"One Eggnog Latte and a Pumpkin Spice Latte please. To go," you say to the mare behind the counter. She smiles back at you and nods as you turn to your marefriend.
Princess Cadance looks positively stunning this afternoon. Her hair is done in a new sort of braid that you've never seen before, bound together with her signature blue ribbons. She smiles happily, her eyes locked onto you. One could chide the two of you for being 'gross' in public, but... well. It's been awhile.
Cadance had been absolutely swamped with school and princess lessons. It's been almost two weeks since the two of you have done more than heard each other's voice or seen each other in more than photographs or stray daydreams. Being in seperate schools is truely difficult. And that your family is talking about moving soon... well.
Maybe that's not worth dwelling on right now.
The mare comes back with two coffees, handing Cadance the Pumpkin Spice Latte and you the Eggnog.
"Have a good day!" she says happily before returning back to the line. You and Cadance turn to leave the shop before you say anything incriminating.
"Why do they always give you my Pumpkin Spice Latte," you ask, feeling somewhat offended.
"Something about mares and Pumpkin Spice. Don't take it to heart, baby," Cadance says happily, exchanging your cups with a quick bout of magic. The air outside nips at your skin, forcing you to wrap your scarf just a bit tighter around your neck.
"God, I've missed you," you say, placing an arm around her back.
"I missed you too," Cadance says, leaning into your embrace as the two of you walk down the side of the Canterlot street. "I swore my classes would never give me a day off."
You feel a warmth flood through your chest at her words, confirming the words you tell yourself when you feel lonely.
"So, I had an idea of what we could do for our date today, if you're interested."
Cadance finishes sipping a drink of her coffee then gleams up with you.
"Honestly? As long as I get to spend time with you, I'm happy. Take me anywhere."
You chuckle to yourself then take your own drink, checking the street posts to ensure you were guiding her in the correct direction.
"Oh? Be careful with that. I could take you to a football game," you chuckle.
"I'll end you," Cadance says. "You know I hate football. Hockey? Completely different."
"Well, maybe once there's some ice down, we can have a Snowy Day date, buuuut I have something different planned for today. How does the Zoo sound?"
At that moment, Cadance exploded. Not in the way that a balloon would explode. That's not this kind of story. No, rather, there was more of an ear-piercing shriek of glee that caused all of the passersby to stare at the two of you.
"I LOVE THE ZOO!"
"I know you love the zoo," you chuckle.
Cadance's pace instantly picked up, following the directions you memorized in your head as if she had walked the same path a million times as a filly. Heck, it was almost as if, for a moment, she's turned back into a filly. And, this is exactly what you hoped for. Not her turning into a filly. That would be weird.
But rather, Cadance never really gets to just let go for awhile. And the best thing you could do is to provide her an outlet to just... be herself. To shake off the shackles of responsibility for awhile.
Soon the zoo gates appear off in the distance, and you can only help but smile as a skip enters the step of the alicorn, clearly excited for the day ahead. You pull out your two tickets and head on inside.
"What should we go see first? The penguins? The bears?"
"CUTTLEFISH!"
"Wait, wha-"
A Cuttlefish is classified as a mollusk, or that's what the sign says. It's hard to describe this animal you're seeing literally the first time. And to your luck, you arrived around feeding time to see these creatures in action.
"That's so metal," you mutter.
"RIGHT?!" Cadance squeals. "They're so cute and awesome and just... watch them!"
The creatures are viewing act almost like a squid, in which their mouth is covered in little tentacles that flutter in the water. Their back could almost be described as being like a manta ray. It's like a teeny-tiny Cthuhlu, but without all the culty madness stuff that ruins your life. You watch as one begins to blend in with a piece of coral behind it as a tiny shrimp flutters in front of it. Then, it shoves out a massive tongue, like the alien from that one movie about aliens. I can't remember the name. The creature grabs it's prey, then pulls it into it's grasp. As it eats it's dinner, the cuttlefish turns all sorts of vivid colors, almost as if in pride of a job well done.
"That's so cool."
The two of you spend moments just pointing out when another is about to lens, or 'dawwing' when a cuttlefish turns black in frustration of missing it's prey. You can't help but feel happy at watching the way she leans up close to the glass, but careful not to tap it.
"What nex-"
"BATS!"
"Wait, bats reall-"
Next thing you know, you're standing in a faux jungle exhibit. The bats fly to and fro over head, searching the ground for the fruit on the ground.
Cadance walks forth, open mouthed as a bat flies up to her, hovers beside her, examining the weird being in their echolocation, then flying away.
"Don't talk too loud," she says happily, maybe more to herself than to you. "Or move too fast."
Sure enough, as you stand still, a bat lands just a foot in front of you, and pauses, examining you. It hops forward a few interested steps. Your heart melts a little, seeing the tiny, furred creature with it's leather wings wonder if you are friend, foe, or food.
It leaps up, and flies right on top of Cadance's wing. You look up to her face, and based on her smile, if Cadance died there and then with that baby bat perched on her wing, she would be a happy alicorn.
Soon enough, the chill in the air overwhelms the animals in the outdoor enclousures, and a stallion speaks over the zoo intercom that it'll be closing soon.
The words fall on the deaf ears of Cadance, who smiles widely and coos gently at a tiger who seems especially interested in her behind his cage. Princesses, man. Is it a law somewhere that animals have to love them?
Then, one of the caretakers come out to the huge kitty and calls for it to come for dinner time.
"Awww... Is the zoo already closing?" Cadance asks.
"Yeah," you say, hearing the disappointment in her voice and reflecting in yours to match. "To be fair, it has been five hours."
Silence.
"Wait, what?"
"Yeah, right?" you say. "The sun is already setting."
She fidgets with her hooves as she looks back to you.
"I just spent all day gushing over the animals. I was like a little filly. I-I. I hope you didn't think I was ignoring you or anything."
You chuckle and kneel in front of her to meet her eye to eye.
"Not at all, babe. I had a wonderful time. And you were absolutely adorable."
Cadance smiles and walks towards you, resting her head on your shoulder.
"I love you, babe," you whisper softly in her ear.
"I love you too," she whispers back. "I really needed this."
"I'm happy to provide."
You place a hand on her cheek and pull her lips to yours. You plant a firm, yet gentle kiss on her lips.
"Wanna go get a coffee?" you ask.
"But, wait, we already had a coffee," she asks curiously.
"I have a problem for Pumpkin Spice please help."
"You dork," she chuckles pressing her lips upon yours once more.
And so, maybe the day at the zoo had slowly became more and more of a blur to you as time went on, but some memories stuck close and deep to your heart. And those can't be replaced by anything.
