//------------------------------// // The Double Date // Story: The Pie of my Eye // by Azure_Shadow //------------------------------// Outside Hoofington Plaza Mall Saturday, 12:15 Swift Justice was walking towards the entrance to the Hoofington Plaza Mall. He was having a staring contest with the large beast made of concrete and glass. Swift was giving the building an intimidating stare, but in reality, Swift was quivering in his shoes, with each step towards the building, he felt his heart was one step closer to bursting out of his chest and thought that butterflies would come out of his stomach at any moment. He stopped just outside of the entrance to the mall. Swift glanced at his wrist watch. It was 12:15, a few minutes before Swift was supposed to meet with Pinkie and Twilight. Just the thought of this date was enough to make Swift almost freeze up again. Swift kept the staring contest going until he felt a hard slap on the back. "WHAT THE!?" shouted Swift as he nearly jumped out of his skin and turned around to see Thunderlane chuckling to himself."Dude not funny! I almost had a heart attack!" "Did you see yourself just now? It was pretty funny." said Thunderlane. Swift was angry, yet also relieved at the arrival of his friend. He let out a sigh as some of the butterflies in his chest seemed to have calmed down after that jump scare. "Well anyways, thanks for coming to help me out Thunderlane." Thunderland walked up to Swift and gave him a reassuring pat on the shoulder. "No problem Swift, I'm glad to help! I still can't believe you got a double date with Pinkie! Who's the other girl again?" "Her friend Twilight Sparkle." "Oh the new girl?" "Yeah, You ok with that?" asked Swift. "I don't really care. I just want to know one thing." "What's that?" "How you got the guts to ask Pinkie out this time, every time you've tried to talk to her before has ended with with you becoming mute for the duration of the conversation. My question here is; When did you grow a pair?" Swift ignored the last part of that question and scratched the back of his head while grinning. "Well...I didn't ask her per-se." "Pinkie Pie asked you out didn't she?" asked Thunderlane, cutting Swift's explanation short. "That's about right." Swift said with an awkward chuckle. "Well you got a date with Pinkie Pie...kinda so you reached your goal, but in a different way." "Right!" "Well good for you dude." said Thunderlane as he took his phone out of his black denim jacket and checked the time. "Well Swift, the moment of truth is almost here! It's time to go meet the girls." Swift took another look at the building and gulped. "As ready as I'll ever be." Thunderlane gave Swift a reassuring smile. "Don't worry Swift! You've been waiting for this day for almost three years, not to mention you have the greatest wingman in all of Canterlot!" Swift took a deep breath. "Y-Yeah, let's do this." ------------ Inside Hoofington Plaza Mall About the same time Pinkie Pie and Twilight Sparkle were sitting on a wooden bench by a large fountain in the center of the mall, the agreed meeting place for the double date. Twilight was looking down at her feet and slowly kicking them back and forth. Pinkie, in a rare moment wasn't talking. She was looking up at the large stylized glass ceiling which displayed a cloudless blue sky. Pinkie then turned to Twilight, who was still staring at her feet and decided to speak up. "Twilight! Are you as nervouscited as I am right now!?" Twilight turned her head towards Pinkie; "What?" "Nervouscited! It's like when you wanna jump up and down and yell YAY ME!! But you also wanna curl up in a teeny tiny ball and hide at the same time!" Twilight squirmed nervously in her seat. "Well..y-yeah, i guess. I've never been on a date before." "If it makes you feel any better Twilight, I can't remember the last time I had a date." "Sorry Pinkie, but that doesn't really help right now." said Twilight who went back to looking at her shoes. "It's gonna be ok Twilight! A double date is a date, but it's also not really a date at the same time! Plus, what's the worst that could happen? You completely embarrass yourself during the date, and neither of the boys never want to have anything to do with you ever again?" Twilight glanced back at Pinkie with a horrified look on her face. "That is a worst case scenario right?" Pinkie put her finger to her lip and hummed quietly to herself. "Well yeah, it is a worst-case scenario, but it's still a scenario right?" "Thanks Pinkie, I feel a lot better now." said Twilight, who took no effort to hide the sarcasm in her voice. "No problem Twilight, happy to he-GASSSSPPPP!!!" said Pinkie who shot up from her seat. "They're here! HEY YOU GUYYYYSSSSSS!!!!!" Pinkie shouted as she waved to the two boys who came into the central room in the mall and came towards the bench where Pinkie and Twilight were sitting. "Hiya Swift and Swift's friend! How are you guys today!?" asked an extremely nervoucited Pinkie. Swift, with a bit of courage due to the pep talk Thunderlane gave him earlier, was actually able to speak. "H-Hi Pinkie, Hey Twilight. W-We're good thanks for asking. This is my friend Thunderlane, Thunderlane these are Pinkie Pie and Twilight Sparkle." "Hello Thunderlane" said Twilight. "Sup" said Thunderlane, who was trying to play it cool. After a moment of awkward silence, Pinkie was the first to speak up again. "Well, how about we get this double date started huh? Should we go right to the restaurant, or head to a few stores first?" "Um.. If you guys didn't mind, the new A.K. Yearling book just came out. Do you guys know if there's a book store in this mall?" Swift spoke up; "Yeah! There's a book store not far from here. I wouldn't mind going, how about you guys?" asked Swift as he looked at Thunderlane and Pinkie. "I don't care." Thunderlane answered with a shrug. "Let's get this double date started!" Pinkie exclaimed as she started running excitedly away from the other three. "Um Pinkie, the book store is this way!" said Swift as he pointed in the opposite direction. Pinkie performed a 180 before darting past them again. "I KNEW THAT!" The three caught up with Pinkie at the large entrance to the store. The sign read The Noteworthy Novel. The group took a moment to laugh at the stupid name of the store before entering. It was a very big store, with dark green carpeting, and white walls with green trim. It was all one large room with what looked like hundreds of bookshelves in it. If one didn't know any better, they'd say they were in an actual library. Twilight quickly found herself in the adventure section, skimming through the stacks in search of her book. Thunderlane and Pinkie Pie were bored, so they looked through the magazine section near the exit. Swift took this opportunity to sneak over to the manga section of the store. He skimmed through the shelves, reading through the titles of the different books while looking for the one he needed. "Let's see....Assault on Colossus, Channler Queen, Kabuto, King's Sword, Maids vs. Gentlemen, ViVi's odd adventure." The names went on until Swift was able to locate the book he was looking for."A ha! Idiots and Exams volume eight! And it's the last one!" Swift greatly enjoyed the series, ever since he read the first volume on a whim. He found that he related to the main character ,Yuri a lot. He was a guy who tried to be cool, but in his group of "cool guy friends" he was the one who did nothing but smile and nod, being cool by association. The main character also had a crush on one of the female side characters, which he too had great difficulty expressing. His attempts usually ended in a number of awkward, comedic, and sometimes painful ways for him, but he always got back on his feet and tried again, and Swift admired that about him. Swift quickly went over to the suspense section as well, and grabbed two books from there. Ace Investigator Keen Eye and Staring down the Jaws of Justice; Two books which were of the "Legal Thriller" genre which Swift also greatly enjoyed. Swift took his books and quickly bought them at the counter, making sure to stuff the manga book in between the two legal thrillers. Swift then went to the front of the store, where the other three were waiting. "Hey guys! Sorry I kept you waiting." "Don't worry Swift, I just got done buying books myself." said Twilight who had a rather large messenger bag that looked filled to bursting with books. "Wow that's a lot of books." said Swift who was staring at the filled up bag. "Yeah, there was a sale in the classics section, buy one get another half off. Plus I got three A.K. Yearling books, including the new Daring Do." Twilight said as she gave a nervous chuckle. "I'd hate to interrupt, but can we get to the restaurant? I'm starving." said Thunderlane, who's stomach growled in agreement. "C'mon slow pokes! Let's go and get some grub!"Pinkie said cheerfully as she ran out the door. The others followed suit. They all went through the mall at a faster pace in an attempt to catch up with Pinkie Pie. The restaurant was on the second floor. Instead of waiting for an elevator, the group ran up a spiral staircase. Swift quickly ran up the stairs, only to her a loud thud coming from behind. He turned around to see that Twilight on the floor by the staircase. Twilight, who was trying her best to keep up with Pinkie Pie tripped on the last step, which caused the contents of her bag to spill out onto the floor. Swift glided over to Twilight and helped her up. "Woah, that sounded like it hurt, are you ok Twilight?" asked Swift in a concerned voice as he helped Twilight to her feet. "Yeah aside from a little bruise, I'm fine." said Twilight as she rubber her elbow. Swift then quickly knelt down next to her and put all of the fallen books back into the messenger bag. He picked it up to realize it was very heavy. "Wow, these books are heavy." said Swift. "Yeah, I think I may have gone a bit overboard." said a slightly embarrassed Twilight who extended her arm to grab the bag. Before Twilight could get it, Swift quickly slung the bag over his shoulder and flashed her a grin. "Don't worry Twilight, I'll carry these books for ya." "Um..a-are you sure? they're really heavy." said a now blushing Twilight. "Of course! They're not that heavy." said Swift, who was trying to sound tough. "Plus the restaurant is right over there, it's no problem." "Thanks Swift." "Don't mention it!" Thunderlane saw Swift helping up Twilight, and walked over to them. "Hey, everything alright over here?" "Yeah, Twilight tripped and dropped her books, so I helped her up." replied Swift. "You ok?" asked Thunderlane who turned his attention to Twilight. "Yes, I'm fine now." said Twilight who was still blushing. "Well, I better catch up with Pinkie Pie so she doesn't run away!" said Twilight who gave an awkward grin and ran past the two boys. Thunderlane glanced at Swift as the two continued to walk. "Looks like your date with Pinkie Pie isn't doing so well." "You think?" "I'll be honest with you Swift, this thing with Pinkie is going nowhere fast. And as your wingman, it looks like I'm gonna need to get things moving between you two." "How are you gonna do that?" Thunderlane looked at the restaurant up in front of them and spent a few seconds thinking before answering Swift. "I'll think of something, just wait." The group finally reached the restaurant known as The Race Horse after chasing down Pinkie. The Race Horse was one of those sports/bar type restaurants with sports memorabilia and photos of sports teams lining the walls. There were flat screen tvs bolted to the walls showing different games of soccer, football, and basketball. There were a few people there, but it wasn't busy yet. The four were quickly seated in a booth by the entrance, with Swift and Thunderlane on one side and Pinkie and Twilight on the other. "This seems like a cool place." said Thunderlane, who was admiring the sports memorabilia on the walls by their booth. "Thanks Thunderlane! My friends Rainbow Dash and Applejack come here all the time! Rainbow gave it her approval of awesomeness, so I thought it'd be perfect!" said Pinkie. "I hear their chicken wing bites are amazing, we're gonna have to order some." Swift said as he skimmed through the menu. "Applejack told me they were really good. I'd love to try some." said Twilight. The four ordered a platter of the chicken wing bites, and kept talking about school, clubs, their friends, and everything else that was going on in town at the time, which wasn't much. When the chicken wing bites showed up, everyone took a short break to eat a few before going back to talking. The whole time, Thunderlane looked like he was thinking hard about something as he was quiet for most of the idle chatter, looking at the other three, out the window, at the wall of memorabilia. Eventually, his eyes came upon something that took up a small area of the restaurant, an air hockey table. Suddenly, Thunderlane got an idea in his head and decided to capitalize on it. "Hey Twilight, have you ever played air hockey before?" "Can't say I have." "Well how about a quick game? It's really fun!" "I don't know, I'm not really good at that kind of game." "C'mon It's easy, I'll show you how to play." Pinkie spoke up; :Yeah Twilight! Air Hockey is really super fun! " "Well..I guess a game or two wouldn't hurt." said Twilight. "Great! Hey Swift and Pinkie, you two mind waiting here for when the food comes?" "Nope! You two have fun!" said Pinkie. "Wait wha-" Swift was about to speak up before Thunderlane quickly whispered in his ear. "Swift, just agree! I got you your alone time with Pinkie, so don't screw it up!" Thunderlane then turned back to Twilight. "Alright, let's go play some Air Hockey!" said Thunderlane as he and Twilight walked to the other end of the restaurant where the air hockey table was located. After Thunderlane and Twilight left the table, the butterflies in Swift's stomach took flight once more. The peaceful feeling all through his body a moment ago was replaced with anxiety and worry. He thought that he was going to turn into a statue right there, like he did in Pinkie's presence the time before. Swift tried to avoid making eye contact with Pinkie by replicating the actions that Thunderlane was doing before, looking out the window by their booth, looking at the TV above their booth, and looking out towards the air hockey table where Thunderlane was explaining to Twilight how to play. Swift thought that this strategy was working pretty well, but he forgot that Pinkie Pie was far from the quiet type herself. "So Swift, how do you think the double date is going?" asked Pinkie. "Uh...I think it's...going...ok." Swift replied as best he could. "That's good! I think this date is going reallyreallyreally well! Twilight was super nervouscited about it, but she looks like she's having lots of fun!" Pinkie said as she pointed to Twilight who was smiling while playing with Thunderlane. "Y-Yeah, she looks like she's having a good time." said Swift. "How about you Swift? Are you having fun!?" Pinkie asked as she gave Swift a big smile. "Me!? Um..yes...I'm having a good time." Swift replied with a nervous smile. "That's awesome too! I'm having a superdupermega amount of fun!" said Pinkie. "That..that's nice Pinkie." said Swift as he felt blood slowly rush to his cheeks. In order to take his mind off of how red his face must've been getting, he popped another chicken wing bite into his mouth and chewed as Pinkie continued to talk. "I think this was a great idea! Lots of good things are happening today! Twilight is having a super huge amount of fun and making new friends in the process, you guys got some books, I found a bit on the sidewalk, and I'm getting to talk to you!" Swift nearly chocked on his food at the last part of what Pinkie said. "Cough cough (gulp) T-Talk...to me!?" "Yeah silly billy! I never get to talk to you. I've seen you around school a bunch, but you're super duper quiet all the time!" "I'm not much of a social butterfly." said Swift as his face got redder and redder. "That's ok! I just want to talk you!' "Um..ok..what did you want to talk about?" Pinkie put her finger to her lip as she looked briefly lost in thought in search of a question, until it appeared she found one. "Ok, sooooooo you do anything after school?: "Not currently, I'm on the table tennis team, but that doesn't start until spring." said Swift. "The table tennis team? That's awesome! Are you guys good?" "We're decent. We've won a few regional trophies, but we're hoping to make nationals this year." "I'm the head of the school's party planning committee! Any party, festival, dance, or other all around good time in the school is planned by us!" Pinkie said as she pointed both of her thumbs to herself. "That..'s nice." "Yeah! You should join! But you had better be willing to get your hands dirty for the cause." said Pinkie who's disposition changed to a drop dead serious one. "What?" asked a surprised Swift. The serious look Pinkie had was immediately dropped for a laugh. "Hahahahaha! Don't worry Swift! We all have lots of fun planning parties, and It's super nice seeing everyone's happy smiles when the party comes around!" "Sounds fun...I'll think about it." Swift said before putting another chicken wing bite in his mouth. He looked over to Twilight and Thunderlane, the latter of whom appearing to be asking for a rematch from Twilight, who nodded. Swift then looked back to where Pinkie was sitting, but oddly found the seat empty. Where could she have gone? He looked back towards Thunderlane and Twilight, no Pinkie there. She didn't appear to be anywhere else in the restaurant. He then looked to his right, and was shocked to see Pinkie had soundlessly moved to where Thunderlane was sitting originally. She was kneeling on the seat, and her face was only a few inches from his. Pinkie had a questioning look on her face. "Swift, are you ok?" "Um..uh..why? Is ..something wrong?" asked Swift, who was frozen in place. "Your face is getting kinda red, and you're getting quieter, are you sick or something?" Swift was now blushing a new shade of red. "N-No, I don't think so." he replied. Then, faster than Swift could react; Pinkie put her hands on his cheeks. If Swift's body was frozen before, It was now in full on lock down. Swift couldn't move, all he could do now was feel Pinkie's soft, warm hands caressing his cheeks . They stayed there for a moment before her right hand moved to Swift's forehead. "Wow, I think you're getting a fever or something. You're burning up!" said a concerned Pinkie. Swift was in shock! He couldn't believe the sudden turn of events that had just taken place! Here was one of the cutest girls in all of Canterlot High, being worried about him, and even touching his cheeks to see if he was alright. If was a magical feeling for Swift, he felt all of the butterflies in his stomach go wild, but at the same time, felt as though his heart had stopped beating. Swift thought that was nervoucited put into actual feelings. Man, I've never felt like this before. It's almost like I can't breath! Swift thought to himself. But after a few seconds, another thought came into Swift's head. Wait...I'm not breathing....that's not right. Swift's hand immediately went to his throat. He got out of the booth and tried to breath, only succeeding in coughing and gagging. "Swift, what's wrong?" asked a confused Pinkie. Swift couldn't talk, as he kept pointing at his throat and making any noise he could. "There's a frog in your throat? Something's wrong with your throat? You're choking?" At the last guess, Swift nodded his head furiously. "Oh! You're choking! So you don't have a fever because you're sick, you just can't breath! But wait, I thought people turned blue when they couldn't breath. Wait...OMG YOU CAN'T BREATH!!" shouted Pinkie. She too immediately stood up. "HEY EVERYONE! WE NEED HELP! MY FRIEND CAN'T BREATH!" she yelled as she pointed towards Swift. Swift immediately felt someone run up behind him and put their arms around him. "Hold on buddy!" Swift recognized the voice as Thunderlane's as he felt his friend's hands tense up and immediately pulling them into his stomach. This repeated a few times until the foriegn obstruction flew out of Swift's mouth, a half chewed up chicken wing bite. Swift immediately dropped to the floor, gasping for air as the color slowly, but surly came back to his face. He alternated between gasping for air and coughing, until he felt someone next to him drape their arm over his shoulder. Swift turned his head to see Twilight kneeling down next to him with a look of worry on her face. "Are you ok Swift?" asked Twilight. "Yeah, I think I am." replied Swift. Twilight handed Swift a small glass of water, which he quickly gulped down. "Thank goodness, you really scared me." said Twilight. "I'm ok, thanks for your concern Twilight." "He's ok everyone, you can all relax." said Thunderlane to a small group of customers and employees who formed a circle around the four teens. After they disbanded, he helped Swift to his feet. "Out of all the wingmen in the world, I think I'm one of the best right now, what do you think." "You're pretty good. Thanks for saving me dude, I owe you one." said Swift. "It's not a big deal." "Not a big deal? NOT A BIG DEAL!? You're a hero Thunderlane! That was amazing!" said Pinkie as she quickly pulled Thunderlane into a bear hug. "I'm gonna need to throw a "Thunderlane is a hero party!" I wonder what kind of food I'd need to server there, guess I'll figure it out!" "You don't need to do that, It was nothing big." said Thunderlane. "Nope, I need to throw you a party, that's the end of that!" said Pinkie with a smile. The four then finished the food that eventually arrived at their table. After they payed, they went to a few more stores in the mall and bought a few different things here and there. Swift was very quiet during the end of the date, and all of them stopped at the exit to the mall. "Well I think that was a super fun double date!" said Pinkie. "It's definitely one I won't forget anytime soon." said Thunderlane. "It was very....eventful." said Twilight. "You took the words right out of my mouth guys." said Swift. The four exchanged goodbyes and went their seperate ways. Twilight and Pinkie took a bus to get to their houses, while Swift and Thunderlane lived close enough to the mall to walk home. Both of them were silent for most of the walk home until the last few blocks to Swift's house, where Thunderlane broke the silence. "Well.....that could've gone a bit better for you couldn't it?" "Yeah, It could've." Swift replied while looking down at the pavement. "Don't worry dude, It was just one double date! It was a freak thing." "Yeah, I made a fool of myself in front of Pinkie." "If it makes you feel better, I think Pinkie is too blinded by planning a party for me to remember what a fool you were." "Gee thanks Thunder, you always know just what to say." "I'm serious man! I'm sure by Monday, Pinkie will forget all about what happened." "You think so?" "Probably, It's Pinkie Pie dude, I'm sure she'll act as normal as Pinkie can at school." "I hope so." The two finally arrived at Swift's house in the suburbs, where they both stopped. "Well, thanks again for coming dude, I don't know what would've happened without you." "I'm sure things would've gone just as well dude. But seriously, If you want my advice, I highly recommend getting some confidence around Pinkie, maybe try meeting her in more casual ways, ya know?" "Well, she did offer to let me join the party planning committee." sheepishly replied Swift. "There you go! Do that, and get used to being around Pinkie Pie. If you do that, you won't be as nervous around her, and you'll be able to ask her out on a real date!" Swift quickly gained a look of confidence and determination in his face. "You're right! I can't let one awkward moment in a date get me down!" Swift then triumphantly pointed his finger up at the sky. "Mark my words Thunderlane, someday soon, Swift Justice will get a date with Pinkamena Diane Pie!"