• Published 24th Oct 2019
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When Dating a Sunset... - ThePinkedWonder



Local human Eric Reed falls for interdimensional traveler Sunset Shimmer and wants to ask her out.

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Chapter 8: The REAL date

I still couldn’t believe it. I was going on a date with Sunset Shimmer!

When we hung out two weeks ago, we had lunch at an outdoor café, but we were hanging out as friends back then. Since we were going on a true date, I thought we would have it at a more traditional restaurant. Well, Twilight suggested it, thanks to her book about the best places to go on dates.

The top restaurants were in Manehattan, but it would have taken too long to ride the train there and back. So, my date and I were going to walk to a local one, called “Hay & Shake”, and it was on the outskirts of town. Why they have Ponyville's biggest restaurant on the outskirts of it, I have no idea. We were going to use a dirt road that cuts through Ponyville to get there.

While I wasn’t too nervous, the nerves were there. I thought about holding one of Sunset’s hooves as we walked, but wanted to wait a bit before trying it; unless Sunset held my hand or wrist first.

“Wow, Sunset, I-I can’t believe the day of our date is here. To be honest, I didn’t think I would ever go on a date in Equestria.”

“Why not? You’re a great guy, s-so I’m sure mares would want to date you. After all, I’m a mare, and I want to date you!”

“Well, it wasn’t that. It used to feel weird thinking about ponies like ‘that’ and I thought it would never happen. Uh, n-not that I thought anything was wrong with ponies, mind you.”

“I understand, and I didn’t take that personally."

“But I’m glad I can look at ponies like ‘that’ now, or we wouldn’t be on this date!”

“Same here, Eric.”

A red-painted building, with the name “Hay & Shake” over its door, came into view and I pointed at it. “That’s the restaurant I was talking about, and I can smell the food from here.”

Sunset took a deep breath. “I can smell it too.”

It felt like there was more to that deep breath than her smelling the food. But I didn’t think much of it.

We walked off the road and up to Hay & Shake’s white door, and again I thought of holding one of Sunset’s hooves, but declined. At least I didn’t wait for Sunset to open the door with her magic; I hurried to the door to open it for her.


Inside, there were a bunch of circular tables with four chairs each. Some tables had nopony using it, which of course was one that Sunset and I picked. A few had all four chairs filled, but the majority of the tables had two or three chairs by them filled. All were decorated with white table covers and a flower pot holding five yellow or blue flowers set in the middle of the tables. There was a stage with curtains behind it by one of the walls, and the middle of the room was the dance floor, though nopony was dancing at that moment. Not too shabby a place!

Sitting opposite me, Sunset -- who was probably sitting in her chair like a human but I couldn't tell from my angle -- turned her head around to take a look at the restaurant. She did it after we walked in, but seemed to be taking a closer look this time. “Wow, this is a really nice restaurant that you picked, Eric.”

I “played” with my fingers a little to help calm the ‘ol nerves. “I can’t take too much credit. Twilight suggested coming here after reading a book about the best places to go on dates.”

“Oh, you mean those books she used to try to help you ask out Diane?”

“Yep. But l-let’s decide on what we want to order.”

We picked up a menu from in front of us, and Sunset briefly lost her magical grip on the menu. I never saw Unicorns lose their grip like that without being startled, save for foals that are still learning how to use their magic. I almost wondered if it happened because she felt nervous, but figured it was because she wasn’t fully used to her Unicorn magic after being in the human world for so long.

Though she had no trouble when we were hanging out two weeks ago.

When I focused more on my own menu, or should I say the prices, my mouth dropped. I didn’t expect the place to be “cheap” but the prices were even higher than I expected. Apparently, the Princess of Preparation forgot to check Hay & Shake’s prices, and only went by how well-rated and “nice” the place was! She picked a fine time to not be thorough with something she researches!

Thanks a lot for the suggestion Twilight, and I am going to get you for this! But at least I just got paid so I can afford this.

Still, I planned to pay for both Sunset and me, and Sunset had no bits anyway. I gulped yet offered, “And I-I’ll pay, so order whatever you want.”

“Oh, no, I’m n-not making you pay for me again, Eric. This time, I brought bits.” Sunset, to my relief, levitated out bits from her pack. Whew!

“Oh, so that’s why you have your pack! But where did you get those bits from?”

“I had them with me the first time I went through the portal, and--”

I gasped and dropped my menu, because Twilight wanted to keep the portal’s existence a secret to anyone except those she trusts the most as a safeguard. I whispered, “Shh! Twilight doesn’t want anypony besides us, the Princesses, and our friends to know about that portal.”

“R-Really?”

“Yeah. If somepony up to no good learn about the portal, they might try to use it. Rainbow Dash might be okay with it, but unless you don’t mind more battles either, you don’t want that!”

“And I don’t, so I’m g-gonna be quiet about it.”

In my normal tone of voice I said, “Anyway, since I know you won’t take ‘no’ for an answer, you can pay for yourself this time.”

I picked up my copy of the menu again to look through it, and Sunset focused on hers. I looked for something good, but not too expensive, and made my choice. My timing was good: a light-brown Unicorn, holding a brown “waiter book” in his magic, walked to our table.

“Greetings, valued guests, and welcome to ‘Hay & Shake’. I am Randbottom, and I will be your waiter this evening. Have you decided what you would like to order?”

Still holding the menu, I said, “Well, I know what I want. What about you, Sunset?”

“Yeah, I made my choice too.”

Our waiter levitated a quill and opened his book with his magic. “What would you like?”

“I’ll take two quesadilla supremes and a small order of onion rings,” I answered, and my mouth watered just thinking about my order.

“And I’ll have the deluxe salad and a carrot dog.”

Randbottom wrote what Sunset and I ordered in his book. “Will that be all?”

“Yep,” Sunset and I both answered at the same time. Could that have been some kind of a sign?

“All right. I shall return with your order once it is prepared.”

Sunset and I set down our menus. I’ll admit: Hay & Shake adding “supreme” to “quesadilla supreme” and “deluxe” to “deluxe salad” does make it sound tastier. Smart business sense there. If Twilight were nearby, I would not order quesadillas because she’s scared of them. I’m still trying to figure out how that pony could be scared of a food item!

After our waiter walked off to take orders from more ponies, despite still feeling a bit nervous, I joked, “No hayburgers f-for you this time, huh?”

Sunset shook her head. “Nope! After last week, I-I’m only eating food I can eat as a human without getting sick.”

“Ha, I don’t blame you.”

After we talked for a bit, the same Unicorn that took our order came back with two plates. I took a bite from one of the quesadillas, and the mix of cheese, beans, and salsa...wow! “Delicious” would be putting it mildly! The onion rings were great too!

“Hmm! These quesadillas and onion rings are the best I ever tasted.”

“I was thinking the same thing about my salad and carrot dog. No wonder they cost so much, but...maybe we could pick a cheaper place next time?”

“Yeah, and next time, I’m picking the place myself. With how Twi thinks of everything, I can’t believe she forgot to tell me about the prices, and she takes preparing for stuff seriously!”

In what seemed to come from nowhere, Sunset frowned and rubbed her hooves.

“Sunset? What’s wrong?”

Looking at me with eyes showing an odd amount of concern, Sunset asked, “Uh...you know that I don’t think you look odd, and I would never do anything to hurt you in any way, right?”

With how bad I was worried that Sunset thought I looked odd, her reassuring she didn't wasn’t a surprise. But the part about never hurting me was, and I rubbed my head, trying to figure out why she said it. Did I say something to make Sunset become worried that I was scared of her? “I know you don’t think I look weird and wouldn’t hurt me, and I would definitely never do anything to hurt you either. What made you bring it up?”

“Well, it’s, uh...”

Sunset looked down, and I remembered how Twi was coming out of the library as I was running back to it. And I had a feeling Starie went in there too at some point.

“I think I know what’s going on. When I was out of the library to get my bag of bits, Twilight and Starlight gave you a ‘talk’, didn’t they?”

“Yeah, they did.”

Yep, I was right! Usually, I don’t mind it when they act a little overprotective of me sometimes, though Twilight doesn’t show it much. But this time, I growled and gritted my teeth. “Oh, I am so gonna let those two have it later if they made you nervous!”

“But try not to get too upset, Eric. They only did it because they care about you.”

“Yeah, but you wouldn’t--”

“But it’s fine. I was nervous about our date even before I went through the portal, so it wasn’t their fault.”

I would have still cooled it, but hearing Sunset say she felt nervous even before my two overprotective sisters “talked” to her further helped relax me. “Wait, really? I was nervous, but I didn’t think you were. So when you nearly dropped your menu just now--”

Sunset smiled and nodded her head. “Yeah, it was because I was a little nervous, but even if I didn’t get that...talk, I would have still done it. But, knowing you felt nervous is making me feel calmer.”

“Well, in that case, I’ll let what those two big sisters of mine did go. And I feel better knowing it wasn’t just me being nervous.”

“And maybe getting to know each other more would help, so tell me some more about yourself and your old world. But don’t worry, I’m not going to ask you twenty-three questions like Princess Twilight did the first night you knew her.”

“Sure, and I didn’t mind it when the Princess of Questions asked me so many. Ask me as many as you want.”

“Hee hee, ‘Princess of Questions’, that’s a good one. Okay, I have one, and I hope you don’t mind me asking it.”

“What is it?”

In a somewhat shy voice, Sunset asked, “Is this your first date?”

“Well, I went on a date two years ago in my old world, but it didn’t go well.”

Sunset’s eyes grew, maybe worried my heart got broken on the date. To think that Sunset Shimmer used to be horrible before she reformed. “What happened?”

“I didn’t feel a...connection like I thought we would, and my date even felt the same way.”

“Really?”

“Yeah. So we didn’t have another date after that, but I already know this date is different. In fact, I never thought I would be on a date with somepony, or someone, as incredible as you, Sunset.”

Sunset blushed, played with her hooves in bashful fashion and looked so cute doing it. “You really think that, Eric?”

Buck yeah I do! I might be the luckiest human in the whole Multiverse!”

“I think I might be the lucky one, but thanks.”

Classical-style music started playing in the restaurant. I looked around and saw the source of the music: on the stage were four ponies, each playing a different instrument. One of the ponies was a light grey Earth Pony with a dark-gray mane, playing a Cello. Of course she would be one of the ponies playing!

The music wasn’t dance music, so every bronies’ favorite DJ was nowhere to be seen. One day, I’m going to try to get her to finally say something! Even if it’s just one word!

“They’re playing some music.” I don’t know why I felt the need to state the obvious.

“Yeah, they are. You want to dance?”

“Ha, now that’s the second time you asked me something I was about to ask you. Our food will be okay, so let’s dance.”

Sunset and I walked to the dance floor in the middle of the room. A few couples were already dancing once we got to the floor. As we walked, I again thought about holding one of Sunset’s hooves. But Sunset solved my question of what to do for me: she wrapped part of her foreleg around my hand to hold it. I couldn’t hold it back, since my hand was completely in her curled foreleg, so this wasn’t quite the same as holding hands.

Once we picked a spot, I wrapped an arm around Sunset’s neck, and she wrapped a foreleg around the lower part of my back. After that, we pulled each other close. Sunset still held the hand of my arm that wasn’t around her.

I felt the warmth of her cheek. A warm fuzzy feeling flowed through my body, knowing I was in the embrace of the Sunset Shimmer as her date. Or dare I say boyfriend, even though our first date wasn’t over yet? I wanted to keep that feeling the whole evening.

But, that feeling ended when I noticed the other ponies staring at us. I was so busy enjoying that warm, fuzzy feeling of holding Sunset, I failed to really notice how we were doing nothing else. I couldn’t see Sunset’s cheeks directly, but the one against mine warmed, “telling” me that she noticed the staring too and blushed.

With how often Sunset took the initiative, I stayed still and waited for her to “lead”. But she didn’t move either. Uh-oh.

Sunset whispered, “Eric, aren’t you going to lead?”

“I thought you were going to lead.”

“I would, except I don’t know how.”

Well, this got embarrassing in a hurry!

After a couple more awkward seconds, I remembered how “slow dancing” looked. I had never done it myself, but I drew a blank on what else to do. I winged it and started to sway and walk in a circle, and hoped Sunset would follow and match my movements. Luckily for both of us, she did.

The other ponies stared at us for a bit longer, before going back to what they were doing before. With our little crisis out of the way, the warm fuzzy feeling returned, and I tightened the grip of my arm around Sunset and felt her grip around me tighten. I didn’t want this feeling to end, so I kept dancing and waited for Sunset to release her grip first.

But even after ten minutes of dancing, that Unicorn’s grip on me didn’t even loosen, and we kept going.

When the music stopped, since it would look too weird if my date and I kept dancing, I released my grip. Sunset let me go at around the same time, and we walked back to our table. I was a little tired from the dance and was breathing a tad deeper, but I didn’t care.

“That was fun, Sunset, once we got going.”

“It was. And sorry if I danced with you too long. You weren’t getting bored, were you?”

“No, no! I loved it. I was worried that you were getting bored.”

Sunset shook her head. “Nope, I wasn’t. I would have wanted to keep dancing if the music didn’t stop.”

“In that case, maybe we can dance some more in Twilight’s castle later.”

Sunset and I talked for a while and finished the rest of our dinner. It got a little cold during the time we danced, but it was still good. Besides, with how much it cost, neither Sunset or I was going to waste even a crumb of it!

After we were done, we left Hay & Shake and went back to the castle. I was in a good mood, but I was still planning to give Twilight a hard time later over forgetting to check the prices of that restaurant. Then again, maybe that’s what I get for not picking where to go myself.


Back at the castle, Sunset and I were in the library. This time, instead of sitting in separate chairs like we did two weeks ago, we sat together on a couch. She sat more like a human than a pony, with her hind legs over the edge of the couch, but her hooves didn’t touch the floor. Even so, Sunset’s head was still above mine and my head came up to below her neck. When I was facing her, I had to tilt my head up to look at her face, much like I did when Twilight, Starlight, or another full-grown pony sat beside me.

“I bet you’re glad I could pay for myself.”

“Oh, I could’ve paid for you.”

Sunset's lips curled into a smirk. “Really?”

I finally decided to give up and I rubbed the back of my head. “Uh, well, I might have been a...little bit relieved when you said you could pay for yourself, and sorry for taking you to a place so expensive. I had no idea till I saw the menu.”

“It's okay. But don't think that you have to be a kind of boyfriend to spend all their money on their girlfriend. I don’t want you to do that for me.”

“Maybe, but--” My eyes got big. I really don’t know why I was so surprised by what Sunset said; we just went out! “Wait a second. Did you say ‘boyfriend’?”

Sunset’s own eyes grew and she covered her mouth with her hooves. “Oh, I’m sorry! Is it too soon to call you my boyfriend?”

“Well, we are officially dating now, so I think it’s okay for us to call each other boyfriend and girlfriend, even if our first date isn’t quite finished yet. But I will confess that I used to think it was ‘marefriend’ in Equestria till Rarity told me last week that it can be one or the other, but ‘girlfriend’ is more commonly used.”

“Even if you didn’t know that, considering you’re from a different world, you have gotten used to how ponies talk. Well, Equestrian ponies.”

“Well, that ‘cartoon’ I told you about helped with that, and I’m glad you’re not weirded out about it. I was worried about that when Twilight was going to tell you and the other girls about me.”

“With everything that’s happened to me, knowing a world knows some things about me isn’t too big a deal, and the others think so too.”

I already knew they weren’t creeped out about my world knowing about them; and it likely further helped that I promised that nothing too...personal was shown. Still, hearing it from Sunset’s mouth sealed it for me. “And I am so glad you feel that way! But that is another reason why I don’t mind you asking as many questions as you feel like asking. It’s only fair for you to know more about me and my world if you want.”

“If you ever meet ‘Sci-Twi', as you like calling her, face-to-face, I wouldn’t tell her that she can ask you as many questions as she wants. She might take you up on it and ask you a hundred in one day!

“Heh, I’ll be sure to remember that.”

“But I have another question. You talked about your family before, but what about your friends in your former world?”

“My friends?” I raised my head to think. “Well, I had a couple, but I hardly saw them.”

“Why? Were you not close?”

“No. We used to be closer, but as they became more and more busy, I could feel our bond weakening. Even if I never became stuck in Equestria, we probably would have drifted away by now.”

Sunset frowned. After learning the joys of friendship, she’s with the other girls most of the time and is close with them, so knowing I had no close friends in my world felt worse to her than it actually was. “Oh. I’m sorry to hear that. After I became friends with Princess Twilight and the others, I hated the thought of not being able to hang out with my friends.”

“Well, it wasn’t like I was lonely or anything. I had my family to spend time with.”

Now Sunset frowned more and lightly patted the couch with her hoof. Unlike the last one, this frown screamed sadness, not sympathy. “I guess that’s something we don’t have in common. I...didn’t have the best family life. But I wasn’t exactly a joy to be around.”

I wanted to ask what she meant by that. But thinking about both how sad she looked when I asked her about making up with Princess Celestia and how she was here, I kept my mouth shut about it. I will admit that I was i-t-c-h-i-n-g to ask about who her parents were: one of the great mysteries of both FIM and EQG is who Sunset Shimmer’s parents are and what they were like. I figured that once our relationship grew tighter, I’d ask. Besides, I had to focus on cheering Sunset up.

I formed as big a comforting a smile as I could and assured, “Well, at least you have a good family now.”

“What do you mean?”

“Well, even though I only have a sibling-type bond with Twilight, Starlight, and Spike, my other friends are like family too. Don’t you feel the same way about Sci-Twi and the others in ‘your’ world?”

That did the trick, and Sunset smiled. It looked to be a particularly joyful one, making me feel some joy too. “Yeah, you’re right, and the others have said that too, but I guess I just needed to hear it again. Thanks, Eric, and I guess we’re not opposites about having friends and family.”

“Nope. If you ever need to hear it again, ask me anytime and I’ll repeat it. I wouldn’t be a good boyfriend if I didn’t cheer up my girlfriend when she needs it, right?”

Instead of answering my question, Sunset pulled herself completely on the couch and lay on her stomach, so her head came up to my shoulder. I was about to ask why she did it till I looked closer at her facial expression.

The smile on her face wasn’t one of her usual ones. She was also blushing. Her turquoise eyes, one was slightly closed and the eyeshadow on its eyelid more noticeable, screamed two words. And if that wasn’t enough, she rested her hoof on one of my hands, which I already had on the couch beside me.

My own cheeks warmed up and butterflies filled my stomach.

At first, I wanted to wait and see what Sunset would do. But I had second thoughts. She beat me to the punch when she asked me out, so my pride as a male screamed to be the one to make the first move this time. It also felt like she was waiting for me to do it. Once she batted her eyelids, that clinched it!

I leaned down to her face, wrapped my arm around her neck, and kissed her. As I did, she wrapped a foreleg around my back. Part of me still thought it might feel weird to kiss a mare, even though she was Sunset Shimmer. Let’s just say a weird day gave me another reason to think it would feel weird.

But it didn’t.

It. Felt. Amazing!

The softness of her lips sent a wave of joy and warmth through my whole body. I truly thought her eyes sparkled, or shimmered, before they closed as our kiss continued. We kept our lip-lock for five seconds before we broke it up.

I was speechless. This felt too good to be true!

Sunset broke the silence and admitted, “To be honest, I wanted to make the first move. But I thought you might want to do it this time since I did when I asked you out.”

And she thought right.

The mood was tempered when faint giggling came from outside one of the library doors. I knew I should’ve checked those doors in case the “Nosey Eight” or “Super-Nosey Three” were at it again!

I groaned and facepalmed. “Just one second.”

I crept to the door where the giggling came from, opened it, and three figures hit the floor.

This wasn’t as amusing as it was last time and I shook my head. “Tsk, tsk, tsk. Don’t you three know when to quit?”

Spike pointed at Starlight. “For the record, it was Starlight’s idea, Eric.”

“Don’t listen to Spike. He wanted to do it too!”

“And I tried to talk both of them out of it,” The Princess of Nosiness said.

“Yeaaaah. It was amusing at first, but it’s starting to get annoying. Can Sunset and I have some privacy?”

Twilight nodded her head as she answered, “Sure, sure, and we’ll leave now. Starlight, Spike, let’s go.”

The three left, but after running down the hall about seven feet, Spike turned around and said, “Way to go, loverboy.”

I could feel my cheeks warming from embarrassment. “Spike!”

“Okay, okay! I’m going!”

Once those three were out of sight, I closed the door and turned back to a giggling Sunset.

“I take it that it’s not as funny to you this time?”

“I guess not. Lost its charm I guess. But now that I think of it, it’s getting late. When do you need to go back through the portal?”

“Oh, yeah, I lost track of time. I guess it’s about time for me to go back.”

“Well, since I can’t walk you to your door, I’ll at least walk you to the portal.”

But, instead of hopping off the couch, Sunset made circles with a hoof and blushed again. I was pretty sure I knew what she wanted to ask, but nerves made me hesitate.

Do I dare ask her? I mean, we’re boyfriend and girlfriend now, but sleeping in the same bed after the first date? Is it too soon?

After my little shyness moment, I shook my head. I was going to take a chance. “Or...you can spend the night here in the castle and in m-my room, if you want.”

Sunset’s eyes lit up and she grinned, so I guessed right! Yet her smile flipped into a nervous frown. “Wait, do you think Princess Twilight would mind?”

“I doubt it, and she owes us from not warning me about the prices of Hay & Shake. So, you want to?”

“Sure!”

Neither of us was sleepy yet, so we talked for a while longer. Once we started yawning, I changed into some pajamas in the castle’s bathroom. Then, while finally holding one of Sunset’s hooves, we headed to my room. I wanted to at least let Twilight know Sunset was spending the night, but she was already asleep in her room. Starlight and Spike were in dream land too. The "counterspell" that keeps me at my real size would be active for another day, so I didn't have to have Twilight or Starlight "refresh" it.


After we walked into my room, I let go of Sunset’s hoof and she complimented, "Nice room, Eric. Is that your baseball bat in the corner?"

"Yep, and thanks. But you’re not nervous about us sharing my bed, are you? You can sleep in a separate bedroom if you want.”

“No, we can sleep in your bed. Unless you’re nervous.”

I was a little nervous. I never shared a bed with a female that wasn’t my mom before, and that was years ago. And it was definitely the first time with a mare! But I felt excited at the same time, so I answered, “No, I’m not. It’s not like we’re going to...do anything.”

“All right, then let’s go to bed.”

We crawled into my bed and under the covers. Sunset lay closer to me than I thought she would, and even nuzzled my chest and kept her head there, looking so cute. Heh, guess this pony was in the mood to cuddle! It was a good thing Sunset didn’t try to nuzzle my neck, or her horn might’ve poked one of my eyes. That wouldn’t be fun! With a big ‘ol smile, I wrapped an arm around her, and my nose picked up the aroma of cherries coming from her mane. Her coat tickled somewhat, but felt great as I held her.

With my new girlfriend with me, I was going to sleep gooooood tonight!

But thinking about something that happened earlier, my lips curled into more of a smirk. I thought of not a good idea, but a delicious idea, and I asked Sunset if she wanted to try what I cooked up. And she did.

And, no, we’re not doing “that”. Let’s just say I was going to get some payback.

Author's Note:

Nothing like a great first date, but what did Eric mean by "payback". Will it be successful?

And what will Twilight and Starlight think about Eric and Sunset sleeping in the same bed already?!