“Does any pony else think Sunny is acting a little… weird?” Zipp whispered towards no one in particular as she, Pipp and Izzy sat around the kitchen. The three mares stared in sync at Sunny, who was lost in her own little world. The earth pony was beaming from cheek to cheek as she danced around the kitchen, whipping up breakfast for the group. She hummed along to one of Pipp’s songs, replacing the words with a familiar name.

“She’s even replacing the names in your song with Misty, Pipp! No pony gets a crush that quickly.” Zipp protested, getting increasingly more confused. The two just brushed her concerns off.

“And how would you know Zipp? I happen to think it’s adorable!” Pipp attempted to get her phone to begin recording Sunny, but Zipp took her phone and gave Pipp a disapproving look. Before the singer could protest her sister's actions, Izzy interrupted.

“Her sparkle is like wayyyy different today!” Izzy gasped as she continued to inspect Sunny. “This must be how earth ponies sparkle shows when they’re in love!” She grinned.

“Yeah but-” Zipp was once again about to voice her worries but just then Sunny finished the pancakes and set them down in front of the group. She looked down at the pancakes and saw the way the syrup was poured. Hearts. So many hearts. She looked back up but neither Izzy nor Pipp cared and started digging in.

“Hey ponies!” A new voice entered the Brighthouse and began making their way over to the table. “Ooh pancakes- SPARKY NO!” Sparky picked up Zipp’s stack of pancakes and began devouring the entire plate. After realising he could not eat the plate, a puff of dragon fire transformed it into another pancake which was swiftly eaten.

“Sparky what did we say about turning things into food?!” Hitch lectured his dragon son. “I am so sorry about that Zipp, and the plate Sunny.” Hitch looked back at Sunny once again and raised his eyebrow. “What’s up with Sunny?”

“It’s fine, I wasn’t hungry anyway. So you notice it too? The others are saying it’s just because she has a crush, but I think-”

“Sunny has a crush? On who?” Hitch interrupted what could’ve very easily turned into one of Zipp’s detective rants.

“On Misty!” Izzy's head popped up, her face covered in syrup, marshmallows and sprinkles. After her statement, she went back to demolishing her pancakes.

“Izzy’s new unicorn friend?” Hitch questioned. Zipp nodded in response. “Wow, I’ve never seen Sunny act like this before! Last time she had a crush on a pony it… didn't end well.” Hitch frowned. “Misty’s nice though right?”

At the mention of Misty’s name Sunny suddenly joined the conversation. “Oh Misty is the best! She’s so sweet, and kind, and so pretty too! We are going on a date later today! I am gonna show her the beach here in Maretime Bay, it’s gonna be perfect!” The spell induced Sunny raved on about how excited she was for her and the unicorns first date while the rest of the group listened on.

“Not to ruin the fun but.. Didn’t you meet her yesterday?” Hitch asked his friend.

Sunny just smiled. “Yes, and?”

“Nothing, nothing.” In all the years Hitch had known Sunny she was acting very differently when it came to this topic. Every time in the past she would wait ages before confessing to a pony, let alone going on a date! Perhaps she had a preference for unicorns? Hitch wondered a lot of things but for the sake of Sunny’s happiness he kept it to himself.

“What did you just ask me?” Opaline sternly stared at Misty, who had just gotten back to the lair. She looked down at the unicorn in shock and loudly sighed. “Seriously, speak up! I can never hear what you have to say these days!” The alicorn complained.

“What do I do on a date?” Misty timidly asked Opaline. She had never been on a date before, or had any friends either. It’s not exactly like she could ask her new ones, they would be busy helping Sunny prepare. Misty also didn’t want to intrude on them for too long. She didn’t want to accidentally run into Hitch. If a sheriff knew what she was up to she would spend moons in jail!

“Why are you asking me?!” Opaline yelled. Misty winced. “I can’t even leave the lair, you think I’ve gone on any dates at all?”

“Well there’s actually this app where-”

“NO!” She yelled once again at Misty. “Honestly, I would say I expected better from you, but somehow you always have to be guided every single step of the way!” She huffed. “FIGURE IT OUT!”

“But-” Misty tried to interject. She really had no idea of what to do on a date. Surely in all the moons Opaline had been around she would’ve had some advice? Misty opened her mouth to continue her words but after seeing Opalines expression she decided against it.

“Now. I am going to do some important work in my study. DON’T disrupt me!” The alicorn stormed off upstairs towards the study and left Misty alone in the throne room to figure things out.

Misty sighed. Everytime she felt like she achieved something, she did something stupid. One step forward, 2 steps back. She succeeded in spelling Sunny, but now she had no idea how to act. Opaline expected her to do all of this herself with no help or guidance.

She wondered for a while what to do, then had a great idea. Misty sat down and scrolled on her phone for a while until she found the exact video she was looking for

Princess Pipp Petals perfect date advice!

Surely this would be perfect! Pipp was a very popular pony, so she would have lots of experience with this sort of thing. Misty’s eyes widened as she saw the length of the video. 42 minutes. This was going to take a while…

“Okay, so tip number 11. Food is the way to their heart!”

After an eternity of watching through Pipp’s video multiple times, Misty had finally settled on which dating tip to use. Food! Sunny seemed to like the cookies (Well, minus the spell part) so she could bring her more treats! Misty turned off her phone, but made sure to subscribe to Pipp’s cliptrot while she was there. This was good advice! She could seem to listen to her new friends talk all day. Usually when Opaline started on one of her long speeches Misty would zone out halfway through, which usually ended in her getting yelled at.

With a new found confidence Misty trotted to the kitchen and began to think about what to get Sunny. “Okay, what to make her… Cookies again? No, no, that would be way too suspicious! I mean, who eats that many cookies? Ponycorn is where it’s at!” Misty thought about going to the shops and buying some for her, then shook her head. “Ah no! There’s already plenty of ponycorn at the Brighthouse!” She sighed.

After contemplating for a little while, her head turned towards the spell book she got the cookie recipe from. “Maybe I can find some recipes in there; just remove the magical stuff!” She flipped through the pages of the book she had left out previously. “Yeah! This will be perfect. Okay, brownie recipe…”

Misty followed the recipe, making sure to read the instructions extra carefully. She did not want to accidentally remove the love spell, or add another spell or any kind! There were no weird ingredients so she assumed it would all be fine.

It did turn out fine! Until Misty’s ears were bleeding from the sound of a smoke alarm.

“No, no, no!” She rushed to take the brownies out of the oven and grimaced at the sight of the charcoal mess in front of her. Misty glanced at the clock and realised she had no time to try again. As the alarm bellowed through the lair Misty realised she had to get it to shut off before Opaline came storming down in a huff.

“Come on, come on.” Misty pleaded while frantically fanning the smoke away with a towel.

“MISTY!”

In all of the panic Misty had forgotten Opaline was just right above her and had heard the alarm go off. “Don’t worry Opaline! Everything’s fine…” She continued to fan the smoke away, praying to Celestia it would stop.

Soon enough, her prayers were answered and there was a sweet silence. Until once again…

“Oh my hoofness are you alright?” Opaline worriedly asked. Misty was extremely confused. Opaline was concerned for her? No yelling? No scolding? Misty was about to reply but her questions were soon answered. “My poor kitchen! My poor Griselda!” The alicorn picked up her favourite mug and held it close.”

Misty stood there with a blank expression. Of course she was only concerned about her mug. She wasn’t even shocked anymore. Anytime something like this happened there was no concern for her from Opaline. Unless she was the one holding her favourite mane brush for example.

“Did Misty hurt you?” Opaline stared daggers at Misty “Ugh Misty can’t you ever do anything right! Are you really that incapable of the simple task of making…” She looked at the burnt mess. “At making whatever that is supposed to be!?”

“Brownies…”

“BROWNIES?” She gave a loud and disappointing sigh. “It’s like you have no common sense Misty!” She throws the burnt mess into the trash beside the oven. “Now clean this mess up, and do not disturb me!” Opaline trotted back upstairs, leaving Misty alone once again.

“Well that was a disaster…” She sighed. Would she even have enough time to make something again? She flipped through the pages of the book and found there was only one thing she would be able to make.

“Cookies again it is… Just.. with no tears!”

If only she had read the recipe correctly this time.

“Sunny!” Izzy’s voice sang as she trotted towards her best friend, who was looking in the mirror styling her mane for the date. Her unicorn magic was carrying a small box.

“Hey Izzy, what’s this?” Sunny turned away from her reflection and inspected the box the unicorn had given her.

“A good luck present for your date! Bridlewood tradition.” She grinned. Sunny opened the box and there was a brand new mane accessory. “It is made from the finest crystals back home. Oh, and I also recited a good luck story to wear off the jinxies!”

Izzy’s Bridlewood traditions confused Sunny at times. Before ponies were unified she had never heard of someone reading a story to a present, but to each their own! Sunny took the mane accessory and put it in her freshly styled mane. The pink went perfectly with her hair. It even glowed!

“I love it, Izzy! Thank you!” She smiled, giving her friend a hug.

“You must be so excited for your date with Misty! Even I am excited and I’m not even the pony going on it!” Izzy bounced around the room, clearly happy for her two friends.

“I am! I’ve never met a pony like Misty before! I feel like singing her name! This is going to be so amazing!”

The two continued to chat about how exciting the date was going to be, until they almost lost track of time.

“Okay, Misty is going to be here any minute. I can barely hold in my excitement!” Sunny exclaimed as she paced around the entrance of the Brighthouse.

The rest of her friends were there supporting her. However Zipp still couldn’t shake the feeling that something was wrong. Unfortunately she couldn’t put her hoof on what it was just yet…

Hitch stood there feeling happy that Sunny had found some pony to make her happy, but had a small feeling the same as Zipp. Things were unusual.

Before any pony could question anything further, the doorbell rang.

Author's Note

So Zipp and Hitch have a feeling something weird is going on...

Next chapter will be Misty and Sunny's date! Wonder if it was a bad idea to bake cookies?...