I finished the story on Thursday, so that I could spend Friday preparing. It was about a forest in the West with a tribe of ponies living in it. I had no idea where I was going with it, but I bet I would figure it out by next Saturday.

    I could hardly care less tonight. Because tonight, I had a date.

    The entire morning, I had washed my coat and mane in Silver Lake, past the suburbs of Canterlot and relatively close to Cloudsdale. I only went there because I heard that that lake had the cleanest water in Equestria. I needed to be perfect for tonight.

    I got Rarity to help me with my suit. I sat through two hours of endless talking about fashion and who-cares-what-else, but it was all worth it, because the suit she made me was the best (and only) pony-related piece of clothing that I'd ever seen. It fit perfectly. Not too fancy - not too casual. I didn't even know that Rarity was capable of not going over the edge.

    When I finally went out to pick up Ditzy, I looked great. My mane was styled, my tannish coat was shiny, and my suit was excellent. I knocked on the door with my hoof. The door opened, and there stood a beautiful, blonde, derpy-eyed pony.

    She was wearing a light green dress and her mane was a little combed. When she saw me, her eyes rolled a bit. "Oh, hi, Star!" she said, smiling.

    I blushed. "You look great tonight, Ditzy." I meant it.

    She smiled, and her wings ruffled a bit. "Thanks," she replied, "you too." I could only hope she meant it.

    I took her hand, trying to steady myself. I led her to the rented carriage, and opened the door to let her in. I essentially did everything much smoother than I had in high school.

    We sat next to each other in the carriage as it floated along to the Tapestry Grill. Ditzy spoke first. "I heard you got a job."

    How did she hear - I shook my head a bit, trying to concentrate. "Yeah, I'm writing for a newspaper...ish... thing."

    She giggled, and I blushed. "I'm trying to hold three jobs together, and it's hard to do." She giggled again, her left eye rolling a bit. "It's a good thing I work for muffins."

    "You... wait, what?"

    "Yeah, my parents paid the house off before they died. I'm not in debt to anypony."

    I remembered back. Damn, she had such a big house, too! And in Cloudsdale, no less. "But - but how do you eat?"

    She closed her eyes. "Umm... I'm paid in muffins by the company, but... Oh yeah! People give me food as tips!"

    I was absolutely thunderstruck. Anypony else, and I would've thought they were lying. But, I suppose, only Ditzy Doo can live on muffins and tips.

    I burst out laughing. When I saw the look on Ditzy's face, though, I stopped myself. She looked really down. I blushed furiously. "No, I - I wasn't laughing at you, I - I just remembered something funny."

    She brightened up almost immediately. "Oh, okay!"

    I forced myself not to smile. Was everypony around here like Pinkie Pie??

    We arrived at the Tapestry Grill momentarily. I tipped the driver an apple and he accepted it gratefully (I honestly thought it wasn't going to work) and I followed Ditzy into the restaurant.

    I walked up to the maitre d' and requested our tables. I made a reservation a week in advance. "Two for Falling Star, please."

    When we were seated, Ditzy began to look over the menu. "Wow! Look at the selection here!"

    I was confused. "I thought you said you've been here before."

    She blushed a little bit, and sighed. "I haven't... exactly ever been to a restaurant before."

    I tried not to stare. I wonder how old she'd been when here parents died? Hadn't they ever taken her to restaurants as a child? Then, a question popped into my head.

    "Ditzy." I said, and she turned to me. "Is this your first date?"

    She seemed embarrassed, but responded, "Yes."

    I didn't say anything, but must have looked confused, because she elaborated: "Well, it just seems like guys don't really take any interest in me. It's been that way all throughout school and since."

    I felt really bad for some reason. We were silent for a little while. Then she asked me, "Is this your first date?"

    "As a pony-" I clapped a hoof over my mouth. Dammit!

    But Ditzy didn't catch on. Wow, I thought, that is so sweet. I seemed to fall for dumb people as a human, and I guess it hasn't changed as a pony. I just hoped this date wouldn't end up like the others.

    "Oh yeah!" she said, and snapped... her... hoof? I was about to ask how she did that, but she continued. "You said you would tell me the wing story."

    We sat in the dimly-lit restaurant for almost two hours, laughing and talking until we had pretty much started loitering. Eventually, the maitre d' asked us to leave.

    We returned to Ditzy's home first. I walked her out to her door, as we were still talking. By now we had moved past the wing story and we moved to a muffin conversation. We stood in front of the door for a while, just talking and laughing and having a good time. When I heard the carriage driver became impatient, though, we stopped speaking for a second.

    "I had a great time tonight," Ditzy said, smiling broadly. "Can we do this again next week?" I nodded. She reached up to kiss my cheek, and disappeared behind the cloud door.

    I stepped back a bit, smiled, and took off into the night, leaving the carriage to return to... wherever it was going. I was so happy right then. I did things that I wouldn't be able to in any other occasion, like flips and twirls. I laughed into the night sky, before quieting down to return home. I didn't want to wake Dashie.

    When I passed her room, though, I heard her speak. "Good date, Dad?"

    I smiled. "I'll tell you in the morning." Next Chapter: Chapter Ten - Approval Estimated time remaining: 1 Hour, 8 Minutes