Feather checked his manes while standing outside a fancy- looking restaurant in Restaurant Row. Feather even wore a black suit to make himself more presentable. He had to make sure he looked proper especially since he was waiting for his date: Rarity, one of Equestria's best fashionistas and the Element of Generosity. Feather felt excited as he was able to score a date with such a well-known unicorn mare.
This all began when Feather visited Canterlot for a small vacation and he decided to visit Canterlot Carousel, the main clothing store of the city. Feather wanted to go to the boutique because not only fashion can inspire him to write poetry, it's also where he can meet all sorts of cute mares there. As Feather admired all of the well-made clothing and the beautiful mares, he accidentally bumped into Rarity while she was carrying some bags of fabric. Feather apologized to her while offering to pick up Rarity's things which she gratefully appreciated. Feather introduced himself and mentioned that he had seen Rarity at Starlight's old village. Rarity was delighted to hear that a pony from Starlight's village came to Canterlot. She then offered Feather an invitation to join her for dinner as a way to welcome him to the city. In the excitement, Feather quickly accepted Rarity's offer and took notes on where and what time the dinner will take place.
Now Feather was waiting in anticipation for this date to begin.
"Thank you for waiting, darling!" Rarity's voice said from afar. Feather turned to be completely shocked from what he was seeing. Rarity was wearing a frilly light purple dress while wearing a light blue diamond necklace. Her manes were done up to be more frilly than usual and it was sparkling. Rarity was a sight to behold to Feather and he was so awestruck from her beauty. "I'm so sorry for being late. Beauty does take time."
Feather quickly shook his head to refocus. "Oh no problem, Rarity." Feather said. "Besides, the wait was all worth it as I get to see you all dolled up." Feather showed off his best smile.
Rarity giggled. "Oh Feather, you're such a charmer."
Feather lifted one of his forehooves to Rarity. "Shall we, Rarity?"
Rarity used her own hoof to wrap around Feather's offered hoof. "It will be my pleasure." Rarity said as she and Feather entered the restaurant.
The interior of the restaurant was what Feather expected: a bright chandelier hanged on the ceiling, all of the tables were arranged in such a proper manner, and nicely dressed waiters were trotting all around to serve customers. Feather and Rarity were led to a small table enough for two ponies. Once the couple told the server what drinks they want, they began to make small talk.
"This place looks amazing." Feather claimed to Rarity.
"Indeed," Rarity agreed. "I remembered when I visited this bistro for the first time with one of my friends. The interior design of this place was the same, but the cuisines served here were not so satisfying."
"Really?" Feather said in disbelief.
Rarity continued. "For starters, the portions were very small and they tasted very bland. We went to another restaurant but it was still the same. This was because the restaurants wanted to get some hoof ratings from Zesty Gourmand so more guests could come in."
"That sounds very sad." Feather said.
"Of course, but it wasn't until my friend and I helped this other restaurant, The Tasty Treat, get more ponies to come in because their food was much better. Pretty soon, all the other restaurants disregarded Zesty's hoof ratings and served food the way they wanted."
"Wow, I can't believe you were able to pull that off. You must be really special, Rarity." Feather complimented.
"Oh please, I'm just a simple unicorn mare from Ponyville." Rarity said while pretending to be modest. The waiter returned to jot down Feather and Rarity's orders. Feather decided to order some recommendations from Rarity since she has eaten here before. When the food arrived, Feather was amazed to see that the food looked presentable and it was big enough for him to eat. Feather took one bite and he was delighted from how tasty his order tasted. Rarity agreed while using her magic to levitate her utensils to pick up her food. They began talking about Feather's time in the village and how Starlight was progressing ever since she was reformed. An hour passed before Feather and Rarity completely emptied their plates.
"I appreciate the meal, Rarity." Feather said as he turned to the waiter. "I would like the bill, please. I'll pay for our meals." The waiter nodded and went to retrieve the check.
"Oh Feather, you don't have to pay. I was the one who invited you here." Rarity said.
"It's alright, Rarity." Feather assured. "It's the least I could do for introducing me to this place."
"Your bill, sir," The waiter said as he gave Feather the bill.
"Thank you," Feather replied. His eyes went wide after reading what was on the bill.
"Are you alright, Feather?" Rarity asked curiously.
"I-I'm fine, it's just that I've never paid a price that was this high before." Feather admitted. Rarity nodded before she informed the waiter that she will pay the bill. Once the bill was paid, Feather and Rarity exited the restaurant.
"Sorry that I made you pay for dinner, Rarity." Feather said while rubbing the back of his neck.
"Oh it is quite alright, Feather." Rarity said. "Like I said before, I was the one who invited you here." Rarity noticed that Feather was feeling down as he let a mare pay for dinner. She came up with an idea. "Tell you what, how about I show you around town to make up for dinner? You haven't seen Canterlot's night life yet."
Feather smiled. "Sure! Lead the way, Rarity!" Feather followed along Rarity to another part of Canterlot.
"I just want to apologize again for not having enough bits for dinner. I usually eat at small diners or local restaurants and their food weren't that pricey." Feather said with an awkward grin.
"It's fine. I understand what you mean." Rarity agreed. "Canterlot's restaurants are mostly for the rich nobles."
"I guess that makes me a fish out of water here." Feather said while feeling down.
"There's nothing wrong with that, Feather." Rarity assured. "I remembered when I first came to Canterlot and I was extremely nervous as I spent most of my life in Ponyville. Even though it was such a scary thing to face, I was able handle all of it by admiring all of the good things Canterlot had to offer."
"Huh, I never would've thought about it in that way." Feather admitted.
"That's where I come in." Rarity confirmed. "Allow me to show you what makes Canterlot Equestria's capital." Rarity then led Feather to Canterlot's shopping district. The shops had large displays full of mannequin ponies wearing all sorts of fashionable attires. Feather felt astounded from how all of the clothes looked on the displays. He could imagine all sorts of mares wearing shown clothes. "This is where I find my inspirations for the latest fashion." Rarity said as she trotted forward. "Just looking at the shops' displays helps me understand how certain stores make their clothing lines. I could already feel my inspiration flowing through me, urging me to create!"
"Same here, my mind is coming up with all kinds of verses for new poetry." Feather said out loud.
"Oh, so you're a poet I assume?" Rarity asked.
"Yeah, it's one of my passions." Feather responded. "It helps me express all the beauties this world has to offer."
"Am I one of those beauties?" Rarity asked while batting her eyelashes.
"But of course," Feather agreed. "You're like a rare gem discovered in a sacred tomb."
"You're such a charmer, Feather." Rarity said while blushing. After Rarity and Feather left the shopping district, they made their way to one of the local parks in Canterlot. Feather admired the view as the moon's light reflected from the pond's water surface. Small fireflies glowed while flying around in different directions. There were even tall, lit lantern poles that shined along the park's pathway. "I do take it that you enjoy this local park?"
"Yes I do," Feather said while trotting besides Rarity.
"I do come here when I'm in the mood for a late night stroll. The park's natural scenery clears my thoughts of all my frustrations." Rarity moved closer to Feather, which made him a bit curious. "Although, I do tend to get scared when I'm here as something might jump at me." Rarity then wrapped her hooves around one of Feather's arms.
"Don't worry, Rarity." Feather assured. "I'll keep you safe while we go through here." Feather suddenly heard some rustles coming from the bushes. "Stay back, Rarity!" Feather ordered. "Something is coming!" Feather quickly moved Rarity behind him to block her from whatever was about to come out of the bushes. The only thing that jumped out of the bushes was a small brown rabbit and looked curiously at the couple.
"I believe I'll be alright against a beast that small." Rarity assured.
"Hehe, sorry." Feather blushed while laughing nervously. "I was just being cautious, that's all."
"True, but I do appreciate a stallion who stands in front of a mare to save her." Rarity said with a wink before she strolled ahead of Feather. Feather didn't know what to say but he quickly galloped to catch up to Rarity. The couple continued down the path until they came across some trees that bloomed light blue flowers that glowed in the darkness. Rarity moved closer to get a better look at the shining flowers.
"Wow, those flowers look so divine!" Rarity claimed as her eyes sparkled from such a sight. "I have got to have one of those!" Rarity as she was about to use magic. That was until Rarity noticed that Feather was already climbing up one of the blooming trees. "Feather! What are you doing?!" Rarity said in panic.
"Getting you one of the flowers!" Feather replied while getting up on another tree branch.
"But you will hurt yourself!" Rarity said. "I can just use magic to get the flowers!"
"It's fine." Feather assured. "I'm up here already. I might as well finish what I started." Feather started picking some of the flowers. Feather was able to get enough to make a bouquet until he tripped over and hit some branches before he fell straight to the ground. Before Feather was about to reach impact, he stopped as he was covered with light blue aura. He looked up to see Rarity using her magic to levitate him. Rarity then levitated Feather up so he could land on his hooves.
"That was close, Feather!" Rarity scolded. "You almost gave me a heart attack!"
"I'm sorry, Rarity." Feather said while looking down. "Can you at least accept these flowers as an apology?" Feather said as he lifted up his bouquet of flowers. The flowers were completely smushed due to the impact from the branches. To make things worse, Feather winced as he felt a sudden pain on one of his forehooves. Rarity noticed this and saw that Feather had a large wound on his arm.
"Oh Feather, you're injured." Rarity claimed as she used her magic to pull out a handkerchief from her purse and was about to wipe the wound.
"It's fine, Rarity. It's only a small scar." Feather said while covering his wound with his other hoof, which only made his pain worse.
"That simply won't do." Rarity said as she used her magic to rip off a part of her dress and used the cloth to wrap it around Feather's injury.
"I don't want you to ruin your dress, Rarity." Feather pleaded.
"No, I don't want to hear any excuses." Rarity demanded. "Now let's go to a doctor to properly heal that wound of yours." As Rarity led Feather out of the park, Feather stayed silent for the rest of the trip. Rarity took Feather to a local clinic that she has been to before. The doctor took a look at Feather's wound and immediately healed Feather's forehoof. When Feather exited the clinic, his rag bandage was replaced with white bandages that covered his hoof. "Oh thank heaven that your injury wasn't too serious." Rarity said.
"Yeah, it was just a scratch." Feather said before he turned. "I'll just be on my way then." Feather said before he began trotting. Rarity galloped in front of Feather to stop him.
"What's wrong, Feather?" Rarity asked. "Why do you so gloom?"
"It's because I've ruin what was suppose to be your best date ever." Feather answered as tears fell from his eyes. "I made you pay the bill, blocked you from a harmless bunny, got you worried, and had you tear up your lovely dress. What kind of stallion makes a mare go through such a night?"
"A stallion who has a good heart." Rarity answered. Feather looked at Rarity with confusion. "You tried your hardest to show me a good time on this date. I can't help but admire that as most of your actions remind me of a friend. Like most males who have encountered me, my friend fell head over heels for me the moment he saw me. At first I thought my friend's crush towards me was temporary, but it continued and my friend expressed it by doing all sorts of things for me. Even though that were the case, I didn't show enough gratitude for his efforts. The cost of it was that I felt a lot of regrets for not expressing how much I appreciated him in the past." Rarity placed a hoof on Feather's. "It's okay to give generosity to someone you care for, but there's nothing wrong with accepting generosity from that someone in return. That will make your bonds stronger."
"Wow, thanks, Rarity." Feather said as he wiped away his tears.
"It's no problem." Rarity said while winking. "I do believe there's one last thing you can do for me to complete this date." Rarity then extended her hoof to Feather. "You can escort me to my home."
"I would love to, Rarity!" Feather said as he took Rarity's hoof. "But, I don't know where you live." Feather admitted.
Rarity giggled. "I'll lead the way. For now, you can keep me company." With that said, Rarity and Feather once again trotted though Canterlot's streets.