The Dangerous Date
Crystal paced the living room while she waited for the clock to chime the hour. Her mane was dolled up in voluminous curls and she wore a fluffy white shawl draped over her shoulders, kept together by a silver brooch. It wasn't anything special, but it sparkled in even the dimmest light, so she couldn't help puffing up her chest to ensure the brooch was as visible as possible.
"Oh, darling, you look beautiful," Upper Crust commented while she walked down the stairs. "If this stallion doesn't fall head over hooves the moment he sees you, then he certainly isn't worth your time."
Crystal trotted in a circle, practically walking on the air. "I know!" She turned sharply to strike a pose and her tail snapped to whip the air. "I—" She choked on her words when realization struck her. "Wait! What are you doing here, Mom? I thought you had that event this morning and you and Dad would be gone by now!"
Upper Crust raised her brow and said, "You sound almost as if you don't want me here, dear."
"I don't." She marched up to her mother with a stern frown. "You're going to embarrass me! Or him! Or both of us!"
"Why, Crystal Wishes!" Upper Crust put a hoof to her chest. "Your false accusations wound me, truly. I merely wish to meet the stallion with whom my daughter will be spending her time today. Did you expect to run off with a mysterious colt of whom I know so little?" There was a hint of amusement in her haughty tone.
Crystal rolled her eyes, turned away, and huffed. "I'll wait for him outside." She started toward the door, but froze when a few knocks resounded. "Oh, ponyfeathers," she muttered.
Upper Crust walked past her, saying all too happily, "I'll get it."
"No, Mom—"
Upper Crust smiled as her magic opened the door. Midnight Poem blinked a few times as he looked through the doorway to see an angrily shocked Crystal and a mare smiling like a hungry fox.
"Well, hello there," Upper Crust purred as she offered a hoof. "So delightful to meet you. Why don't you come in and have some tea before your date with my daughter?"
"Act—Actually," Midnight stammered, bowing his head politely before glancing between them, "we have a bit of a tight schedule to keep, though it's nice to meet you, ma'am." He tried to smile, but it looked more like a nervous twitch.
Crystal's eyes lit up and she bounced forward a few steps. "Really? A schedule?"
Upper Crust slowly lowered her hoof. "I see." Her smile softened. "Do take care of my little girl, young stallion."
Crystal groaned under her breath and pulled the door closed behind her as she walked out. "Bye, Mom!" Once outside, she put a hoof to her forehead. "I swear," she muttered, then looked up at Midnight with a smile. "Sorry about that."
"It's okay." He offered the crook of his foreleg to her. "Shall we go?"
"Certainly." She hooked her foreleg with his.
They started to walk down the street, Crystal glancing up at him periodically. He continued to look straight ahead. She tilted her head one way, allowing her curls to bounce and fall into her face. When he still didn't look at her, she puffed out her chest so the brooch shimmered in the sunlight. There was still no response. Her confidence deflated and she returned to her normal posture, her gaze returning ahead.
"So, where are we going? What's this 'tight schedule'?"
"Oh." He bit his lower lip. "That was a bit of a lie. I mean, we do have a schedule, it's just not a tight one. I was just scared of your mom. I've heard a lot of stories about her."
Crystal felt a small pang of disappointment, but she laughed. "You're right to be scared of her! She has been nagging me nonstop about you."
He glanced down at her. "Really? She has?"
"Well, of course. She wants to know if you're rich, if your parents are rich, what they do for a living, what you plan to do with your life." She paused when she noticed his ears were pinned back, then quickly added, "Not that I care about any of those things."
Midnight laughed nervously. "That's good to know." He stopped and looked ahead of them. "So, this is the first stop."
Crystal stared up at him for a moment. She flipped her curls over her shoulder, stuck out her chest, and inclined her head to peer at their surroundings. While he remained ignorant of her fishing for a compliment, she tried to figure out what exactly the first stop was.
"We're at an antique shop?" she finally inquired.
His face lit up with foal-like excitement. "Yes! The most magical place in Canterlot, if you ask me!"
While Crystal could have easily listed five places she considered more magical, the expression on his face was too cute to not smile at. "Well, then, lead the way, monsieur."
Midnight let go of her foreleg to open the door for her. He bowed his head politely. "After you."
Once they were inside the dimly lit shop, Midnight took a deep breath of air. She followed suit and tried not to cough. It wasn't necessarily unpleasant, but it was a little dusty. The air tasted old, which wasn't entirely surprising for an antique store. She raised a hoof to delicately rub her nose to stave off a sneeze.
"Isn't it wonderful?" Midnight asked as he exhaled. "It's the smell of the ages, of time gone by, all stowed away in this little store."
Crystal gazed at him, then took another deep breath, this time with his words in mind. She held the air in her lungs before exhaling with a small cough. It still tasted dusty and stale.
"It's—unique," she said cautiously.
"Certainly." He trotted down a crowded aisle. "Come with me!"
She stepped lightly behind him, careful not to bump into anything that was spilling out into the walkway. He moved effortlessly through the disarray of mismatched items as though he had been there his whole life. She paused in mid-step. Perhaps he had! One of his parents—or even both—might be in the antique business. She smiled and continued to follow him.
"Here we go," he announced. He stepped to the side and gestured with a hoof. "What do you think?"
She stopped. Three bookshelves lined the wall they had come to, all of them nearly overflowing with old silk-bound tomes. Her jaw hung open as her gaze drifted across the gilded spines, some of them written in scripts she didn't recognize.
Midnight glanced between the books and her. She didn't move or speak. His hoof slowly lowered and he asked in a quiet voice, "You like books, right?"
She blinked a few times and looked at him. "I love books!" Her face brightened with a smile and she stepped closer to the bookshelves. She carefully raised a book off its shelf and levitated it closer for inspection. "These are so, well, old! This book was transcribed by hoof by old earth pony scholars!" She stared at it in awe. "What if my magic damages it? Do you think that could happen? I've only read this story in modern collections, copied effortlessly by unicorns. But somepony, some time ago, had to carefully write out each word, translating it without losing the meaning!"
Midnight's own magic pulled the book closer to him. "You want this one, then?"
Crystal stared at him with wide eyes. "Want it? It must cost a fortune! A book this old, with this much care—"
"Then I'll buy it." He started toward the desk at the front of the store, the book following behind him.
"Wait! No, it—" She choked. When the book rotated and left to follow him, the back cover faced her and the price tag was in sight: three bits.
Confusion bubbled in her chest. Only three bits? Her gaze darted around and she found herself surrounded by ridiculously low-priced items. Seven bits for a grandfather clock? Five for an end table? How could this store stay in business?
The real confusion stemmed from her own feelings, however. She was both relieved that he was only going to be spending three bits on her, but at the same time, she was a little underwhelmed by the gesture now that she knew the cost associated with it. She shook her head furiously and walked after him. How could she even think such things? It wasn't the money that counted; it was the thought, and the thought was sweet.
She walked up just in time to watch the clerk wrap the book with care and put it in a box while Midnight put his bits on the counter. "Thank you," she said softly as she stopped beside him. "I'll treasure it."
Midnight beamed at her. "I'm glad." He looked around the store. "Is there anything else you want?"
Crystal eyed the simple, unassuming box as it was placed on the counter. "No, that's more than enough for me."
The clerk, an older earth pony with no remarkable features, chuckled and leaned against the table, one brow raised. "Are you two on a date?"
Crystal flushed and glanced up at Midnight, who nodded and responded in a matter-of-fact tone, "Yes, we are."
"Well, then, for the special occasion, I'll throw in a little something special." The clerk pushed off the desk, walked around a corner, and rummaged through some things. "Here it is." He returned to the desk and set a mane clip on top of the box. It was a small rose, encrusted with rubies for the petals and emeralds for the stem.
"Why don't you put it on the little mare?" the clerk suggested with a wink.
Midnight raised the mane clip and turned to face her. His gaze darted about her face as he tried to decide where to place it. Crystal's heart pounded in her ears and she tilted her head in practiced form, the dim light catching in her eyes. It was too perfect of a moment to not use her special eye-glittering technique!
However, he seemed relatively unfazed, instead smiling and attaching the mane clip just above her ear, which twitched when his magic tickled it.
"There," he said. "That looks nice, don't you think?"
The clerk gestured at a mirror behind Crystal, and she turned to look at her reflection. Although the mane clip certainly did look nice, she wanted to pout. What about her? Didn't she look nice, too?
Despite the thoughts, she smiled. "It's lovely. Thank you so much, sir." She turned back to face them and nodded at the clerk.
"Absolutely, little miss. You two run along now, 'fore it rains."
"Rains?" Midnight blinked a few times. "I didn't hear anything about any rain scheduled."
The clerk nodded. "Nope, but my knees tell me it's going to rain. I can feel it. This old stallion's knees never lie."
"I don't doubt you, but I hope you're mistaken." Midnight glanced at Crystal, then at the door. "We should hurry along if it does rain, though."
"Oh, all right!" Crystal smiled at the clerk. "Thank you again!" She trotted after Midnight out of the store, the box trailing behind her.
Midnight stopped a few paces down the street and tilted his head back. "The sky is perfectly clear," he muttered. "I can't imagine it's going to rain."
Crystal sidled up to him, her shoulder pressed to his. She fluttered her eyelashes a few times. "Is the next destination outdoors?"
"Yeah." He shuffled his hooves together as he started to blush. "I wanted to watch the clouds."
She paused, her head tilting one way, then the other. "Watch the clouds?"
"Together, of course," he said, his voice growing softer. "I'm sorry. I've never been on a date before, so I'm just—" His gaze darted away from her. "Well, taking you to the places I like to go. I hoped you might like them, too."
Crystal giggled. "Then let's go watch clouds. Together." She bumped her shoulder to his before she started to trot forward. "Where's a good place to watch them?"
Midnight smiled brightly as he hurried ahead of her. "This way!"
He led her through the streets, all uphill, taking them into the higher sections of Canterlot until he took a turn that kept their altitude. They walked into a small park, more of an untouched green space than a cultivated area, and he flopped down onto his back rather unceremoniously.
Crystal hesitated as she focused on setting the box down carefully beside her, then looked at the grass. Midnight stared obliviously up at the sky. She raised a hoof to her shawl, then to one of her curls. She had worked so hard to pretty herself up, but it didn't seem that he noticed anyway, so what the hay? She folded her legs beneath her before rolling onto her back.
"What do you think that one looks like?" Midnight pointed in a vague direction toward the sky.
Crystal squinted. "Which one? There are three clouds where you're pointing."
"The one that looks like a puppy."
Crystal stared for a moment longer, then laughed. "I don't see a puppy anywhere! I see a sword, a hoofball, and a bird."
"Hmm." Midnight lowered his hoof to tap his chin. "I could see a bird in my puppy."
They were silent while both stared at the cloud in question until Crystal gasped.
"I see the puppy now!" She clapped her hooves together. "You're right!"
He turned his head to look at her. "Nopony's right about cloud watching. I'm sure if you tried, you could see something else, too." He looked back upward. "It's just perspective."
"Oh." She tilted her head some. "Well, I see—That one looks like a crescent moon. And those little ones—" She giggled. "That's an ellipsis! And, oh."
"What?" He was gazing elsewhere in the sky, his hooves folded neatly over his chest.
"That one's angry."
He started to rotate his head. "Angry?" When he saw the dark, ominous grey cloud she was gesturing at, he furrowed his brow. "Yes, that one certainly does look angry, doesn't it."
She squirmed. "And it's getting closer."
Midnight started to sit up. "It is, isn't it."
Crystal glanced between the nearing cloud and him. "Should we take cover?"
Before they could come to a decision, the cloud stopped just near them. A head popped out of the cloud, sage green with a spray of brown mane showing.
"Oh, hello there!" Crystal called.
The pegasus's ears pinned back and he disappeared into the cloud again. It swiftly moved closer to them and the stallion jumped back out all the way, his wings flapping to keep him aloft. He stared down at them, scowled, and reared up his hindlegs. With all his might, he bucked the cloud to start a downpour of rain—directly above them.
The rain stopped just as quickly as it had begun, and the pegasus perched on top of his cloud, looking rather smug. Midnight tossed his head to shake the water out of his mane, wincing when most of the spray hit the already soaked Crystal.
"Sorry," he said softly and raised a hoof. He held it in the air, though, as it seemed rather futile to try to help when she looked at him with wide, shocked eyes.
She stared at Midnight another moment, then down at herself. Her coat clung to her skin and when a breeze drifted by, it chilled her to the bone. Her gaze rose slightly to her shawl. It was definitely ruined, so she took a moment to unclip the brooch. The shawl fell to the ground with a squishy thud. Her head lifted all the way to stare straight ahead, now noticing the once-curls clinging to her face, a few bedraggled strands drooping over her eyes.
Finally, she turned her head to the side and looked at the box, now a crumpled mess from the weight of the water. Her magic lit up and lifted the lid, though she knew what she was going to see. The water had seeped inside and the book was surely ruined.
After taking all of this in—and sure that her makeup was running, too—she looked back at Midnight. He winced and withdrew his hoof. She took a small intake of air before she broke down into tears.
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That, was painful.
I have myself to blame, of course, as I had been thinking that everything was going too well and this story needed a plot, a bit of intrigue, or some terrible circumstance that would make the reader cringe.
It looks like I got what I wanted. Ouch.
Kudos to you, Crystal, for this was a fast reading chapter. Which means that it was well written and well paced.
*PS. Please tell me this is not a ponification of your first date! [shiver]
I was on board until I got to that Rossby Wave fellow's cameo. Gawd, what a total, irredeemable jerk. Totally ruined the story for me. Ruined forever.
5445686
It was admittedly... in a twisted way... a little fun to write. Midnight certainly isn't a bad guy by any stretch, but he's not the kind of stallion she writes about and has come to expect. She's got a little growing up to do.
I can't really say there's too much of a plot other than, currently, "Crystal learns that reality and fantasy are different worlds." So hopefully that'll be interesting to read.
If you thought this was painful, then I fear what you'll think of the next big downer I have planned.
5445712 I know. Who would even create such a crotchety, cantankerous pony? This is happy happy pony land, the jerk.
I'm really made at Midnight right now. Geeze, he's almost as bad as the pegasus. Such an oblivious jerk! What not to do on a first date. I feel so sorry for Crystal.
5446133 It's not an ideal first date for sure - I'm sure many folks have had pleasant and sweet ones, but Midnight is a bit lacking in romantic experience, poor chap.
I know I was clumsy and awkward with high expectations, myself, on my first date... 
Okay, I still am clumsy and awkward.
Oh yeah that first date didn't go to well. This Midnight guy isn't a bad person by any means. However, his lack of expierience and obliviousnes toward Crystal became his downfall. His heart is in the right place, but he needs a little more expierience. I suppose that it became a learning opportuinity for both Midnight and Crystal as both parties learned a little more about each other. I also agree what you said about Crystal having a little growing up to do. This was her first date and it didn't go as planned. Life is full of ups and downs and it often times not what you expect it to be. I'm thinking that this event has unfortunately ruined any other chances that Midnight has with Crystal.
What the hell was that?!
That came completely out of left field. The complete lack of a reason for doing it could let me just write him off as a jackass, but the hint (and not an ounce more) of remorse he displays in the next chapter only makes his characterisation really incongruous.
5556748 Yes, Rossby Waves is a bit of a... as you said, left field curveball. We will see him again eventually, but in case this helps a bit... He's, as of this chapter, a moody teenager that just wanted to literally rain on someone's happiness out of spite, but wasn't prepared to face the consequences.
Not gonna lie. That was a bit of a dick move on the part of the Pegasus. He's lucky he lives in a G-rated franchise or else any other guy on a date would have gone Vegeta on him. Poor Crystal. If your intention was to make her into the woobie then you succeeded.
Oh and speaking of dick moves, I finally posted the new chapter and made sure to give Discord plenty of chances to be obnoxious.
well, that did not go as expected. and i expect to see some form of retribution towards idiot pegasus as well.
poor crystal. the date she was expecting... nope. instead she goes to an antique shop, then cloud watching, which could be a good date, but only when the two people (or ponies) know each other fairly well. *sigh*
Quick nitpick, I feel like something like "Aristrotle" would work a bit better. Fantastic chapter, but I am afraid that I feel like cringing when I reach a pun that doesn't make sense.
Unless, of course, you aren't talking about Aristotle. If this is the case, my apologies.
I will likely keep suggesting pun "corrections" as I read. Great story so far.
5925566 Hehe, I appreciate someone keeping me honest! That is a great pun for Aristotle, though! I was referencing Lysistrata by Aristophanes... I honestly didn't even think that the pun could be taken as either of them because, well, blinders are on when you know what you mean, so it's hard to see it another way.
Ouch. The feels.
I can't help but feel sorry for Crystal, though her expectations do seem a little high. That in turn makes me feel sorry for Midnight, though he could've handled things just a bit better. Ah, the trials of love.
Though, I must admit, it certainly went better than I thought it would, although it came apart much faster than I expected.
Good chapter!
5934212 This chapter was both fun and hard to write.
It's both their first dates, which from my experience are pretty darn awkward. You're definitely right that her expectations were way too high, but she's gotta fall before she can get back up and learn to be more realistic. 
Thank you for reading and for taking the time to comment. I'm glad you're enjoying it so far!
As much as I was looking forward to a romance I can definitely understand this lol. My first date was terrible. I was too shy to hold my dates hand and it just goes down from there... Nice chapter!
6335714 Why did I do it? Because I'm evil, or so I'm told.
As for the word counts... I'm going to quote myself, not because I don't think you are worth taking the time to write out an explanation, but because I get the question a lot and it's just easier to copy and paste.
I've been reading this for the past couple of days. Can't put it down. Its an easy read, and I agree with alot of the posters, well written so far. I have been smiling, laughing and feeling sad when these characters do. I can visualize in my head the scenes, although a bit more detail might help, but I know you have to balance detail and story flow otherwise you can get bogged down in the details. I got one of my other family members interested in this story, and now he hates me for it
Can't wait to see what else happens. I am really enjoying it so far. Keep up the good work!
(Ps. This is my first post I hope I didnt go overboard on it)
6438508 I'm glad you're enjoying it, thank you for saying so!
I consider it a great achievement if I can make a reader feel the way a character does!!
I've certainly heard the complaint about my level of detail before; in some situations it's intentional, in others it's just my writing style, it seems.
In her younger years, I chose to use a much more simplistic level of detail to reflect her being a child, so the older she gets the more detail there should be (I hope).
And you can tell your family member that hates you that I say... Neener, neener!
(My appreciation of you taking the time to comment would, in my opinion, indicate that no, you did not go overboard! Also, thank you for the honor of being your first favorite!!)
...Why?
6483476 Why not?
I don't know how I feel right now. Conflicted, in any case. Midnight has not shown himself to be bad in any way, and yet... and yet I find myself with the urge to say things like 'and yet'. Having chased some of those threads of feeling, I'm baffled to find that one of the things I'm feeling is paternal protectiveness. The good old he's not good enough for my daughter! instinct. You win, Crystal Wishes (writer). I am invested in these characters to the point where you have sway over me! I wonder if, in a way, the date itself was more damaging than its rainy termination? That, at least, she can attribute to a clearly defined antagonist. But when everything was going just as it was going to go? Certainly it wasn't to Crystal's expectations. May our lovely Crystal Wishes (character) not be turned sour and cynical by life's faux pas, non sequiturs, awkward exchanges, embarrassments and failed expectations! Because life doesn't make sense, but it has plenty of nonsense already on hand and is perfectly willing to share it with everyone!
Who in the schnitzel was that guy?
Somebody is going to die tonight
I'll go get leather faces chainsaw, he said I could borrow it for a while.
7003218 hold on, let me help, Freddy let me borrow his glove
6968639 HOODWINKED REFERENCE IS BEST REFERENCE
That hurt a little. Midnight must be pretty new to dating if he didn't even compliment Crystal... Or maybe he's just clueless or dense. Anyway, it'll be interesting to see how Crystal reacts. Onto the next chapter!
That was ...unexpected ...
Oh that bastard, i want to rip him a new one. Sure ruining a date is awful, but to ruin such an old book? I'd make him bleed.
6483476 Because Crystal enjoys the pain and anguish of her readers.
Don't believe me? Keep reading.
6740420 Same. On the one hand, Midnight was kind of oblivious, but not a bad guy. On the other... he doesn't deserve her. She clearly put more effort into this than he did.
You could argue her expectations were too high, or that Rossby was the one who REALLY screwed it up, but I still feel this couldn't have been his best.
...
68.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_ly9ttkOvI21qdfyd9o1_500.gif
Jerk!
If this was a set up to make the date memorable, it succeeded!