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Pink Lemonade was applying the last of her make-up and staring critically at herself in the mirror. A turn of her head to the right, then to left and one last dab of rouge on her cheeks and she was perfect. She smiled at herself and then left the bathroom, marching out in search of her boyfriend. "Midnight, I’m ready. Shall we be off?"

She’d booked them dinner at a nice restaurant, left Cloud Nine to her brother and Sunny to handle and was looking forward to finally going on a proper date. They even had the morning and afternoon off, so she didn’t have to worry about not keeping him up too late. Sure, they lived and worked together but there was hardly any romance in that. It was important to maintain a proper relationship, and just like in business, that required dedication.

"Mid?"

Maybe there were other things on her mind than just a good time, but she’d let that come to its logical conclusion in due time.

Pink Lemonade trotted into the room and took in his appearance with a quick glance, followed by a quick but approving nod. "You look lovely. That vest really suits you." Of course it did, she’d picked it out. PL decided to keep it simple for herself, with a nice silk scarf with blue and white flowers on it and a little bow in her tail.

Despite having been satisfied with her appearance just moments ago, she approached the mirror again, pushing in beside him in order to fluff the ends of her hair. "I was instructed that I simply must try the carrot medley, so hopefully it’s as good as they say it is."

She turned her head to give him a kiss on the cheek. "Let’s get going. We don’t want to be late for our booking."

Pink Lemonade did not notice the extra fold beneath his cuffs as she walked past him out the door, but what she did take note of was his gentlemanly gesture and she mentally added one more brownie point to tonight’s tally. "Nonsense," she scoffed. "They clearly have no sense in taste at all and I don’t even need to try the opposition’s food to know that." Even so this was a good chance to size up a new neighbourhood competitor.

She looked over her shoulder at him and smiled. "I get at least three emails a week about that. I find it flattering but they clearly don’t understand my level of dedication."

Later that night and right on time found them both seated at a table in the elegant little restaurant. All the tables were full but the chatter was kept to a low drone and the waiters bustled past with well-trained efficiency. The décor was luxurious without being too ostentatious and Pink Lemonade was almost annoyed with how impressed she was.

She was studying the menu but her gaze kept flicking about the room, taking note of any new procedure she could take back to Cloud 9.

"Quinoa is quite the trend these days," she mused upon noticing the grain in both the salad and the entrée section.

"You don’t need to thank me," PL said, watching him from over her menu and smiling. "But I’m glad to hear you say that. A sense of pride in our business and the desire to make it even more successful is important. Our family will continue to flourish because of that dedication." Even if she adored Mid with his laidback personality, it was nice to see that fire in his eyes when he spoke of his work and their business.

"I’ll have the carrot medley and the quinoa fritters, thank you." PL gave her own order to the waiter with a charming smile. It was just as important to be a good customer as it was to be a good waiter. That ensured good service. "Oh my, champagne? We are being fancy tonight."

With talk of business and dedication, there was one more point she wanted to bring up. It seemed a bit rushed if she came out with it before they’d even eaten, but it was the logical next step in their conversation and they might as well get it out of the way. With the champagne, she decided.

It wasn't long after that thought that the waiter returned with their champagne and two glasses. PL immediately lifted hers up. "A toast… to us." There wasn't any doubt in her mind as to the outcome of their next conversation. The paperwork might as well have already been signed (actually she had already signed her part of it last week).

"I have a question, darling."

Pink Lemonade stalled by taking a sip of her champagne and studied the stallion across from her. She thought of how nice it felt to wake up next to him in the morning, how comfortable their relationship was, how steady her life felt just knowing that she could always rely on him. Midnight was always there, never judging, always supportive and full of warmth. Her siblings adored him. She adored him.

There were no doubts and so there was nothing left to do but say the words.

"We should get married," she said with calm surety as she put her glass down. The words were stunningly unromantic and as PL absorbed her words, a little spark of panic appeared. Should she have ordered some flowers? Should she have gotten a ring of some sort? But rings were so cumbersome and Mid hardly needed a bucket of roses.

This was the logical step but what if he didn’t want to get married? She hadn’t even posed it as a question.

Spooked by her own sudden rush of thoughts PL quickly added, "If you want to of course. I just think it would be nice. I mean, it’s not like I’m ever going to want to be with anyone else."

That long moment felt like an eternity. Pink Lemonade was starting to wonder if she’d somehow miscalculated. This would be mortifying if she had and they still had their meals to get through. It was like one of those stupid movies she hated to admit watching where the hapless person proposed and their partner had just been about to break up with them.

Then he laughed and at first she was a little, well, annoyed. Until she realised he wasn’t laughing at her because it was warm and full of love and all her worry simply melted away.

His yes was not a surprise after that but the sudden appearance of the ring certainly was. Forget what I thought before, rings are not ridiculous or cumbersome at all and are actually quite delightful. “Oh Mid.” She held out her hoof for him to slip the ring on, her cheeks a soft red. “I’ll never be lacking anything as long as I have you.” Her heart had never felt so full of love.

The table across from them suddenly started clapping.

This was, she decided, up the top as one of the best moments of her life. It even inched ahead of the Cloud 9 opening because as she sat there, the ring on her hoof and their fellow diners clapping merrily at their love, she’d never felt quite so content. There was a feeling of peace and the sudden truth that this was all she had ever really wanted in her life. Even if she lost everything else, she would have this.

"Thank you everyone." She nodded towards the other tables and the waiter.

The food, when she even bothered to glance down at it, looked exquisite. Well, time to focus. "Alright, enough soppy nonsense," she said with a smile. "I’m hungry." It was a bit unfair though. They could hardly have a bad meal now, not with how happy they were.

They'd have to come back for more objective meal another day, when she could stop just staring at her husband-to-be’s face like a love struck teenager.

It was funny, wasn't it? No matter how pragmatic you normally were, love did funny things to you. Pink Lemonade spent the rest of the night in a state of bliss. She ate, enjoyed the meal immensely, did at one point gush to the waiter about how wonderful the place was, secured them a 10% discount (okay, so maybe love quite didn't remove her love of a good bargain) and then suggested they go for ice cream.

Ice cream (a shared double choc sundae!) then became a moonlit walk in the park and PL promised to never speak ill of romance movies again. Apparently they all knew exactly what they were talking about.