Sunny Starscout stood on her bathroom rug in front of the mirror, combing her mane while the rest of her drip-dried from the shower she had just taken. Brushing it before blow-drying always minimized tangles and made it considerably easier to put into her signature braid.
Needless to say, she had been looking forward to this afternoon all week, especially the past two days, when she finally got a text from Hitch finally telling her his choice of second date.
Hitch
So, second date? What do you say to Friday afternoon, my place? Hope you like home cooking.
She thought that he'd pick some super romantic spot on the coast, or some fancy restaurant downtown, but being invited over to his place was always a nice surprise, especially now that they had considered themselves an item for just about a week now. She couldn't help but wonder what he was planning on whipping up. And in case he hadn't planned on anything else after that, she had picked up a little something from Izzy that he would hopefully like.
With her mane satisfyingly combed, she plugged in her mane dryer, and resumed combing it along with a rush of warm air. Following that, she gave her tail a quick dry, then finally toweled off the rest of her coat. When she was dry, she draped her towel over the curtain bar, and stepped out into the hall. Going down to her bedroom, she grabbed a mane tie from her bottom drawer, and did her mane in her favorite braid, then grabbed her saddlebag from where it hung on the bedpost.
Giving herself one last look in the mirror, she decided she was ready.
"Alright, Hitch. Show me what you've got," she said to herself. She went downstairs, out to the front step, and put on her roller blades and helmet.
The afternoon air was cool with a light breeze as the evening tide started to come in. There were a few boats out on the water enjoying the sailing weather, and she even spotted some pegasi smoothly gliding on the currents above.
It was a smooth, short ride over to Hitch's house, not nearly as far as going all the way across town to CanterLogic. He lived pretty close to the police station in case he was needed. It was a humble, one story house a half block down. She coasted down the sidewalk, and came up to the front door before tipping her right hoof back to apply the brakes, slowing to a stop. She removed her helmet and skates before knocking on the door. A few moments later, the door opened, and there was Hitch, in a white chef's apron.
"Hey there, Sunny. Right on time, I was just about to get started," Maretime Bay's off-duty sheriff greeted. The mare came in for a hug, before picking up her helmet and skates, and brought them inside, setting them right by the door.
"Do you need any help with cooking?" Sunny asked.
"Now what kind of a host would I be if I had you clanking away pots and pans?" Hitch asked back.
"What kind of a guest would I be if I didn't at least offer to help the host?" Sunny shot back.
"Well, thanks for the offer, but there's not a whole lot to do. Cooking may be a hobby of mine, but I wanted to keep it simple, at least for tonight, so I wouldn't chance screwing anything up for my first time cooking for my date. Make yourself comfy on the couch, and let the smells make you hungry," Hitch told her.
As he made a left into the kitchen, she made a right into the living room. Upon entering the warm, inviting room, there was an oak buffet cabinet in front of the large window on the right, with a few house plants on it, a rocking chair in the far right corner. On the far wall was an entertainment center, on top of which was a 50" flat panel TV. Seeing the disc player on the shelf below that, she dug out her copy of Blazing Saddles and set it down on the coffee table that was between the couch and the TV.
As soon as she sat down on the couch, she heard the sounds of a chef's knife hitting a cutting board.
'Ooh, fresh veggies? He must be going all out,' Sunny thought. Next thing she heard was likely whatever he had been cutting up hitting a searing hot pan, because the next noise emanating from the kitchen was sizzling, followed by some fairly inviting smells.
The sizzling soon gave way to bubbling, followed by clinking glass as it sounded like he was getting dinnerware out of the cabinet, ready to start plating. Sure enough, five minutes later, she heard hoofsteps come into the room, and he set down two identical plates of al dente angel hair pasta, covered in a chunky, veggie-filled red sauce.
"And dinner is served," Hitch announced, as he sat down next to Sunny on the couch.
"Looks absolutely delicious," Sunny said, grabbing the fork and taking her first bite. "Mm. Yep, definitely delicious."
"Why thank you," Hitch replied as he went back to the kitchen, and quickly returned with two glasses of sparkling water.
"What's that?" Hitch asked, motioning to the plastic disc case on the table.
"Figured if you didn't have a movie planned, we could see how funny that one is. Izzy loaned it to me, so I haven't seen it yet either," Sunny said, before taking her second bite.
"Well, I was going to let you flip through my movies and see if there was anything you wanted to watch, but sure, let's give that one a shot. See how long it takes me to get offended," Hitch quipped with a smirk, remembering how this was one of a few films they had discussed as they went to see Judgement Neigh.
With that, Hitch paused in his eating to turn his home theater on, and got the disc put into the player, returning to the couch to sip at his water. As the movie started up, Sunny's hoof slipped over to his.
"Le Ponymane Thruway? Now what'll that asshole think of next? HAS ANYPONY GOT A BIT?! Somepony's gotta go back and get a shitload of bits!"
It was fortunate that they had both finished their drinks an hour ago, because they likely would have gotten it everywhere if they had attempted to have anything during this uproarious western parody. As Hitch doubled over, guffawing at the fake toll booth, Sunny was momentarily concerned that they would have to excuse themselves, as they had been laughing so much that she wondered if their scrumptious dinner would come back up because of how much they had been laughing over the course of this movie.
"We definitely have to watch this again soon. I'm sure we've missed half the jokes because of how loud and long we've been laughing," Sunny commented as Hitch caught his breath. If tonight ended without any complaints from the neighbors, she was pretty sure they'd be lucky. As the fights broke out in the fake copy of the town, they let out more belly laughs as the panning camera shattered the fourth wall, panning ridiculously from a barren desert to the lush forests and production buildings of Bridlewood Studios.
The two heroes trotted out into the desert, the closing fanfare played before a carriage pulled up, which they boarded and rode off into the sunset. Hitch covered his mouth to avoid bursting out in laughter again. As much as he wanted to let loose again, it was after 9 pm, and what kind of sheriff would he be if he didn't follow this neighborhood's noise ordinance?
As he was about to ask Sunny if she was ready to go, and wanted to be walked home, he glanced over and saw his date sound asleep, head resting against the left arm of the couch. It probably wasn't the safest thing for her to skate home in the dark anyway.
He turned down the volume slowly before shutting the TV off, gathered up their dishes from dinner as quietly as he could, taking them over to the sink to rinse off before placing them in the dishwasher with the pot, pan and colander. Figuring it wasn't full enough for a cycle, he shut off the kitchen light before going down the hall to the linen closet, pulling out a folded fleece blanket. He unfurled the blanket as he returned to the living room, and gently laid it over his friend, before returning to the hall, switching off the lamp as he went, smiling back at the softly snoring mare.
"Sweet dreams, Sunny."
Author's Note
Hope you all enjoyed this short little sequel I thought up.
As always, thanks for reading!
-Miles
