On one afternoon in Ponyville, some ponies were getting some lunch at a nearby hayburger cart. A plump, green earth-pony stallion with puffy, black manes was working at this particular hayburger cart. Brawny Bold was the one and only cook for the HeyHayburger Cart. He was busy flipping some hayburgers with his spatula. When the patties were done, Brawny placed them on some buns and started adding some ingredients before putting the other buns on top.
"Here are your orders, ladies." Brawny said to a pair of mares as he gave them a paper bag with two burgers inside.
"Thanks," One of the mares said as she and her friend took their burgers. When the mares were really far from the HeyHayburger cart, Brawny let out a small sigh.
'I bet it would be nice to be one of those mares' coltfriend.' Brawny thought. There has been nothing going on in Brawny's love life. Sure, he knows some mares, but they see Brawny only as an acquaintance. Brawny learnt that being single isn't so bad. There are a lot of perks to being single. But still, a part of Brawny still thought it would be nice to go on at least one date with a mare.
"Yo, Brawny!" A stallion's voice called out. Brawny looked up to see a familiar light yellow, earth-pony stallion with short, brown manes trotting towards him. Feather Bangs is a new resident of Ponyville and one of Brawny's stallion friends. Brawny can't help but be a bit envious of Feather as he is charming and confident enough to make some mares fall for him. Brawny on the other hoof is not very noticeable to mares.
"Hey Feather, want some freshly cooked hayburgers?" Brawny offered.
"Nah, I'm good." Feather said as he waved a hoof. "I actually got something to tell you."
"What is it?" Brawny asked curiously.
"You can say I'm kind of in a pickle right now." Feather said while laughing nervously. Brawny was a bit concerned about Feather acting nervous. Brawny would usually hear Feather talk about his failed attempts with flirting with pretty mares.
"Alright, let's hear it." Brawny said.
"A while ago, I spotted two cute mares at the local park. I approached them to introduce myself and tried to charm them with my good looks and flirting. I then mentioned that I was new in Ponyville. Did you know what happened next?"
"What?" Brawny asked.
"The two mares offered to have dinner with me at Ponyville's finest restaurant!" Feather said in panic.
"Excuse me?" Brawny said in confusion.
"They asked me out on a date! I freaked out as I never made it that far when it came to talking with mares!" Feather said.
"What did you do?" Brawny asked.
"I accepted and told them that I will even bring a guy friend to make it a double date." Feather replied.
"I guess that's good," Brawny said. "At least some stallion will have your back on this date. Who's the guy friend?"
"It's you," Feather replied. Brawny paused for a moment.
"W-What?" Brawny said.
"Brawny, please!" Feather said in a begging tone.
"Um, Feather, are you sure that would be a good idea?" Brawny asked. "I never gone out on a date before, let alone spend a lot of time with mares."
"Please Brawny!" Feather begged. "I need a wingpony! You're the only stallion I trust!"
"A wingpony?" Brawny asked.
"Yeah, you know, a pony who supports another pony. Come on," Feather then showed his glassy eyes while pouting. Brawny struggled on what he should do about this situation. Soon, Brawny gave in from Feather's begging.
"Fine, I'll go with you." Brawny said. Feather cheered in response.
"Alright, just meet me at the Bonfire Grill tonight." Feather said. "That's where the date will be."
"Do I need to dress up?" Brawny asked.
"Nah, just prepare like you would normally do when you go out to eat." Feather said as he started to leave. "I appreciate it, Brawny! See you tonight!" Feather then while Brawny continued cooking hayburgers.
Evening arrived and Brawny was trotting down the streets of Ponyville. Brawny felt a bit nervous as this was his very first date with some mares. He could already imagine himself stammering and sweating bullets while he attempts to make small talk with the mares.
'I will probably be fine since Feather will be with me.' Brawny thought. 'He will be nervous like me and we won't be alone.' Brawny began to calm down a bit. Brawny finally arrives to the Bonfire Grill, one of Ponyville's most popular restaurants. He saw Feather waiting outside by the restaurant's doors.
"Yo, Brawny!" Feather said while waving his hoof.
"Hey Feather," Brawny said as he approached Feather. "Where's our dates?"
"They'll be here in a few minutes. We'll just wait until then." Feather answered.
"Cool," Brawny said as he and Feather waited. After a few seconds past, Brawny decided to speak. "So, how are you feeling?"
"I'm cool," Feather said while acting really chill. He and Brawny looked at each other for a moment before Feather sighed. "No, I'm not. I'm feeling really nervous about this first date. I mean, what if I get panicky on this date?"
"Dude, I feel the same way." Brawny replied. An idea came to his mind. "How about this? When one of us gets a bit nervous when a mare asks a question, we nudge each other. It will be our signal for the other stallion to answer the question. That way, we can back each other up if one of us gets nervous."
"That is actually a great idea!" Feather said while smiling. "Oh! We should do our 'special' hoof shake for good luck!" Feather said as he brought out his hoof.
"I'm fine." Brawny said as he felt really hesitant about doing their 'special' hoof shake.
"Come on," Feather tempted. Brawny shrugged before he and Feather started the hoof shake. Brawny and Feather clapped each other's hooves, bumped hooves, and brushed their manes back. Feather turned to spot something. "There they are!" Feather said as he pointed towards the two mares approaching the stallions. One of the mares was a light green unicorn with light green and white manes. The other mare was a creme-colored earth pony with dark blue and pink curly manes.
"Hello, ladies," Feather said in a flirty manner. "I'm glad you two could make it."
"We appreciate you coming, Feather." said the light green mare. She turned to notice Brawny standing besides Feather. "Is this the friend you mentioned, Feather?"
"Yeah," Brawny replied. "I'm Brawny Bold. It's nice to meet you."
"I'm Lyra Heartstrings and it's nice to meet you too." Lyra said.
"I'm Bon Bon, if you were wondering." Bon Bon added.
"Great! Now that we have introduced ourselves, why don't we enter before it gets crowded inside?" Feather said as he opened one of the doors. "Ladies first," Feather said while bowing. Brawny went to open the other door.
"My, what gentlestallions. Let's head on in, Lyra." Bon Bon said as she took Lyra's hoof and made their way inside. As Lyra and Bon Bon entered the restaurant, Feather and Brawny gave each other hoof bumps before they went in.
The Bonfire Grill was full of local ponies who came to enjoy some good meals. Brawny remembered all the times when he and his family came to eat dinner here.
"Wow, this place looks great!" Feather said as he took a good look around.
"I know, right?" Lyra said. "Bon Bon and I would usually come here on special occasions. We thought it would be best to bring you here since this will be your first time eating out in Ponyville."
"I do appreciate it." Feather mentioned. A host mare made her way towards the four ponies.
"How many is in your party?"
"Just four, please." Feather replied. The host mare picked up some menus.
"Follow me, please." The host mare requested as she lead Brawny and the others towards their table. The host mare lead them to a small table near one of the restaurant's corners. "Just have a seat and a waiter will come to assist you." The host mare said as she made her way back towards the entrance. Brawny and the others sat down on their table while waiting for their waiter.
"Wow, the food here looks good." Feather said as he read his menu. "What do you usually get, Brawny?" Feather asked.
"Hmm," Brawny started skimming the menu. "Whenever I go here, I sometimes get their hayburgers."
"Don't you own a hayburger cart?" Feather asked. "Why would you get hayburgers when you could just make some yourself?"
"It never hurts to try others' hayburgers." Brawny replied. "It allows me to know how it tastes so I could improve the hayburgers I usually serve."
"Hayburger cart?" Bon Bon asked. "What do you mean by that?"
"I own a hayburger cart." Brawny replied quickly. "It's what I do for a living."
"Now I recognize you!" Lyra interrupted. "You're the stallion who pulls the HeyHayburger Cart all around Ponyville!"
"Y-Yep, that's me." Brawny said sheepishly.
"That's interesting," Bon Bon said. "So Feather, how did you and Brawny meet?" Feather tried to make a reply, but he started to get nervous. Feather nudge at Brawny to answer.
"Yeah well...we met in an unexpected way. When Feather came to Ponyville, he walked towards me while I was running my hayburger cart. He asked me for directions on where town hall was located. After a few hours, he came back to thank me and we became friends." Brawny explained.
"That's interesting," Lyra commented. "I remembered when I first came to Ponyville. I explored most of the stores and stumbled upon Bon Bon's candy shop. I asked for a free sample and Bon Bon gave me one of her chocolates. The chocolate was so good I asked for another sample and Bon Bon gave it to me!"
"I normally refuse customers from taking another sample. But for some reason, I couldn't resist Lyra's cute face. That's how we met." Bon Bon moved closer to peck Lyra on her cheek, making Lyra giggle a bit. The waiter stallion finally arrived to take Brawny and the others' orders and went off to the kitchen. Bon Bon continued to speak. "So Feather, what brought you to Ponyville?" Feather struggled with an answer and decided to nudge Brawny again to answer Bon Bon's question.
"Feather came to Ponyville because the last place he lived in was kind of boring. He heard Ponyville was such an interesting place." Brawny said.
"That's so true," Lyra replied. "You would not believe the number of incidents that occurred in Ponyville. The best advice I could give you, Feather, is to duck and cover until Princess Twilight and her friends arrive. They are the ones who usually resolve the disasters in Ponyville." Feather nodded. The waiter returned with the ponies' meals. Feather ordered some steamed vegetables and tomato soup, Brawny ordered a hayburger with fries, Lyra ordered a daisy sandwich, and Bon Bon ordered a bowl of fruit salad.
"Hmm, so good." Brawny said as he chewed on his burger.
"So Brawny, what made you want to cook hayburgers for a living?" Lyra asked.
"Well, it started when I was able to cook dinner when my parents aren't home. I began to look for recipes of foods that I always wanted to try. My favorite food was hayburger and I was able to cook it very well. That was when my cutie mark appeared." Brawny said as he showed his cutie mark of a burger with a spatula under it.
"I'm glad to see you go after your passion, Brawny." Lyra said. She then turned to Feather. "What about you, Feather? What do you like to do?" Feather once again had difficulties thinking of an answer. He nudged Brawny again much to Brawny's annoyance.
"Feather enjoys writing poetry. He told me that it helps him express whatever he sees: the weather, the plants, and pretty mares." Lyra and Bon Bon looked confused.
"Is everything alright, Feather?" Lyra asked.
"Yeah, you have been very quiet and you keep nudging Brawny to answer for you." Bon Bon said. Feather quickly panicked and got up.
"Hey Brawny," Feather said nervously. "Can you come with me to the restroom?" Feather asked. Brawny looked up to see the desperation on Feather's face.
"Alright," Brawny said as he and Feather went inside the stallions' restroom. Inside, Feather was busy washing his face while Brawny waited for him.
"Are you sure you're alright, Feather?" Brawny asked.
"I don't know," Feather answered. "I thought I was able to at least answer the mares' questions, but I keep freezing up."
"You were able to talk to the mares at the park." Brawny mentioned. "What's the difference here?"
"The difference is that we're on a date." Feather answered. "As I mentioned it before, I never gotten this far when it came to talking with mares."
"If you want, I could keep answering the mares' questions if it makes you feel better." Brawny said. "I could say that your throat started to feel scratchy and you're not able to speak that well."
"I guess so," Feather replied. "Sorry for making you do most of the work." Feather said with guilt in his voice.
"That's what friends are for." Brawny said as he patted Feather's shoulders. "Let's just try to enjoy the rest of the night, alright Feather?" Brawny said. Feather nodded and they exited the restroom. When the stallions arrive back to their table, they were surprised to see what was in front of them. Lyra and Bon Bon were kissing each other on the lips like lovers.
'Is that what friends do?' Feather and Brawny thought at the same time. They remained silent until Lyra opened her eye to see the stallions standing in front of them.
"Oh, hey guys." Lyra said as she broke off her kiss with Bon Bon. "Was the line to the restroom long?"
"Um, no," Brawny responded. "We just came back here. What were you two doing?"
"We were just talking for a bit and Lyra wanted to express her affection by kissing me. No big deal." Bon Bon replied.
"So you two are..."Brawny said.
"Yeah, we're a couple." Lyra finished. "Is there something wrong?"
"No! No, it's just that we didn't know until now." Brawny claimed.
"Oh, well that's weird," Bon Bon responded.
"What do you mean?" Brawny asked.
"When Feather said that he will bring a guy friend for the double date, we assumed that Feather was talking about a coltfriend." Bon Bon said. Brawny and Feather blushed at the same time.
"We-We're not a couple!" Brawny said in panic.
"You're not?" Lyra asked. Brawny sighed before he started to explain.
"It's just that Feather didn't expect you two to invite him to dinner and he wanted to bring me so he wouldn't get too scared." Brawny said.
"Is that why Feather isn't able to speak to us right now?" Bon Bon asked in confusion.
"Yeah, he never went this far when he speaks to mares and this is kind of our first date." Brawny continued. Feather couldn't help but look down in shame.
"Oh Feather, there is nothing to be nervous about." Lyra assured.
"It's just like a regular outing with friends." Bon Bon said. "You could take Brawny as an example."
"Me?" Brawny asked in surprise.
"How did you not get nervous when Bon Bon and I asked questions?" Lyra asked.
"I was mostly answering the questions to help out Feather." Brawny replied.
"What else?" Bon Bon asked. Brawny pondered as he tried to remember.
"You two were just asking me simple questions?" Brawny guessed.
"Did you worry about your response since you were on a date?" Lyra asked.
"Honestly, it felt more like how I usually talk to my family when we go out for dinner." Brawny said.
"You see, Feather." Bon Bon said. "A date is just ponies talking and spending time with each other. It's okay to be nervous, but try ease up a bit."
"How about we just start over and continue with our dinner, Feather?" Lyra suggested. "Although it's not a romantic date, at least you will feel more comfortable when you go on a real date. Does that sound good?" Feather thought about it before he smiled.
"That does sound less scary." Feather replied. "It is nice to eat dinner with just friends."
"Great! Then let us get back to our dinner!" Bon Bon said as she and the others sat back down. Although the date didn't go as expected, the stallions felt glad that they were able to at least spend time with some mares.
A few days passed since Brawny and Feather's dinner with Lyra and Bon Bon. Brawny was at his hayburger cart while grilling up some hay patties.
"Hey Brawny!" Feather yelled as he made his way towards Brawny.
"What's up, Feather?" Brawny asked.
"Guess what?" Feather asked with a smile.
"What?" Brawny asked confusingly.
"We're going on another double date!" Feather said enthusiastically.
"How?" Brawny asked.
"I spoke to some new mares and I invited them out on a double date." Feather answered.
"Did you make sure both mares were single?" Brawny asked cautiously.
"Yes, I made sure they were single." Feather answered. "I learned a lot after that dinner with Lyra and Bon Bon. Now I'm prepared for a real date! You're coming with me, right Brawny?" Feather asked while showing his smile.
"Fine, I'll go with you on this date. Maybe it will turn out to be good." Brawny said.
At the Bonfire Grill, Brawny and Feather were sitting across a pair of mares wearing outfits that looked like something from a cheesy 80s film. One mare was a light blue earth pony with frizzy, brown manes that were held with a pink bow hairband. She also wore a pink, ripped t-shirt with black stripes on it. The other mare was pink earth pony with long, blue manes that were tied into a ponytail. She wore a pair of yellow sunglasses and her attire was a pink, short-sleeved jacket. The two mares were just talking to each other while ignoring the stallions. Brawny turned to Feather.
"You have got to stop setting us up with double dates." Brawny said with a deadpan face. Feather laughed nervously as they continued to be ignored by the two mares.