Date of the Century [Shipping][Saucy][Finished]

Winter stepped forward after the initial confusion of being teleported wore off. She looked out over the view of Stableton and beamed as she saw the beauty of it all. From the lights of the town to the setting sun in the distance, it was all so beautiful. "Wow.." she said in awe as she trotted over to stand beside Cross, the sun light striking her mane to illuminate it against her blue coat. The breeze would pick up every so often, sweeping their manes and tails across lazily as the sun began to descend across the horizon. She closed her eyes as the breeze swept over her face, and across her mane before she breathed in deeply as the warm humid air relaxed her in that moment. She looked to Cross as she opened her eyes, her purple irises focusing on him, "How did you find this place ?" she asked in her soft sultry voice.

Cross shuddered a bit seemingly due to the wind, but mostly how nice her voice sounded. He turned his head slightly, looking her in the eyes...those wide purple eyes expecting an answer... He blinked, taken aback a bit but answered her nonetheless.

"This it where it all happened..." Cross leaned forward over the edge and looked down before bringing his head up "....you could say this is where I died, but moreso it was when I figured out it was time to live..." Cross tilted the corner of his mouth, quietly gazing the sun as it went down, and the light reflecting off Winter.

"Top of the world isn't it?"

Winter was taken in by the depth of his words as he told her how he was metaphorically reborn in this very spot. That it had been here where the leader of the enemy attack on Stableton had met his end. She felt a chill run down he spine, enough for her to shudder before she looked back out and over into the setting sun. When he asked his question she would look back to him before saying, "The only place to be in dark times like these" she replied before shifting a little closer to Cross, "Thank you Cross. I've had a great time today" she said as she gently leaned against him as she watched the sun hit the horizontal barrier, turning the sky into a cascade of oranges and yellows.

As Cross felt Winter lean against him he contemplated saying something...but he was fine, he didn't have to say a word, he just leaned his head against hers. She...had a good time...He actually managed to make somepony happy for once.

He took one last look as the sun as it dipped, letting out a sigh and smiling, he didn't want it to go down so soon, but this was nice enough that everything else didn't matter...and he hoped he could see Winter some more, as he rested his head agaisnt hers, he silently gave a thanks to Starry and Shutter.

"WInter, you're probably the nicest mare I've ever met..." Cross just wanted to end the sun's departure with some kind words, so he just came up with the truth, nice ponies were hard to meet, ...and they never so nice at Tenpony either.

The entire restaurant shook lightly as Cross teleported, flinging metal plates and utensils against the already cracked windows. Everypony in the restaurant looked outside, and many of them rolled their eyes or shook their heads. They had been accustomed to Cross causing a mess like this.

Starry took a gander at the scene as well, but lost interest quicker than most other ponies. She took a look at the bottom of her hoof, it had apparently picked up some grime somewhere from the river to the restaurant.

Starry shrugged, and rubbed the grime off on Shutter's stable uniform. She did it half because it was a joke, and half because her Sword Mare armor was not an ideal place to rub grime. "How do you think Cross is doing with his date? It'd be a shame if his were more romantic, or something. Heh, could you imagine that though? Cross being more romantic than us?" Starry stifled a laugh.

Shutter rolled his eyes slightly at the dramatic teleport, mumbling 'Showboater' under his breath. However, he was quickly pulled back to attention when Starry began talking to him, as he let out a slight laugh of his own.

"Hehe, yeah...He'll probably try though...be all 'flashy' and the like..."

He said with a mumble, as he rubbed the back of his head...it was at this point tht Shutter felt like he should do something. Carefully, he reached over to take one of Starry's hooves in his.

"Hey, Tonight is our night, right? Let's not worry about Cross and his date, and just enjoy ourselves on our date..."

This was an unexpected degree of initiative coming from Shutter, and Starry was pleasantly surprised. She nodded to him, as a smile formed across her face.

"You're right! Let's enjoy ourselves tonight! Where to next?" Starry had already finished her apple slices, and she was ready to move on to the next place. Too bad there were no good movie theatres in Stableton, or any theatres anywhere in the wastes, for that matter.

Shutter thought for a little bit, wondering what else they could do on a date...before an idea struck him.

"Well...why don't we just walk around for a bit, and take the time to enjoy the night?"

He offered, as he lightly tugged on Starry's hoof as he led her back outside...sure, it wasn't the most exciting of ideas, but it felt like it would be a nice thing to do together...just some time to enjoy the stars and silence together...

Starry trotted out the door with him. "Yeah! We can do that! That sounds like a great idea for a date, and we've got to make sure Cross and Winter don't beat us in dating points!"

They trotted down the road together. It was not a particularly romantic trot, Starry couldn't keep her mouth shut about the system she had just invented to track how well their date was going in comparison to Cross and Winter's. It sounded like a bunch of nonsense, and Starry had stated that since they couldn't witness first hand Cross and Winter's dating progress, it was an unknown variable in her equation, and the only way to ensure that they came out ahead was to have a perfect date.

Before Starry had finished explaining, the two encountered Big Rodeo walking down the path. "Oh! Hey! Nice to see you again!" she told Rodeo, before introducing her date to him. "Shutter, this is a friend from one of my first adventures out into the wasteland, Sir Pounds the Fuck Outta Ponies Alot!"

Rodeo was walking slowly down the street, away from the saloon where he was just enjoying a few shots as he usually did at night. Suddenly, he heard ponies behind him, and a voice he hadn't heard in a while, saying something he hadn't thought about in a while.

He turned around slowly, a slight stagger to his step, a blank expression on his face. "Wha- who... What? What'd ya call me? Sir what?" he babbled with a slight slur.

"Sir Pounds the Fuck Outta Ponies Alot! It's me, Starry Night, remember me? We're friends!" Starry smiled at him, and waved a hoof as a friendly greeting. She then pointed to Shutter, "This is my date, Shutter, he's also my best friend ever! Say hi to Mr. Pounds, Shutter!"

Shutter just listened to Starry, as he trotted along, looking at the few stars he could see. he really did like the night...it was nothing like back in the stable, where no matter what, you could always hear the low hum of the generators...Wasteland night was so quiet in comparison, that he felt like he could truly hear himself think during it...it was an amazing thing.

He was quickly woken out of his thoughts though by Starry, as he turned to look at...well...'Mr. Pounds the Fuck Outta Ponies Alot'...odd name...

"Uh, hello Mr. Pounds...pleasure to meet you."

Rodeo secured himself with his legs, and squinted at the two. His vision was slightly blurred, but he could still see. He recognized her almost immediately.

"Ohhhhhh... Howdy there, Ms. Starry. How's the, um......" he tried a moment or two to remember what it was exactly that she did. "Uh... Medicine... stuff...?"

He looked up, and gave a wave with a front hoof. As he started to tip, he caught himself with his waving hoof and stood straight again. "Mr. Shutter, Ah... um. Pleased."

He shook his mane out, his hat nearly falling off before he caught it and placed it back on top of his head. He had already forgot why she was calling him Sir Pounds. "Wait, wait... Wait!... Why, uh- what're ya callin' me? Sir Pounds?... Where'd ya get uh silly name like that from? That ain't mah name."

Starry blinked at Rodeo. She was at a slight loss for words. For one thing, it appeared that Rodeo was drunk. Starry wasn't one for judging, but the first time she drank she woke up in another pony's bed. She wasn't going to make that mistake again. Starry had essentially vowed never to intoxicate herself again, and she was frankly at a loss for the appeal of the substance.

The second thing which had Starry at a loss for words was the very clear sign that Sir Pounds the Fuck Outta Ponies Alot had forgotten his name! "Oh no! Shutter, Sir Pounds Alot has forgotten his name!! Don't worring, Sir Pounds Alot, we're here to help! Do you remember me? I'm Starry, Sta-rry, I'm a friend."

Rodeo blinked a few times. He wasn't that intoxicated. He was surprisingly good at holding his liquor, otherwise. He had just had a lot of it, just then... He shook his head again, catching his hat once more as it tried to fall.

"No no no no no no no.... No." Rodeo said, sitting down in the street in front of the two ponies before him. "That ain't mah name! It- wait... Did Ah say that was it? Er..."

Rodeo lifted a hoof to his head and scratched at his mop of a green mane under his rattan cowboy hat. "Ah did, didn't Ah?!" He then burst into laughter, almost falling backwards, but caught his balance when he started to hold his ribs.

"Silly filly! That ain't mah name!" he snorted. "Folks call me 'Big Rodeo'. Er, just Rodeo if ya care. Er whatever ya want. Ah don't care."

Shutter felt very, very, VERY confused for a moment, before Rodeo sorted things out. Well, that made alot more sense then the other one...

"...Okay then, it's a pleasure to meet you, Rodeo!"

Shutter said, as he extended his hoof to Rodeo in a friendly gesture.

"So, you and Starry know each other from an adventure? I'll have to get Starry to tell me all about it sometime!"

Rodeo took Shutter's hoof and gave it a shake. "Eeyup... Ah remember that day fondly." He lifted his hoof and touched it to the long, jagged scar stretching from the top of his fore-head, and ran halfway down his cheek.

"Where Ah got these lil souvenirs," he added.

Starry was taken aback by Sir Pounds so casually lying to her date and giving out a false identity. Starry looked downright offended! Steam was almost spurting out of her nose and ears. Starry reached a hoof out and smacked Rodeo's away as he was shaking with Shutter.

"Hey!" she shouted, to grab his attention. "Where do you get off thinking you can lie to ponies like that? This is my date, and I will not sit idly while to catch him in your intricate web of deception! I KNOW your name isn't 'Large Rodeo', or whatever you said it was, and you know what? I'm even doubting your name is Sir Pounds the Fuck Outta Ponies Alot! How do I know you don't just give a new identity to everypony you meet? For all we know, your name could be Dr. Eats the Hell Outta Hamburgers Alot! I don't know ANYTHING about you! Who are you really?!"

Starry was getting in his face, she almost poked him in the chest with her hoof, but he was a little too intimidating to do something like that.

"Oh! And while I'm at it, these are for you, Dr. Hamburgers!" Starry tossed an envelope at him angrily, the one which had all the pictures of Starry posing provocatively as a Sword Mare.

Rodeo didn't budge an inch as all that happened. Starry's anger seemed fueled by madness. Rodeo looked down at the pictures, then back up to Starry, his face unchanging. Still giving his normal glare.

"Darlin', ya just played all the wrong moves," he said, before turning in place and starting back down the street.

Shutter was so, so confused...was this pony called Sir Pounds, or Big Rodeo? ...And who the hay was Dr. Hamburgers? ...What the hay WAS a hamburger anyway?!
He was distracted away from his confusion though, as he saw the stallion leaving, as he gave a wave goodbye.

"Uh, bye...Mister! Have a good night!"

Shutter called out to him, deciding that avoiding a name seemed like the best choice right now...

Starry gasped, as Dr. Hamburgers started walking away. "You're losing him, Starry!" she told herself. Maybe if she accepted his fake name for himself, he'd be less offended.

"Wait! Rodeo! Please! Let me make it up to you!" she pleaded, jumping in front of him and throwing herself at his hooves.

Rodeo stopped and looked at her funny. What was her deal? "Lady, Ah told ya mah name was Rodeo, n' ya didn't believe me. Ah answered yer question, n' ya shouted at me." He stopped talking to think. "Make it up ta me? It ain't that bigga-... Ah like whiskey," he finally muttered. He didn't right like the idea of taking something from somepony like that. But hey, free booze was free booze. And free booze was awesome.

"Yes! Whiskey! Wonderful! Just take us to this place where you buy this... whiskey, and we'll buy it for you! Right, Shutter?" Starry looked back at Shutter, offering him a nervous grin and nodding her head, suggesting that he say yes.

Starry didn't know one pony she couldn't call a friend, and and she wasn't going to let Rodeo be the first.

Shutter gave a gulp when he heard Rodeo mention Whiskey. he knew all too well what that was, and he didn't know if they wanted to go there...but if Starry had to do so to apoligize...

"Er...Y-yeah...sure...Whiskey...We'll buy you a shot..."

He said with a light stammer.

Rodeo grinned, and pointed behind the two ponies. "Saloon's back that'a way..." he said. He stood and started to walk, stumbling a bit as he did so, but moving smoothly once he got going.

The saloon was busy this time of night. All sorts of ponies sat all over doing their thing. Drunkards passed out in their seats, ponies sitting around a poker table, losers picking up hookers, and lonesome cowboys sitting quietly at the bar having a few shots. Laughter filled was consistent, and every now and again, a loud CRACK rang out as a ivory ball was struck on the billiards table. And all the while, a foggy layer of smoke wafted just under the ceiling lights.

Sounded like the perfect place for Rodeo. He wandered to the bar, and pulled out a stool for himself. "Bartender, uh round uh shots fer me n' mah friends 'ere," Rodeo called out to the pony behind the counter. He looked back to Shutter and Starry, then turned back to him. "Start uh tab," he added quietly. The bartender gave a nod, then got to work.