//------------------------------// // ... And We Still Go On A Date. // Story: Yeah, It Needed More Ponies // by Shadowflame //------------------------------// I stirred from the light rustle of leaves in the wind. A slight breeze passed over me, the chill of it waking me up quicker than if it hadn't. But if it hadn't been the cold feeling that woke me, it probably would've been the leaves that tousled down against my fur. Blinking my eyes open, I glanced up to see that I was still under the bush, but the leaves were somewhat hard to see in the darkness. Through the canopy of the bush, I could see a dark sky, dotted with stars. A pale full moon rose high into the air, shining down onto the earth. Apparently, I had slept through the afternoon. I yawned quietly to myself, "Oops. I didn't mean to sleep for that long." I tried to sit up and stretch some stiff limbs, but I felt something against my chest, holding me down under its weight. I glanced down to see a familiar blue pegasus, leaning against me as she slept. From my first attempt at getting up before, Emily stirred slightly, nuzzling her face into my fur, a small, blissful smile across her lips. I felt myself blush furiously. Heck, my fur was probably bright red all the way down to my neck at this point. Here I was, under a bush, with my high school crush cuddling into me, and I hadn't even noticed her! When had she fallen asleep on me? Had she just rolled onto me in her sleep? Or... had she shifted her position so she could fall asleep on me on purpose? I stared at her awkwardly, unsure of how to go about this situation, Should I stay still and let her sleep? Or do I wake her up? What do I do if she does wake up? But... As I stared at her, I found my thought process slowing to a crawl as I took in every detail of her. Her eyes were closed peacefully, and a gentle smile crossed her face as she dug her face deeper into my fur, as if I were a fluffy pillow. Her mane was slightly disheveled, but that only seemed to enhance the adorableness of her curled up, sleeping form. I felt her warm touch against me, which somehow calmed me down, instead of making me even more embarrassed... She looked absolutely adorable, and it felt nice to have her this close to me. Um... well, what I mean by that was that it wasn't just because she was the girl I admired for so long, but it just felt... comforting, like someone was giving me a hug, but it was a hundred times better than any I've gotten before. For a moment, I realized that I didn't really want her to wake up. That was probably either because I wasn't sure how she was going to react when she woke up, or because her warmth just felt too good to let go of. But I suppose some cruel deity just happened to be waiting for that thought to cross my mind, just so they could watch my disappointment, because at that moment, Emily woke up. Her eyes fluttered open, but only just barely, much like an early morning squint you get when you don't want to wake up. For a moment, Emily opened her eyes to see me looking back down at her, but I guessed she was still half asleep because she didn't react at all to me being so close to her. She drearily glanced down at my chest, where she was resting, and then looked back up at my face. It was at that moment that her drowsiness left her, and her eyes shot wide open as she realized the position she was in. As if someone had pricked her with a cattle prod, Emily’s eyes shot open and she jumped up to her hooves in shock. She quickly stumbled to move away from me, only to trip and fall back on her rump again. For a moment, neither of us spoke a word, but I could practically see the gears turning in her mind as she began to digest what happened. Something in her mind clicked, and Emily gasped, blushing profusely, “Did I-… Oh my gosh! I’m so sorry!” Apparently the red on my face wasn’t visible through my fur, or Emily was too embarrassed to notice it, because I was just as embarrassed as she was. Guessing from her reaction, I assumed what happened was the following: Both of us fell asleep. Emily rolled over onto me, apparently finding me more comfortable than the bush. Both of us woke up in said position. Both of us turn into life size tomatoes, or at least that’s what we looked like from the color. Gah! Why can’t I stop blushing?! Why won’t Emily stop blushing?!... She’s really cute when she blushes… maybe part of that is ‘cause she’s a pony, but- No! I’m getting sidetracked! Back to the present, before I do something even more embarrassing! I tried to speak, to try and calm Emily down, but all that came out was, “I- uh, um… Look, I-…” From the looks of it, having a tongue-tied tongue didn’t help matters improve. Emily looked as if she were trying to retreat back into her mane, though it was hardly long enough to do so effectively. She quickly sputtered out, “This never happened! Agreed?” … I found myself suddenly calm enough to manage a nod, “Agreed.” Even though we both knew that we did not mean for… er, that thing before, to happen, neither one of us moved. We just sat there, wordlessly looking at each other in the dim light. The awkward silence that impeded the next minute was almost unbearable, but I could only wonder if this turn of events would ruin my chances of even dating Emily after this whole pony fiasco was over. Emily was the first to have enough of the cruel silence, speaking aloud as she turned her focus outside the bush, “It’s dark… How long were we out?” I gulped down my nervousness, wanting to put aside those thoughts for later, “Um… I have no idea.” I chuckled, a tint of nervousness I overlooked still in my system, “If it’s dark out, then I’d say we’d been sleeping for at least four hours.” Even in the dim moonlight flitting through the gaps in the bush’s leaves, I could see Emily blush at the word, ‘sleeping’. Turning to hide her face, Emily merely replied, “O-oh… that long, huh?” I sighed inwardly. Just before we’d been so casual with each other, but now we were just… yeah, you know. I silently prayed that this awkwardness wouldn’t last long. I got up onto my hooves, stretching out some muscles that had stiffened from sleeping for so long, “Well, we better get to Angela’s house. In this darkness, it shouldn’t be too hard to make it there without anyone seeing us.” I glanced back towards Emily, “Is anyone out there?” Emily slowly shook her head as she peered out from under the bush, “Not that I can see.” Grateful that we could get a break from at least one problem today, I managed a smile, “Good, let’s get out of here.” Emily and I exited the bush, bringing us back into the park clearing. A full moon lit the park in pale moonlight, letting us see pretty far in the dark. From what I could see, there wasn’t a single person in the whole park. Those teenagers from before, and anyone else who happened to be here, must’ve cleared out after the sun set. That just made things easier for me and Emily to get to Angela’s house unnoticed. “Wow, looks like nobody’s here.” I commented. Emily nodded, “Yeah, I don’t see anybody…” She paused, as if an idea came to her, “Oh!” I gave her a curious look, “What is it?” She looked back at me, a bit of a nervous smile on her face, “Um… I was thinking. While we’re here, and nobody else is, I was wondering if we could stop by my favorite place in the park.” She quickly added, “W-we won’t take long, I promise!” She laughed nervously. … Wait a minute… Is Emily… nervous around me? I blinked in surprise. Well, that would be the obvious result after she woke up sleeping on top of me… oh, well. I’m sure she’ll get over it in a while. In fact, going to her… er, favorite place, wherever that is, might distract her from feeling so uneasy around me. I nodded, “Sure, why not?” Almost immediately, Emily’s face perked up into a smile, “Okay! Follow me!” She turned and galloped off through the park, and I had no idea where she was going. Last I checked, It’s kind of a bad idea to lose track of your guide at night when you don’t know where you’re going. “Hey, wait up!” I yelped as I galloped after her. Emily let out an excited giggle as she ran, “Come on! It’s even better at night!” Again, I didn’t know what ‘it’ was. Shrugging it off as a ‘I’ll find out later’ thing, I paid more attention towards my hoof falls, just in case there was something in the grass I could trip over. With my luck, I could very trip right- “Whoa!” *Thump* “Ow…” Emily stopped suddenly, her smile replaced by a worried expression as she saw me collapsed face-first on the ground, “Oh my gosh, are you okay?” I muttered bitterly as I pulled myself of the grassy terrain, “Ugh, that’s why I don’t go running at night as a pony.” I gave Emily a reassuring smile, “Don’t worry, I’m fine.” “A-are you sure?” Emily asked, not completely bought by the response. I nodded, once again back on all four hooves, “Yeah, I’m fine. I just tripped, alright?” Emily seemed oddly hesitant, but then she smiled again, “Okay. Just… try not to trip again, alright? My favorite place here isn’t that far.” Once again, she turned and galloped away, with me in pursuit. But as we ran, a tiny thought began working in the back of my mind. It was the kind of feeling you get when you think something’s wrong, but you can’t tell what it is exactly that’s wrong. But the more I ran, the more it grew, until it came out into actual thoughts. Why was Emily so… worried about me? All I did was trip and fall. Although I admit I fell on my face, I landed on grass and that cushioned my fall somewhat. But the way Emily asked me if I was okay made it seem like I’d been stabbed by a member of the mafia. Hm, come to think of it, Emily seemed really nervous when she asked if we could come to this favorite place of hers. I guess that could have been because of what happened when we woke up in the bush, and Emily was just flustered… but what if that wasn’t the reason? What if- “Hey, Lyle! We’re here!” Emily’s voice brought me back to the present, just in time for me to see that she’d stopped. I slowed my gallop to a trot and lined up beside her. From there, I looked around at where we’d arrived. Out in front of us was a tiny lake, but it could be more accurately described as a pond. It stretched out about sixty feet across in a circular shape. All around the pond, its banks were covered in rich, green grass, and a few clumps of longer grass grew up out of the water’s surface like reeds. The surface of the pond was almost clear like grass, except for gentle ripples that danced across it. Its reflective surface , though not completely clear, revealed a stunning, white reflection of the moon in the darkened sky. A gentle spring breeze blew over my fur as I looked at the sight, and I found myself staring at it in wonder. The entire scene just seemed… peaceful. Not a living creature was there to disrupt the sight, the area was silent, save for the gentle rustle of wind blowing through the grass and trees, and the vagrant scent of water and grass in nature just seemed to complete the whole picture. “Wow.” I breathed, taking in the place before me. It was simple, but I just loved it. Emily only smiled, before trotting up to the water’s edge and sitting down by the water’s edge. After a moment of silence, Emily spoke out loud, not even taking her eyes off the peaceful scene, “I love this place. I’ve come here whenever I could after I first found it, a year or two ago. Of course, sometimes I could only come here during the day, but it’s not quite the same when people you don’t know are here too. That’s why I love coming here during the night, especially when the moon is full like tonight. I think its reflection in the water looks amazing.” Intrigued, I trotted over and sat down beside her, “You know, I’ve been here before with my younger siblings, but only during the daytime.” I gave her a smile, “You were right when you said it’s better at night.” Emily merely smiled back, before turning her focus back to the water’s surface. I followed suit, enjoying the aesthetic pleasure of the pond. As I looked at the water’s surface, I had to agree with Emily. The reflection of the moon on the black water looked amazing, as if we were looking at a whole other night sky under the pond’s surface. But the tiny ripples in the water obscured the image a tiny bit, and I began to wonder how it would look if the water was completely clear… clear water… Clearwater. I glanced back at Emily, whose surname I remembered was Clearwater. I thought it was kind of funny how her last name shared a similarity with her favorite place, but then my eyes drifted down towards her cutie mark, a clear pool of water… That wasn’t just a coincidence, was it? “Hey, Emily?” “Hm?” “I was wondering, what does your cutie mark represent?” Emily glanced down at her mark, a gentle smile on her face, as if she were reliving a fond memory, “I guess it represents my love for clarity, especially when it comes to relationships between people.” I raised an eyebrow, “Um… I don’t follow.” Emily chuckled a bit, “Don’t worry, I’ll explain.” Her gaze turned back towards the pond, looking at it just as peacefully as before, “I like to think of relationships between people as a pond like this one. It doesn’t matter if the relationship is a romantic one or just one between friends, they’re all their own little ponds. If a relationship is going smoothly, I like to think of it as a pond that is completely clear, without any ripples, because when a pond doesn’t have any ripples,” She pointed a hoof at the reflection of the moon on the pond’s surface, “You can see a clearer image of what the other person means to you.” Emily then sighed, somewhat wearily, “But, sometimes, relationships become rocky, where both people don’t trust each other, like if somebody holds a grudge against somebody and they never forgive them. Those types of things cause ripples in the pond, and with more ripples, you can’t see the image it reflects as well as before. When that happens, either one or both people can no longer see each other as friends, and their friendship disappears. “I hate to see people like that, unable to become friends, or even more than friends.” Emily’s smile returned slowly, “So, I try my best to help my friends with relationship problems, to try and smooth out their ponds and make the water clear.” She laughed, “Figures, my last name just screams out my special talent.” I chuckled a bit at that, “Yeah, I noticed that, too.” Emily grinned at me, before looking back at the pond, “Of course, just like a regular pond, it isn’t easy to get rid of the ripples, and often times it just requires time for things to smooth out. But when I get stumped with a problem I don’t know how to fix, I come out to this pond to settle down and think it over.” She smirked, “I suppose that’s the other reason why this is my favorite place to be.” A small, Spring breeze blew through the air around us, causing both of us to shiver at its chill. Emily chuckled dimly as she wrapped her hooves around herself to keep warm, “Hehe, I guess the only downside is when it gets cold out here.” She shivered again, “I’m glad I have a coat of fur right now, but I kind of wish I had my blanket with me, like all the other times I come down here at night.” “Well, um… here, I can help warm you up” I froze as soon as those words came out of my mouth. Wait, what?! Oh, crap! Did I really just say that?! For the love of- Brain, could you please think before telling me to say something like that.! Do you not recall that we woke up with Emily sleeping on top of me just a few minutes ago, and now she’s acting all weird around me?! Honestly, I didn’t think you could be this dense! Takes one to know one. Shut up, brain! Emily looked at me wordlessly, “Um…” I grimaced, rubbing the back of my head sheepishly with a hoof, and I’m sure I was blushing, “Oh, s-sorry. I guess that kind of just came out…” Emily paused for a moment, before another chilly wind passed by. She shivered at it, the feathers in her wings rustling at the cold. She turned her head back towards the pond, speaking quietly, “I-it’s alright. I…” A tinge of pink touched her cheeks, “You can sit closer to me. That way we’ll both stay at least a bit warm.” I blinked in surprise, but nodding a bit, I scooted closer to her, so we were only about an inch apart. T-that was close enough, right? But when I stopped, Emily scooted over and closed the distance. I suddenly found us sitting shoulder to shoulder, both of our sides touching all of the other pony’s. Emily even extended her wing closest to me backwards so I could sit comfortably beside her. For a moment, I said nothing as I felt her familiar warmth against my side, the one that I had enjoyed for a few seconds before she woke up. The feeling wasn’t the same as it had been before, because of where we were touching, but the wonderful warmth was still there. It felt good, and Emily had voluntarily let me feel it. Back before, she had closed the gap between us herself when I didn’t, which I found surprising… In fact, in the past few minutes, she’d surprised me twice. Once, when she was acting nervous when she asked if we could go to this pond, and another time, when she’d been overly-worried when I’d fallen on my face… and now there was this. I glanced over to see her face, only for me to suddenly meet her eyes which were staring back at me. In the pale moonlight, I saw her blush as she simply stared at me. Why would she blush? Being close to a guy would be nerve racking if they didn’t trust them… or… … if they like them. Did Emily… like me? Emily’s gaze dropped from mine, as if she suddenly found something interesting in the pond, “Um… Lyle? Can I ask you something?” “Y-yes?” Emily bit her lip, wondering if she say anything or not, “Do you… really want to date me, after all of this is over?” Well, all I can say is that I was not expecting that. I don’t think anyone could have expected that. “I… uh…” Oh my gosh… tell me this isn’t a dream, please! It’s like all those daydreams I have in Math class have suddenly come true! Emily grimaced a bit, probably from the fact that I hadn’t said anything comprehensible, “I-it’s alright if you don’t want to. I understand.” “No no no.” I quickly corrected myself, “It’s just that you caught me by surprise. That’s all.” I smiled sheepishly. She paused for a moment. From this close, I could see a small glimmer in those beautiful almond eyes. “Then do you want to date me, Lyle? You said that’s what you wanted, right?” Her words almost sounded like pleading from her tone. Almost, but not quite. Knowing this was what I had hoped for all of this time, I had enough sense to put aside my nervousness and gave her the warmest smile I could muster, “Of course I do.” I felt all the air in my lungs launch out of my mouth as Emily suddenly grabbed me in a tight, full body hug. Once again caught off guard, I gasped for my lost breath as I looked down at the pegasus. She was smiling back at me, with probably the brightest grin I’ve ever seen from her, “Good, because I want to, too.” I blinked in surprise, before glancing down at her hooves wrapped around me, “Um… why are you hugging me?” Emily instantly blushed and pulled away from me, a sheepish smile, “Oh! I-I’m sorry. I guess I was just… um, caught in the moment.” Hm, that makes two of us, tonight. I recalled. But this did have to prove something, right? Well, now that we had both agreed to date each other…. Wow, I didn’t think I’d be havingthat thought anytime soon. Anyways, since we were going to be dating each other now, I doubted I’d find a good of time to ask as any. “Emily?” She turned towards me, a curious look on her face. “Um, do you… like me more than a regular friend?” Again, Emily’s face went beet red, “Oh, what?! You're k-kidding, right? Heh heh, I mean, we’ve only known each other for a day. I don’t think anyone could grow to like somebody in just that time alone.” She laughed nervously, though it quickly died down into awkward chuckles. I just stared at her blankly. Emily sighed in reluctance, “Okay, well… This morning, I thought you were just a guy I was going out on a date with, just to get to know you and see if there was any romantic possibility between us. But…” The blue Pegasus laughed a bit, scooting a bit closer into my side for warmth, “But then all of this happened today, and… I guess my opinion kind of changed. It turns out you can learn a lot about somebody when you’re on the run with them from every human you see. “And then, being here with you tonight… I don’t really know. I keep getting these tiny little feelings around you. I don’t know what they are, and I’m not sure how to sort them out, but…” Emily looked back at me with those bright eyes again, and I felt my heart melt, “… I think… I might be starting to like you more than just a friend.” “And that’s why you want to date me?” I asked. Emily smirked slightly, “Well, I was going to anyway because you asked before, but now… I just really want to know you more.” A brief pause followed, before another thought came to my mind, “Wait… so does this make us boyfriend/girlfriend?” Emily giggled through another blush, “Heh heh, um… As nice as that seems, I think it’s a bit too early to think of each other as that. Maybe after we actually go on a date as humans, then we’ll see about it.” “Sounds good to me.” I muttered, letting myself relax a bit more against Emily’s side. She did likewise, and there we sat, leaning against each other and enjoying the other’s warmth as we watched the little pond in silence. And it may have been just me who thought it, but the reflection of the moon in the pond seemed just a bit clearer. “Lyle?” “Hm?” “I’m glad I could be here with you during this crazy day.” “Me, too.” … “Emily? All of this happened because of ponies, right?” She giggled, “Yep, ponies.” ___________________________________________________________________ Considering the fact that nobody was really out at night in the suburbs, except for the occasional car that drove by, the walk to Angela’s house had gone smoothly… er, well, so far. We weren’t quite there yet, but we were getting close. “I’ve never actually been to Angela’s house.” Emily commented, as she trotted beside me, “How close are we?” “Eh, about three more blocks.” I replied. “Hm… come to think of it, my dad probably won’t take kindly to me coming home as a pegasus. Do you think Angela would let me stay the night at her house?” I shrugged, “Knowing Angela, probably.” That was when a silver, Toyota Corola suddenly sped around the last corner we had passed, and began speeding down the street, right towards us. Both Emily and I jumped in surprise at the speed of the vehicle. Both of us knew the drill for when a car passed by us on the road: jump behind the nearest cover and wait until they drive past. But this car was going too fast to be able to evade, and not to mention there wasn’t any good hiding places nearby. I just silently prayed whoever was driving the car wouldn’t notice us in the dark. Of course, the car seemed to notice us, and came to a screeching halt on the side of the road beside us. I was about to yell to Emily to run, but that was before the passenger window rolled down. “There you guys are!” Shouted a familiar, pink unicorn mare, with a long green mane running down over her shoulder. Emily gaped in surprise, while I just smiled in relief. Emily gave me a sidelong look, “Um, who’s that?” “That would be Angela.” I replied. Emily’s eyes widened at the pink unicorn in the car, “Angela?” Angela giggled, holding a hoof in the air, “In the flesh and fur!” I laughed as well. In normal cases, I probably wouldn’t have been smiling as big as I was, but I was just glad it was someone who knew our situation who found us. But then again… I cocked an eyebrow, “Um, Angela? Why are you a pony, too? And who’s driving?” I peered past Angela to see Ben sitting in the driver’s seat. He waved at me, “Hey, what’s up?” I shrugged, “Not much. We jumped from Emily’s bedroom window on the second floor to get away from her dad, got chased by a horde of wiener dogs across the suburbs, and got stuck under a bush for hours so some teenagers wouldn’t see us. You know, the usual.” Ben laughed, “Wait, what? Dang, you’ll have to tell me the full story.” “Sure. Later though.” I looked back to Angela, “But seriously though, why’d you turn yourself into a pony too? In fact, I thought you couldn’t do more than one transformation a day.” Angela giggled, “Yes, I can’t do more than one transformation a day, but it wasn’t me who activated the ritual.” Emily frowned, “Wait a minute… There’s somebody else who can turn a person into a pony? Who?” Right as she asked, one of the car’s rear doors swung open and someone else bolted out of the car and latched onto Emily in a tight, squeezing hug, “Emily!” Emily looked down at the one who had suddenly latched onto her, only to find herself looking down at another pony. She was a light blue unicorn, her fur color closely resembling Emily’s. She had a pure white mane, that dropped down to her shoulders. But the unicorn looked smaller than the other ponies present, probably because she was younger than them. She had no cutie mark, but Emily instantly recognized the new pony’s voice. Emily’s eyes widened, “Liz?!” Liz the unicorn laughed at her sister’s surprise, “Yup!” Emily only stared at her, perplexed, “But- … what-… how?” Angela and Liz laughed, before the former of the two replied, “Get in the car. We’ll explain everything when we get to my house.” ________________________________________________ Well, after a skip, a hop, and a car ride away, the five of us found ourselves inside Angela's house, sitting at her kitchen table while sipping on a can of soda each, graciously provided by our host. While I doused my gullet with soda, which didn't take long (who knew being a pony made you so thirsty?), Angela, Ben, and Liz explained what happened from their end. "-And so it turned out that the modified magic circle had another function to it as well." Angela continued, "As well as doubling the number of targets it could hone in on, the circle also doubled the number of times it could be used. That brought the total number of people able to be transformed by it at one time up to four, provided that you had enough chi to power it." Emily nodded slowly, though she was struggling slightly to keep up with the conversation, "And you said a normal person had enough chi to transform only one person... Ben and you transformed Lyle and I, but as for Liz..." Her eyes widened, "Wait, how was Liz able to transform both herself and you, Angela?" Liz giggled sheepishly, whining a bit, "Sis, you know I did it on accident right?" Angela laughed alongside her, "Hey, most discoveries in history were found by accident! If you hadn't done what you did, then I wouldn't have figured out that your chi capacity is twice that of a normal person." If I still had soda, I probably would've done a spit-take, "Wait, what?" I'd been around Angela the longest out of everyone here, but I'd never heard her say anything like that was even possible. Ben nodded, smirking at the look on my equine face, "Yup. Liz is a rare type of person who can store more chi inside of herself than most people, not to mention she can probably regenerate it all in the time it takes me to regenerate half of that." Liz smiled warily, embarrassed by everyone talking about her. She looked to her pegasus sister (heh, pegasister), "Since I seem to have a raw talent in the field of witchery, Angela's offered to take me up as a student." I laughed to myself, "Angela as a teacher? That's an odd thought." Angela only rolled her eyes. Ignoring me, Liz continued, "I'll be coming here to learn from her once in a while, mostly on the weekends. Not to mention I'll be able to do some cool things like the transformation circle, but I'll be able to become a pony pretty much anytime I want. I've even been getting the hang of Unicorn magic! Look!" Instantly, Liz's horn began glowing silver, and her can of 7-up levitated off of the table. Emily beamed in awe at the floating can, "Wow. Nice job, Liz!" Liz smiled back as she set the can back down on the table, "Thanks." Then her expression changed to a sly grin, "So, how did it go with you two? You didn't do anything too fun with Lyle, did you?" She wiggled her eyebrows suggestively. I felt myself blush, and I saw Emily do the same as she gave a glare to her little sister, "No! We didn't do anything like that!" I winced a bit. I'd never seen Emily shout like that before. I quickly placed a hoof on her shoulder, chuckling nervously, "Heh heh, calm down, Emily." Thankfully, Emily complied. Unfortunately, that caught Angela's attention, and she wiggled her eyebrows in the same manner Liz had done towards Emily. The pink unicorn gave me a sly grin, "Wow, it went that well, did it?" I blushed again, and Angela just laughed, "See, I told you it would be better for you two to go together as ponies!" "Hey, we're not a couple!" I defended, though after a pause, I added, "er... we're not a couple yet, anyways." Thankfully, Emily decided to save me the hassle of explaining, "We decided that we'd try going on a date as humans first, and then decide if we want to go steady dating as a couple." She smiled at me affectionately, "But after the date we just went on, I think the chances of that happening are good." I blinked in surprise, "What? When did we go on a date?" "Just barely." Emily giggled, "You took me to the park, which was very nice, then we had lunch together, even though it was just flowers, and then we went to the pond together. I'd say tonight was the best date I've ever been on." "But... I don't think that actually counted as a date..." Emily gave me a flat, but friendly look. It was the kind that said, 'don't even try to argue'. "Lyle, I don't think what happened back at the pond was just 'hanging out'. I say it was a date, and that's that." I sighed, but smiled, "Fine, fine." Across the table, Angela and Liz cooed, "Aww, you guys are so cute together!" Emily and I blushed again, the former of us trying to ignore the comment, "Well, putting that aside, I don't know how we're going to explain all of this to Dad. He's probably worried sick since I never came home." Liz smirked, "Don't worry, oh, sister of mine! I've got that all taken care of." Emily looked at her in surprise, "How?" Liz smiled, "Well, while you were off with Lyle, running for your life, Dad was trying to find you over the phone. He was almost about to call the cops and file in a missing person report for you. Thankfully, before he did, I went investigating on my own, since Lyle had left behind Ben's hoodie at our house. I used that to find Ben and Angela, and after they explained what happened, I called Dad to call off the search because I 'found' you. I told him you were feeling better, so you went over to Angela's house to hang out. I also told him that both of us were having a sleep-over here, too, so we don't have to worry about sneaking back into the house as ponies." Emily paused, thinking over what Liz had said, before smiling, "Have I ever told you how amazing it is to have a sister like you?" Liz smirked, "You could stand to mention it more." I laughed at the sisterly exchange, crushing my empty can of soda under my hoof, "Well, now that every problem we have so far has been settled, what do we do now? Just wait until the transformation wears off tomorrow morning?" Angela shrugged, "Pretty much." I nodded, sighing a bit, "Well then, I better get back to my house. My Mom will go ballistic if she thinks I came home late, especially after I went on a date. The only problem is that my car is still back at Emily's place." "Don't worry 'bout it." Ben replied, "I have to get going too, otherwise my Mom will literally kill me. I can drive you to your house on the way, and then you can pick up your car in the morning after you transform back." "Sounds good." I turned to the girls, "What about you three?" Angela rolled her eyes, "Duh, weren't you listening? We're gonna have a sleep-over!" Liz did a hoof pump to the air, "Angela said she's gonna teach me some unicorn magic tonight!" Emily laughed, jokingly, "Oh, that's going to be fun." Liz glared at her sister, "What's that supposed to mean? I'm not gonna mess up that badly!" She smirked back in defiance, "At least I could keep my face from turning red every time somebody says my name and my new boyfriend in the same sentence." Emily's cheeks turned a bit red, "You don't even have a boyfriend, so you wouldn't know." Her blush suddenly grew brighter, "Er, I-I mean, Lyle's not my boyfriend!" Man, she was adorable whenever she acted like this. But then, the front door swung open and somebody walked into the house... and we were in full sight of them. There wasn't even a place we could hide. The person who walked in was a woman, and I instantly recognized her. She was Mrs. Ravensdale: Angela's mother. She looked just like her daughter, blonde, face, and all, though with much less pink on her person. Everyone instantly tensed up, frozen as Mrs. Ravensdale glanced over towards her kitchen table, only to find four ponies and a teenage guy sitting there, hanging out and drinking soda pop. I honestly thought she would have screamed. But to my surprise, she simply smiled, "Oh, Angela, I didn't realize you were having friends over. It looks like you've been having a fun time!" Angela just waved a hoof, "Hi, Mom! Yup, we've been having a blast!" "Well, that's good." Her mom replied, "I trust they gave you permission before using the transformation ritual on them?" Angela nodded, "Yup, more or less." She took a casual sip of her pink lemonade, "Oh, yeah. Mom, can Liz and Emily sleep over tonight?" Mrs. Ravensdale just laughed, "Okay, honey. Just don't stay up too late, otherwise I'll have to get out the torch and pitchfork and call a witch hunt." With that, she walked out of the room chuckling. After she was gone, all eyes turned towards Angela, who was still drinking the last of her soda as if the last conversation never happened. But, seeing all of our confused looks, Angela simply replied, "It's an inside joke." ___________________________________________ Soon after, it was time for me and Ben to go. So, we made our goodbyes to the girls for the night. At the front door, Angela squeezed her forelegs around Ben tightly in a massive hug, "Thanks for everything, Ben. You're an awesome guy!" Ben returned the hug by picking up Angela, to which he laughed, "Heh heh, I didn't think I'd be able to do this to a pony, so I have to thank you for that." "See you tomorrow?" Ben nodded, "If I'm not busy, yes." Meanwhile, off to the side, Emily and I made our farewells. Emily smiled at me, "Lyle, thank you for a wonderful night." She instantly grabbed me in a hug with her front legs. I chuckled nervously. It was still hard to believe that I had come from having a crush on her to becoming this close within a day. I hugged her back, and even nuzzled the back of her neck, "No problem. Although, when should we go on our next date?" Emily nuzzled me back, "Next Friday sounds nice." "Yeah, that sounds good. Any idea what we'll do?" She laughed, "Nope." We shared a chuckle as we pulled away from each other. I smiled back at her, "I guess we better get going. Goodnight, Emily." "Goodnight, Lyle." Liz cooed from afar, "Aw, you two are too cute!" While Emily shot her sister a glare, I turned back to Ben, who simply smirked at me, having already said his goodbyes, "Ready to go, Casanova?" I laughed, "Shut up and take me home." "Alright, then let's go, pony-boy!"