//------------------------------//
// 127 - Date Time 
// Story: A Dangerous Sparkle 
// by David Silver 
//------------------------------//

Sonata almost buzzed with excitement. Striding alongside her was her target stallion, and he had allowed her to call the shots on the date. That was a first! No one else had ever let her be in charge of much of anything, so she was going to make this work. "Say, Lex? You want to know the why of a lot of stuff, right? Do you want me to say why? I mean, like why I pick one place over another and stuff like that?" A little education couldn't hurt too badly... right?

Lex looked at her, surprised...but for once, not unpleasantly so. Perhaps letting her be the architect of their date had been a far better idea than he had initially recognized! "That would be very much appreciated. Doing that will help me understand you better." And once he had a firmer grasp on Sonata's attitudes and beliefs, he'd have a baseline from which to compare others. Lex allowed himself a small smile as he looked at his companion. Perhaps his research was finally going to bear fruit!

Sonata pointed ahead towards the line of dining areas they approached, "The one there, second to the left. It's well lit, but not full. The people look like they're having fun, but it's not super loud. We want a good atmosphere, but it's a bad date if we can't hear each other and talk." She led the way forward with a smile, looking more confident, "I also see a kitty cat and some ponies, so I would bet they serve a little everything. Now, if we were together longer, we might have gone with the one all the way on the right. Less people, quieter, dimmer. Better for more intimacy. That's good for couples, not so good for first dates, right?"

Lex nodded his head, not finding fault with her reasoning, at least until the last part. At her evaluation of the second restaurant, he cocked his head, "Wait, I don't understand. Being on a date like this doesn't make us a couple?" He frowned as he considered that. He'd thought that dating was the requisite by which social bonding was achieved, but Sonata seemed to be implying that there was some sort of additional criteria.

Sonata tilted her head, "If you want to do it right, baby steps. Like, OK. So first we go to the nice public place, and we eat and talk. Having other people around makes it feel safer. You don't know me that well, yet, and I don't know you that well, yet. It's a good time to build common interests and stuff. Later, once we're past that, then we just want to talk about 'us', and that's more private. Relationships are not, like, yes or no. Right now, we're friends. We could become more than that. Totally more than that." She flashed a bright smile, "If it works out." She waved a hoof, "Besides, you have another date lined up, Cassanova. You can't have two girlfriends at the same time! So we're both friends that are, like girls, but not girlfriends." Complicated yet? "You're going to have to pick one of us if you want to get past friends to something else." She approached the building at last, "But don't sweat it. Tonight, we have fun, and maybe learn something."

"I see..." replied Lex as followed her to the restaurant she'd originally indicated, though that statement pushed the boundaries that he'd long ago set for himself regarding honesty. He was already struggling to keep up with the flood of poorly-organized data that she'd dumped on him while simultaneously trying to integrate it with what he already knew. Some of what she said made sense, but other parts of it weren't adding up. 

She'd confirmed again that biographical data was a key component, and apparently so was 'common interests' - no problems there, since his interests were what was in the best interests of everypony - but how was that different from talking about 'us'? Moreover, he'd once met some ponies, shortly after arriving on Everglow, who were in a 'herd' family unit, which had multiple mares with one stallion, which flat-out contradicted her statement about the exclusive nature of girlfriends. But that wasn't the most pressing question...

"We're friends right now?" he asked her as a waiter showed them to a table. This was key. How had they attained their current status? Once he had that down, he should be able to replicate it at will, and if he could then things would be considerably easier in the future.

Sonata slid into her place, settling on her haunches as she looked around, "Like, of course. I mean, we started off as strangers, then we were acquai... tited? Friendly strangers. We knew of each other, but not much more. Then we hung out and figured out we can be in the same room for a while." She smiled a little, "And it's a little nice, right? We're friends now. We know each other a little more." She raised a hoof, "Raising levels through the friendship meter. You worry when I get hurt, and so do I, er, when you get hurt, and we support each other, cause friends do that." She flipped open the one page menu and glanced over it, then back at him, "I suggest picking something that isn't tricky to eat, because the point is talking, not eating. We could, like, totally eat on our own any time!" She tapped a hoof on her selection, "This looks good. Fried oat cakes. They're easy to pick up, easy to nibble on, and won't make a mess, so you can focus on the important stuff." Sonata was clearly getting into her role as teacher for the evening, though her eyes kept searching for hints that her partner was enjoying himself.

"Actually you're not usually this helpful," replied Lex, looking through the menu and trying to categorize the various choices based on her criteria of 'simple to eat.' "Most of the time I find what you have to say to be inane, if not irritating. It's encouraging to know that you can be useful when you put your mind to it." He spoke casually and without malice, as though it were obvious. "The oat cakes should be fine," he decided, turning his attention back to her.

Sonata frowned sharply, "Don't do that. Telling people they're annoying, even if you kinda mean it, isn't nice. You can ask, gently, that they avoid doing something that, you know, bothers you, but if they are who they are, and if asking doesn't work, then maybe you find another friend." She put her head on her hooves, elbows on the table, "It took me a long time to learn that. I hung out with two jerks forever. Yelling doesn't change a person." She rose back up and waved down a waiter, ordering the two servings of oat cakes, "Want something to drink? I, uh, suggest something light."

"Whatever you think is fine." Now it was Lex's turn to frown, and he waited while she ordered for them so that he wouldn't be interrupted with regards to the topic at hand. "I disagree with your characterization," he said after the waiter had left. "What I said about you was a statement of fact, and facts shouldn't be characterized with regards to how 'nice' they are or are not. It's far more important to be direct and unambiguous." 

That had been one of the major problems that he'd identified with Equestria. Part of its millenium-long stagnation had to do with the fact that they'd elevated the personal above the pragmatic. That somepony might be upset was no reason to impede progress that was to that pony's ultimate benefit.

Sonata shrugged softly, "So?" She let the waitress depart before continuing, "It doesn't matter how true you think something is, no one likes being insulted. Do you like it when I call you a jerk?" She took a slow breath, "Besides, on a date, positive! We should share things we like, not things we dislike. It takes a, uh, soft touch to guide people where you want them." She twirled a hoof, "I admit I sometimes get frustrated too. Can you imagine? I could just tell a person what to do, and they'd do it! But would they learn anything? No. Still tempting sometimes..." Idle thoughts of commanding Lex to just be nice went through her mind, to be discarded as quickly. She wanted a real friend, not a toy.

"It's not the same," insisted Lex. "Using magic to force somepony to do what you want is immoral, to say nothing of illegal. But focusing on how a message is delivered, rather than what its contents are, is foolishness." He paused, trying to think of some way to make her understand why his methodology was better.

"For example," he continued, "just before we went out, I gave a gemstone to that priestess to help take care of those two ponies. That was a virtuous action on my part," he gestured to himself, "one that I performed without any nonsense social posturing." He then pointed at Sonata, "if you're suggesting that my failure to waste my breath on smalltalk and pleasantries negates the virtue of what I did - if it 'makes me a jerk' as you so succinctly put it - then can't we come to the conclusion that your value system, which emphasizes form, is less useful than my own, which values function? Because the end result of those two having money to live on seems more important than the manner in which I gave it to them, at least to me."

Sonata waved a hoof, "No, that was sweet! It was a good thing to do, though you could have smiled a little while you did it. You looked... I dunno... like you felt like you had to do it instead of what you wanted to do?" She closed her eyes a moment, "Look, I'm not trying to convince you to be exactly like me. That'd be totally boring anyway. An ugly house of concrete that keeps out the chill is not ideal, but a pretty house that lets the rain fall on your head isn't the best either. Compromise?" She flashed a shy smile, "Besides, you're much cuter when you smile, but I see it so rarely."

Lex was prepared to continue the debate, since he had real hopes that he'd be able to convince her why he was right and she was wrong, only to again be thrown completely off-balance by her last statement. Caught with his mouth halfway open, he suddenly wasn't at all sure what to say, and felt his face heating up.

He was saved by the waiter bringing their orders out, setting the plates down in front of each of them. Grateful for the distraction, Lex focused on his food, before deciding to focus on a different area of research. "What did you do before you came to Everglow? I know that you're from Equestria, but only bits and pieces of your personal history." Since that was apparently an integral component of social relationships, asking for more seemed like a logical choice.

She nibbled on a cake, but her attention was much more firmly attached to Lex, "That's a good question, really, but, eh... A long time ago I was kinda a sea monster. Me and my old gang would get ponies to do what we wanted. It was practically our job. An old wizard pony sent us away to some other world, with humans. We were made humans too." She half-lidded her eyes, "It sucked. I guess we kinda deserved it, looking back on it." She glanced away, then back at him, "I'd rather be judged on my, you know, what I'm doing now?"

"Being human must have been ghastly," he concurred. Just the thought of having to be one of those savages sent shivers down his spine. "Still, you seem to have reformed very well. Certainly Twilight and the others seemed glad to have you with them."

Sonata bobbed her head, "And I'm glad to have them. We're friends. We don't always agree about everything, but we're nice about it, and we agree on most stuff." She lifted her shoulders, "You like being with them too, right?" She cocked a brow, "You must like Twilight, asking her on a date like that." Jealousy rose to the fore before she could swallow it back down. It was her night to enjoy. "You're a very smart person. Did you read a lot of books?"

Lex was starting to become accustomed to the fact that Sonata liked to fire off questions rapidly without waiting for answers. It was mildly irritating, since he wasn't sure how to frame his responses. In this case though, the one to answer was obvious.

"Not only did I read every book I could get my hooves on as a colt," he said, obviously proud of himself, "but I wrote them as well." He put down his oat cake, digging around in a saddlebag for a moment before pulling out several scrolls. "They're still works in progress, but I've composed multiple treatises on several topics, including magic, mathematics, governance, and more."

He looked at the scrolls, and a smile - a genuine expression of happiness - crossed his face as he unrolled one and perused it for a few moments before rolling it back up and putting them away. "I'd read them to you, but I don't think that you're smart enough to understand them. I'm thinking of showing them to Twilight on our date though," he paused as it occurred to him to ask, "you seem to know her well, and have a good understanding of what dating constitutes. Do you think she'd appreciate that?"

Sonata pointed at him, "You did it again." With a bit of an angry huff, "Say 'I think they're too heavy for dinner.' That would be the truth, without taking the time to remind everyone how less they are compared to you." She leaned in a little, "Very few people like a show off. I know you're, like, super smart or whatever, but that doesn't mean I suddenly like being called dumb in comparison." She crossed her forelegs, "Besides, if I'm so dumb, why are you interested? There must be something about me you like?"

Lex's brow furrowed, confused by how she kept mischaracterizing his statements of truth as some sort of personal indictment. But it was her follow-up questions that gave him pause. He did like her. It was pointless to pretend otherwise, especially since he'd already admitted it to Applejack and Rainbow Dash on the train. But as for why he felt that way... He was quiet for a long moment, composing his thoughts, before he finally started speaking.

"I do l-like you, Sonata," suddenly embarrassed, Lex's voice stumbled for a moment on the word 'like', but he made himself continue. "I know that I'm not very good at...this," he spread his forelegs in an encompassing gesture, "but I don't know why. I mean, I know you've been giving me reasons, but they don't seem like very good ones. Everything I do makes sense to me, and I don't know why it doesn't make sense to everypony else, even when I try to explain it to them..." he trailed off as he realized he was rambling. 

Closing his eyes for a moment to collect himself, he tried again. "I know that something about me pushes everypony away, but... you're different. You've been nice to me, and," he fidgeted for a moment, "interested in me, when any other pony would have wanted nothing to do with me by now."

He could feel his stomach clenching in knots as he looked her in the eyes. "That's what I like about you: that you like me."

She smiled, understanding the sentiment perhaps better than most, "Sometimes we just need someone that's willing to look past the rough icky bits." She reached across the table, trying to brush one of his forelegs with a hoof, "Alright, let's play a little game. I will name four things I like about you." She scrunched her nose, "You care about ponies, you're smart, you can cast neat magic spells, and I'll cheat and use yours, because I like that you like me." She took a nibble of her food, "Your turn."

He didn't pull away as she brushed her hoof across his, though he started nervously at the touch. "Alright. Um...you're pretty," he'd said that before, but if she could use sentiment that had previously been established, so could he! "Your command of enchantment magic is laudable. The details of your life on three different worlds sound informative and interesting. And..." his eyes sank to the ground as he murmured something, too quiet to hear over the background noise of the restaurant.

Sonata nodded at each point, then blinked at the mumbled conclusion, leaning forward, "Like, sorry, I didn't catch that last one." She rose her hooves to shake them lightly, "Don't be nervous. I took off my judging pants and left them at home." She tried to sound encouraging, smiling in her simple way. With some force of will, she stopped herself from launching into more questions.

Lex raised his eyes to hers, and then immediately lowered them again, turning red. He looked for all the world like a shy little colt right then. "Your voice," he said, speaking just loud enough for her to hear him, "I really like how your voice sounds."

The other compliments had been tepid and weak, but the last one made Sonata's heart swell. Her social grace departed her and she sagged in place, "Do you mean that?" she asked in a dreamy sort of voice. Perhaps this date wasn't such a bad idea...