Well, this is it – a proper bonafide date night out on the town. Which honestly sounds silly saying it out loud – Midnight and I have been out to dinner plenty of times before this evening. But announcing it beforehand... it feels like there's something a bit more special...

It is more special with the bigger headline – a double date with Teddy and Starla. Granted, it's a hole in the wall we've been before – Buckboard Bar and Grill. But it's perfect for Starla's first time out like this, as the weekday nights are pretty thin and they're already used to seeing a pony now and then with Middie and I.

Midnight's had extra pep in her step with this impending night out, too. I'm not sure whether it's having helped big sis achieve part of her goal or the first... er, 'official' date we've had. Never thought she would be interested in such a thing, but here we are.

Well, here I am – waiting for my date. Midnight has sealed herself away in my room for about an hour now, leaving me to switch between pacing about and watching the TV just to kill some time. I'm sure she's messing with her hair, but damn... what is she actually doing with it?

It took me fifteen minutes tops to get ready a simple matter of a shower and combing my hair into something other than a bird's nest for the first time in a long while... I even found a nice polo and khakis I didn't know I had. This may be a special occasion, but the place we are going to is a relative hole in the wall, not a Michelin Star restaurant.

"Are you ready?" Midnight calls from the other side of the bedroom door.

"No," I sigh, trying to sell the stupidity I'm about to share. "I got undressed and rolled around in the dirt outside while I was waiting on you. I'm gonna have to start all over again."

"...look, I realize it was a stupid question, but you didn't have to provide a stupid answer," she mutters.

"I think you subconsciously had interest in what I would come up with, so that's why you asked the question."

"Shut up, I think I'm set now." I hear the door latch click, spurring me to turn around and get a view of my date as she finally reveals herself to the world. Midnight steps through the open door – and I'm left speechless.

Midnight already had a lot of hair, but the volume looks like it's doubled after an hour of toiling in my room. Rather than straight, flowing locks as normal, she's styled it in layers of waves and loose, gentle curls. Somehow, be it the way the light is striking her hair or something else she experimented with, the violet strands in her hair really pop out as highlights. Moreover, she's taken the time to evenly distribute her hair, making it the perfect natural frame for her face, with light, wispy bangs.

I'm not a hair connoisseur or familiar with style, but I'd say that hair is Charlie's Angels-approved.

"...so are we just gonna stand here and stare at each other all night?" Midnight's quizzical expression and soft sarcasm draw me out of the trance I've apparently been stuck in for a few moments.

"Sorry, but – well damn, I didn't expect this," I stammer.

"What do you mean? Is that good or bad?" she questions with wide, anxious eyes.

"Good! It's good!" I blurt out, still fighting to come up with the words to express my amazement at her transformation. "I really like it. How did you come up with... did you see something that gave you the idea?"

"I just looked around online for something I liked that would work with the head of hair I have," she replies, barely above a mumble as she blushes. "I didn't know what you really liked, but I thought – I dunno, I liked the look of this, and I thought you would, too. It was a lot of work, but I think I did good, yeah?"

"I feel like a loser for just throwing on some clothes and half-assing a comb through my hair. Now I understand the wait – and I think it was well worth it."

"Yeah, this definitely won't be a regular style," she admits with a smirk. "But it's a special occasion, so I figured why not go all out for once? That was the plan all along with the care packages Star sent me."

"Yeah, you're right. Somehow that slipped my mind."

"To be fair, there's only so much that can fit in that thick skull of yours – I forgive you," she wisecracks. "But now it's probably gonna be obvious to everyone and anyone you see me in a more romantic light. What are you gonna do if someone makes a comment?"

"I'll have to ask em if they're gay. It's the only reasonable assumption – just look at you!"

"I— well, I didn't expect that sort of conviction," she admits, trying to stifle a laugh.

"You seem to forget I'm a long way from looking at you like a little girl's pet pony, too."

"Oh no – I just wanted to see what kind of reaction I could get from you with that little scenario. You didn't disappoint, but... eh, maybe we should stop. This is kinda getting weird now."

"If it helps, you're my kind of weird," I assure her, leaning in for a quick peck on the lips.

"Hm... no, that really doesn't help. But I'll let it slide," she hums, accepting my gesture. "But come on, we probably shouldn't keep the other pair waiting on our behalf. I already spent more time in front of a mirror than I expected."

I have no argument there, but I'm sure her thoughts of keeping the other duo waiting is a different scenario than mine...

But she doesn't need to know that yet. Instead, I silently follow Midnight as she leads us through the kitchen and out the door. I fall behind a bit while traversing the stairs, but that works out well for my purposes. When her hooves meet the concrete floor, Midnight turns and starts heading toward the main door, en route to the Trailduster parked outside.

"Hey, where the hell are you going?" I question.

Midnight stops dead in her tracks upon hearing my call, spinning around in place to look at me. "Where do you want me to go? We having the date night in here now?"

"No – but our ride is here in the garage. Unless you planned on walking all the way to town."

Midnights eyes go wide with wonder at my comment – right before they dart over to steal a glance at the far end of the shop. There, a weathered black and sparkling chrome beauty lies parked in the same spot since the last few test drives.

I haven't gotten around to it yet, but I may try to wet-sand the paint to see if I can breathe a little bit of life and luster into it. But as it stands now, it's still one sharp-looking ride; the stainless steel and chrome bits have cleaned up to an impeccable shine, and draw the eye away from most of the remaining flaws of the car.

"You— We're taking the Chrysler tonight?!" Midnight sputters in disbelief, her eyes returning to me.

A"A special night calls for a special carriage – wouldn't you agree?" I propose, unable to prevent a smile from forming on my face.

For whatever reason, Midnight is fighting hard to keep herself from exploding into a joyous celebration; I expected her to lose all semblance of control at the thought. But I suppose after spending all that time doing her hair, to mess it up in a flurry of excitement would be a shame.

But there's another side of it I understand now as her brow furrows in contemplation. "We haven't done a ton of road testing with it yet. Are you sure you want to risk something going wrong and stranding us?"

"Well, the transmission is working smoothly with no hiccups. The brakes feel great and stop the car no problem, and as far as the suspension – I haven't felt anything concerning or out of the ordinary, and it actually turns better than I expected from such a big car," I list off for her. "Worse comes to worse, we end up having to stop and get towed home – but no risk, no reward. We'll have to find out one way or another. But I'm confident we won't have any issues."

"Hm, I don't know if I really care for your reasoning..." she comments, trying to remain skeptical.

"The way you say that, I feel like there's a 'but' to follow."

"We do need to put miles on the car – as you said, the only way to find issues is to drive it and let them rear their ugly heads. So I suppose you make a fair argument." She hardly finishes that thought before prancing forward toward the Chrysler at a quickened pace.

I figured she would see things my way.

She's already in the passenger seat and waiting by the time I climb in behind the wheel. It takes but a few seconds of cranking before the Hemi awakens, rumbling in heightened anger for a moment before setting into a growling, sedate idle.

It's surprised me how despite the racy exhaust system, the interior remains comfortable and relatively quiet, even while cruising at highway speeds. But opening up all eight barrels of the carbs – yeah, she bellows her might. But break-in means I really can't put my foot all the way to the floor just yet. That fun will come in time.

With a minute or two of warmup behind us, I push in the Drive button on the dash and feel the car grab a gear. Easing off the brakes, we roll out into the evening and set off toward the front gate. Having been unlocked earlier, Midnight only has to poke her head out the window to open the gate for us, then close it again once we're through.

It's beautiful timing – the robin egg blue Cutlass convertible set to follow us to town and back rumbles up the road and coasts into the former parking lot here at the shop. Teddy takes a moment to ogle our car through a pair of dark aviators with a big grin on his face.

"Nice ride," he quips, whistling afterward for added effect.

At the same time, Starla rises up from the passenger seat to get a good look. While certainly not as dramatic as Midnight's transformation, she's adopted a more intricate braid pattern for her hair tonight. But that's hardly her focus as she steals a glance at my date.

"Oh my gosh, Middie – you look incredible!" she exclaims, putting a hoof over her mouth.

"Aww, that's Star – but I couldn't have done it without your help. Your tips yesterday gave me a better understanding of how to tackle it," Midnight calls back to her. "I really like your braid tonight – that's gorgeous."

"I'm following you, yeah?" Teddy suggests, gesturing the plan.

"Yep. I'm not worried – but you'll be an extra eye for anything amiss along the way."

"Sounds good to me – whenever you're ready, lead the way."

I salute Teddy and ease my foot off the brake, allowing the Chrysler to ease forward without swirling up a dust storm behind me with the rear tires. Once we crawl up onto the road, I give the throttle a small aggressive blip – just to make sure the rear tires are still there. Their presence is announced by a chirp and a swift launch pointed down the highway.

We get up to cruising speed rather quickly – and frankly, I can't keep myself from smiling. It's not only the sense of accomplishment to be in this position with the car; it's also the mare I feel scooting up next to me on the seat, right before planting an unannounced kiss on my cheek. I put my arm around her and sigh in contentment. "Did you ever think we were gonna get to this point, Midnight?" I ask.

"You talking about the car, or something else?" she counters playfully.

She has a good point, now that I think of it. After all, here we are cruising down the road in a project car we've toiled over together, setting off for a date night with friends. A night that entails no worry about shady underground organizations wanting to take back Midnight after her escape over a year ago.

And there's still the bizarre matter of the two of us... together. What started as a begrudgingly accepted deal between two parties has gone through a metamorphosis of epic proportions.

"You make a good point. I'll get back to you on that once I narrow it down."

The radio in the dash suddenly lights up as the speakers come to life, making me just out of pure shock. I had it turned off, so how...

No, I've seen this movie before. I turn my head to look at Midnight; conveniently, she's also turned her head now to gaze out the passenger window, leaving me to guess on her current facial expression. Not that it's a difficult task.

"You've been planning that for a while now, haven't you?"

"Hm? I dunno what you're talking about. What plan?" Her attempt to feign ignorance is purposefully terrible, earmarked by the amusement on her face right now as she turns back. Even those fangs have made an appearance in that devilish little grin.

"You fucker."

"I got you to legitimately jump a bit, too. I'm impressed," she snorts, completely giving it up now.

"And how long have you been working on this?" I question, leering at her.

"Oh come on, it wasn't that hard. Your eyes on the road make it easy for me to fiddle with the radio with my trusty wire unseen," she explains. "The station was the 'hardest' part – had to do some dial-surfing a few days ago for an oldies station. It was just a matter of when we would drive it in a more relaxed setting, and hope the station would be playing music at the time and not a commercial."

"Well, I guess you get a freebie tonight. But just remember I owe you for that stunt down the road."

"Aww, that's so sweet of you," she gushes. "I wouldn't have it any other way."

"And now I wish I had a voice recorder for that last line," I comment, pointing at her. "Evidence later, in case you get snippy about my antics."

"That wouldn't save you anyway – you'll inevitably take it over the top to a point my comment can't cover such nonsense and aggravation," she retorts, sticking her nose up.

"Oh, so now we're making rules up as we go?"

"I learned it from you."

"Well, I'm glad to have been such a good teacher," I brag. Midnight pokes me in the ribs for that, making me flinch.

"That's not nice, but I guess our mission tonight isn't so rosy either," I sigh.

"Huh?" Midnight's dumbfounded expression makes the ensuing terrible joke worth it in my mind.

"We're off to kill Moochie Welch, right?"

Midnight narrows her gaze, silent for a moment while she listens to the song on the radio. It doesn't take long for her noggin to make the connection, and she rolls her eyes in exasperation. "Oh god damn. I didn't even notice," she laments.

"Hell, it's all I can think about hearing this. We got a ways to go before hitting Cali, I'm afraid."

"Yeah, yeah – I'll find something else, dumbass." Midnight hones her attention on the radio now, fiddling with the dial. The sound through the speaker alternates between static, commercials, and various chords of music while she tries to find something palat—

"Right there, Mid," I instruct her.

She scoffs, looking at me as if I'm joking.

"What?"

"Really? This?"

"What's wrong with it?"

"It feels like I'm in some really cheesy fucking movie," she mutters.

"Well, that works – I mean, I feel like I'm sitting next to a movie star," I comment with a widening grin. "You could make Farrah Fawcett jealous with those looks, Mid."

"Just... just shut up and drive," she mumbles, turning to look away. But not quick enough – I see that blush forming on her face.

But there's no need to feel bad or apologize – despite her protests, I feel her wing easing its way between my back and the seat, eager to affectionately embrace me.

I can't help but grin about... well everything right now. Yeah, maybe it's a good time to shut up. Reaching over to put an arm around Midnight, I feel her yield and scoot closer once again.

Author's Note

And with that, a cumulative three years and change of work between the greentext and this conversion comes to a close. It was fitting that was I consider my best work and is so significant to me ends on significant days – the greentext came to a close three years to the day I started it in August, and this version, albeit slightly manipulated to hit it (sue me) comes to a close on G4's anniversary and my birthday, a gift to myself for fighting through burnout to complete this.

Is this really the end? At least for an overarc for story, yes. I suspect there will be some Alice of life updates in the future, perhaps even some little things fitted earlier into the story, too. But Chapter 86 is the conclusion to mark it as complete, and I will put that in the description for further reference when that time comes.

For everyone that's stayed for the entire ride – and even for those who didn't but gave valuable input – thank you. I'm humbled that this story has struck such a chord with so many folks, something I hadn't anticipated.