She's My Cherry Pie
by Surry
It was a cool, dark, Winter's night in Canterlot, and a large portion of the city's unicorns had already turned in for the evening. A group of sparse, flickering candle lights remained on here and there throughout the town, with Canterlot's premier dining establishment housing a decent portion of them.
Inside the restaurant, some light piano music was playing off in the background, accompanied by not a single other instrument. Only three waitresses were strolling about, taking last minute orders from patrons, bringing out what food had already been prepared, and checking up on those who were mostly finished with their meal. The lavish ambiance might have been considered too opulent for some, but for Twilight and Rainbow, it put them in just the right, romantic mood.
"Mm-mm!" Rainbow murmured with a delighted smile. "That was really good, Twilight. Thanks again for finally bringing me here, on our anniversary no less."
Twilight carefully eyed Rainbow's beautiful gown that Rarity had made so long ago, pleased to see that it remained unblemished after their hearty meal. Their plates were empty, and their tummies were full. Between the two of them, a tall candle was alight and stayed dim, giving only enough of a warm glow for the pair to make out the more defined facial features of their significant other. Twilight placed her hoof over Rainbow's from across the hardwood table, and a new waiter was approaching from somewhere off to the side.
"No problem at all," she blushed. "I'm just sorry it took so long for us to finally make it here."
Rainbow brushed it off with a gentle smile. "No worries. We made it eventually, and I'm having a great time."
The new stallion, dressed in a suede half-tuxedo, finally found himself at the side of their table and cleared his throat. He bowed his head quite politely.
"Princess Twilight and Miss Rainbow Dash," he said with a hint of regality, looking between the two of them. "I am to serve you your dessert for the evening. Any preferences, or shall I list off some menu items for you?"
Twilight glanced down at her own dress, contemplating whether or not the wine had made her magical touch unreliable. She would hate to ruin it, but Rainbow's inquisitive look told her there was going to be no way out of it. The unicorn took up the empty plates within his magical grasp, and finally, Twilight came to a decision.
"Yes," she agreed. "Could you list some things for me? I didn't read over the menu very well." She lied for Rainbow's sake. She had meticulously memorized the menu ever since Celestia had brought her to the restaurant as a filly, but knew Rainbow had not as much time to look over it.
"Yes, of course, Princess," he complied; he had the next lines well practiced." Oh, let's see... Firstly, we have a cheesecake and chocolate fondue platter, topped with a light strawberry frosting and, if you'd like, peppered with pecans." He garnered no immediate reaction, so went on. "Second, we have one of Celestia's personal favorites, 'La Fruta Bomba'—"
"Oooooh!" Rainbow cooed, but stopped when Twilight touched her hoof again.
"No, Rainbow," the princess jeered. "Just trust me on this one."
The pegasus lightly pouted. "But it's 'La Fruta Bomba'..."
If looks could kill, Twilight's chilling glare would have decimated armies, but Rainbow was quick to counter with a scowl of equal intensity. After a brief moment, the alicorn finally relinquished with a deep sigh.
"Look," she said, shrugging her shoulders. "Why don't we just hear the rest of the dessert menu, and then make our decision?"
Rainbow crossed her forelegs across her chest, most displeased. "Hmph... fine."
The princess motioned back towards their waiter, and he continued.
"—Our third item; a generously portioned slice of cherry pie... with all the trimmings, of course." Rainbow's ears perked up at this, but the stallion went on in his relaxed tone of voice anyway. "And finally, our special for the evening... a full banana-split sundae platter. I don't think that requires much of an explanation," he joked.
Rainbow licked her lips, despite nearly being too full to eat another bite. "Mmm... No, it doesn't!" she agreed with him.
As Twilight pondered over her choice, she saw that her mare was fast approaching a decision as well. As their waiter stood at the ready, Rainbow began to speak, but quickly stopped herself when she peered over at the princess. Twilight gave a simple nod in approval, as if silently allowing something, yet it didn't seem like the answer that Rainbow was looking for. Not taking very much longer, the pegasus let her ears droop back down, cheeks fully red with embarrassment.
"I'll have..." she paused, giving another fleeting glance to Twilight, "... the cherry pie. Please, if you wouldn't mind."
The waiter bowed his head again, jotting down a mental note. "Of course, Miss Dash." He then turned to Twilight. "And for you, Princess?"
A bead of sweat traced a line down down the back of her neck, and her heart fluttered a little bit. She knew she had done something wrong, either in the way she spoke or the way she looked at Rainbow, and felt it was time rectify the situation. Signalling the waiter to move in closer, Twilight attempted to whisper something in his ear, to which she elicited a small "oh..." from him; Rainbow remained quietly analytical the entire time.
He finally backed away with their plates and gave a smaller bow than those before it, motioning back toward the main kitchen with his burden in tow. A few moments passed before Rainbow mustered the courage to speak up.
"W-what did you say to him?" she stammered, reflexively reaching out for Twilight's hoof again.
"Oh, nothing really," the princess responded, clearly hiding something; she reciprocated Rainbow's gesture.
"This had better not be some kind of trick," Rainbow threatened.
Twilight sighed again. "Never, Rainbow. I would never trick you. I just asked for a little special-something from him, and nothing else. What makes you say that, anyway?"
"I don't know," she smirked, weakly. "It just seemed a little weird; that's all. Besides, you can't exactly blame me. I thought you didn't usually get dessert when we went out."
"I don't," Twilight smugly agreed.
Rainbow withdrew at her comment. "Huh?" she uttered. "Then what did you—?"
"You'll see," the alicorn promptly stopped her from saying another word, smiling something quite satisfied.
And so, Rainbow sat back in her velvety chair, puzzled and aloof. Twilight nearly frowned as she did, but decided to pick back up the conversation where they had left off to alleviate any tension she might have still felt.
"So," Twilight started; Rainbow's ears perked up again. "I know you mentioned the academy's had some new recruits before we started eating. I'm just dying to know how that went."
Rainbow's smile was slowly returning. "Oh yeah," she said; her memory slowly came back to her as well. "There were some fresh newbies that started a few days ago, and boy, we whipped em' into shape. They had no idea what was coming!"
The pegasus continued for a while, going on eagerly about the last few days with Twilight taking a sip from her wine glass every now and then, giving a simple "m-hm" at the more interesting parts of the story. Minute by minute, they continued to pass the time by talking, each happily enjoying the company of their significant other, and before long, many of the other patrons throughout the restaurant had retired for the evening and left, save for the two mares embellished by the candlelight.
The waiter returned soon enough, careful not to disturb their conversation, and holding two very distinct dishes. He was sporting a rather sly grin as he let down he first plate, placing it neatly in front of Rainbow Dash. Upon its surface stood a rather tall and triumphant looking slice of cherry pie, topped heartily with whipped cream and cherry jam, but the pegasus didn't appear too impressed by it. Next, Twilight received her rather large platter, nearly causing Rainbow to sputter something profound at the sight.
It was a banana split sundae, in all of its chocolate, gooey glory.
As Rainbow sat flabbergasted, the waiter bowed once again and quietly made his leave. The piano that had been playing in the background had since died off, leaving the two mares with only themselves, their thoughts, and their deeply inquisitive, reciprocating gazes.
"B-but... you—?" Rainbow was at a near total loss for words.
"Yep," Twilight simply stated, letting her guise fall. "I thought I had to make it up to you, so I did."
"Make it up to me?" the pegasus asked sincerely. "Make up for what?"
Twilight quietly nudged her own platter in Rainbow's direction, bearing a warm smile and never once glancing down. However, her mare could hardly take her eyes off the sundae she was being offered, only managing to do so when their plates lightly tapped each other. She finally peered up, quite abashed.
"I know you didn't want the cherry pie," Twilight divulged. "This is what you wanted, right?"
"Well, yeah... b-but..." Rainbow's speech kept failing her.
"So," Twilight began again, worming her way back in. "I influenced your decision in a negative way somehow, and rectified the situation. There's nothing more to it than that. Besides, I've always loved the cherry pie here anyway."
"So what you're saying is... you wanna' switch?" Rainbow guessed skeptically, then continued. "But you agreed with me earlier back when I said you never ordered dessert, and here you just did!"
Twilight flashed another devious grin. "But I didn't order it for myself," she slyly retorted. "I ordered it for you, so it doesn't count."
"Does too count," the pegasus deadpanned.
"Hmm..." Twilight murmured, deep in thought. She casually rolled her eyes and finally let them come to rest, gazing calmly upon both of their full plates. "I got it," she said at last.
Rainbow watched intently as her mare's horn begin to alight itself. "And what would that be, exactly?" she asked.
The plate containing the cherry pie was lifted up in Twilight's aura, shifted, then turned, and finally flopped over on top of the banana-split sundae into a great heap of sweet, gooey goodness. Rainbow's eyes flared in shock, as did her nostrils. The concoction Twilight had created nearly filled the entire platter, and was quite messy.
"Oh," Rainbow uttered, mouth watering in anticipation. "That's not at all what I thought you were going to do... but I'm not complaining."
"I knew you wouldn't," Twilight's smile grew as she levitated a new, clean spoon up in the air. "Want to share?"
Rainbow didn't have to get a spoon for herself, as Twilight had easily taken care of that as well. She eagerly nodded at the question.
"You know it," she agreed. "And you didn't have to make it up to me, Twilight."
The princess sized up the tower of sweetness one last time, still listening to Rainbow, before taking two equal scoops from it for both of them.
"This banana-split-cherry-pie sundae says otherwise," she said with another warm smile.
"Yes it does!" Rainbow nodded again, chuckling under her breath.
They each took their bite, and let the sweet, tangy flavors coalesce and run like a river through their mouths. Their dessert was truly amazing, and even better when put together.
fin.
