“Relax, Lucian. You have nothing to fear.”
Celestia smiled reassuringly as she marched down the halls of the castle next to Lucian. He was shaking intensely, and his breathing was extremely fast.
“How can you say anything is going to be okay?!” Lucian asked, his voice showing a great deal of stress. “I mean, there are so many ways I could screw this up!”
“Yes, there are,” Celestia said. “Does that mean that you should simply give up on your hopes and dreams when you have come this far?”
Celestia draped her wing over Lucian. The warmth and protectiveness of his sister's wing was soothing for Lucian, as he took a deep breath and stopped shaking.
“Thanks, Celestia,” he said, his voice noticeably calmer. “And I'm sorry for letting all this get to me. It's all a lot to take in, especially ever since my transformation, and I'm having a lot of trouble coping.”
“I can understand perfectly,” said Celestia. “Why, I can remember a few hundred years ago, I stepped into this magic mirror and had to spend thirty moons as a bipedal ape creature.”
Deciding against further inquiries, Lucian kept walking towards Twilight's room.
“Look at me,” he said with a chuckle. “Can you believe I'm getting this worked up over a date?”
“Don't be so hard on yourself,” Celestia said as they reached Twilight’s room. “I'm certain Twilight is just as nervous as you are.”
Lucian chuckled. “You’re probably right. Twilight’s can be a bit nervous at times. But I don’t think it’ll be too bad.”
With this, the dark blue alicorn raised his hoof to knock on the door. To his shock, he'd barely knocked once when a loud scream greeted him.
“I can’t do thiiiiiisss!!!”
For a moment, the two alicorns stared blankly at the door. It then opened to reveal Princess Cadance, who gave them a nervous smile.
“She'll... be right out.”
The pink mare then slipped back in. Lucian stared at the spot where she'd been and listened to the conversation occurring on the other side.
“Come on, Twilight. You can do this,” the voice of Cadance said.
“No! I can't!” the familiar voice of Twilight said in terror. “I'm going to mess this up and then he'll hate me forever!”
“Twilight, you're letting your imagination go crazy. Stop it.”
For a moment there was silence, causing Lucian to look towards his sister worriedly. She just shrugged, however, which made Lucian turn to the door.
“Okay,” the voice of Twilight said finally. “I can do this. All I have to do is stay calm and be myself. It'll all work out if I just do that, right?”
While Lucian couldn't see what else was happening, he could imagine that Cadance had just smiled and nodded at her. Realizing that it was finally time, he lifted his hoof and knocked once more.
“Okay! Here I go!” Twilight's voice said.
“Good luck!” the voice of Cadance replied.
Lucian stood back as the door opened to reveal Twilight. She was wearing a simple yellow dress with pink lace, and had a slightly nervous smile on her face.
“Hi Lucian,” she said simply.
“Hello, Twilight,” Lucian responded, giving her a small smile. The two ponies then looked away, their cheeks glowing pink.
“So, I guess we should get going?” Twilight asked Lucian.
“I think that's how dates are supposed to go,” Lucian answered.
Twilight slowly walked out of the room, making her way to Lucian. As she finally reached him, she stood still and looked at him in the eye. The two stared at each other for a brief moment.
“Well, let's do this,” said Lucian.
“Agreed.”
The two ponies then walked together, both looking in a different direction. As they went off on their date, Celestia gave Cadance a slightly nervous look.
“You know, as much as I tried to calm Lucian down on the way here, I can't help but worry about him.”
Smiling, Cadance placed her hoof on Celestia’s shoulder.
“Don't worry, Auntie. I know exactly what to do.”
Lucian hadn't really known what to expect from his first date with Twilight. He'd half expected it to involve some sort of incredibly fancy restaurant and various high-end foods with names he couldn't even pronounce. In fairness, however, Twilight had asked him not to wear anything more than his hoodie, so that thought had been put to rest fairly quickly.
To his delight, the restaurant Twilight chose was much more humble than that; it was a rather cozy Equest-Mex place, filled with beautiful murals, colorful animal ornaments, and even a few pieces of nostalgic memorabilia. The seats were quite comfortable, and the sound of Mexicoltian music filled the air. Lucian was quite satisfied with her choice.
Even so, he really wished she would talk a bit more.
“May I take your orders?” the waiter asked.
“Um, I'll have the daisy tacos,” said Lucian.
“I'll have special number one,” Twilight said quietly.
As the waiter departed, Lucian found himself looking back at his date. She seemed far more nervous than usual, and she was glancing everywhere but him.
“Are you okay, Twilight?”
She immediately turned toward Lucian and smiled nervously.
“I'm all right,” said Twilight. “I'm just really, really nervous about my first date with you!”
Lucian chuckled. “I understand. Believe me, I'm nervous too.”
Twilight blinked. “You are? But you look so calm about it!”
“I had my sister to help with that,” Lucian explained. “And besides, we both know each other well enough to not get upset if we mess up a bit, so we should both stop worrying so much and just enjoy ourselves, right?”
With that, whatever tension remained between the two ponies vanished, and Twilight let out a deep breath.
“Yeah, you're right,” she said happily. “I'm just going to do my best to have a good time with you, Lucian.”
The dark blue stallion smiled and took his date's hoof.
“That sounds like a great plan to me.”
Just outside the restaurant, there was a big bush lying beneath a window. This, in itself, was not unusual. However, the fact that there were two colorful tails as well as two horns poking out of the bush was a cause for concern. The single pair of binoculars that kept moving back and forth between the two horns as it glowed in alternating yellow and blue magic auras would have many ponies stopping to stare in confusion.
Fortunately, the two alicorn princesses within said bush had made sure to cast a perception filtering spell to ensure nopony noticed the odd sight.
“All right,” said Cadance. “It looks like Twilight has calmed down. They're talking comfortably now.”
“Let me see!” Celestia said as she pulled the binoculars over to her side.
“Auntie!” Cadance backed as she snatched the binoculars back. “I wasn't done yet!”
Celestia huffed. “Well, I'm sorry for being overly concerned about my future sister-in-law!”
Cadance groaned. “Auntie, I want them to get together as much as you do, but I'm pretty sure there's a long while before they're ready for that!”
“Maybe,” said Celestia. “But they’re still going to get there eventually, aren’t they?”
As the two alicorns argued in their bush, Lucian and Twilight were receiving their orders. As the waiter departed, the disguised prince took a moment to appreciate his food.
“I must admit, I’ve never had tacos before,” he said, causing Twilight to look up at him in confusion.
“How can you not have had tacos before?” she asked as she lifted a bite of enchilada to her mouth.
“Well, they didn’t exist back before my banishment,” Lucian explained. “And honestly, I never really had any desire to try them.”
“Oh,” said Twilight. “Well, there’s a first time for everything, right?”
Twilight smiled and nodded as she chewed her food. Meanwhile, Lucian lifted one of his tacos and took a look at it. It was pretty much what he’d expected; a hard tortilla shell filled with cooked daisies, as well as shredded lettuce and diced tomatoes. While it seemed rather unremarkable, the smell was nevertheless rather enticing. Thus, Lucian opened his mouth and took a bite.
Immediately, his mouth was hit by an amazing mix of flavors and textures, such as the spices of the flowers, the crunchiness of the tortilla shell, and the moistness of the vegetables. The sensations were so overwhelming that he momentarily lost control of his mouth and stood in place, a small droplet of drool making its way out of his mouth.
Twilight watched all this with a strange look on her face.
“Um, Lucian? Are you alright?”
Lucian shook himself out of his stupor and looked back towards Twilight. His cheeks slowly became red as he grinned awkwardly.
“Sorry. It’s just… these are really good!”
Twilight chuckled. “Well, it’s okay to enjoy your food, but don’t overdo it. I don’t want ponies thinking I’m dating a crazy taco lover.”
“Oh, come on, Twilight. Would anypony honestly think that you’re crazy enough to date anypony like that?”
Meanwhile, in a far away universe, a different version of Twilight who just so happened to be dating a crazy taco lover suddenly felt highly offended, and had no idea why.
“Okay,” said Twilight, “I guess that's fair.”
Lucian laughed and took another bite out of his taco.
“So, what do you think about our date so far?” Twilight asked.
Lucian swallowed and said “It’s pretty nice. The food is good, and I get to spend time with you.”
Twilight smiled. “Yeah, that's true.”
“I still don’t see how you aren’t already making plans,” said Celestia. “As the alicorn of love, you should already know how many babies those two will have.”
Cadance groaned. “It does not work like that, Auntie! They have to get to know each other for some time before they even consider having foals!”
“Well, you can’t blame a mare for trying to see her sibling have a happy life!” Celestia said angrily.
“This isn’t about their happiness!” Cadance yelled. “It’s about you trying to plan everything that will happen in their future, down to the most minute detail! I mean, you should-”
At that moment, a hoof poked its way into their bush.
Celestia and Cadance yelped and shrunk back as a pink poofy mane began to squeeze into their hiding place. Finally, the rest of the pony’s body popped inside, landing right between the two alicorns.
“Hi Princesseseseses! What are you two doing in this bush?”
Celestia stared at Pinkie Pie dumbfoundedly, completely unsure about how to react. She looked towards Cadance, who seemed equally shocked. Then she turned towards Pinkie, who was grinning at her expectantly.
“Um… hello, Pinkie,” she said awkwardly.
“Oh! I got it! You’re playing hide and seek in the bushes, right?”
Celestia blinked. “What?! No! We’re…”
“Oh! Oh! You’re playing cards in a bush!” Pinkie exclaimed. “That sounds like so much fun!”
“Pinkie!” Cadance hissed as she poked her hoof into Pinkie’s mouth. “We’re not playing cards!”
The hyperactive mare briefly stopped and stood still. She then pulled Cadance’s hoof out of her mouth and looked at her inquisitively.
“You’re not playing cards?” she asked.
“No!” Cadance said. “We don’t even have a deck of cards!”
Pinkie blinked. She then grinned as she reached into a pocket of leaves.
“Oh! Well why didn’t you say so?”
Before Cadance could respond, Pinkie had pulled out a small table and a deck of cards. The jaws of both mares dropped to the floor.
“Okay!” Pinkie said as she began to deal her cards. “So, is it okay if I deal in?”
Unfortunately, between their argument and Pinkie’s interference, Celestia and Cadance had been unable to keep their eyes on the restaurant. Therefore, they had no clue of the impending disaster.
At a table just across from Twilight and Lucian, a stallion had ordered a large quesadilla. His daughter, an extremely excited tan pegasus filly with thick black glasses and a cute little tiara, had accidentally spilled her drink onto the floor. Neither of these factors would have been a problem under normal circumstances. However, on that day they were being served by a young stallion on his first day.
The unfortunate waiter was doing the best he could, but he still had much to learn about his new job. Things like not running to the tables and watching where he was walking were things that he still had not quite figured out. And as he made his way to the table, his inexperience was about to cause one of the greatest disasters in the restaurant’s history.
Just as he arrived at the table, he stepped into the puddle created by the filly’s drink. As he fell, he lost his grip on his platter, causing its contents to go flying into the air. As beans, rice, tortillas, and salsa fell all around the surrounding tables, one particular item fell in the direction of one hapless couple.
Twilight jerked her head in the direction of the waiter’s anguished scream, shocked to see him lying on the floor. Before she could say anything, however, she felt something slam against her head, impaling itself on her horn. Shocked, she lifted her hoof to the object, only to freeze as she felt it.
For a moment, she stood motionless as she felt the object.
It was warm.
It was gooey.
It was cheesy.
Her eyes widened in horror. She began to shake. Sweat rolled down her forehead.
“Um, Twilight? Are you okay?”
Twilight screamed at the top of her lungs.
“Ha! Read ‘em and weep!”
Pinkie grinned triumphantly as she presented her hoof, causing Celestia and Cadance to gawk.
“A royal flush?!” Cadance said in shock. “How do I know you’re not cheating?!”
“Aw, come on, Candy! Does this look like the face of a pony who’d cheat?”
As Pinkie gave Cadance her best puppy-dog eyes, the pink alicorn glared at her.
“Did you just call me ‘Candy?’”
Before anypony else could speak, they heard a blood curdling scream coming from the direction of the restaurant. Cadance and Celestia grimaced, while Pinkie merely blinked.
“Huh. That sounded like Twilight. Do you think she’s somewhere around here?”
Celestia snatched up the binoculars and pointed them out towards the restaurant. However, just as she began to observe, a massive surge of purple magic blasted above them, just barely missing the tip of Celestia’s horn. The leaves above them, however, were burned to a crisp.
“Ohh!” said Pinkie. “Too bad I don’t have any marshmallows!”
Celestia and Cadance stood up to look out of the bush. They were greeted by the sight of blasts of magic erupting all around the restaurant. They were then shocked to see Twilight running out through a large hole with a quesadilla stuck to her forehead.
“GET IT OFF ME!!! GET IT OFF ME!!!”
The two alicorns stared in shock. They then looked through the hole that had destroyed their hiding place, and saw Lucian standing in the middle of a small mess of Equest-Mex food. All around him, ponies were hiding under their tables, fearful of another barrage of magic from a crazy quesadilla-phobic unicorn.
The blue stallion began to sweat nervously as everypony stared at him. His horn then began to glow and he vanished from sight.
For a moment, nopony spoke. Celestia and Cadance stared at the spot where Lucian had been standing just a few seconds earlier, and the ponies inside seemed too scared to leave their hiding spots.
Perhaps unsurprisingly, it was Pinkie who broke the silence.
“Twilight! Lucian! You haven’t paid the bill!”