"Here y'all are," the waitress said as she dropped a plate on the middle of the table that was piled high with pancakes. "Enjoy!"
Magnate peered at the stack of syrupy pancakes, then up at Lovey. "And of anything available in Manehattan, this is what you want for dinner?"
Lovey gave an enthusiastic nod. "Yep! I mean, normally, I'd want whipped cream and strawberry syrup and fresh strawberries, and maybe some sprinkles, but I figured that since we're sharing a meal, I'd tone down the sugar for you." She winked. "Nice and slow!"
"What?" Magnate half-snorted, half-chuckled. "Lovey, do you know what I meant by going slow?"
"Yes? Of course!" She cut herself a big piece of pancake and stuffed it in her mouth. "Why?"
He sighed and paused to take a sip of water. "I meant in our relationship."
There was a moment of silence before Lovey swallowed and said, "Oh."
His brow raised. "What did you think I meant?"
"I dunno!" Her ears drooped and she stared down at the pancakes. "Like, being less me? That's what I'd want from me if I weren't me."
With a sigh, Magnate reached around the plate to grab her hoof. "No, Lovey. I am fine with you being you, for the most part. It's our relationship that I want you to take slow, not yourself."
"Okay." She nibbled on her lower lip, glancing between their joined hooves and his face. "What does that mean, exactly?"
"It means we take this relationship at a relaxed pace rather than you trying to jump straight into talks about marriage," he said, his voice a little strained. "We start at like. Just like. Love comes afterwards." His blue eyes drilled into her with a serious look. "Can you honestly, truly say you love me?"
Lovey squirmed under the weight of his gaze. Love! It was all she knew. She didn't know like. What was like? "I don't know," she finally admitted quietly, "but I want to."
Surprisingly, Magnate chuckled. "That's like, Lovey. That's how I feel about you. I don't love you—it's far too soon for that—but I would like to someday."
"How long does it take for like to turn into love?" She withdrew her hoof from his to pick up her fork and stab at another piece of pancake. "How will I know when it's okay to love you?"
"Why are you asking me?" He leaned back in his seat and folded his forelegs over his chest. "I thought you were the expert on this. It's certainly not me."
She huffed lightly. "I thought I was!" She stuffed the pancake in her mouth. "Bu' I waff wong!"
For a while, neither said anything. Lovey drowned her feelings under layers of syrup and pancake while Magnate just watched her. When she hit the bottom of the plate, she sunk into her seat and tried to hide from his watchful, studious gaze.
Like. Love. They were totally different, but she didn't know how. She'd never worked with like lines before. Ponies met and fell in love. Wasn't that how it worked? Follow the love lines, the spark happens, and everything works out. Well—sometimes. Most of the time. She'd never had a repeat customer, but she had worked on tangled or damaged love lines before.
Love was complicated. She'd never realized that before, but it was really, really complicated.
"When did you lose your color?" Magnate asked, pulling her out of her thoughts.
Lovey blinked and looked down at her pale, foreign coat. "I, um—I don't remember."
He hummed in thought, tapping his hoof against the other leg. "You took a job as a weatherpony and stopped working with love lines, right?"
She gave a meek nod in response.
"And as a result, you feel an emptiness inside, don't you?"
Her head jerked up to meet his gaze. "Huh? What? I—Yeah, but how did you know?"
Magnate said nothing for a while and just kept tapping. His brow started to furrow until he sighed and turned his head to the side. "There is a secret I have never told anypony. I've buried it so deep that I think I've almost forgotten about it, myself."
"Huh?" She tried to keep from leaning in with interest and did her best to look calm and neutral. "Why?"
"Because it was easier. I didn't want to accept it, so I ran from it instead." He frowned. "Lovey, I've never wanted to do what I do. I've never wanted to be a businesspony. My father decided that for me. But more than that—" He sighed and dropped his head to look down at himself. "My cutie mark. It's not a briefcase."
With a curious purse of her lips, Lovey leaned down to peer under the table at his cutie mark that was so totally a briefcase, then straightened back up. "Then what is it?"
"It's a suitcase." He raised a hoof to push up his glasses and rub the bridge of his muzzle. "As a colt, I would plan vacations I could never take because I was destined to take over my father's company. When I finally decided I had planned the perfect vacation, that was when I got my cutie mark. It was the happiest and saddest moment of my life, because of the yoke around my neck."
"But you left your family!" She tilted her head, brow furrowed. "Why didn't you leave town?"
"How could I?" He frowned at her. "I left my family's wealth. I had nothing. The only thing I had was my father's name and years of studying business. So, I let go of what I wanted to do and did the only thing I could do." His frown lightened as he sighed. "By the time I had the financial freedom to go on vacations, I had forgotten about the notion. I've honestly not given it a second thought until I looked at you and realized what's wrong with you."
Lovey wrung her hooves and glanced away from him. "Then what's wrong with me?"
Magnate gave an idle bob of his head. "You're denying who you are. I've done it for so long that I'm used to it, but you've been you for so long that you can't cope. That's why you've lost your vibrancy; you're trying to lose yourself."
It didn't take very long for Lovey's vision to become blurred with tears. Her wings trembled at her sides and she tucked them in close for a self-hug. "But—" She sniffled. "But I don't know what else to do, Magny. If I stop trying to stop being me, then I'll annoy you all over again, and we'll be right back where we were, and I don't want you to hate me again!"
"Lovey." Magnate sighed and shook his head. He slid out of his seat and moved around the table to stand beside her. "I never hated you. You just overwhelmed me, all right?" He leaned in to kiss her cheek. "Come on. Let's find you an ice cream parlor. I think there's one up the block."
Lovey sniffled again, but nodded and followed alongside him. "You mean it? You don't hate me?"
"If I hated you, would I be here with you now?" He gave her a light smile. "Just go back to being yourself. We can work on the rest together."
Warmth filled her chest as she looked at his smile. "Yeah?" She giggled. "Okay. But what about you?"
"Me?" He blinked.
"Yes, you, silly! You just told me you're not doing what you love. Do you think I'd just forget that?" An extra skip added to her step. "You should go on that dream vacation you planned as a colt!"
"Oh." He paused to hold the door open for her, then continued once they were outside, "It's not as bad as you make it sound. I don't hate my work. It doesn't make me as happy as yours makes you, but I fail to see the problem with that. It pays well, and I'm due a promotion soon."
Lovey scrunched up her nose and stuck out her tongue. "Bleh! All the bits in the world couldn't make me happy at a job I didn't love." Her ears perked up at a sudden thought and she looked up at him with a hesitant, sheepish grin. "Would going on vacation together be too fast?"
Magnate's shoulders rolled in a shrug as they walked down the sidewalk. "No, but it's fine. I need a job, and my job would be impacted if I took too many vacations and fell behind in my work. I'd lose everything I've worked for."
"But if it's not what you want, then why does it matter?" She huffed. "I think you should quit and become a professional vacationer!"
After a pause, Magnate laughed. It wasn't a full, hearty laugh, but it was certainly more than a chuckle. "That isn't a job, Lovey."
Lovey's wings fluttered as she hopped into the air. "Sure it is! Ponies vacation all the time. We just have to figure out how to get paid to do it!"
He shook his head, still laughing softly. "I appreciate the enthusiasm, but if we're going to be in a relationship, then one of us has to make a stable income."
Slowly, Lovey lowered back to the ground. She bit her lower lip as her gaze darted away from him and mumbled, "But, well, if I keep my job as a weatherpony, I'll have a stable income, and you can go vacation, you know."
"Definitely not," he replied quickly and firmly. "You are quitting the weather business immediately. I know you quit being a matchmaker so you could stay here, but if chasing love lines is what makes you Lovey, then perhaps you should reconsider being a matchmaker again."
Lovey gasped, perking back up. "Oh! That's a great idea, Magny! I'll be a matchmaker and you can follow me across Equestria! We'll see every city together, and—" Her enthusiasm faded. "Oh, no, but we might get separated, and I might be so focused on a love line that I don't notice, and we could never stay in one place very long for you to enjoy it."
"We'll figure out something for you. In the meantime, why don't you get some ice cream?" He gestured at the little corner parlor they stood outside of. "My treat."
At first, Lovey wanted to bolt inside and look at all the flavors. Thinking about the future and careers wasn't fun, but ice cream sure was! Her hooves didn't move, however, and she found herself instead looking up at Magnate.
"It's okay," she said, smiling and trotting on down the sidewalk. "I think I'd rather figure out how we can both do what we want to do. That's more important right now, anyway, right?"
Love. She loved love. She loved to help love. How could she stay in one place to be with Magnate but still help ponies with love? And what about Magnate? He said he got his cutie mark when he planned his dream vacation.
Magnate blinked a few times, then shrugged and followed after her. "All right, but—"
Planned. Not went on his dream vacation, but planned it.
"Oh!" Lovey came to a halt, not budging when he bumped into her from the sudden stop. "I've got it!" She spun around, threw her hooves around his neck, and kissed him. "Magny, I have the most perfect idea! You're going to absolutely love it!"
Staring down at her and with his mouth hanging slightly open in surprise, he just nodded dumbly.