Dating isn't just for mortals...

With it's busy town atmosphere, and daily flashmobs, Friday evening soon came round in Ponyville. Fluttershy, Discord and Twilight Sparkle were walking towards the town hall for a final run through for the date the following day. As they turned the corner to see the large building for the first time, Discord stopped in shock at the sight of the town hall, having not seen it for a few days.

The building itself had been recently renovated after years of neglect. Whilst Applejack may have not won bits at the Equestria rodeo, with Ponyville winning the Equestria Games the town used the prize money to finally repair the building to its previous glory. But on top of this, ponies had obviously put in a lot of effort in preparation for his date. All the support pillars around the edge of the building were adored with ribbons and bows in various pastel shades - it wasn’t brash and bold like decorations Pinkie Pie would put up, but subtle and classy with a clear hint towards Canterlot culture, clearly Rarity’s work.

The thing that really stood out was some of the new permanent adornments to the building. Whereas previously the woodwork was all plain, along the first and second level balconies new carvings had been made into the edges. And in the middle of each swirl was a small, glittering gem.

Discord couldn't believe how much the place had been transformed, "It looks spectacular" the Draconequus gasped “Are those real?” he gestured towards the gems.

Twilight nodded “Yes, Spike decided the town hall needed something special, for not only is it going to be the place of your date, but it is the centre of a Princesses demesne...even if I tell him I don’t own the town!” the alicorn giggled at the end.

“Spike did this?” Discord replied.

“Yes, he had built up a bit of a hoard with gifts given to him by the crystal empire. But he decided having a hoard was too much of risk...” Twilight wiped a small tear from her eye as she spoke “...so gave them over to beautify the town. It wasn’t even Rarity’s idea!”

Discord looked over to the alicorn, and could see how her eyes were filled with pride at what her charge had done, and Discord suddenly felt a little pang in his heart Even a baby dragon like Spike has done more selfless acts than me...Celestia deserves better!

“What if somepony steals them?” Fluttershy asked timidly.

“If somepony steals the ultimate gift of kindness from my son, they are going to find themselves on the receiving end of a Powerful Princess of Magic, an angry dragon and an enraged fashionista…”

“An enraged fashionista...you mean Rarity?” Fluttershy replied, with just a knowing smirk returned by Twilight.

“Wow, thouse two have really outdone themselves!” Discord spoke with a hint of emotion in his voice.

“Wait till you see the inside” Twilight smiled at him.

Discord stood in the doorway frozen like he had been turned into stone by the elements of harmony again. The other ponies just ignored him as he took in the sight of the changed interior.

The place was always quite nice architecturally, with lots of balconies and soft furnishing etc, but the wood was always kept bare and natural. Whilst for a barn that was practical, it was a little underwhelming for a town hall, even for an Earth pony town. But the rustic interior had gone a drastic makeover.

Every wall had been painted neutral shades, with complimentary colours for each balcony. And whole new tapestries were hanging up, and like outside every pillar and baluster was adored with ribbon and bows. The town hall now looked like it was fit for Canterlot, or a Princess. But it still had a more homely feel than the restaurants in Canterlot, or the rooms of any of the three castles in Equestria.

Fluttershy came over and guided the stunned Discord over to the towns resident Princess who had gathered some of her friends around her, whilst Spike was busy dealing with a delivery of crockery that had just arrived. The bookworm pulled a list out from her saddlebag and cleared her throat “Okay, lets just run through this checklist. Item one - Decorations.”

Twilight looked around the room “Big Check! Straight onto Item two - Music”, spotting the piano set up on the stage.

“Spike will be at the piano for much of the night.” Rarity replied on the whelps behalf “And Lyra Heartstrings offered to play throughout the evening. We also hopefully have Octavia coming down from Canterlot to accompany them both...it’s been a while since again she and Lyra were at music school together and she jumped at the chance of a reunion performance.”

“Sounds like its all under control?” Twilight asked, receiving a nod of confirmation from her unicorn friend. “Okay, item three - Food”

“Well thats me in the kitchen, Sugarcube” Applejack spoke up “Along with a few other ponies around town to assist as Rôtisseur, Saucier and all those other fancy words for cooks. Rarity of course helped give a touch of refinement -” Applejack spoke in her Applejewel voice - “to the menu”. Noticing her friend scowl slightly, the farmer winked to the fashionista to show she was just kidding.

“And I guess your doing the desserts?” Twilight turned to Pinkie Pie.

“Nope, I’m busy, Bon Bon’s being the plasterer!"

"I think you mean pâtissier, darling”

“Bon Bon’s doing desserts?” Twilight replied with a little shock.

Fluttershy giggled a little “Yeah, for some reason her evening became free when Lyra volunteered to play.”

The mares just gave each other little looks. “Thats nice for them!” Twilight smiled as she spoke. “So, thats food dealt with. Item four - Staff”

“Well, I’ll be the head server on the night. And you volunteered to be maître'd, or should that be princesse'd” Rarity giggled.

Twilight nodded “Yep, I think I’ll be the only person willing to make Celestia wait if she arrived before her booked time, being so eager an all!” she added with a wink towards Discord.

“Great, and I have a few of the most co-ordinated ponies around town volunteer to help serve.” Rarity added “Berry Punch is going to be the bartender, and has created a rather … interesting … drinks menu!”

“Excellent!” Twilight clopped her hooves slightly. “Last item - Guests”

“Guests?” Discord replied.

“Yes silly, we’re not just running the restaurant for you.” Pinkie Pie booped the draconequus on the nose “And besides, think of the pressure if it’s just you two in a big massive room alone, all eyes looking at you, judging the chemistry, or lack of, between the countries elite leaders!”

“Wow, I hadn’t thought of that” Discord mused.

“That's why you have your wing-whelp in Spike,” Rarity replied with a smile “he’d planned it all!”

Twilight levitated up a blank scroll “Okay, so who needs to go on the list?”

Rarity listed off a few names of couples that she had invited along, Twilight’s analytical mind noticing that they were all mixed between the different pony races, which would be good for the two mixed race creatures. Once a hooffull of couples were on the list, Twilight turned to the others “Anypony else?”

“Well, I’ll be foal sitting for the Cakes, hence I can't be in the kitchen, so Mr and Mrs Cake can have a date night.”

Twilight added them to the list “That'll be nice touch to have an older couple in the room as well...well, younger than you and the princess..." She motioned to Discord "....but still!”

“Yeah, and they managed to get a few other established couples to come…” and Pinkie listed off a few more.

Twilight made a note of them all but turned on the last names “Wait, aren't they Scootaloo’s parents? With Applejack and Rarity here, who’s keeping the.." Twilight Gulped "...terrible trio occupied?”

Fluttershy shuffled on her hooves nervously “I’m foal sitting the cutie mark crusaders. I won't have any trouble given the last time and that cockatrice!”

“So, is that it?” Twilight asked, to be met with a shake of the head by Rarity.

“We also have some non romantic groups coming. Rainbow Dash is…” Rarity rolled her eyes a little “Hanging out with a few work colleagues over a civilised dinner.”

“Thats unusual of her...good for her to go for a meal and spend time with the weather team” Twilight beamed.

“It’s nothing to do with them really, she just wants me waiting on her!”

“Really Rarity, I’m sure she’s got better reasons to spend time with her colleagues than you!”

“No, she said it to my face.” Rarity deadpanned back.

Fluttershy nodded “I was there...she did!”

Twilight made a note of that group, and one other that had booked, and checked the list to the number of tables just to make sure. “Okay, we’re all set then and ready for tomorrow!”

Discord looked over the confident ponies surrounding him You may be, but I’m not! he thought to himself.