“OOOH! What did you do next, Twilight? Did you go on a date?” Zap Apple couldn’t wait to hear the next part of the story, even though the fire was nearly out, and as her father was well aware, it was way past her bedtime.

“I’ll tell you all about it, but only if your parents are ok with you staying up a little bit later than usual, little filly.” Rarity directed the comment more to Big Mac and Rainbow Dash than the excited little pony in front of her.

“Just this once, Zap, you can stay up a little late ok?” Dash told her daughter, who jumped up with excitement.

“After a few days of awkwardly avoiding each other, we had planned to have a quiet picnic by starlight. However, we had forgotten about the downpour that had been scheduled that night, so we ended up staying inside the library instead. Neither of us were sure yet how Spike would react, so we planned to have the whole thing happen the night he was at a sleepover with a few friends of his. It was all very fun!”

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This time, Twilight was expecting Rarity’s knock. “Come in!” she called musically. The princess had spent almost every minute of her day cleaning for tonight. In her opinion, she wasn’t nearly done, but as usual, the purple alicorn was worrying too much.

“I’m guessing Spike has left for his sleepover already, dear?” Before Rarity could receive an answer, she simply had to let Twilight know how fantastic the library looked. Every shelf, every book, every scroll, every note, every artifact, every inch was spotless and covered in dim candlelight of many hues, some whites, some purples, some blues, some greens, some reds, some oranges, some yellows, some of everything. Calling tonight a date had suddenly become a drastic understatement. “Oh my! Divine, simply divine! It’s marvelous what you’ve done with the place! And all for me? Oh, you shouldn’t have, darling. You shouldn’t have.”

“Oh come here you!” Twilight couldn’t stand one more second of praise. She kissed the white unicorn tenderly, as she had wanted to for the past few days. Twilight didn’t know why her special somepony was avoiding her for so long, but now that she was here, the purple mare didn’t really care. “Of course I did it for you! Who else would be worth all this trouble?”

Rarity levitated the picnic basket and blanket she had been carrying on her back out onto the library floor. “I hope you’re ready to eat, dear. After spending all day preparing it, smelling it, testing it, oh, I’m famished! I don’t think I’ve worked so hard on a meal in my life! First, we have a slightly over the top salad with 3 different kinds of lettuce, spinach, carrots, onions, cherry tomatoes, and for an extra crunch, some homemade, lightly salted potato chips, which I am very proud of I must say, in a sweet mustard vinaigrette.” Twilight couldn’t believe just how extravagant her new love had gone with what was supposed to be a simple picnic. However, it seemed like the generous mare still wasn’t finished. “Next, we have a few slices of marble rye toast with your choice or grape or apple jam, and for the main course, so simple and my absolute favorite, boiled artichokes with lemon butter dip.”

“Geez, Rarity! And I thought the candles were going too over the top! Was it too hard to have a normal picnic?” Twilight joked, visibly in awe of the excellent food in front of her.

The white unicorn looked puzzled, obviously taking her love’s sarcasm too literally. “For you, dear? That simply wouldn’t do. You’re too important for normal picnics. You deserve the. Best. Possible. Picnic!” With her last word, Rarity put her hooves around Twilight and gave her a quick kiss on the forehead, then another on her cheek, and finally just kissed her lips like she had wanted to in the first place. “You deserve the best.”

The pair lied on the picnic blanket and started to eat. Rarity knew her purple love was enjoying her meal; Twilight didn’t speak a single word until she was finished, and the alicorn princess practically licked her plates clean. It may not have been very ladylike, but at least she loved the food. “Wow Rarity, that was amazing! I’ve gotten so used to boiling noodles every night that I had forgotten what a home cooked meal had tasted like! I can’t wait to taste what you can do for a dessert!”

“Now I love looking at a well fed flank just as much as the next mare, but slow down, love, or yours might just explode! Especially if you don’t eat that well already! Eating noodles every night? That simply won’t do! I insist you come over for dinner from now on, dear.” Rarity may have led off her concern with a joke, but she was fairly serious about the possibility of Twilight’s figure getting a bit out of hoof. A sudden change of diet can work both ways, after all.

“Please Rarity, it’s our first date, and you’re already offering to make me dinner from now on? If I get fat, I think the blame lies with you at this point… Besides, you’re the one who went overboard with the food tonight!” Twilight may have been getting a bit defensive against her marshmallow lover’s joke, but she was right.

“It may have been a special night, dear, but I assure you dinner wasn’t nearly as much trouble as you think it was. I could make meals like this every night for you, and if you become Equestria’s fattest mare, I’ll love you anyway.” Rarity stated nervously, trying not to upset her special somepony. Even if it was true, she’d rather not be the cause of Twilight’s figure becoming… Blobby.

“And as long as I kept eating your food, I’d be happy. However, I’d rather not become the princess of gluttony, if that’s fine with you.” Twilight joked back. “Come on, Rarity, I can tell you worked very hard to make this food perfect. Thank you, love.”

Rarity packed all of the dishes back into her basket, neatly folded the blanket in mid air, and turned towards the door. “Aren’t you going to walk me out, love?”

“What do you mean?” Twilight questioned in a very confused tone. “It’s still raining outside! You can’t leave!”

“I brought my umbrella just in case of this, dear.” The white mare hovered her exquisite accessory ever so lightly out of the picnic basket, and was about to unfold it when Twilight interrupted her.

“Wait!” Twilight trotted towards Rarity to make sure she didn’t leave just yet. “We have the entire library to ourselves; why don’t you just stay here tonight?”

“I… I… Well I… I just--”

“ Please, Rarity? I know it’s got to be freezing out there; I don’t want you to have to walk home though that storm. I insist.” Twilight put Rarity’s umbrella back into her basket, and then set it and the blanket carefully on the floor. “It’s starting to even get cold in here! I could use somepony to cuddle with…” Twilight nuzzled Rarity’s neck in such a way that it sent a tingle down the marshmallow unicorn’s spine.

“Ok, dear, I’ll stay; it is getting awfully frigid…” Rarity said with a smile, and kissed her special purple somepony on the cheek. “I hope you have blankets big enough for the both of us. Oh my, I almost forgot how dreadfully small your bed is, darling. Could I bother you to help me move your spare bed next to it?”

Twilight sighed and rolled her eyes. “Anything for you, my princess!”

“Oh, well, if it’s too much of a bother, perhaps I can manage…”

“I was only kidding, Rarity.” Twilight gave her marshmallow mare a loving peck on the forehead. “Let's hurry up, though. All this time I’m spending not cuddling is making me cranky.”