Dating the debatably divine came with a number of perks and at least as many issues. Foremost among the latter was the recognition factor. Nothing put a damper on a date quite like petitioners prostrating themselves before one's girlfriend. Twilight imagined it was something like being part of a celebrity couple, only the fans and paparazzi got rolled into one. (Most of them, anyway. A few genuine gossipmongers still hovered around Sunset in the hopes of the scoop of the century.)

That was where one of the perks came in. Unicorn aspect magic wasn't one-to-one with pony spellcasting, but it was similar enough that Sunset had easily ported over a number of spells, including a perception filter that kept people from consciously registering the two of them as important enough to bother or bother with. Neither Twilight nor Sunset was entirely comfortable with screwing with onlookers' minds like that, but the alternatives were all illusions, and a being composed partially of Honesty found that more discomforting.

Also, the disguise spells kept giving Twilight her mother's coloration, and that was just creepy.

Thus the two were able to enjoy a simple lunch date at the local Hey! Burger in peace.

"Fried hay," said Twilight.

Well, peace from external interruptions anyway.

Sunset held her transmuted order close to her, as though protecting it from Twilight's protestations. "It's a lot better than it sounds."

"Fried. Hay."

Sunset shrugged. "Honestly, frying's optional. Why do you think I like celery so much? One of the first things I did after I could spare enough focus to manifest a body was alter it to digest cellulose properly."

Twilight looked back and forth between Sunset and what had become of her order. "Dried pasture grasses that are then dropped in simmering oil."

"I've already told you about the daisy sandwiches, and this is what trips you up?"

"'Daisy' is actually a very taxonomically vague term. Some human-edible flowers are called daisies. But frying hay..." Twillight sputtered for a moment as all the objections tried to come out at once. The winner was "Why even bother making hay?"

Sunset smirked. "The sun shone."

"Ha. But couldn't you just fry the grass without the extra step?"

"Couldn't you just fry a side of beef without grinding it and who knows what else into a pink slurry first?"

Twilight pouted. "Don't you badmouth my slurry."

Both giggled at that for a few moments. "It's not like the average Hayburger springs for the best stuff available," Sunset said afterwards. "Fast food is fast food no matter what the universe; you get what you pay for, but first they slather it in grease so you don't notice."

"About that. Putting aside the parallels between the chains and how much fat an equine sophont might actually crave—"

"I've seen Princess Celestia's cake vaults, Twilight. Trust me, it's a lot."

"Cake vaults? Plural?" Twilight shook her head. "Putting that aside, is 'Hayburger' literal?"

Sunset tilted her head in thought. "How do you mean?"

"Is a hayburger an actual patty made of hay, or is there some town called Hayburg somewhere in Equestria?"

"Both."

Twilight sighed. "I'm not even remotely surprised. At least tell me the patties are grilled."

"Of course." Sunset held up a box that had contained potatoes a few minutes before. "Hay fries are a side dish. It'd be like making a sandwich full of nothing but onion rings."

"Yes." Twilight cleared her throat and straightened up in her seat. "That is definitely something no one has ever done."

A loaded tray hit the front counter. "Order 78!"

"Oh, that's—" Sunset blinked as the order teleported in front of a salivating Twilight. "You know, the perception filter works best when we don't draw attention to ourselves."

"I specifically ordered separately from you because I knew how long mine would take. I am starving right now. Let me have this." And with that, Twilight began to feast, magic tearing off wrappers, gathering ketchup from across the restaurant, and otherwise contributing to the obliteration of her meal.

Sunset watched in silent horror for a few moments. "A non-negligible part of me wants to blast you with rainbows for what you're doing to those poor, innocent sandwiches. Just saying."

"Can't talk," Twilight said around her latest mouthful. "Brain needs calories."

Lemon Hearts blinked. "Huh."

"What is it?" her roommate said as she lay on her bed.

"Sunset Shimmer posted something in the 4-S MyStable group."

That got Moondancer to look away from her textbook. "Why is she posting something in the Shot-Down Sparkle Suitors Society?"

"It's a video. The caption just reads 'This is what you're missing out on.'"

Moondancer scowled as she got up and moved to get a better view. "I didn't think the spirit of Harmony would be capable of trolling the less fortuna—"

She paused halfway to the laptop. Anyone would when faced with the sounds of such... enthusiastic mastication.

"Holy bark," said Lemon Hearts, her face pale and unable to look away.

Moondancer completed the journey and nodded as her suspicions were confirmed. "You didn't say it was a video of Twilight eating." She noted Lemon's attention on her. "What? Don't you remember Minuette's twelfth birthday party?"

Lemon's complexion approached that of a lime. "I do now."