Several days passed, and the two boys (or rather, stallions) grew more and more used to their new environment. Both Lightning Star and Sketch had earned more than decent amounts of money for their new jobs, and the future was looking bright for them. It was Friday afternoon, and both stallions returned home from work.

“Okay, Sketch,” said Lightning. “I’m gonna be meeting up with Pinkie Pie at seven tonight. I won’t be back until… maybe midnight.”

“Okay. I’m gonna be going out tonight, too, but I’ll probably be back before you,” said Sketch.

“Really? What are you gonna be doing?” asked the pegasus.

“Well…” said the unicorn. “Applejack kind of asked me out to dinner earlier this week.”

“How much earlier are we talking?”

“Monday…”

“And you kept this from me why?”

“Because you’d go on about how you ‘knew that I had a thing for AJ,’ and I’d never hear the end of it.”

“If you didn’t have a thing for AJ, you wouldn’t be going out with her tonight.”

“It’s not like it’s a legitimate date,” Sketch said defensively. “She just wants to get to know me a little better.”

“Ohhhhhhhhh,” said Lighting. “So I guess she has a thing for you.”

“Just because she wants to get to know me?”

“No, because she wants to get to know you over dinner.”

Sketch rolled his eyes. “I knew I’d never hear the end of it from you. Anyway, I’m going to be meeting Applejack at around seven-thirty. It’s nothing fancy, just the local diner.”

“That sounds like her,” said Lightning. “You paying? It is the gentlemanly thing to do.”

“She might not want me to pay, but I’m going to be bringing enough bits with me, just in case,” said the unicorn.

“Sounds like a plan,” said the pegasus. “You’re not gonna bring your sketchbook with you, are you?”

“I thought about it, and I decided that I can leave it at home, for once,” he answered.

Just then, there was a knock on the door. Lightning went over to answer it, and was surprised to see Derpy at the door.

“Hey, Derpy,” he said. “Didn’t you give us our mail already?”

“Yeah, but two more packages just came in for you,” she explained. “I had to get the truck to bring them over.”

“You didn’t drive the truck, did you?” Sketch said, approaching the door.

“Oh, no!” she said laughing. “My supervisor would NEVER let me drive the truck!” She then turned around and called out to some other delivery ponies behind them. “Bring ‘em in, boys!”

The delivery ponies then carried out two huge packages one for Lightning, and one for Sketch. “Where do you’s two want these?”

“Um… just set them out front. We’ll take care of them,” said Lightning.

“Okay then,” said the other delivery pony. They set the packages at the foot of the front porch and then they left with Derpy.

“What do you think they are?” asked Sketch.

“Let’s find out,” said Lightning. He approached the packages and carefully used his blade to cut them open. He and Sketch were surprised to see that inside the packages were two motorcycles! The one that was in Lightning’s package was white with blue streaks of lightning on the sides. The one that was in Sketch’s package wasn’t as flashy; a simple dark blue accented with orange.

“Pinkie is gonna be so impressed when she see me pull up in this bad boy!” said Lightning.

“I’d still rather walk,” said Sketch. “If I showed up in this, AJ would probably assume that I’m trying to woo her.”

“I see what you mean…” said the pegasus.

That night, Lightning left the house before Sketch, taking his bike with him. He zoomed off to Sugarcube Corner, excited to take Pinkie Pie out. When he got there, she was already waiting outside for him.

“Sweet ride!” she said as he pulled up to her.

“Thanks! Just got it today,” said Lightning. “So, ready to go? I got you a pink helmet.”

“Aww! That’s so sweet!” the mare said as she pecked the stallion on the cheek, causing him to blush. “Let’s go. I know the hottest dance club in Ponyville!”

The two ponies sped off to the place that Pinkie had in mind. It seemed to be a regular building, but there was a pretty long line. Despite that, Pinkie took Lightning to the front of the line and flashed what looked like a special pass to the bouncer.

“Hey, Chuck!” she said. “This guy’s with me.”

“Gotcha, Pink!” said the bouncer. He happily let the two ponies inside. Beyond the door was a downwards staircase, which the climbed down to another door.

“So you have a VIP pass to this place?” asked Lightning.

“I have a VIP pass to a lot of clubs in Ponyville and out,” she said with a smile before opening the door.

Once the door opened, the music came blasting out from inside. “This is gonna be awesome!” Lightning shouted, although he couldn’t even hear himself. The two ponies danced, had a few drinks, and Pinkie introduced Lightning to the club’s guest DJ, DJ Pon-3. After they left, Lightning took Pinkie to the park.

“Kinda weird that we’re at the park when it’s minutes to midnight,” said the mare.

“It’s great for getting some alone time,” said the stallion.

“For what? Kissing?” she asked.

“Maybe,” he said.

“Well, sorry! I don’t kiss on the first date!” she said with a laugh.

“I can deal with that,” said Lightning, although in his mind, he was pretty disappointed. “Ready to go home?” he asked.

“While I would like to spend more time with you, I think I should go home,” she said.

Lightning and Pinkie Pie went back to Sugarcube corner, where the stallion dropped the mare off. He then sped off back home.

Sketch left the house at about quarter after seven to meet Applejack in the town square. At first he was worried about not making a first good impression because he didn’t have a car, then he remembered that he was going out with Applejack, the type of mare that wouldn’t mind walking. He immediately calmed down after realizing that.

Sketch arrived at the town square just minutes before seven thirty, and he saw that Applejack was already there.

“Hey, AJ,” he said to her. “I didn’t keep you waiting too long, did I?”

“Nah,” she said. “Ah’ve only been here for a few minutes. Ready t’ go?”

“Sure,” he said.

The two ponies made their way to the diner, and the wait to be seated was unusually short for a Friday night. As they got seated and waited for a waiter or waitress to come and take their order, they decided to kill time by talking.

“Y’know, my brother, Big McIntosh, was a might concerned about me goin’ out with you tonight,” Applejack said with a chuckle.

“It makes sense,” said Sketch. “You are his little sister, and he’s never met me. It’s a guy’s instinct to protect.”

“It’s not just that,” she said.

“What do you mean?” he asked.

“Well, when Ah go out apple buckin’, Ah usually wear clothes that are on the skimpy side so Ah don’t get too hot, so sometimes Ah attract unwanted attention from stallions that pass by the farm,” AJ explained. “Whenever Big Mac catches ‘em starin’, they take off lickety-split, tails between their legs.” The mare chuckles at the memories of her brother chasing off various oglers.

“It must be pretty annoying,” said Sketch. “Has anypony tried to approach you directly?”

“There was this one stallion that tried t’ flirt with me a few months ago,” she said. “Ah’d rather not go into it, but let’s just say that he learned his lesson. Well, enough ‘bout me. What about you, sugarcube? When did you first start doin’ the whole art thing?”

“To be honest, I can’t even remember,” he answered. “I’ve always been interested in cartoons and comics, so I thought it would be cool to make my own. I tend to look at the world in a different way that other peop- ahem, ponies.”

“I guess that attracts the mares, huh?” asked Applejack.

“Actually, no. I’ve always had trouble with the opposite sex,” admitted the unicorn. “This is actually the first time I’ve been out with a mare.”

“Really?” she asked, surprised. “Ah wasn’t expectin’ that.”

“Well, it’s true,” said Sketch. “It never really bothered me though. A lot of the girls I’ve met growing up were really superficial, but you’re different. You’re really down to earth, and you’re not afraid to tell it like it is.”

“I guess that’s why Ah’m the element of honesty,” she said with a chuckle.

At that point, the waitress finally arrived to take Sketch and Applejack’s orders. As the night went on, the two ponies continued to learn more about each other, enjoying the dinner as well. After they received the bill, Sketch took out his wallet, but Applejack stopped him.

“Uh, uh, uh, partner,” she said. “Ah invited ya t’ dinner, so Ah’m gonna be pickin’ up the tab t’night.”

“Oh, really?” he asked. “Well, that’s really nice of you.”

“Don’t mention it,” she said.

As the two ponies walked out of the diner, Sketch decided to be bold. “Mind if I walk you home?” he asked.

“Not at all,” said Applejack.

So, Sketch took AJ back to her home, where her brother was waiting. Seeing him made the unicorn’s heart skip a beat, as he looked at the large stallion in fear. Noticing how nervous Sketch was, she shooed Big Mac inside the house, which he did, but not before he shot a suspicious look at Sketch.

“Don’t mind him,” said Applejack. “Ah had a real nice time t’night.”

“Me too,” said the unicorn.

AJ smiled, then leaned forward to kiss Sketch on the cheek, making him blush. “G’night,” she said.

“Night,” he said back. Applejack chuckled, then walked into her house, and Sketch walked back to his house. By then, it was minutes to ten, so he had a few hours to himself before Lightning Star got home.

Lightning came home at around quarter after midnight. When he got inside, he saw Sketch looking through what looked like a pile of video games.

“Where did you get all those games?” he asked.

“After poking around the house some more, I found them in a box,” said the unicorn. “These are all the video games we had in our old universe, only with ponies, and some of the titles are different, too.”

“Cool, how did your date go?” asked Lightning.

“It wasn't a date,” said Sketch, “but it went pretty well. I got to know AJ a little better.”

“You think you might like her?”

“Still too early to tell.” In actuality, Sketch was starting to think that he might have feelings for Applejack, but he just didn’t want to admit it.

“Okay, then,” said Lightning. “My date went great, but Pinkie didn’t kiss me.”

“Don’t you think you’re going a little too fast?” the unicorn asked.

“Don’t you think you’re going a little too slow?” the pegasus retorted.

“Touche,” he said. “Well, tomorrow’s Saturday, so we can get a good gaming session in.”

“Can’t wait!” said Lightning.