NOIRE POV

Two days after my little brawl with Burning (and being banished to the lounge), I was finally staring upon my beginning and end. A large, wooden sign with 'The Emerald Standard' written in green cursive was hanging above me. The fanciest restaurant in the Empire, deserving of its reputation due to the chattering of many, both inside and outside of the building. "You know, most first dates on Earth comprise of a coffee date, maybe a walk in the park or beach, or perhaps even a trip to the movies. This..." I gestured towards the restaurant, practically glowing with elitism "Is not what I was expecting at all." Cadance chuckled at my bewilderment and intimidated look. She was dressed in the very same red dress she showed to me over a week ago, however now I could take in all of its beauty, The red, silk dress clung to her figure tightly, allowing her curves to go noticed by everyone in the area. The dress was cut at the side, exposing a bit of her leg, which looked more toned than usual. "Has she been working out?" I thought before Cadance wrapped her arm around mine.

"Don't worry! You'll be fine. You've survived many foes and two nights without this fine ass to grope. Surely a fancy dinner wouldn't scare you, right?" she questioned me mockingly, poking at the antisocial college student that lurked within the man in the generic tuxedo.

"Of course I'm scared! But not for the reasons you think. I still feel like we should have brought Tidal along with us,"

"Nah. She hates place like these 'Which is kinda why I chose this place'. Plus, she said it was cool if I got my turn with you first. Now what are we waiting for? Let's get this date night on the roll!" She proceeded to grab my hand and whisk me away to what was going to be a magical night.

It was magical, all right.

TIDAL POV

As I stared at the ceiling of the medical ward, I thought back to my talk with Noire. The offer to join him on a date with Princess Cadance, my refusal and the immediate regret that I felt in my chest once he left. At the time, the news of my growing 'child' had been overwhelmed by what my past self thought to be more important. "Ugh." I groaned while Dr Curdle sat at her desk, probably experimenting with her new blood samples "What do you even do with the blood you collect anyway, Doc?" Curdle turned to me with a straight face.

"I try to understand my urges to curb them. Maybe then, I would feel a lot more comfortable going out without lusting for some unfortunate pony's neck. Of course, I drink some of it, but only in small doses. Long periods of time without it leave me very... hungry, no matter how much I eat," She shifted uncomfortably in her seat "So, what's got you so down, general?" She asked, begging to change the subject.

"Noire's going on a date tonight. With Cadance." I said, blushing slightly.

"And? With all that has happened, they deserve it. They've been so distracted with hunting down Grim and the problems of the empire that doing anything romantic was almost impossible," she replied.

"I know that. I just..." I couldn't finish. I felt like a schoolfilly around her crush. Utterly hopeless. I couldn't bring myself to say that I was jealous of Cadance. That she was a better choice than me. That Noire might understand this and drop me. I stood up with renewed determination "That's it! I'm going!" I said, grabbing Curdle's hands "And you're coming with me!" Curdle's bewildered expression slowly turned to one of pure terror.

"B-b-but I can't! I can't handle being around so many ponies!" she exclaimed as I carried her out of the ward. I was going to join them, no matter the cost.

NOIRE POV

I was right to be intimidated. The inside looked like I had stepped into a little slice of heaven. "Isn't this place just lovely?" Cadance said as I looked in shock at my venue for the night. The restaurant had quartz pillars decorated with flowers, in the centre was a fountain, even the waiters and waitresses were dressed like they belonged in the 1%, their uniforms practically glowed in the light of the chandeliers, which managed to blend perfectly with the natural backgrounds. If I had to describe more sparingly, I would compare it to a lounge in ancient Rome. A luxury reserved for Aphrodite and the divine like. No wonder Cadance loved the place so much. However, the place, at the time, felt overly gaudy to me. Like it was begging for me hate it more openly, for everyone to hear and berate me for seeing it from such a commoner perspective.

"Yeah... 'lovely'" I responded, trying desperately to hold back my sarcasm. Fortunately, it went unnoticed and we proceeded, being escorted to our table, eloquently dressed by the fountain "Jesus, even the tables are dressed better than me. What next? Are the menus going to be encrusted with amethysts?" I thought to myself.

"We are happy to be serving two of the Crystal Empire's most important ponies- I apologise- pony and human," our waiter corrected himself "Your menus. May you have a fine evening." As he excused himself, I couldn't help biting my tongue once I saw that the menus he gave us were encrusted with not amethysts, but gold. Fricking gold!

"So, Noire? What are you going to order?" Cadance asked me, happily searching through her options. I shock myself from my thoughts and opened the menu, trying to find something reasonable to eat. The food options, much like everything in my new hell, were infuriating. Most of the courses were incomprehensible to the human eye, written in some deviation of French, but even harder to translate. I tried my hardest to find the most comprehensible word on the menu and, luckily, two managed to stick out. Just in time as well as our waiter had quickly returned, ready to take our orders.

"Are you both ready to order?" he asked, notepad at the ready.

"Yes, May I have the Nicoise salad with a baguette and butter?" Cadance ordered

"I think I'll have the Caesar salad with sweet potato frites, please," I added.

The waiter quickly jotted down our orders and politely exited, leaving us to our devices. "You've been capturing a lot of attention. haven't you, Mr Popular~" Cadance teased as she glanced around her. I was so consumed by the restaurant that I had completely ignored the patrons, most of them staring at me with a mixed bag of faces: some in awe, some concerned, some angry, even some flirty looks were sent my way but a quick turn over the shoulder from the princess was enough to banish those stares.

"Come on, they must be looking at you. I mean, you are their princess," I proposed as I looked for a drink.

"No, you 'come on,'. Ever since you saved Equestria from Tirek, you've been painted as a saviour. You've been the talk of the empire and beyond since." She was right. Ever since Tirek attacked, the guards have been more respectful compared to when I was just attached to Shining's right and maids have been giving me some... concerning looks. Probably a warning of things to come "Anyway, I was thinking of sharing some champagne. What do you think?" While we chatted away, I noticed a familiar presence, but was too concealed to distinguish. I brushed it off as nothing important and continued chatting.

TIDAL POV

"There they are," I whispered as Curdle and I sat at a nearby table, close enough to spy on their date but far enough so we weren't noticed by the couple. I was disguised in a long, sleeved, black dress with a black sun hat while Curdle was in a blue dress that clung to her tightly at her bust, exposing a lot of cleavage. Way too much. Curdle was constantly tugging at the dress, which looked like it was about to rip, and moving strands of hair out of her face. It was clear that she was incredibly uncomfortable.

"Now that you're here, can I leave? This dress is way too tight for me," she said, hiding her face from all who could see.

"No! You have to be here, so I don't chicken out!" I said, slamming my fist on the table "Besides, it's your fault you picked out a dress you wore during prom. When was that, nine years ago?"

"Eight! You don't have to make me sound so old! And speak for yourself!" she said, pointing to my whole ensemble "You look like somepony just died!"

"It's to conceal me!"

"You're literally the most noticeable thing in this restaurant!" She exclaimed, disrupting a few ponies. With fresh pair of eyes upon us, we apologised simultaneously and went back to our business. Fortunately, Cadance and Noire didn't notice us. "What are you even going to do now that you're hear? Just watch them like a weirdo for the rest of their date?" Curdle had brought up a good question. My decision to follow them was only motivated by regret and jealousy. Any semblance of planning had gone by the wayside until now.

"...Yes. It would be weird to just intrude on their date."

"But- EEP!" As Curdle lifted her arms in dramatic fashion, the bust line of her dress started to sink, allowing her breasts to move upward, almost exposing everything. She quickly stuffed them back into the tight space and let out a relieved sigh "This is so stupid."

"You are unusually aggressive today. What's going on with you?"

Curdle frowned and rested her head in her hands "Besides the fact that I have been strung along by a hormone-driven, socially incompetent idiot on her stalking mission, I haven't had any blood yet, so your neck is starting to look very delectable right now," I covered my neck with a hand, now fearing the consequences of my actions much more than before "In addition, Ayra and I were supposed to be hanging out right about now," she had said that with a less angry tone, beginning to simmer down as she looked out the window wistfully.

"Cadance's personal maid? I didn't know you two were hanging out."

"Never asked," Curdle simply answered, looking back to me "So, for both your sake and mine, please just go to them and talk before you make yourself look like more of an idiot than you appear to be right now." She had made her point clear. Clear enough for me to realise what I was doing.

"Yeah... I should have just been more honest with myself. I feel like an idiot now. I'll just go talk to them for a bit and be on my way." Just as we were about to stand up, we heard a loud 'Hey!' coming from behind us. We turned to face the origin of the noise to find a young couple with their waitress, looking very displeased.

"What are you doing at our table!?" The mare asked angrily.

NOIRE POV

I was finally able to relax more. After talking for a bit, I began to experience the restaurant's beauty in a much better light. I could begin to smell the fresh food coming from the kitchen and other tables, giving off a relaxing air, and the flower arrangements gave so much more life to the white quartz like a painting. I could finally enjoy a simple dinner with my marefriend. At least until a loud 'Hey!' could be heard from across us. Both of us were distracted by our talk to see a couple with their waitress arguing with a weird pair of mares.

"What are you doing at our table?" A mare asked angrily, staring at them with malicious intent. Both the mares stood from their seats and tried backing away, but the mare was having none of it.

"Honey, I think they are backing off. You can calm down now," the stallion beside her said meekly, but the mare quickly shut him up.

"No! Our date night has gone terribly. Our carriage broke down, my heel broke, I got splashed on our way here and now some whorses in terrible fashion have stolen our table. I won't calm down!" She exclaimed as she walked towards the mare in the blue dress "Do you how much I've waited for this! Don't get in our-" she was quickly interrupted by the mare's bust beginning to rise until her breasts completely spilled out for everyone to see. The snooty mare was left silent as she backed away from the mare and returned to her shy husband, blushing a deep crimson. The most I could hear from her was that "They're bigger than mine" as she looked down to her inferior rack. The mare in blue tried to cover herself in the dress once more but in was no use. The dress was stuck and not daring to move. The mare screamed in embarrassment and ran away with her face in her hands. She was so distracted by her shame that she didn't notice she was running straight towards us, and tripped right into the water fountain, drenching both me and Cadance with the resulting splash. I was mostly okay, however, Cadance was less fortunate. Her mane was completely drenched, clinging to her face, and her dress was soaked. As for the mare, she was discovered to be our resident doctor, Curdle. Her long, dripping mane obscured her vision, not allowing her to see while she attempted to get out. She tripped on the edge of the fountain once again and fell directly onto out table, spilling its contents. Fortunately, that time, we both stood up before we could be hit again, but Cadance's dress was covered in salad, as was my suit pants. Once we were sure the storm was behind us, I went to go help Curdle to her feet.

"Allow me to help," I said, offering her my hand. Explanations would come later.

"Oh, thank you, Noire. Faust, why does this happen every time I go out? This is why I never leave the castle," she said, covering her chest. I took off my jacket and covered her with it to salvage the situation.

The mare in black ran over to us, who was also revealed to be Tidal "Curdle! Are you okay!?" she asked. Now I was just more confused as the scene continued to play out in baffling fashion.

"Yeah, but I could with a bath, and some new clothes. This one's going to the fire," she said with spite as she buttoned the tux. As this continued, I realised Cadance's lack of inclusion in what was happening. She was still stuck by the fountain, drenching, with her mane covering her face. However, I could hear her mumbling to herself.

"My first date in a year... ruined..." I went over to her to check if she was alright, but she simply teleported all of us out of the restaurant. Leaving the patrons in a haze of confusion. The door would later swing open to reveal an angry chef, looking out at the remnants of the chaos we had left.

"Ce qui c’est passé!"

We arrived at the door to our room, soaked and dishevelled, however, that was not any of our concerns at the time as we waited with baited breath for Cadance to say something, anything, to relieve the tension. "I'm going to take a shower and go to bed to forget this ever happened. I suggest you all do the same," and with that, she turned away, entering the room and slamming the door shut with enough force to leave cracks throughout the frame.

"Yeah, I'm going to take that advice. I'll see you all tomorrow," Curdle said, walking away. That only left Tidal and I standing by the entrance. Tidal was looking down at the ground, playing with her hands while I was terrified of the horrors that awaited when I entered that room. Silence reigned like a tyrant for what felt like eternity until Tidal decided to speak up.

"I'm sorry for all the trouble I've caused you both. I don't know what made me follow you two: my idiocy, the hormones, but I-"

"It's okay." Tidal paused, looking to me to check my face. I was smiling a bit, though mostly due to anxiety "We'll talk tomorrow. For now, let's just get some rest. It's been a night." Tidal silently nodded and we both wished each other good night. A lingering thought pestered my mind once I entered, removing my cold, wet clothes "Maybe I should've kissed her good night?" I wondered as I walked into the bathroom with Cadance. She was in the shower, cleaning off all the food that had gotten on her. I snuck my way in and embraced her. However, she didn't even seem to notice as she lost in her own thoughts.

"You okay?" I asked, curious about how she was feeling after that whole debacle.

"I'm fine, just disappointed. This was supposed to be our first date. Faust, we've been together for 3 months and we've never gone on a single trip outside the castle, not even a coffee break!" She flew her arms in the air and stormed out of the shower in a huff. However, it was hard to focus on her being angry after watching her exit without even a bathrobe, but I still followed her to the bed, where she laid, face down in submission. "This was supposed to be our night..."

"These were a very hectic three months though. Megalomaniacs, changelings, dragons, defending Equestria and beyond even our own failure to communicate. We've had to deal with a lot of stuff, but it has made us a stronger pair, and true, our date ended... unfortunately..." Cadance let out a loud groan "But it was pretty nice having some time to ourselves, wasn't it?" She remained silent "Plus, I think Curdle had a way worse night than us." I was relieved to hear a small giggle coming from the sheets "Oh? Does our princess like her subjects humiliated? Maybe she should be punished~" I grabbed her by her sides and began tickling her relentlessly. Cadance caved before me, twisting and turning to get me off, laughing hysterically. I finally stopped and we both laid down, holding each other.

"Tidal made a pretty big mess, but on the bright side, I think we all are starting to get herd life isn't just love with inclusion," She said with a soft yawn "But that can wait for tomorrow, Goodnight, my love."

"Goodnight, Cady."

Author's Note

I'll be attempting to get as many chapters out as I can before uni starts for me. I have the next 20 chapters to go through and I think you will all like where this will go. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this little filler and I will see you next time!

Stay dizzy. Wuzzy out.