Extra Extra: Date Night

by Lightning Sprint

Working Hard Or Hardly Working

Classical music sung out from a collection of instruments, the gentle tones dancing their way through the air. Golden chandeliers hung down from the ceiling, light cascading down on the crowd below. Each member of the crowd was dressed in their finest evening attire, stallions adorned in the finest suits and mares decorated in glorious dresses of a multitude of colors and designs. In the centre of the room, many pairs had formed and taken to the large space that had been left bare. Consisting of equally earnest partners, a dance would commence and in the centre would be Front Page. Looking across at the mare opposite him, he gave his best smile as he pulled her in close. He could never forget that gorgeous face, how could he? That glorious figure, her beautiful grey fur, those mysterious and enticing dark red eyes, the list of her astounding features went on. Not to mention that wondrous inky black mane, it's beautiful curls making her eyes pop. The way that her permed mane bounced and swayed just as elegantly as she did as the pair danced together. She's as stunning as ever. But that's an heiress for you.

The two would spin and sway in the space that they had on the ballroom floor, their movments in a consistent synchronicity. Each spin or dance stepped was more passionate than the last. The heiress would drape her front hooves around Front Page's neck and stare lovingly into his eyes.

"You look as radiant as ever tonight, m'lady." Front Page told her, his gaze softened and a lovestruck smile on his face.

"And you my dear stallion are as dapper and as clean-cut as can be." Heiress Peppermint Tea replied.

"Only the best for a mare of as high a standard as yourself." Front Page responded, getting a content giggle from the Heiress.

"I would truly not want to be anywhere else in all of Equestria than right here with you right now." Peppermint Tea cooed, looking into Front Page's eyes.

"I couldn't agree more, m'lady, this is the only place I want to be. Right here, right now." Front Page agreed.

The pair would continue to dance and twirl across the ballroom as the band continued to release their golden tinged symphony out into the air and into the ears of their esteemed guests. The grace and poise radiated through the heiress as she moved, Front Page having to keep himself composed at all times so to not trip over his own hooves just from how beautiful she was. Upon looking at her once again, however, he noticed the heiress' expression and how it had changed.

"However, it appears that we will have to reconvene." Peppermint Tea spoke up.

"Huh? But why? We're having such a good time..... aren't we?" Front Page asked in surprise.

"Yes we are. However, you're going to be late." She told him, making him tilt his head in confusion.

"Late for what?" Front Page asked, truly not understanding what she was getting at.

"Front Page, you're going to be late, come on." The heiress continued, her voice beginning to alter itself from her usual silky and classy tone to a more impatient one.

It was then that Front Page's legs collapsed under him and the room went black, followed by a loud hefty thud as his body hit the ground. Groaning softly, Front Page opened his eyes, his senses coming back to him. In his current groggy state, his vision was still adjusting to the things around him, the pulled open curtains allowing sunlight to shine through directly on him. Taking into account his current location, it would soon be apparent he was laying on the floor of his bedroom. The next senses to hit him would be his senses of sight and sound, as upon turning his head to look up, he would see the face of a mare looking down at him. Her green coat and white mane, accompanied with a red streak was instantly recognisable to him, as was her voice.

"Finally out of bed, come on, get up, you're gonna be late for work!" The mare called down to him, only getting a groan in reply. "Come on slow coach, get up!"

"Mint? What time is it? What are you doing in my room?" Front Page managed to ask, looking up at her.

"I'm coming to wake you up, lazy bones, it's 9:30." The mare, Mint Condition, told him.

Front Page didn't need to be told anything else in order to wake himself up. "9:30?! I start work at 10! You didn't think to come and wake me up sooner?!" He exclaimed, bolting upright into a seated position.

"I've been trying to wake you. Give your big sis some credit." Mint Condition replied, helping him up to his hooves.

"Much appreciated sis, I gotta get ready and head out." Front Page said gratefully. "I'll grab something to eat at work so tell dad not to make me anything."

"Then you better hop to it. I'll tell everypony you'll be rushing out." Mint Condition said, turning around to walk out.

"You're the best sis!" Front Page called after her as she turned the corner and went out of sight.

"I try!" Mint Condition called back.

I gotta buy an alarm clock.

◇◇◇◇◇

Having showered and brushed his mane, Front Page raced out of the door to his home and took to the skies, making his way towards the Manehattan Daily Print as quickly as his wings would carry him. Momentarily glancing at the hoofwatch he was wearing, he got a look at the time. 9:49, I can make it. Maintaining his focus once again, he zipped through the sky, passing over the busy streets and all other ponies going about their daily business. Giving another turn of his hoof, Front got another look at the time. 9:54, come on Front, you got this. Twisting and turning around street corners, Front eventually found himself racing down Mane Street and came to a skidding stop at the top of the stairs to the MDP. Taking a glance up at the large sign, he caught his breath. Pulling the door open with one hoof, he checked his watch on the other as he stepped through. With the door closing behind him and Front officially in the building, he gave a sigh of relief. 9.59, made it with a full minute to spare!

"Perfect record still intact!" Front Page exclaimed as he walked towards the press badge room.

"Cutting it close there aren't we, Pagey?" Free Fall said from his desk with a smirk on his face.

"Still got here on time though, didn't I?" Front Page responded.

Grabbing his press badge and walking over to his desk, taking a quick detour to the coffee machine, Front plopped himself in his seat to begin the day's work. There were only a couple of files on his desk which could easily be worked through in a couple of hours. Looking through them, a smile found its way onto his face. It's only type ups! All he would need to do would be to type up reports that some of his colleagues had done. Moving onto the first report, he briefly skimmed over it before getting his computer ready to go and setting up his templates. It didn't take him long to get into the swing of things and sure enough he was in the zone, typing fluidly and getting every aspect of the report perfectly transferred onto the screen in front of him.

"So Front, what's the scoop?" Free Fall's voice would soon meet his ears a little while later.

"For the report I'm typing?" Front Page asked, briefly looking up from his work to look in Free Fall's direction.

"For the rendezvous after hours, know what I mean?" Free Fall answered.

"Um..." Front Page said, not really getting what he was going for.

"I believe what Free Fall is talking about is your date tonight." Freelance spoke up, looking between the two pegasi.

"Exactly!" Free Fall exclaimed.

"So why didn't you just ask that?" Front Page asked, smirking.

"Cause you... well you wouldn't... oh shut up, just tell us what's going on." Free Fall stammered.

Having been typing for a while, Front Page stopped to give his hooves a rest. Shuffling his chair around in order to see both Free Fall and Freelance, he cleared his throat.

"I know just as much as the two of you do. That little card was all the info I got." He told them.

"Surely you both must have gotten on quite well if an heiress wants you to go back a few days after you meet for the first time." Freelance said, Free Fall giving a nod of agreement.

"Well, I'd like to think that we got on well. It says on the card to meet at 8pm so, if it's alright with her, I'll ask Miss Premium Feature if I can finish earlier then I can-" Front Page began before being cut off.

"Oh you didn't hear?" Free Fall asked.

"Hear what?" Front Page asked in response.

"Miss Feature is shutting the place early today as she's got an event on tonight too. Some kind of important dinner with representatives from other publishing agencies." Free Fall revealed.

"For real? What time is she gonna be closing up?" Front Page asked.

"Around 3pm, I believe." Freelance answered.

With a nod of affirmation, Front Page turned to look at the clock on the wall, which read 11:20. After quickly working out the time difference in his head, he quickly turned back to his workspace and knuckled down to continue his work. In the back of his mind however, the events of what would transpire that night had firmly stapled themselves in his thoughts. Making sure he kept himself focused, Front Page made sure that each report he typed up was written as intended and that were up to the high quality standard that was expected of the MDP.

As the minutes continued to tick by and reports would come and go, Front Page was fully into his rhythm, typing away with an engaged smile on his face. As his fellow workers would come by, on brief breaks from their own work, he'd engage in small talk with them. Although, the main focus of most of the conversations would be if he really was going back to Ponyville to see the heiress he had interviewed once again and each time, without fail, he would give the same enthusiastic 'Sure am.' which always seemed to go down well with whoever was asking. He enjoyed the small talk and got on with pretty much all of his co-workers as a healthy work environment is a productive one but he always made sure to keep himself busy by typing whilst he spoke to make sure he was actually getting something done. Soon enough, he would finish up the first of the files, placing all the documents back inside it and shuffling it to the bottom of the pile of files before cracking on with the next.

"That's one down." He said to himself as he pulled open the file.

His work flow would keep the same pace for the next hour and a half or so, Front making his way through most of the pile that was on his desk. After getting through his latest file and neatly tucking it away, a sound met his ears. The sound was of chairs being shuffled around, coming in his direction, which caught his attention and made him pick his head up from his work and look for the source. It didn't take him too long to find out what caused the sound as his eyes landed on Free Fall, who was shuffling over towards him with a look on his face as though he would ask him something.

"Hey Front, what's your work load looking like?" he asked, leaning in close to look at the files that Front Page had been working through.

"Not that bad actually, I got two or three left and then I should be all good to go, why what's up?" Front Page answered, tilting his head slightly.

"Freelance and I were gonna head out for some grub if you were wanting to come along, give your legs a stretch." Free Fall proposed. At the mention of his name, Freelance picked his head up from his work and looked over at them both, giving a nod of affirmation.

Taking a glance back at the remaining files he had, Front Page pondered the decision for a few moments before his body answered for him. His stomach let out a small but audible gurgle, which in turn made Free Fall chuckle.

"I guess that answers that." Front Page said, bashfully chuckling in return.

Sliding out his chair, Front Page hopped down. Giving his limbs a quick stretch and shaking himself off, he made his way over to his two lunch buddies. Free Fall was the next to stand up with Freelance making sure to finish what he was working on before getting up to accompany the pair. Soon enough, they were up and out of the door headed into town.

◇◇◇◇◇

The trio hadn't gone far from the MDP, having agreed on a small sandwich place that Freelance had been the one to recommend. With no objections, they headed inside and took a seat by the window. Having passed by a newspaper stand sitting by the door as they walked in, Free Fall was unable to stop himself from grabbing a paper.

"They already got it shipped out." He said, a beaming smile on his face as he sat down.

"Your interview with the treasure hunter?" Front Page asked, getting his answer when Free Fall spun the paper around to reveal the front of it, also getting a good look at the title.

Treasure Hunting With A Change

Treasure hunters score big with an extra pair of hooves.

"With a change?" Freelance asked, sitting down beside Front Page, having been ordering their meals.

"An extra pair of hooves?" Front Page piggybacked.

"You're never gonna believe this, I mean... I didn't believe it myself when Mr. Longbow told me. But his treasure hunting group found an ancient temple that was stacked with jewels and diamonds!" Free Fall said, his wide grin never leaving his face.

"What?!" Freelance asked in shock.

"Seriously?!" Front Page once again piggybacked.

"Yeah, but they had to get past all these kinds of traps and stuff. Plus, the whole thing started collapsing when they moved one of the treasures." Free Fall continued.

"Collapsing? Really?" Freelance asked as he adjusted his glasses. "Sounds like something out of a Daring Do book."

"You read Daring Do?" Front Page asked, turning to look at him.

"I'm a big fan of A. K. Yearling's work, yes." Freelance answered.

"Huh, learn somethin' new everyday." Front Page smirked before looking back at Free Fall. "Anyway, did he mention what the treasure was that made the place collapse? Surely it had to be like a golden statue or a giant ruby or something like that right?"

"It was some kind of Scepter, actually." Free Fall answered, getting a surprised look from the pair. "But he said something that even I'm not really sure I believe."

This made Freelance and Front Page look at one another in surprise, also making Front Page's mind begin kicking into gear. If Free Fall doesn't think it's authentic then this has got to be big.

"Go on." Freelance said.

"He said that their group was helped by a chang-"

"Three daffodil salads and some hay fries?" A waitress spoke up, immediately but unintentionally cutting Free Fall off. "Oh, um, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to interrupt you guys."

"Oh no, no trouble at all Velvet." Freelance said, giving a reassuring smile to the unicorn. Smiling back at him, she quickly placed their food on the table before trotting off.

"So who's the lady?" Free Fall asked with a smirk and a double eyebrow raise.

"Don't give me that look, Red Velvet and I have been friends for years." Freelance immediately shot down.

"Dude, get to the point." Front Page said.

"Right, sorry." Free Fall said before looking over his shoulder at the other patrons in the room to make sure nobody was eavesdropping and dropping the volume of his voice. "He told me that their group was helped by a changeling."

"There's no way that's true." Freelance said before looking at both Front Page and Free Fall and seeing the looks on their faces. "You don't actually believe that, do you?"

"I don't know what to believe." Free Fall answered.

"But then that means- wait you published that?" Front Page asked in realisation.

Immediately grabbing the paper with a hoof, Front Page turned over the page and began scanning the words, only then finding the part in question when Free Fall pointed it out.

Longbow later explained how their escapade would have not even been possible without help from an unlikely source. "Well, when you're navigating through traps that seem impossible and someone is willing to help you out, you take that help. In this profession, any help is good help, even if it is from a changeling but that's by the by."

"You direct quoted him for it?!" Front Page whisper yelled.

"Well yeah, but then look here." Free Fall defended, pointing a hoof at another quote further down the page.

"Well, all treasure hunters have to add some spice to their accounts or everyone would think that we're just going around and robbing places, wouldn't they?"

A feeling of relief washed over Front Page after reading the quote, only then seeing the way Freelance was looking at him.

"What?" he asked.

"You actually believed it, didn't you?" Freelance asked in response.

"It had me going that's for sure." Front Page answered. Although it sounds like someone trying to cover for a slip up if you ask me.

"Come on, do you really think someone would have actually seen a changeling in a temple? You know those thrill seeking types, always adding little extras to get that little bit more attention." Freelance said.

"Yeah, he's right." Free Fall said, clearing his throat. "Wish I would've noticed that sooner."

"Now let's eat before this gets cold, we need to be back at work soon." Freelance added, shifting his attention to his food.

"Come on fellas, dig in." Free Fall added and sure enough, the trio would tuck into their food.

"Yeah, I'm starving." Front Page said as he got started on his set of hay fries.

The others dug into their food also, a silence stretching out between the three of them as they ate, savouring the taste of their well prepared meal.

"So are you positive there's nothing going on between you and her?" Free Fall then asked, looking up at Freelance, getting a glare in return.

"I'm going to hit you in the face with a fry."

◇◇◇◇◇

The topic had quickly changed whilst they were eating to what they would all be doing that night, Freelance's answer of 'Helping Velvet close up' was met by more teasing from Free Fall. After they had all finished their food, Front Page looked around the room before finding a clock on the wall. 1:15pm. All agreeing to head back, the three stallions paid for their meals and made the short walk back. The Manehattan streets were just as full as they had been when they set off from the MDP. The working day was still in full swing and everypony had somewhere that they had to be, be it inside or out. This was how Manehattan always was, come rain, shine, sleet or snow and those who lived here wouldn't have it any other way. Front Page was walking slightly ahead of Freelance and Free Fall as they talked, not paying their conversation any mind, as there was only one thing that he was thinking about. That one thing, correction, that one mare, was Peppermint Tea. With the time passing by, it was getting closer and closer to the night he'd been waiting all week for.

Pushing open the door to the MDP, Front Page went straight over to his desk. There were several more empty seats than when they had left as others had taken their time to go for lunch too, although some were still there. Others among them had been sitting at their desk to eat lunch, having packed themselves things from home. Getting himself back into work mode, Front Page smashed through the next file on his desk in almost no time at all, cementing his status as a strong and capable worker. He even had to double check the file and the document on the computer screen just to make sure he had done everything correctly. Swinging his gaze back over to the clock on the wall, his eyes landed on it once again. 1:59pm.

"Okay, only about an hour left. If I can work quickly, these last two files will be done in no time." Front Page muttered to himself.

It was then that his eyes would drop down slightly from the clock on the wall to the doorway that a mare had just stepped through, the mare happening to in fact be Premium Feature. With only an hour to go until she closed the place, he assumed that she would be checking in on everyone to see how they were doing before the day would slowly wind down for them. It would seem that it wasn't just him who noticed her, but that it was also the other way around as she would make her way over.

"Front Page, how are we?" She asked with a smile.

"Miss Feature. I'm doing good, how about you?" Front Page answered.

"All good here. Hope your work is coming on well." She followed up, leaning over to look at his files.

"Only a couple more left ma'am." Front Page said, tapping a hoof on the pile of files that he had finished over the course of the day.

"That's good. I'm sorry about not getting the word out to you about closing up early today, I hope it doesn't inconvenience you at all."

"Oh no no, no need to apologise, it's fine. I heard that you're going to an important event tonight. What kind of event will it be? Freelance said something about a dinner but I wanted to hear it from your perspective." Front Page inquired.

"That's right, it will be a dinner and a formal one at that. It's going to be a dinner with various other representatives from other publishing agencies, with several attendees. All I know is that a representative from the Baltimare Tabloid and Las Pegasus Weekly will be there but I'm not too sure of who else will be present, so it will be an experience to say the least." Premium Feature answered, smiling softly.

"Well, I hope you enjoy yourself tonight. Hopefully we'll get to hear all about it when we next see each other." Front Page said, getting a nod in return.

"Of course, I'll make sure to fill everyone in once I'm back." Premium Feature said. "What about you, Front? Any plans for tonight?"

"I've... I've got a date." He stammered, the mental picture of Peppermint Tea coming back to him once again, resulting in him smiling once more.

"Ooooooo, who's the lucky mare? Someone I know?" Premium asked, suddenly going from his boss to a gossiping schoolmare in a few seconds.

"Now, I can't go giving you all the details can I?" Front Page answered, smirking at her.

"You keep your secrets then Mr. Page." Premium Feature said with a giggle. "Look, I won't keep you from your work any longer. You enjoy yourself tonight, okay?"

"Yes ma'am." Front Page nodded. As the two bid farewell to each other, Front Page got back to work on his remaining files.

The remainder of his time at work seemed to go by much faster than the hours that had come before them, which fit Front Page just fine. Eventually, 3PM would roll around and the Manehattan Daily Print would close its doors, with Premium Feature locking the doors and sending all the staff on their way. Front Page would begin his walk home, walking alongside Freelance and Free Fall until the trio would go their separate ways and upon doing so, Front Page would take to the skies and fly the rest of the way home. Now that he was alone, there was only one thing on his mind and one thing only.

It won't be long now m'lady. Tonight it'll just be us.

The thought of spending a night with the Heiress was something he would've never thought possible, but now his dream would actually come to fruition. He had no idea what their night would entail but what he did know would be that it was magnificent no matter what would happen. He could see her face clearly in his head, her gorgeous, oh so gorgeous face. Those mysterious and enticing eyes and her stunning figure. If he wasn't careful, he probably burst from sheer anticipation alone. She was all he could think about for the rest of the flight home and he wasn't complaining. Even when he landed in front of his house and pushed open the front door she was still on his mind. Now he had time to kill before getting ready for a night he'd never forget.