Oh,” Twilight said, entirely unaware of how she should feel about this fact. Apparently, her girlfriend’s ex noticed this reaction. “Don’t worry,” Violet said, playfully nudging Twilight’s shoulder. “I’m not going to be stealing your filly away from you. I’m happily married, now.” “Oh?” Sunset perked up. “That’s great to hear. Is it somepony I know?” Violet shrugged. “Maybe. She’s from one of the noble families here, so you might’ve met her when you lived in the palace. Her name’s Emerald.” Sunset rubbed her muzzle in thought. “The name rings a bell,” she said. “I think I met her at a gala once.” Violet gasped, a wide smile on her face. “We should totally go on a double date sometime!” “I’m afraid Sweet and I are only in Canterlot for today. Although,” Sunset glanced over at Twilight with a questioning look. Twilight figured she understood Sunset’s meaning, replied with a nod and a smile. “Sweetie and I are actually heading on a date right now. If you guys aren’t busy, you’d be welcome to join us.” Violet beamed. “I should be able to arrange that. Where are you headed?” “Where going to the-” Sunset cut herself off, glancing at Twilight. She then leaned in to whisper the rest to Violet. Twilight rolled her eyes. “Oh, yeah,” Violet nodded. “I’ve heard of that place. I’ll go and get Emerald, then we’ll meet you guys there.” “Great,” Sunset said. “We’ll be sure to get us a good table.” “Alright, In that case, I’ll see you guys in a few!” Violet gave a quick wave before rushing off down the street that Twilight and Sunset had come from. “She seems nice,” Twilight said, watching the pegasus disappear around a corner. “Yeah, she is,” Sunset said with a sad sigh. “Too bad none of it rubbed off on me back when we dated.” “Hey,” Twilight said, nudging the amber unicorn with her hoof. “Don’t put yourself down like that. You’re plenty nice the way you are now.” Sunset smiled, then pulled Twilight into a sideways hug. “Thanks, Sweetie. Now c’mon, we’re almost there.” “Tada!” Sunset extended her hoof in the direction of the restaurant just as it came into view. “’The Tasty Treat’?” Twilight read off the sign, eyes widening in surprise. “And you thought you wouldn’t recognize the names of any of the restaurants here,” Sunset teased. “I admit, I didn’t expect restaurants to have doppelgangers here, too,” Twilight replied with a giggle. “So, you’re taking me to the Equestrian version of the place we went to on our first date,” she continued, thinking out loud. “Does that mean I need to find a carnival if we ever go on a second date here?” Sunset chuckled, opening the door with her magic and indicating for Twilight to enter first. “I wouldn’t mind if you did, but I don't think that's necessary. I only happened to hear about this place from Pinkie last night, and figured this’d be fun.” They found themselves a comfortable seat near a window. Twilight sat next to Sunset, leaving the other side of the table for the other couple. “Guess I’ll have to try one of their vegetarian dishes this time,” Twilight smiled, looking over the menu. As expected, they did not serve any meat here. “I wanna see if I can find the same curry I had back on Terra,” Sunset said. “I wonder how similar it’ll taste.” She put the menu down and laid her hoof on top of Twilight’s. “So, what do you think of my old home?” Sunset asked. Twilight thought for a second before answering. “Well, the palace you used to live in was pretty cool. As was the massive library right next to it,” she said with a smirk. “If the food here turns out to be as good as back home, then I have to wonder why you ever left,” she finished in a teasing voice. Sunset chuckled. “Hey, now, It wasn't all great. I didn’t really have any family here. Princess Celestia was always a little too distant. I while I did have Vi, I didn’t really have any other friends beside her.” “That… does sound pretty rough,” Twilight admitted. “I’d be completely lost without my family, most of the time. I even needed Cadance’s help whenever I planned one of our dates.” “Really now?” Sunset perked up. “I might have to thank her sometime. Does she like chocolates?” Twilight giggled. “Yeah, she does. A lot, actually.” “Great, that’s settled then,” Sunset nodded firmly. “So, was there something else you wanted to see while we’re here?” Twilight settled into a more comfortable position, leaning against her girlfriend. “To be honest, I’d love to just stay here for a whole week to take everything in. But we’ve managed to get most of the really fascinating stuff out of the way pretty efficiently.” She looked up in thought. “It’d be fun to get to see more mythical creatures up close, but, since most of them are dangerous, I’m willing let that slide,” she added with a grin. “Yeah, Cadance told me to take care of you, so it would be pretty irresponsible of me to lead you into a forest filled with pony-eating creatures.” “Ugh,” Twilight scrunched her nose. “Camping back home is bad enough. I’d rather not add a hungry manticore into the mix.” They shared a small laugh, before Twilight continued. “I wouldn’t mind seeing more of the city, actually,” she said. “It all looks so beautiful and, well… magical.” Sunset tapped her chin in thought. “We might be able to get a carriage ride through the city. We could go when it starts to get dark. We'll be able to see the stars in the sky and all the little lights throughout the city.” Twilight nodded excitedly. “That sounds wonderful.” As she spoke, she noticed a familiar pony entering the restaurant. “Oh, they’re here!” Sunset turned to look, waving at the purple pegasus by the entrance. “Hey, Vi! Over here” Violet walked over to them, being closely followed by a white coated, green maned unicorn. “Hello, again,” she said when she reached their table. “Sunset, Sweet, I’d like you to meet my wife, Emerald.” The unicorn bowed her head in greeting. “It’s nice to meet you Sweet. And Sunset, I believe I made your acquaintance before.” “Yeah,” Sunset chuckled nervously. “Although to be honest, I don’t really remember it.” “Oh, don't worry about that,” Violet chirped, taking a seat opposite Sunset. “We have plenty of time to catch up, now.” “So,” Emerald spoke up as she sat next to Violet. “Vi tells me that you’ve spent the last few years on a secret mission.” Sunset gave a nervous laughter. “Something like that, yeah. Unfortunately, I can’t really talk about it.” “I see,” Emerald continued. “In that case, why don’t you tell us how you two met?” “We met at-” Twilight cut herself off, eyes widening. “Uh, actually, Sunny, I’m gonna let you take this one. I don’t trust myself to not say something I’m not suppose to.” “She’s in on it too?” Violet asked. Sunset looked between her current girlfriend and her ex girlfriend. “Sorta. Anyway, we don’t really have a romantic story about how we met.” Twilight nudged the amber unicorn in the side. “What about the part where you protected me from a bully? I thought that was kinda romantic, at least.” Sunset cringed. “I’d rather not talk about that whole fiasco right now.” “Oh,” Twilight blinked in surprise. “Uhm… alright.” She looked over at the other couple, forcing a smile. She was luckily saved from the awkward silence by the waiter coming by to take their order. They all settled on their meals quickly before returning to the topic. As soon as the waiter left, Twilight spoke up. “What about you? How’d you two meet?” “I met Emerald at work,” Violet answered with a cocky grin. Emerald shot her a playful glare. “What she means is that I spent a few weeks in the hospital after breaking both of my hind legs falling down a flight of stairs.” Her expression softened. “I didn’t have many visitors while I was there. My family all pretended to have more important things to do,” she added bitterly. “I kept her company while she recovered. And not just because it was my job to check up on her every day,” Violet giggled. “It wasn’t long before I started spending my lunch breaks in her room, just so we could talk more.” “That’s really sweet. So, how long have you two been together?” Twilight asked. Violet and Emerald shared a glance. “Three years?” Violet said uncertainly. “We’re coming up on five in a couple of months, darling,” Emerald replied with a chuckle. “Right, right,” Violet turned back to Twilight. “What about you two?” “It’s actually only been about a week for us,” Sunset replied. “Ooh, a new relationship, huh?” Violet cooed with a teasing smile. “Still in the honeymoon phase, then?” Sunset shot an amused look at Twilight. “Yeah. Especially one of us,” she said, pulling her into a sideways hug. “What do you mean by that?” Twilight pouted. Sunset replied by booping Twilight on the nose. “Oh, nothing. Nothing at all.” Twilight gave her girlfriend the best pout she was capable of. “But, yeah,” Sunset continued, unphazed, as she turned her attention back to the other couple. “We’re still pretty early in the relationship.” Violet tilted her head questioningly. “But, you’ve had sex, though, right?” Emerald gave her wife an incredulous look, while Sunset and Twilight both looked away awkwardly. Violet looked between the two of them a couple of times before gasping. “Wait, you haven’t? Oh my Celestia, you really have changed, Sunny!” Sunset groaned. “Vi, could you please not.” Violet ignored her, instead turning her attention fully on Twilight. “Trust me, Sweet Cheeks, you are missing out!” “Violet!” Emerald chided her. Twilight sank deeper into her seat. Her cheeks were burning, and a quick glance told her that Sunset was similarly embarrassed. “Uh, sorry,” Violet said, glancing between her wife and the other couple. “I may have gone a teeny bit to far there,” she giggled sheepishly. "I see you're still as excitable as I remember," Sunset said, not meeting her ex's eyes. Emerald shook her head with a sigh. “Moving swiftly on, Sweetie, what do you do for a living?” Twilight opened her mouth, ready to give the familiar response of being a student. At the last second, she hesitated, then leaned in to whisper to Sunset. “Can I talk about that?” she asked quietly, warily eyeing the other couple.”Y’know, what with the thing, and the changing numbers, and the drinking?” “What?” Sunset raised an eyebrow. “Oh! Right, that thing. Don’t worry, I’ll handle it.” Twilight returned to her more natural pose while Sunset cleared her throat. “Sweet's a researcher,” she said, proudly reaching her hoof around Twilight’s withers. “She’s doing some pretty important research that we, unfortunately, can’t talk about because it involves secret things.” Twilight nodded energetically. “Yes! That is correct. So, uh, Emerald, what do you do?” “I’m a jewelry maker,” the white unicorn replied. “My family owns a few jewelry stores in Canterlot, and I’ve been running one of them for about eight years now.” “That’s quite impressive,” Twilight said, as her mind tried to think up what kind of jewelry ponies would wear. Their food arrived, and the conversation took a back seat as they all dug in. It tasted just as delicious as the restaurant’s counterpart back home. Twilight’s mind went back to something Violet had said, though. Apparently, Violet and Sunset had been much quicker to escalate their relationship. Once again, Twilight worried that she was making Sunset wait for her, and despite the redhead’s reassurances that she didn’t mind, Twilight felt awful about it. She shook her head, banishing that train of thought. I’ll talk to Sunset about all of this tonight, she thought to herself. We’ll figure out exactly where we each stand on this, and hopefully I’ll be able to move past this block soon. The carriage ride turned out to be just as magical as Twilight imagined. The lights of Canterlot shone beautifully in the moonlit night. “Thanks you, Sunset,” Twilight muttered, pressing herself closer to the amber mare next to her. She felt her eyes closing and realized that if she wasn’t careful, the steady movements of the carriage, combined with the soft feel of Sunset’s fur would easily lull her to sleep. “Thank me for what?” Sunset whispered back, her hoof stroking Twilight’s mane as they cuddled. “For the date, I mean,” Twilight mumbled. “The whole trip, really. It’s all been so… magical.” Sunset gave her a soft kiss on the side of her muzzle. “I’m glad you liked it.” Twilight closed her eyes, enjoying the warm embrace of her girlfriend. After a few more minutes of comfortable bliss, the carriage stopped. Twilight opened her eyes to see the they were back where the ride had started. “Ride’s over, Sweetie. C’mon,” Sunset stood up, and gracefully hopped onto the cobblestone street. Twilight hesitated a little before following after her, wincing a little at the unfamiliar impact on her hooves. “So, what now?” she asked, once Sunset had thanked the pony who’d been pulling the carriage. She glanced up at the full moon. “It’s pretty late, already. Should we be heading back now?” “Yeah, we should start heading for the train station now.” Twilight nodded. “’Kay.” She yawned, looking around at the nighttime pedestrians as she followed Sunset’s lead. There were still some ponies out and about, though not nearly as many as there were during the day. A lot of the ponies she saw appeared to be out on a date, similar to herself and Sunset. She thought about the date she and Sunset had just had. They’d had a wonderful, exotic dinner, followed by a romantic carriage ride through the lamp-lit city streets. Everything she’d seen in movies, read in books or heard about from Cadance told her that this night wasn’t over. Not yet. She looked over at Sunset, who was watching their surroundings with a melancholic expression. “You know, I missed this place more than I thought I did. I’ll have to make time to visit again soon,” she said. Twilight nodded. “It is very special,” she answered, though most of her mind was still trying to decipher the date. When we get back, I need to talk to her. No chickening out on this one! She mentally steeled herself. Then again, after a date like this, is she already intending for us go take the next step tonight? She glanced over at Sunset, who was staring off into space with a content smile. No, she wouldn’t try to push me into it like that. But maybe she’s hoping things will go that way? The thought actually excited her. Twilight felt her cheeks growing warm at the thought of tonight being the night. Some of their previous dates had been special, but none of them had been this… magical. All the signs were pointing in the same direction. Twilight sent a few furtive glances in her girlfriend’s direction. She could feel an anxious excitement slowly rising inside her. That feeling persisted all the way back to Ponyville, and it only increased with each step nearer they got to their guest room. “I don’t think the princess is back yet,” Sunset said as they walked through the eerily quiet hallway. “Yeah,” Twilight said with a small smirk. “I guess she must’ve got so caught up in whatever she and Luna were doing, that she lost track of time.” Sunset snorted. “Getting too excited and losing track of time?” she said, directing a teasing smile at Twilight. "That certainly does sound like a Twilight Sparkle to me.” “Hey,” Twilight frowned at her. “I only did that, like, one time.” “It was way more than one time, Twilight,” Sunset said with a roll of her eyes. “It happened four times on our third date alone.” “Yeah, because you were in charge of the schedule for that date,” Twilight replied, pointing her hoof accusingly at Sunset. “You were responsible for keeping track of time, not me.” Sunset chuckled. “Well, if you had told me your mom set you a curfew, I might’ve taken that into account.” Twilight looked away sheepishly. “I meant to tell you, but I just-” she cut herself off abruptly, looking over to see a victorious grin on Sunset’s face. “Got too excited and forgot about it?” the amber unicorn offered. Twilight slumped. “Yes,” she answered sheepishly. They reached the door to their room, and Twilight’s nervousness instantly came back to her. She followed Sunset inside, before timidly speaking up. “Hey, Sunset? I, uhm… I need to talk to you about something.” Sunset looked at her worriedly. “Oh? About what?” Twilight looked away, one of her hooves kicking idly at the floor. “It’s about… sex.” Sunset blinked. “Oh. Alright, then.” She hopped up onto the bed, patting the spot in front of her invitingly. “What do you want to tell me?” Twilight followed her girlfriend onto the bed, taking a sitting position opposite her. She took a moment to collect her thoughts before speaking up. “First, I want to ask you something. Were you planning on us having sex tonight?” Sunset tilted her head in confusion. “Well, not really. Why do you ask?” “Oh,” Twilight squirmed in her seat and looked down at her hooves. “It’s just… I mean, with the nice dinner, the romantic carriage ride and all… Everything I know about dating says that tonight is the night for sex. Like, first time sex.” Sunset chuckled. “Everything you know about dating being teen romance novels?” Twilight blushed looking away. “And Cadance…” she mumbled defensively. Sunset reached out her hoof to touch Twilight’s. “I didn’t have anything planned after coming back here. And yeah, the date was pretty great, but it’s not like I did all that just to get under your tail.” Twilight snorted into her hoof. “Under my tail?” she repeated. Sunset blushed. “It's an expression. Kind of like ‘getting into your pants,’ I guess.” “Yeah, I got it,” Twilight giggled. “Anyway, that’s not really the part I needed to talk about.” She took a deep breath. So far, talking about this was a lot easier than she’d expected. “I’ve been doing some introspection, with the help of my counterpart,” she added with a blush. “And I figured out what was holding me back before. Or at least, part of what was holding me back.” Sunset nodded, encouraging her to keep going. “I’m worried that if I let you come too close, you’ll be… I don’t know. Disappointed or something. Like I won't be good enough, somehow. And then you'd lose interest in me. And, as soon as I say it out loud like that, I realize that it sounds kinda ridiculous,” she added, looking away sheepishly. Sunset squeezed her hoof. “You’re right, that is ridiculous. It’s not like my interest in you is dependent on some imaginary expectation.” Twilight looked down at where their hooves touched. “I guess. It’s just that you’re so smart, and beautiful, and strong, and perfect. And I’m… not.” “Twilight, look at me,” Sunset said lovingly, bringing her hoof up to caress Twilight’s cheek. “I already love you. I don’t expect you to be perfect, and if you really believe that I am, then you haven’t been paying attention,” she added with a wry smile. Twilight felt her throat tighten. Butterflies swarmed in her stomach as she beamed with joy. She placed her own hoof over Sunset’s, keeping it there. “You said the L word,” she said simply. Sunset smirked. “I know exactly what I said.” She leaned forward, pulling Twilight into a kiss. A deep kiss. With tongue. Pony tongue, Twilight realized with a start, and she froze up. As she had suspected, making out with a pony was very different. Sunset pulled away after a couple of seconds. “Uh, are you okay, Twi?” “Yeah, yeah,” Twilight replied instantly. “Sorry, I just wasn’t expecting that.” After taking a few seconds to recollect her thoughts, she leaned into Sunset for another kiss, and this time, she participated more actively. Twilight pressed herself closer to Sunset, taking the orange hoof in both of hers and running it down the front of her body. Lower. And lower. Sunset broke off the kiss, giving Twilight a lustful look. “You sure about this?” she panted. Twilight herself was panting, and she was sure her expression was just as lustful as her girlfriend’s was. With a smile on her face, she nodded. Twilight couldn’t sleep. Sunset hadn't had the same issue. She’d fallen asleep almost as soon as they finished, and was currently curled tightly around Twilight with a content smile on her face. Twilight, however, was lost in thought, staring through the window at the beautiful night sky. It wasn’t that she regretted what they did. Sunset had been amazing, of course. And she’d even said that Twilight wasn’t bad either. She didn’t regret it, or at least, she didn’t think she did. That was the problem, though. She didn't know how to feel about how things had turned out. She hadn’t exactly planned to lose her virginity on this trip. Or in this body. It just sort of… turned out that way. She didn’t know exactly what to think about tonight, but the more she thought about it, and the more happy noises that came form her sleeping girlfriend, the more she started to smile. And the more she knew that she didn’t regret a thing.