This Isn't One of Your Romance Novels

by OneTrickPon3

Date Night (now with a better ending)

Tonight was the night, or at least that's what you kept telling yourself. Tonight was the night you and Twilight would have your first, and hopefully not only, date. Tonight. Tonight. Tonight. Gah! Why can't I sleep!? You had been tossing and turning in your bed for the better part of...all night. You heard the clock tower in the town square chime five times a little bit ago, and you could just start to see the very edge of the horizon lighten with the oncoming sun. The night was over, and you had not slept a wink.

It wasn't that your bed was uncomfortable, or that there was a lot of noise outside your house during the night. Your own mind was keeping you awake tonight, like it had done many times before. But unlike the previous times, these thoughts did not cause you to leap from your bed and rush to your typewriter in a frenzy of inspiration. No these thoughts, thoughts of your date with Twilight, just sort of gently prodded the back of your mind, each little nudge springing forth a thousand different 'what if' questions.

Oddly enough, even though you had an entire night of no sleep, you couldn't have felt more awake. Perhaps you were just used to it, or maybe it was the slow buildup of adrenaline that kept you going. Either way, you were up and you most definitely were not going to be able to sleep.

Or so you thought.

It was now five o'clock in the afternoon when you rolled out of bed. You weren't sure how, but sometime during the mid morning you settled back down in bed and never got back up. You don't even remember your head hitting the pillow. All that you knew now was that you had to meet Twilight in two hours and you had no clue where the heck you were supposed to go for this picnic. Panic shot through you as you raced about your home, rushing to get ready. The rushing part came to an abrupt stop when you nearly tripped and landed face first into the shower. Dying right before a date was probably not a good option.

You spent the better part of an hour cleaning and grooming yourself, which you didn't even think was possible. Usually your morning routine was to roll out of bed, shower, shake your mane dry and you were done. Tonight your shower included two to three washes of your coat and mane, you actually bothered to use conditioner this time, and then about five minutes was spent banging your head against the shower stall.

The next half hour was spent in front of your bathroom mirror, comb and brush in hoof as you tried to get your mane to cooperate with you for once in its life. No matter how much you brushed, combed, and begged it though, it refused to stay exactly how you wanted. And that was just the mane on your head, your tail kept splitting at the very end, causing it to look like a broom rather than the tail of a pony.

Despite all your frustrations and your body refusing to cooperate for the longest time, you finally accepted how you were going to look for the night. You also hated how silly you were acting. You were grooming yourself as if you were about to court the Princess herself. Ok, so Twilight was her personal student, that technically made her a member of the court didn't it? And you always wanted to look good not only for royalty, but royal officials right? You kept trying to justify your suddenly vain nature until you heard the clock in town square chime.

It was time to go meet Twilight. You were ready. You could do this! You're Arthur Novella, author pony extraordinaire! You could conquer anything! If it involved quill and ink, but dating, sweet Celestia you were hopeless.

The entire walk to the library your mind was in a constant state of back and forth, going from confidence boost to self doubt seemingly with every other step. At this rate it was a coin toss whether it was going to be Confident Arthur or Scared-to-Death Arthur that knocked on the door.

Well, now was the time to find out. The door was right in front of you, and both confident and scared to death you were nowhere to be seen. So it was just...you. It was now or never, so you knocked on the door to the library.

The door was enveloped in the familiar lavender glow of Twilight's magic before swinging open. Twilight stood on the other side smiling at you, and you had to strain to keep your jaw from dropping. She looked beautiful, but it was a natural beauty. It didn't seem like she planned to wear anything special, and she didn't even seem to put extra effort into her appearance. The only accents to her already beautiful appearance was a quill tucked behind her left ear and her saddlebags draped across her back, giving her a studious appearance.

"Oh, hello Arthur," she welcomed you warmly. "You ready for our date?"

You couldn't speak, hear beauty had stolen away your tongue and still hadn't given it back. So you opted to nod slowly instead.

"Great," she replied with a smile. Stepping through the door, she turned around and called to the library; "Spiiiiiike, I'm going out for a while. Watch the library and please don't fight with Owlicious." Closing the door she turned back to you, who had regained the ability to speak. "So, what's the plan for tonight?" she asked.

"Uhhhh," you stammer. Ok, so you could make noise, but words still couldn't be made. You looked about, the panic from earlier returning in full force. OH CELESTIA! I still don't know where the heck the girls set this affair up! Suddenly you felt a very tiny tug on your tail. Turning around, you were very confused to see a tiny white rabbit standing there with an impatient look on its face.

"Angel Bunny?" Twilight asked, clearly as confused as you were as to why the tiny rabbit was here. "Why are you here?" The little rabbit tapped its foot impatiently and tugged on your tail one more time. It was clear that the creature wanted you to follow it, as it started hopping away from both of you.

"Where do you think he's leading us?" Twilight asked you as you were both following the small creature. Angel had already led you both out of the city, towards Sweet Apple Acres.

"I'm not really sure," you reply honestly. Although you didn't know where you were going, you knew that this little animal was part of what Twilight's friends had planned for tonight. Angel took a sharp turn off the path you were following and proceeded to hop up a nearby hill. You and Twilight followed, still very much curious about where you were being led.

As you crested the hill, you gawked at the sight. It wasn't the spread of food laid out on a checkered tablecloth that was making you gawk, although it did make your mouth water. Instead, it was the scenery that was around you. You and Twilight stood on top of one of the tallest hills around Ponyville, which not only gave you a good view of the town but the countryside around it. It was fairly dark by now, and you could see fireflies winking their lights in the fields below you. Above, the blanket of stars seemed to mimic the insects.

Twilight was as stunned as you were by the scenery, as her eyes were firmly glued to the sky above. When you both finally were able to take your eyes off the magnificent sky, you noticed the small creature that led you here had disappeared. You had to give her friends credit, they really did make everything perfect.

Twilight took her gaze away from the sky to look at you, causing your entire body to lock up. You were way out in uncharted waters now, and there was nopony here to help you. You managed a nervous smile, which caused Twilight to giggle.

"Oh, you don't need to be so nervous," she said lightheartedly. "It's just a date, they're easy. Or at least that's what I've read." Her saddlebags opened up with a glow of magic as she levitated a book out in front of her. The cover read The Egghead's Guide To: Dating. You were not surprised at all.

You decided to sit down as she flipped through the book quickly. After a few minutes she shut the book and placed it back in her saddlebags, taking a seat across from you. Silence stretched out uncomfortably between you two, both of you looking every which way, seeming to avoid eye contact with one another. She tapped her hoof against the ground a couple times.

Oh Celestia, this is a disaster!

After a few minutes of torturous silence, Twilight spoke up. "Arthur," she began, "I want you to be honest with me here. Did you set this up, or was it my friends?"

Well, this date is off to a good start.

"Uh," you stammered. You could lie, obviously, say that it was all your idea and you just got their help. But where would lying get you? It may get you a second date, or even her affections, but at what cost? You weren't a liar, you were always raised to be honest. "To be honest Twilight," you said after a few seconds silence, rubbing the back of your neck with your hoof. "Your friends thought of this whole idea. They said they would take care of the date part, but it was up to me to make you happy." You looked down at the ground, not wanting to meet her gaze.

You felt a hoof tap your shoulder. Looking up you saw a grinning Twilight who had taken a seat next to you. "Well, he's honest. I knew you were a good colt Arthur."

"...say what?" you respond.

"The girls told me all about their preparations for the date, and their little meeting with you," she responded. "They had to drag me away from this book," she said as she brought her How to Guide back out to show, "to tell me that you can't learn everything there is from a book. Frankly, I find that a little ridiculous, but they had a point. I've liked you for a while Arthur," she said. That made you blush so hard you were surprised you didn't burst into flame. "But I realized that if I wanted to make this work, I had to make sure you were a good pony."

"Oh..." you say softly.

"I've heard all these fillies wanting a 'bad colt' who lived on the edge and didn't care about what other ponies thought about them. I've seen those ponies, and each time they had a mare of their own they never treated them right. They treated them like an object, lied to them, and left them when they got bored. I never dated because I thought all colts were like that because that's what they thought the mares wanted."

You started to feel easier with what she was saying, even though it was quite lengthy.

"I could tell you were different when I started seeing you more and more around the town. You may have thought you were being discreet with your compliments and occasional small gifts, but even I could see you liked me. And I'm the one who just read this dating book twice last night." She chuckled and nuzzled your neck softly, which made your heart jump to your throat. "I guess what I'm trying to say is, I just wanted to make sure I was making the right choice."

Twilight sat there against you for a minute before drawing away.

"Heh, sorry," she said, blushing slightly. "I tend to ramble sometimes, and I kinda caught you off guard a little."

"No..." you say softly. You smile at her. "It's quite alright."

Both of you decided to proceed with the meal, savoring Applejack's country style cooking with each bite. The meal was oddly silent, which made you slightly nervous. It would have been a lot worse if Twilight didn't just say (in a very roundabout way) that she liked you and the kind of pony you were. You felt easier with her now, and when the meal was complete you both sat in the grass facing Ponyville.

"So Arthur," Twilight said.

"Hmm?"

"What's it like to be such an amazing author?" she asked. "I mean, I love reading books no matter what, but I could never really imagine what writing one is like. I mean, I write my friendship reports to the Princess, but that's more like a report. To write something so complex and yet so simple, it must be wonderful." She sighed happily at the thought.

"Heh, you give me too much credit," you respond, causing Twilight to turn her gaze towards you with a confused look. "I'm just a small time author Twilight, it's more of a hobby than anything else. I'm not a published author, or even a remotely famous one. I just write because I want to pass my ideas along, and my stories were the best way to do this."

"But your stories, they're so good. You pace the story very well, and I really like the characters," she said.

"Most of the characters are based off of ponies I know, Twilight. That book I gave you, some of the characters were based off of small parts of you. Your talent with magic, your intelligence, your studiousness. Others were based off your friends, and some were based off me. Write what you know, that's what I always tell myself."

You sigh heavily.

"I've been thinking about stopping really. Nopony ever really reads my stories."

"Well, I like it," she said quietly with a small grin on her face. You looked at her in disbelief. "I think it's amazing that you can create something out of nothing, and you do it well too." She nuzzled your neck again, causing you to blush heavily. "If you can't keep writing for you," she said as she leaned in closer, closing her eyes and resting her head against your neck. "Will you keep writing, for me?"

You looked down at the purple mare next to you. She had opened her eyes and was now looking directly into yours, her look hopeful. You bit your lip, she definitely wasn't going to make saying no easy. But then again, if Twilight, the one mare who's opinion you held in the highest regard, asked you to keep writing, who were you to argue? You couldn't just disappoint your reader could you?

"Sure Twilight," you say after a few seconds. "If for nopony else but you."

Twilight leaned back, her smile widening at your response. Without warning, she leaned in and placed the smallest kiss on your lips, which caught you completely off guard. You actually tipped over because your body locked up so violently, which caused Twilight to giggle as she helped you right yourself.

"Sorry about that," she giggled, "I'll give you more of a warning next time."

You couldn't help but laugh along with her. Tonight was going so much better than you could have ever hoped for.

You and Twilight sat under the stars for you don't know how long. Time had become irrelevant as you and the purple unicorn shared the night sky, both your heads turned upwards. She had nestled up alongside you, causing your heart to race, especially when she not only laid her head against your neck but kept it there as well. Silence had claimed you both as you observed the night, but it was ok. Speaking would just ruin the moment you two were having.

It was after an undisclosed amount of time that you were shaken from your trance-like state by the most adorable sound you had heard all night; Twilight yawning. You couldn't help but yawn as well, either because she just reminded you how tired you actually were or the old pony myth about yawning being contagious was actually true. Either way, you nudged her a little, causing her to look at you through half closed eyes.

"Mmph?" she grumbled incoherently. The cuteness of her tired look was reaching critical levels.

"You look tired," you say quietly. "Let's get you home. It's much later than I thought it was." You began to stand up, Twilight clumsily following your example. With another yawn, she smiled softly at you and began to walk back to the library slowly. You took your place beside her, it only felt right at this point, and you both walked back to her home.

At the doorstep of the library. The doorstep, the most telltale part of a household (next to the bedroom of course) to tell where a relationship stood. You could either get a hug, which meant you were just friends, a kiss, which meant you two were going somewhere. And then there was the invitation for "coffee," which you understood what it meant, but never really understood why that particular phrase was chosen.

Now, as Twilight stood inside her doorstep looking at you with half closed eyes, your mind ran in circles, anxious to see which goodbye you would be met with.

"I had a really nice time tonight Arthur," she said quietly, the small smile she had before still present on her face.

"Yeah, me too," you reply in earnest. Now for the goodbye.

Twilight took a couple steps until she was nose to nose with you, her half lidded gaze taking up the entirety of your vision. Slowly, she closed her eyes. This was it! You closed yours, leaning in painstakingly slowly, the thought of you looking like a complete idiot screaming at you in the back of your mind, but you paid it no heed. The voice was silenced when you felt Twilight's breath on your lips; she hadn't pulled back. A few more seconds, inches, centimeters.

You felt the soft press of Twilight's lips against yours, causing your heart to burst into fireworks and your stomach to flutter wildly. It felt like you were falling. Is that why they called it falling in love? Because it literally felt like you were falling when you kissed the one that you loved? It only made sense to you.

You and Twilight shared this little moment of intimacy for as long as you could, but unfortunately you both had to break the contact to breathe. It seemed you both forgot that your lungs needed air during the entirety of the kiss, because she was panting softly just like you were. It wasn't a passionate kiss, not this early, but it was still a good sign that Twilight shared your feelings.

"That was...amazing," she panted softly, her eyes almost all the way shut. You couldn't speak, but you nodded to let her know you felt the same. Although you wondered if she could see it with her eyes closed so far. She opened her eyes up more, letting another yawn escape from her.

"I guess this is goodnight then," she said. She sounded kind of disappointed at the thought, although you felt the same way, having to leave such a wonderful pony after such an amazing evening. "But I hope we can do this again really soon. Maybe next time you can come over and I can show you my book fort."

Book fort?

While you tried to figure out if "book fort" was literal or code for something else, Twilight sneaked another small kiss onto your cheek, causing you to blush fiercely from the unexpected affection. With that and a small giggle, she retired into the library for the night, shutting the door behind her with the familiar glow of magic. Slowly, you began to walk yourself home.

She really is amazing. I can't believe tonight went so well.

And it could only get better from here, you thought. For all the bumps and snags that you seemed to hit along the way to this magical night, it all came together in a way you never thought possible. Octavia was right, it wasn't easy, but it was all worth it you thought. Then again, it wasn't really supposed to be easy was it? After all,

This isn't one of your romance novels.

Comments

[OneTrickPon3]

It is done. Although you guys really didn't make writing this easy. So many people tracking, I'm afraid I might have disappointed some of you with how this turned out. But thanks to those who followed me this far

Thank you all my lovely readers, believe it or not you keep me going on here. Stay tuned, I have several more works in the wings. Like, comment, enjoy.

Your faithful author,
OneTrickPon3

Edit: now with a 20% less abrupt ending!
Coming soon: epilogue with Octy, so stay tuned.

[CluelessDetective]

AMAZING!!!!!!!!!!

[DashWithRainbows]

A brilliant story!

Can't wait to see your stories in the future.

[Karrakaz]

I liked it, though with the buildup of the first two chapters I expected it to be a longer story...

Oh well, nice job none the less.

[awesomekik]

BRILLIANT! Maybe you should expand on the date, but then again, read the title. Epilogue with Octavia... Any cloppy jokes? Probably. You have talent. If you were to take the time you could write on EqD!

[OneTrickPon3]

251917
Thank you for your compliment, usually my work is met with trolling outside this site
I know the date ended kind of abrupt, and I really do apologize to fans of the story for it. I wanted to keep it short and sweet, but I realize that it was an odd spot to stop and hopefully I can think of something else to throw in there.
EqD though...a man can dream.

[awesomekik]

252297 Seriously. You have talent. Write other shit and send it in!

[Thespurgin]

I half expect this little thing to have another sequel... but then that could get overly romantic unless you have a decent plotline aside from the romance too.