You always told yourself that Ponyville at night is really something special; this feeling is only heightened as you walk slowly through the quiet streets, enjoying the feeling of a cooling breeze on your face and the sounds of a town which is about to shut down for the night. The market vendors are packing up their goods, most of the tourists are heading back to their hotels after seeing the sights, and the locals are heading home to their comfy, comfy beds.
Your own bed, however, will have to wait for now, as you are currently on your way to the castle to take Twilight out on your first date together. You have a plan, and with Celestia, Luna and Discord as your witnesses, it is going to work, damn it!
When you first arrived in Equestria, Twilight was the first pony you met; the friendly alicorn took you into her home and gave you a room to sleep in while she tried to figure out a way to send you home. Naturally, that didn't work, and you both came to realise that your stay in Equestria was going to be permanent. So, being the good friend that she is, she helped you to adjust to your new life in Ponyville, culminating in you getting a job at the local bakery alongside Pinkie, who thinks very highly of your kneading abilities.
Over time, you met the rest of her friends and soon became a part of everyday life in Ponyville. But a few months later, when Tirek came along, you found yourself hiding in a basement along with some other townsponies; Twilight had told you that she was actually going to fight him, and you were worried sick.
The next few hours were the worst of your life, as you heard nothing but explosions, crashing, banging, and Tirek's incessant gloating. A particularly loud explosion close to your hiding spot made a little bit of pee come out, but other than that you couldn't do anything but remain hidden and hope for the best.
That came after a while, when Rainbow Dash opened the door to the basement and told everypony it was safe to come out. When you did, the first thing you did was head back to the library.
Which was now a pile of blackened and splintered wood.
You feared the worst, but soon caught sight of Twilight, who smiled as she laid eyes on you. All at once, you were overwhelmed by your feelings and sprinted towards her, tackling her in the biggest and most bone-crushing hug you have ever delivered.
And then, just for good measure, you planted a big wet one on her lips. It was as much a surprise to you as it was to her, but the main thing is that she eventually reciprocated. The two of you separated and gazed into each others eyes, a gaze which was only broken when you finally noticed the giant castle which had definitely not been there a few hours ago when the fighting started.
And that brings you to now, nearly two weeks later; Twilight needed some time to recover from the events of the battle, particularly when it came to the loss of the library. You and the rest of her friends salvaged what you could, but the damage was done. You are hoping that the date you are about to take her on will go some way to taking her mind off things, and help her take the first steps along this new road in her life; in other words, doing for her what she did for you all those months ago.
You pass Town Hall, casting your eyes briefly over the noticeboard outside the entrance; besides the usual adverts about items for sale and services such as the local tour guide, there is also a faded bounty poster depicting a pony whose name begins with 'S,' seemingly wanted for 'being two-faced.' You're not sure why that is worthy of a bounty poster, but they've clearly annoyed someone with the money and time to go to this much trouble.
Pressing on, you soon have the castle in your sights, the ornate crystalline structure looking seriously out of place amongst the simple wood of the nearby homes and businesses. You almost feel as though you are part of a child's play set and their younger sibling has come along, plonking their own toy down in an attempt to join in the fun and games.
You stroll up to the door and knock on it a few times, then smooth your hair and wait patiently for it to be opened. It takes a while; Twilight is not used to the layout of the place yet, and often finds herself in a cupboard instead of where she wants to be. She eventually throws the door open, her smile broadening and her cheeks turning pink as she lays eyes on you. You smile back and lean in for a kiss; she is all too happy to return the gesture, breaking away from you with a contented sigh.
"Three minutes," you say. "A lot quicker than last time."
Twilight giggles. "I'm still in the process of making a map," she replies. "At least this time I only ended up in one cupboard." You laugh, and she looks you up and down. "Pardon me for saying, but you don't look as though you're dressed for a date." Her horn flares up and a book – titled First Dates For Dumdums – is soon floating in front of her face. "It says here that the stallion, or man in your case, should be wearing a suit and tie." She closes the book and puts it on a table near the door. "So either the one Rarity made for you is in the wash, or that book is out of date."
You roll your eyes. "Trust me, Twi, I don't need a suit." you point at the dress she's wearing. "Technically, even you don't need to be dolled up, at least not for the place we're going to. Speaking of which..." You hold out your hand. "Shall we depart, my beloved?"
Twilight nods, discards her dress, then takes your hand and follows you down the stairs. Ponyville has pretty much shut down by now, though a few businesses remain open to cater to the tourists who aren't quite finished doing tourist stuff yet. A throng of ponies lingers outside the only bar in town, licking their lips in anticipation of the delightful booze that awaits them inside.
"So..." Twilight says. "Where are we going?"
"All in good time, babe," you reply. "All in good time. Follow me, and I promise you it will be all worthwhile... at least, I hope it will."
"Can I at least guess?" Twilight asks, to which you nod. "All right, let me see if I can deduce where we're going before we get there."
You shrug. "You can try, but I'm fairly certain you won't."
Twilight sticks her tongue out at you. "Challenge accepted, Mister Smarty-Britches." she looks around. "Hmm, this is Hoofton Avenue, where the burger place is." Her eyes light up. "Are you taking me to try the new Triple Hay Shot Deluxe? I heard it's really good!"
"Nice try... but nope." you laugh as she lets out a small whine. "To be perfectly honest, Twi, this is our first date; I wouldn't take you to a dang burger place on such a special occasion!" You think for a moment. "I'll save it for our fourth date, which is when I expect to have run out of ideas on where to take you."
"My book says that the fifth date is a special milestone, because after that is when it is best to..." she blushes. "To, um... y'know."
You get what she's saying, and blush along with her. The two of you walk in silence for a moment, ignoring the stares of the tourists wondering why the Princess of Friendship has suddenly become a walking lightbulb, and soon approach the train station.
"Ooh, the station!" Twilight says, snapping out of her stupor. "Are we going up to Canterlot? There's a sale at the big book shop up there, and I'm eager to see what they've got."
"Really, Twilight? You've got so many books already, you could start selling them yourself!" you reply. "At least find some space for those first; heck, Spike was telling me he was able to build a makeshift bed using some of the many hardbacks you've got."
Twilight turns to face you so fast, you hear her neck cracking. "He did what?!" she shouts. "I was wondering why I was missing a few! I honestly thought I was losing my mind!"
"Crap." you mutter. "I wasn't meant to tell you that. Um, it was only a temporary measure, one I'm sure he's addressed by now."
Twilight pouts. "He better have," she says. "Speaking from experience, I can say that books make better pillows than beds."
"Noted," you say. "And now, steering the subject back on track, I'm sorry to tell you that we are not going to Canterlot."
Twilight thinks for a moment. "It's not the burger place, and it's not Canterlot..." she taps her chin with a forehoof. "Hmm, what about Sugarcube Corner? They're still open for another hour or so."
You do your best impression of a buzzer. "Ooh, sorry, but that's the wrong answer," you say. "You've missed out on the grand prize, but would you like to try for a consolation prize instead?"
"Ha ha, very funny." Twilight rolls her eyes. "All right, keep your secrets as much as you want, but I'll figure it out eventually!"
You shake your head. "I bet you won't, but I'm not going to stop you from trying." you smile at her. "You're cute when you're trying to figure stuff out, you know that?"
"You're cute too." Twilight replies. "I love you."
"I love you too, Twi." you glance at your watch and smirk to yourself. "Right then, I think we've dawdled around town for long enough; let's head back to the castle."
Twilight cocks her head at you. "The castle?" she parrots. "Why?"
"You'll see when we get there." you tap your nose. "Trust me."
Twilight nods, and the two of you begin the walk back to the castle in contented silence. It doesn't take long for you to reach the front door, arriving just as it opens to reveal the rest of the girls leaving.
"Hi, girls," Twilight says. "What brings you here?"
"You'll see, darling," Rarity replies. "You'll see." She turns to you and winks. "Everything is ready, dear, just as you asked."
"Thanks, girls." you give them a thumbs up. "I appreciate it."
The five of them smile and nod, before bidding farewell to the two of you and taking their leave. Once they're gone, you head inside with a curious Twilight in tow.
"What's going on here?" she asks. "What was Rarity on about?"
"She was referring to..." you head upstairs and open the door to the balcony, motioning for Twilight to go in ahead of you. "This."
Twilight walks onto the balcony; after a moment, you hear her let out a small gasp. You follow her inside and survey the scene to see that the girls have done their job impeccably. In the corner, a telescope points towards the starry sky, in another corner stands a large pile of books next to two large beanbags, and in the middle is a rug with a basket on top of it. A multitude of candles give off both a soothing light and the smell of lavender, a record player stands ready with a selection of songs for both relaxing and dancing, and there – amongst it all – stands the mare you love, her eyes shimmering as she takes in the sight.
"I wanted to do something special," you tell her. "So here we have stargazing, combined with reading books and enough food to keep us bloated for a week. I asked the girls if they could help, and they were more than happy to; it was actually their idea to distract you by taking you for a walk around town." You take her forehooves in your hands and look into her eyes. "So... do you like it?"
Twilight responds by kissing you. "It's great," she says as she pulls away from you. She then walks over to the rug and opens the basket, her eyes widening as she looks in it. "Are those..."
"The new Triple Hay Shot Deluxe?" you nod. "Sure is."
Twilight grins at you, delivering another kiss as she goes over to the telescope. You let out a massive sigh of relief and go to join her, confident that this is the start of something amazing.
And funnily enough, it's all thanks to Tirek...
