Max slowly ran a comb through his damp hair, wearing nothing but a towel around his waist as he stood in front of his bathroom mirror. Normally, he'd let his hair do whatever it pleased, but he figured the lazy and unkempt look would make for a bad first impression on his blind date.

Satisfied with his―in his mind―sexy and handsome-looking comb over, Max turned his head to each side, double checking to make sure everything was in perfect order. He felt around his chin and cheeks with his hand, seeing if he missed any stubble while shaving.

“Not bad...” Max said, nodding and grinning at the handsome gentleman staring back at him.

Max flexed his arm in and out, showing off his physique to no one but himself. All things considered, he thought he was in great shape thanks to his demanding job. However, he figured he could stand to gain a little more muscle, especially around his midsection.

“Any mare would be a fool to reject all of this!” Max boasted with a cocky grin, sucking in his stomach as he made a few more macho poses. Once he was done feeding his own ego, he relaxed his body, then chuckled, shaking his head at his foolishness. He knew the reality of the situation, and quickly reminded himself of it to prevent future heartbreak. If there was anything he had learned from all of his failed dates, it was that he should never get his hopes up.

With a heavy sigh, Max exited his bathroom and made his way into his bedroom closet, all the while contemplating who his blind date could possibly be. Throwing his towel to the side and putting on a simple, white dress shirt, he wondered if Lightning had a sister or a cousin that he was unaware of. Maybe they were looking for a partner like he was and Lightning was trying to set him up with them.

Max tried to picture what one of Lightning's siblings might look like as he buttoned up his shirt, finding it easy to picture them being just as beautiful as she was. It was a farfetched scenario, but deep down he hoped something like that might happen. He knew Lightning well enough to know that she didn’t really have any siblings, but that didn’t stop him from pretending.

Letting his fantasy about dating Lightning’s nonexistent sister run wild in his mind, Max took his only navy blue suit and dress pants off their hanger, then started to dress himself. Once finished, he glided over to his dresser and opened a small drawer where he kept all of his neckties. He glanced over his small collection, then reached in to pick out the light blue one that featured little seahorses and bubbles on it, knowing that it was one of Lightning’s favorites. He was about to put it on but stopped himself, thinking twice about wearing such a ridiculous item for his blind date.

“What am I thinking?” Max chuckled lightly as he exchanged the goofy tie for a more neutral and monochromatic, light blue one. “I don't think my date would appreciate me wearing something so ridiculous,” he mused, using the dresser mirror to help him put on his more adult-looking tie. He paused, however, once he heard a knock at the door. He looked over to his alarm clock next to his bed, seeing it was about ten minutes after seven. “Huh... she’s late...”

“Be right there!” Max called as he finished adjusting his tie, then straightened his suit. Satisfied with how he looked after glancing over himself one last time, he turned towards his bed where a bouquet of roses lay resting on top of his pillow. He’d gotten them after work, knowing that most ponies in Equestria loved them. He hoped that his mystery date would continue that general trend.

Max picked up the flowers and made his way to the door before pausing. He closed his eyes and mentally prepared himself for the worst, but he did his best to stay positive. Even if this date was doomed to end like all the others, he was going to enjoy his time out. Perhaps, if he was lucky, he would make another friend after all this. He figured if that happened, then he would consider the night somewhat of a success.

Not wanting to keep his date waiting any longer, Max opened the door, putting on the best, genuine smile he could muster.

“Hello!” Max said somewhat awkwardly. He held out the bouquet of roses in front of him in hopes that the mare would see those first. “My name’s Max, and you must... be... my...” His words trailed off into nothing and his eyes widened once he saw who was waiting for him on the other side.

A blue-green pegasus stood on his welcome mat, smiling up at him with glossy, light-peach colored lips. She was wearing a stunning red dress that looked as though it was made of glittery silk bandages that wrapped around her chest, all seemingly being held together by a single gold ring that rested just below her neck. Her skirt looked as though it was made from some kind of shiny, see through material, but it was hard to tell from the dim light of the rising moon.

At first glance, the mare at his doorstep looked almost exactly like Lightning Dust, but that couldn’t be right. For one, she was wearing a light layer of eyeliner that highlighted her bright amber eyes, something that the Lightning he knew would never do. Secondly, her mane was actually brushed out, leaving shimmering strands of amber and gold that gracefully fell over her forehead while the back swept up and around her neck in an adorable half-curl that pointed back towards her eyes.

For the briefest of moments, Max started to believe that his fantasy about Lightning having a sibling was coming true, but he quickly noticed a tacky winter scarf around the mare's neck, letting him know that this was indeed his best friend.

“I already know your name, dumbass,” Lightning teased, holding back a laugh before tilting her head to the side curiously as she stared at the bouquet of roses being held out in front of her. “Are those for me?”

“I-I... uhhh,” Max muttered dumbly as he tried to piece his brain back together, still stunned at how surprisingly girly and... sexy his friend looked. She was always pretty in his eyes, but this was on a whole new level.

“What’s wrong? Cat got your tongue?” Lightning teased in a sultry voice with a knowing smirk.

“You... you look amazing!” Max blurted out, somewhat louder than he would’ve liked.

“You think so?!” Lightning shouted excitedly, her eyes lighting up with joy as a small blush appeared on her cheeks. She flew into the air, letting her dress dangle below her before slowly twirling around to show herself off.

Max got a better look at Lightning’s attire as she spun in the air. He could see that her skirt was indeed made from some kind of red, see-through material that glimmered and shined in the moonlight, leaving her whole lower half fully exposed. He knew that ponies always walked around naked, but for some reason, being able to see Lightnings perfectly sculpted and toned backside through a light veil of cloth and glitter was exciting to him. It pushed all kinds of buttons deep within his psyche that he didn’t even know he had, causing him to start sweating under his suit a little bit.

Perfect flanks aside, she was simply breathtaking.

“I saw this dress in the shop a while ago and I knew I just had to get it!” Lightning continued happily, facing Max while still hovering in the air in front of him. “I thought it would look really good on me and figured it would be perfect for tonight!”

It was kind of bizarre for Max to see Lightning so enthusiastic about something so girly, but he was too distracted by her beauty to give it a second thought. She did have a point though. Her blue-green coat really helped the dress pop off her figure and gave off a subtle sense of confidence that he thought matched her personality perfectly.

“It’s wonderful!” Max shouted quickly, but then awkwardly coughed into his hand once he realized how loud he said that. “I mean, it’s really... well, it's just you!”

“You’re looking pretty sharp yourself there, stud,” Lightning teased with a cheeky grin, wiggling her eyebrows at him in a suggestive manner. She opened her mouth as if she was about to say something else, but hesitated once she got a better look at Max's well-groomed hair.

“What?” Max asked curiously, wondering why she was hesitating. “What’s with the look?”

Lightning said nothing as she furrowed her brow in deep concentration, humming to herself as she slowly floated closer to Max’s head.

Max started to lean away from Lightning as she continued to invade more and more of his personal space. “What are you―”

Before he could finish his sentence, Lightning quickly grabbed his head, then began to rub her forehooves deep into his well-groomed hair.

“Hey!” Max shouted, trying to bat Lightning away with the hand that wasn’t holding the roses.

“There,” Lightning said, letting go of his head before flying back to get a better look at him. “That's more like it.”

“What the hell was that for!?” Max shouted in surprise, running a hand through his hair, feeling how messy it was now. It felt a lot closer to how he would normally wear it. “That took me forever to get right!”

Lightning simply giggled at him, but frowned in disappointment once she saw the tie he had around his neck. “Awww,” she practically whined. “Why didn’t you wear your seahorse tie? I really like that one...”

“Seahorse?” Max questioned dumbly, still running a hand through his hair before realising what she meant. “Oh, I just, umm... didn’t think my date tonight would like it.” As he said that, he realized that his date hadn't shown up yet. Nopony was around, except for Lightning, which was confusing. He wasn’t sure why she was there, but he figured she wanted to tag along to make sure everything went perfectly so she would win her bits. But if that was the case, then where was this mystery mare?

Max scanned the empty stretch of road behind Lightning, seeing nopony else for miles.

“Say, umm... Dusty?” Max asked softly, looking back to her.

“Yes?” Lightning answered, tilting her head cutely, causing a few strands of her brushed out mane to fall in front of her face.

“Where’s my date?”

Lightning stared at Max blankly for a while, as if she was trying to figure him out. After a short moment of awkward silence, she scrunched up her muzzle and bit her bottom lip, trying to hold in a laugh but failed. She tilted back before bursting into a fit of laughter, holding her belly while her hind legs kicked out uncontrollably.

Max just gave her a confused look. “What's so funny?”

Lightning stifled her laughter, then looked back to Max, seeing the puzzled look on his face. “Wait... Are you being serious?”

“Uhh, yeah...” Max said with slight annoyance. “You said she’d meet me here tonight.”

“Dude...” Lightning said, giving him a look like it should’ve been obvious. “I am your date!”

“You’re my date?” Max questioned dumbly, frowning as he processed what Lightning had just said. His eyes slowly started to widen once it became increasingly more clear what was going on, causing him to shout quite loudly, “You’re my date?!”

“Well, duh!” Lightning said while rolling her eyes. “Now come on, we gotta hurry! I told Moonshine we’d be at the inn a while ago!”

“W-wait, but I thought you were... aren’t you...” Max babbled as his mind kicked into overdrive, trying to comprehend what was currently happening.

“Come on!” Lightning shouted happily, grabbing his free hand and flying backwards, pulling the confused human along with her. “Let's go! You can continue to be a dumbass when we get to the inn!”

“W-wait a minute! ” Max said, clutching the bouquet of roses tightly while he tried to free himself from Lightning's grasp, but it was no use. His nice dress shoes kept slipping on the icy ground, allowing him to be easily dragged off into the night by the smaller pegasus.

Author's Notes:

Holy YAY!! I can't believe it was Lightning all along! I had my money on Cheerilee this whole time! Did you guys know that Lightning was going to be Max's date!?!? What a shock!

Anyways... I'm so sorry I was gone for so long! I bet you all forgot about this story by now. But that is my own fault. I was so busy working on art (that I can't show you yet) and other commission for people, so I had little to no time for writing.

I know this chapter is really small, but I wanted to put something out so you guys knew I was still alive and working on this story. The next chapter will be a LOT longer I promise! I'm already about 30% into it, so it wont take me as long to post it like this one did. The next chapter is going to be a lot of fun! Lightning and Max have a LOT to talk about.

So, I know I posted a picture of Lightning in this chapter already, but I wanted to post this one of her for you guys as well. I just wanted to show her off with out the tacky scarf because I think she looks so much better with out it, lol... enjoy!

Also, if you guys want, you can check on chapter progression over here. I'll be updating this blog as often as I can so you guys can see where the chapter is at and how close the new one is to being done.

As always, don't be afraid to point out mistakes. I like to fix them for future readers! And let me know your thoughts! I love to hear from you guys!