It was another night-shift in The Cantering Cook. It was certainly a fine restaurant, with round tables draped in white covers and even a few lit candles placed on some of them. It was the kind of place one would expect from a romance novel, where the stallions wear their finest tuxedos and the mares wear silky-smooth dresses. While waitressing is not what Brocade would want to do in life, she considered this to be way much better than a part-time job in some hayburger chain restaurant. She held up a bottle of chardo-neigh and a silver platter with two bowls of salad on top as she trotted towards two stallions sitting at one of the tables. While the two stallions bore a heavy resemblance to one another, there were some very noticeable differences between their appearances. One was a dark blue with a black mane and tail and a pair of sunglasses to match, while the other was a light blue with a chestnut brown mane and tail. One had two masks, a comedy mask and a tragedy mask, for a cutie mark while the other had what appeared to be a smile and two crosses above it for a cutie mark. They looked at her and smiled as she lowered the bottle and their salads onto the table. She trotted back near the kitchen, waiting to deliver the next order. Time had past and the sunglassed stallion stood next to her, his sudden appearance startling Brocade.
"I know you're busy right now but when you're available, maybe we can have a drink some time," the stallion said.
Brocade was at a loss for words. Nopony had ever asked her out before, mainly due to the fact that she was a nerd in her youth and she used to wear braces. She was very self-conscious about her image so she was surprised that a stallion she just met would find her attractive enough to ask her out. Maybe the glossy, but expensive, shampoo and other beauty enhancing cosmetics worked after all.
"Uh..." Brocade stammered out "Sure."
"Good," the stallion said "So, where would you like to meet up? I know a great place downtown that makes the best cider bits can buy."
While Brocade could have suggested the restaurant they were currently in, she felt like it would have been a case of pooing where you eat. Plus, she was curious about the place the stallion suggested.
"Sounds nice," Brocade replied.
"Great," the stallion said, "What time do you get off?"
"Huh?"
"What time do you stop working?"
"Ten O'Clock."
"Perfect. Here's the place, meet me at ten and wear something nice."
The stallion handed Brocade a picture of a bar in Manehatten and trotted back to his table with his acquaintance. To Brocade, the whole thing felt surreal. She never imagined going on a date with somepony. Maybe she had just found her Prince Charming.
Brocade and the stallion, who had introduced himself as Shining Facade, sat at a table in the bar Facade had suggested. It smelt like a mix of cigar smoke and urine but the seats were comfortable enough. And Facade was right about the cider, it really was the best cider bits can buy. According to Facade, they were made by the Apple family, who had quite the reputation for their apple products and for growing the juiciest apples a pony can get. The two ponies laughed as Facade broke the ice with some jokes and anecdotes. Then Facade asked Brocade something she didn't expect anypony to be interested.
"So, what made you come to Manehatten?"
"Uh...well," Brocade said, "I came here because I want to be in the fashion business."
"Really?"
"Well, that and I also want to write a novel."
"What kind of novel?"
"I can't decide whether to do a crime novel or a romance novel."
"Why not both? I hear crime and passion go hoof in hoof."
Both Brocade and Facade shared a laugh then sighed.
"What about you?" Brocade asked, "What made you come to Manehatten?"
"What do you mean?" Facade asked, "I've always lived here."
"Are you sure? You don't have the accent."
Facade chuckled.
"Alright, you got me. I think I came from Ponyville or someplace like that, somewhere that is small and not very exciting."
"I came from Ponyville too!" Brocade said excitedly.
"I wouldn't say I am from Ponyville. Just a place like it."
"How do you not know where you came from?" Brocade asking while giggling.
"Well now, it was boring," Facade replied, "The only times it wasn't boring was when I was pulling pranks on ponies."
"Ooh, you were a troublemaker."
"I guess you could say that. I had gotten into my fair share of fights. One of them managed to get a particularly nasty hit to my head as a foal."
Brocade gasped in shock.
"You poor thing!"
"Meh, it wasn't that bad. But hey, enough about me. What about you? How was your foalhood?"
"Like yours, it was mostly uneventful. I had nice parents but I was always ignored in school."
"Lucky you. My parents always shouted at me whenever I've done something wrong. Took me a long time to realize that, if I were to benefit from a normal life, I had to wear a mask. Unless your parents shouted at you too."
"Nope. The only times they raised their voice at me was to tell me supper's ready. What do you mean by 'wearing a mask'?"
"You know, pretend to be normal. Like you, I didn't fit in myself. I was a recluse, you see. So I pretended to be more sociable to get ponies to like me. And now I've got friends in all sorts of places. Anyway, what about you? Surely you've made some friends after school."
Brocade chuckled nervously.
"About that...I thought the same thing but even when I moved here, I didn't have a lot of friends."
"Well, Miss Brocade..."
Facade placed his hoof on Brocade's hoof.
"You've got one now."
The time Brocade and Facade spent with one another felt like the tales of romance Brocade used to read. The ones where a plain, ordinary mare meets a stallion that is tall, handsome and dangerous. A beast that simply needs her gentle touch to regain his ponyanity, if such a thing exists. Unfortunately for Brocade, she found out later on that the tale of her, Facade and Cozy Glow is going to be something way different than she could have possibly imagined.