Flash watched as the girl slurped down her milkshake with enthusiasm that almost rivalled that of Pinkie Pie. It honestly looked as though she was treating the beverage like it was the tastiest thing she'd ever had, and the wide smile she wore after she was done only furthered that impression.

"Oh wow! First your ice creams and now this?! Seriously, you humans have it so good over here!"

Flash chuckled, nodding.

"Yeah, we get stuff right from time to time."

Putting her now-empty glass aside, Starlight leaned forward, looking to her date with curiosity.

"So...you're an ex to Sunset and Twilight?"

Flash considered that.

"Well, Sunset certainly. Twilight? That one was less certain. We only ever had one date...and it was really only half a date, given that, well...other stuff was going on that night."

Starlight nodded back.

"So...not official?"

Flash shook his head.

"No...but I did enjoy my time with her."

This time, it was his turn to look to his date with curiosity.

"And you? Anyone special back in Equestria?"

Starlight chuckled.

"Not really. Some close friends, but nothing romantic."

Smiling, Flash matched her brief laugh.

"Well, I hope this first date of yours goes well. I always try to have fun on these things when I can."

Starlight looked back to him.

"Hey, if I'm getting recommendations from Twilight of all people that you're a good guy to date, that's good enough for me."

Hearing that, Flash gained another curious look.

"You know...I don't think I ever heard how you and Twilight met. Have you known each other long?"

Instantly, Starlight started to look less certain, and looked away, with a small blush creeping onto her face.

"Well...um...we had kind of a rough start."

Flash stared at her, seeing the incredibly uncomfortable look she had on her right now. But after a while, understanding came to him, and he sighed, giving a quick nod.

"Ah...I see."

Starlight looked back to him, seeming more than a little concerned.

"Um...what?"

Flash smiled to her, speaking calmly.

"It's okay, Starlight. If you had a time of your life when you're weren't exactly the nicest person...then you can relax. You're in good company in this world."

In spite of her earlier nervousness, Starlight nevertheless broke out into a smile, albeit a rather small one.

"Well...the Pinkie of this world did say they were a forgiving lot. I take it that wasn't exaggeration?"

Flash snorted.

"Not exactly. Let's see..."

He raised a hand, then began to count off his fingers.

"...there was Sunset of course. Then we had our Twilight during the Friendship Games. Gloriosa came after, then we had Juniper, Wallflower and, finally, Vignette. There's quite a few around these parts who have pasts they're not proud of."

Starlight's shoulders slumped.

"I doubt any of their crimes can match mine, Flash."

The boy gave another nod.

"Maybe..."

His smile returned.

"...but if Twilight and those on her side of the portal say you're okay...then that's all I need to hear."

Starlight looked to him with incredulity.

"You're...you're pretty laid back about all this."

Flash shrugged his shoulders.

"Hey, when you live in a world as crazy as this one has been, you learn to just sort of go with the flow on this kind of stuff."

His smile widened.

"But enough about that. How are you finding our side of things?"

Starlight blinked, looking around herself to the café and the other patrons, before breaking out into another smile of her own.

"I'm liking it. I mean, obviously it's a bit strange, coming to a whole other world and all that, but I think I'm getting used to it."

Looking down to her own hands, she wiggled her fingers in front of her face.

"I wonder how long it took for Twilight to get used to using these things?"

Flash laughed.

"I can't even imagine."

Thoughtfulness came to Starlight soon afterwards, and she glanced down to the rest of her new body.

"Back in Equestria, the only pony I ever knew who had any issue with wearing clothes all the time was my old friend, Sunburst. He never went anywhere without that cloak of his. He was pretty much the only Equestrian you'd ever meet who would refuse to go out in public naked."

Flash looked to her, interested.

"It's so weird to think of it. People just going around unclothed like that, like it's no issue. You'd never see people with that attitude around here. At least not without someone commenting on it anyway."

Starlight frowned.

"You know, you humans should take a page out of Equestria's book, and stop being so worried about it."

Flash opened his mouth to speak, only to be halted dead in his tracks when, all of a sudden, he saw that not only was Starlight setting her beanie aside, but she was also reaching down to the hem of her shirt, pulling on it and, sure enough, beginning to pull it upwards. Realising where this was going, Flash lunged forward, taking hold of her hands and stopping her from going any further.

"NO!!!"

Though taken aback by this sudden move on her date's part, Starlight soon noticed the he was not the only one to be looking to her oddly, as many of the cafe's other customers were eyeing her strangely. A moment or two passed, and after a time, both Starlight and Flash settled back into their respective sides of the both, with Flash coughing nervously.

"I'm...I'm sorry about that, but...people probably wouldn't understand."

But rather than be upset by that, Starlight just looked to the boy with amusement.

"You humans can be such prudes sometimes. You and Sunburst would get along swimmingly I think."

Flash chuckled, even in the face of the awkwardness that now hung between him and Starlight. Then, after absent-mindedly scratching the back of his head, he looked back to his date.

"So...aside from nearly causing riots, is there anything you like doing? Something you have over in Equestria that maybe we can do together when this is done?"

Starlight thought on that, then cracked a smile.

"Actually...I think here is."

Flash perked up slightly.

"Oh?"

Starlight looked to him with a touch of mischievousness.

"Tell me, Flash...where's the biggest wide open field around here? Because I don't know about you, but I'm in the mood for some kite-flying."

Flash blinked slowly.

"...Just that? Just some normal, non-magical, non-crazy kite-flying?"

Starlight nodded.

"Yep...nothing else."

With that, Flash sighed the biggest sigh of relief anyone could in that situation.

"Well...at least the date will end on a calm note."

Starlight giggled.

"Seriously, if you get this stressed, maybe you should lay off dates for a bit."

Flash chuckled dryly.

"Yeah...I might just do that."

Author's Note

And with ten chapters, I think that's a good palce to end it. Thank you to all the people who've been following this story. I hope you've enjoyed reading it as much as I've enjoyed writing it