Cadance glanced up curiously from her menu at Twilight. "How so?" Her beautiful purple eyes peered deep into Twilight's soul, the tranquillity in them putting her at ease despite the situation.
Twilight took a moment to double-check the soundproofing spell before continuing. "This is supposed to be our—" She hesitated, stumbling over the next words, still unable to really accept that it was happening. "—Our first date, right?"
That got a small giggle from Cadance, a lovely, pretty little sound like the tinkling of bells. "Yes, Twilight. I asked you out earlier today and you said yes, and I'm pretty sure we're not dreaming. If we are, then I don't want to wake up yet."
"Me neither," Twilight agreed. "But what I meant is that, like, a first date is, traditionally, an opportunity for two ponies to get to know one another better. In older times, when matchmaking was more common, it would be a chance for both parties to meet for the first time and introduce themselves. Even as dating conventions evolved, the first date is still meant to be a time for discovery, for a couple to learn things about one another that a casual acquaintanceship might not provide."
She paused, and gestured towards Cadance and then herself. "But we're us. We've known each other for longer than most ponies will live, and we've shared more information and experiences together than most romantic couples ever will."
Cadance took a sip from her glass of wine. "Well, the same was true with you and the girls, right?"
"We never really had what you could call a 'first' date," Twilight replied, letting her mind drift back to simpler times. "Our relationship just slowly evolved over time from friendship to romance, so gradually that we never really noticed it until we were all dating without any sudden transition into that state."
There was a ripple in their bubble of privacy as the waiter walked into the soundproofing spell and placed down a salad in front of each of them before refilling their wine glasses.
After they thanked him and he left them alone once again, Twilight shrugged helplessly. "It's just, I'm not sure what to do here, now. It's like we've inverted the usual sequence of events. We got really close to each other, and now we're on our first date."
Cadance glanced around the room, and Twilight followed her gaze as she surveyed the other patrons at Chez Bouche. Most of them were trying very hard not to stare at the pair of princesses in their midst, though Twilight could imagine that they were going to be the subject of most of their conversations anyway. It was a sober reminder that she couldn't be physically affectionate with her new date, not unless they wanted their courtship to become public knowledge.
As far as everypony else in the room was concerned, they were just two friends and heads-of-state having a friendly dinner together.
Then, Cadance returned her attention to Twilight. "I don't believe there's such a thing as a normal couple, and so trying to find some sort of usual sequence of events for romance isn't going to get you anywhere. Especially given who we are, we aren't ever going to be able to live normal lives or have normal relationships, so why bother? We can make a first date whatever we want it to be."
"That sounds like a good way to induce choice paralysis," Twilight quipped, trying to hide her very real anxiety behind her dry tone.
Now it was Cadance's turn to shrug. "If nothing else, I enjoy spending time with you, Twilight. We can just treat this like any other dinner together, but with a slightly different set of possible conversational topics."
Twilight took a moment to consider that. "I suppose one possible purpose for a first date would be to experiment with possible romantic relationship dynamics, in an exploratory fashion. Which is technically one of the standard purposes, anyways."
"There we go." Cadance raised up her glass. "To exploring the possibility space of our relationship."
A smile grew on Twilight's lips as she raised up her glass in turn. "To the unending search for happiness."
Discord arrived at Chez Bouche at exactly seven o'clock sharp.
Twilight had to admit, of all the times she had expected to see him walking down the purple carpet towards her, she hadn't foreseen him showing up when he'd said he would.
"If I expected the unexpected, then the expected becomes the unexpected," she murmured as her date drew closer, a smile twitching at her lips. "But then, should I also be expecting the expected, then?"
"Hmm, sounds like that might cause a paradox," Discord said, his body parts detaching and then reassembling themselves into two Discords.
Twilight shook her head at his antics. "Not in this case," she said. "I'd simply have found a stable equilibrium by maximizing the entropy of my predictions."
The two Discords merged back into one. "Ah, but that requires you to know everything I could do." He snapped his claws, and a bouquet of glowing flowers appeared in them. "For you. It's a collection of plants that evolved in a parallel universe where darkness carries energy and light is the absence of darkness particles."
"Thank you." Twilight took a moment to admire the otherworldly bloom before casting a spell to teleport it into a containment chamber in her lab for further study. "You really do know the way to a mare's heart."
"I know how much you enjoy studying the exotic." Discord struck a pose as a wide array of cultural accessories decorated his body for a moment before dissolving into nothingness.
Twilight giggled, then blushed as she realized her eyes were lingering on him a little longer than would be considered friendly. "Alright, I already got them to reserve the VIP dining room for us."
Discord raised an eyebrow at that. "I thought the point was to pony watch? Dinner and show, you know?"
A smirk played at Twilight's lips. "Don't worry. We'll get our show." Channelling every bit of confidence that her prior romantic experiences had given her, Twilight strutted into the restaurant, shooting a playful wink at Discord, who followed along in what seemed like a smitten daze.
It was heady, having this effect on somepony. Cadance had never really been the lovestruck type, and Twilight was already enjoying this feeling of mutual infatuation. That joy put a spring in her step as she made her way through the restaurant.
As usual, all eyes were on her and her companion, but Twilight paid them little mind for now. Instead, she pushed open the door to the private dining room, motioning for Discord to enter.
Once they were inside the nondescript dining room, Twilight floated the chair out for herself to sit on, then watched as Discord moulded the other chair into a more suitable shape for himself, then proceeded to wear it on his head like a hat as he sat down.
"So, as much as I'd love spending the evening chatting, I do believe you promised a show, Princess Sparkle," Discord said.
"I did." Twilight's horn lit up, and the curtain on her right raised up, revealing a window that showed the other guests enjoying their meals.
Discord peered at the glass suspiciously. "There weren't any windows on the walls when we came in."
"One-way mirror enchantment," Twilight replied. "It looks like a wall from the outside, but we can still see everypony from the inside. I figured that as much as it's fun to laugh at the stuffy ponies here, we'd probably still want some privacy for when we decide to get to know each other a little more..." she paused, dropping her voice lower and letting her gaze smoulder for a moment. "...intimately."
Discord gulped. "Well, I can't argue with your logic." He stuck his tongue out. "Oh, that was rather unpleasant to say."
Twilight laughed. "Don't worry, we don't have to do things sensibly or logically here. This isn't exactly going to be a normal first date, so we can break the rules a little." She trotted over to him and leaned in. "Like, for example, saving the good night kiss for the end."
Their lips met, and Twilight let the feelings in her heart bloom just a little bit more as she settled herself in for a delightful evening.
"Speaking of sequences of events, I have a confession to make," Cadance said as they were eating the main course. Her knife cut through the mushroom steak, and she brought a small piece of it up to her mouth for a dainty bite.
"Oh?" Twilight's head tilted curiously, her own fork floating in the air as she waited for Cadance to finish her thought.
"A few years ago, you theorized that all alicorns had the spark of Prophecy in their souls," Cadance explained, setting down her cutlery. "I told you that I could see the history of love, but not its future."
"I remember that conversation." It had been a lot of fun, debating magical theory with Cadance that night. "We concluded that we might eventually start getting visions of the future like Celestia and Luna did, but only related to our dominion."
"Well, our predictions finally came true." The sudden seriousness in Cadance's voice captured Twilight's attention, making it impossible to look away. "I had a vision a few days ago, involving you."
"Oh." Twilight wasn't really sure how to process her feelings about that. If Cadance had only asked her out because Fate had told her to...
"You were sitting here, in this restaurant, with someone, and having a great time," Cadance continued, ignoring Twilight's interjection. "I wasn't sure who you were with, but I knew it wasn't me."
"Oh." Okay, she really needed to figure out a more verbose answer, but Twilight was far too overwhelmed to do more than passively listen to Cadance's confession.
"The vision scared me." The vulnerability in Cadance's voice tugged at Twilight's heartstrings. "That was when I realized I had feelings for you, and I really, really didn't want to lose you to someone else."
"So... you changed my fate, then?" Twilight mulled on that statement to avoid thinking of the larger implications. "Is that even possible? Prophecies aren't very well-studied, and the literature hasn't found a way to circumvent them, but if we consider that our visions use the anima of an alicorn as a base—"
"I don't know," Cadance interjected before Twilight could fully dive into the thaumics of the problem. "But I don't think love is so easily defeated. One day, you'll meet this mysterious lover, and have a wonderful date here, and then you can bring them home to meet your other partner." They both blushed at that. "I just made sure to interject myself into the narrative."
"Okay, that makes sense." It calmed Twilight knowing that she hadn't lost another chance at love, but still... "But if love can really be prophesied like that, does that mean we don't have any choices in who we love?"
Cadance shook her head. "I don't believe that for a moment. I think prophecy is about the decisions that we will choose to make, rather than forcing the decisions themselves. A stable time loop doesn't discount the notion of free will."
Twilight nodded. "I guess so." She carefully cut another slice of her mushroom steak, wanting to look properly polite and refined. All eyes were still on them, and she hated that. "If I'm going to be having another date here, I should look into asking them to build a private dining room so that we can have a little bit more privacy."
"It'll be useful if we come back here too." The mention from Cadance of a possibility of another date sent thrills down Twilight's spine, even if part of her had known that it was a likely outcome. "Though, there's something to be said for not feeling completely isolated. Maybe we should consider some kind of one-way mirror for the walls?"
"That could be fun." Let Fate play the games she wished. Twilight was going to use any information she received to her maximum advantage.
"You know, I wasn't sure if I wanted to say this, but honesty and openness are important bases for any relationship."
Discord glanced up from the menu, shooting a quizzical glance at Twilight. "Oh, do you have some deep dark secret to confess?"
"Not exactly," Twilight said, feeling oddly nervous about this. "I didn't realize it until you teleported me to this exact restaurant, but when I had my first date with Cadance here, she mentioned that this was... prophesied."
"Prophesied, you say?" With a snap of his claws, a crystal ball appeared in front of Discord, showing images of a weather forecast.
"Yes." Hesitation locked down Twilight's voice for a moment before she forced herself to press on. "Cadance can sometimes see visions of the future if they relate to love, and she saw that I would be going on a first date here with someone else at some point in the future. I guess this is what she saw." She paused, fixing her gaze on Discord to see what his reaction would be.
"Well, did she see how absolutely outrageous these prices are?" Discord flipped the menu around so Twilight could see it. "I don't even use currency and even I think that fifty bits for a bunch of plants I can find lying around is a ripoff!"
There was a moment of silence as Twilight simply stared at Discord. "You aren't mad?" she asked, head tilting in confusion.
"The only ponies who come here have too much money for their own good, anyways," Discord replied. "I don't really care if they're being separated from their not-hard-earned bits."
"I meant about the prophecy," Twilight said, exasperated. "Aren't you mad at having your actions predicted by Fate, since you're a being of Chaos and all that?"
To her surprise, Discord laughed at that, a deep, booming sound that she might have found sinister once upon a time, but now was warm and comforting to her. "Oh, Twilight, you still have much to learn, young grasshopper." A ridiculous beard materialized on his face. "Prophecies are a delightful expression of my domain."
"They are?"
The beard disappeared. "But of course!" Discord grinned. "Knowledge of a prophecy affects our actions in the present, which tends to lead to the prophesied event. It's an inversion of the most fundamental principle of physics and harmony, which is that effect always has to follow cause! When you throw prophecies into the mix, your decision can have effects that reach backwards in time."
He summoned a bow and an arrow with a clock at its tip. "I can't think of anything more chaotic than to reverse the very flow of time itself." He drew the bow and fired the arrow, which flew backwards, fletching-first, into the wall, before exploding in a puff of red smoke to reveal a chicken that hatched into an egg. "Oops, seems I've gotten my metaphors mixed up."
"I guess I never thought of it that way," Twilight murmured. "Thanks, Discord."
"Always happy to broaden your horizons." With another snap, Discord's various summons vanished, and he picked up the menu again. His jaw dropped onto the table. "A hundred bits for what?"
"I really enjoyed myself," Twilight said as she picked up the napkin and daintily wiped her mouth.
"I had a wonderful time as well," Cadance replied. "Thank you."
"Should we ask for the check?" The advantage of having everypony looking at them was that she knew she wouldn't have to wait long to attract a waiter's attention.
Cadance snorted. "As if they'll let us pay it."
"It's still polite," Twilight replied. "It's important for us to set a good example."
"Fair enough." Cadance raised her hoof and made a signing motion in the air. A moment later, the bill was placed on the table by the maître d'.
Another snort from Cadance after he left them alone in their bubble once again. "Yup, paid in full already."
Twilight shrugged. "That's just how the game is played here." She lit up her horn and summoned up a stack of bits from her private treasury, then left it on the tray as a "tip." "That should cover it."
Cadance sighed. "Don't you ever get tired of playing by all these secret rules?"
"All the time," Twilight admitted. "I really want to just reach over and hug you, or kiss you, or do any of the things that couples do, but we all have our roles to follow. It's important to keep things predictable and ordered as best we can, for the good of Equestria."
"There's something to be said for shaking things up, though," Cadance rebutted. "And love is many things, but it shouldn't ever be predictable. Sometimes, you have to lose yourself in the heat of the moment and see what kind of new opportunities unfold for you." Without warning, she stood up.
Instinctively, Twilight did the same. "What—"
Her words were cut off as, in the blink of an eye, her date crossed the distance between them and swept her up in her hooves. "I want you so much, Twilight," Cadance whispered, leaning down. "I need you."
Shock immediately gave way to panic as Twilight's eyes widened. "Cadance!" she hissed. "They can see us!" She didn't dare look around to see how the other patrons were reacting to Cadance's impropriety.
"So what?" Cadance replied. "I don't care about them. I care about you, Twilight. Life is full of choices, and we don't have to let fate or other people decide what we do. Listen to your heart."
It was honestly hard not to do as Cadance said, considering how loudly said organ was hammering within Twilight's chest. Part of her wanted to glance around, to evaluate the reactions of the ponies around her and make a calculated decision about the risk of doing what she so desperately wanted to do.
But Cadance was right. Love was about more than logic and reason and social convention. It was about listening to what mattered most. She leaned in and let her lips press against her date's.
The soundproofing spell shattered as passion overwhelmed Twilight's senses, and she dimly heard the sound of applause as she gave herself fully to this mare who held so much love in her heart.
"Rarity would have had a fit if she were here to see that," Twilight said, snickering as she pointed to a stallion with a top hat decorated with far too many gems.
Discord winced. "I'm a Spirit of Chaos and even I think that's a bit much. Honestly, the state of fashion these days."
Twilight refrained from commenting on the fact that he was currently dressed up in a retro outfit that hadn't been in vogue for over four decades. "So, what happens now?" she asked.
"Hmm?" Discord glanced at her curiously, but before he could say more, the door to the dining room opened to reveal the waiter carrying their meals on a tray. They thanked him before returning to their conversation.
"Well, our dinners are here now," Twilight explained, "and so far, everything's gone according to plan. We had a nice chat, we made fun of the prices and the stuffy ponies here, it's all following the schedule."
"Isn't what you wanted?" Discord asked, raising an eyebrow. "I wanted to make this happy night for you."
"Yes, but it's not you," Twilight replied. "You've been a perfect gentledraconequus this whole night, and you're never a perfect anything. Perfection is your antithesis." She trotted over to him, thanking Cadance for giving her the confidence she needed for this, and lifted his chin up with a hoof. "I want to go on a date with you, Discord."
Discord's eyes widened in realization, and then he smirked. "Your wish is my command, princess."
He raised up his claw, and snapped.
The walls around them fell away, leaving them and their dinner table floating in a void surrounded by portals of all shapes, sizes, and orientations. "The restaurant was fun," Discord said conversationally, "but a little too symmetric for my taste." His smirk widened. "How would you like to enjoy your meal in a universe where distance is a function of order of operation?"
Twilight's heart skipped a beat, and she thrust herself forward to lock her lips with Discord in a passionate kiss, letting the fire in her heart consume them both. "Let's go," she said breathily.
All but one of the portals faded away, and as they drifted over towards it, Twilight let a contented smile rest on her expression. Discord was very different from Cadance, and dating him would be a whole other experience, but she wouldn't have it any other way.
Twilight had made her choices, and she was going to enjoy every moment of the consequences of them.
