Author's Note
First off, I need to address that the story takes place before Twilight is a princess, but later chapters correct that. (Want to keep up with both the comic and TV show canon after all!)
Feel free to critique openly and honestly. I'd like to thank you for reading this story and want to keep it going. I want these original characters to charm the pants off you, because there's several more ideas ahead! Enjoy!
Hoofloose and Fancy Free
Celestia’s warm sun engulfed the city of Canterlot for a new morning. Next to Manehattan, Canterlot was sometimes called “the city that never sleeps” as many ponies would retreat back to their homes to try and sleep through the bright light. On the surface, the city catered to the most high-class, posh ponies, but it was actually powered by a steady working class of proud fillies. Not that it mattered, those ponies had more fun in a night than any of the elite would have in months.
Night clubs, food carts, all night cafes, and the underground music scene is what kept all these people faithful to the city of the princesses. Every slice of Equestria had incredible amounts of talent from Vanhoofer to Neigh Orleans. Still, Canterlot was the queen of it all and where everything started. Everything is there. Even the finest pies from Appaloosa are flown in daily. Celestia and Luna shared their wealth with the community. The crème of the crème was in the kingdom, but the rest of the princesses’ art, knowledge, and protection was available for everyone.
However, for anypony who wants to stick out among the upper or lower crust, you need to be a real surprise. Canterlot works wonders for building up exposure, but keeping up with brick and mortar and fighting with other companies was tough. So most ponies have to find other avenues to become a new staple in Equestria.
He did everything as fast he could this morning, from cooking breakfast to taking a shower. He scrubbed his blonde and brown striped mane and marine blue coat to shine with perfection. The pony made sure to have his cutie mark, a sun with a chef’s hat, to brightly glisten. It was months in the making, but he was hours away from reaching his dream.
Canterlot was big, but almost too big for a young buck like him to stand out. Knowing so much about the restaurant industry, he felt confident to helm his own small bistro in the newest epicenter of culture…Ponyville.
He moved all of his supplies into two suitcases, which he barely held onto with his magic as he barreled downstairs. Everything was ready, from ending his lease on the apartment to having ticket and language in tow for train. He ran down to the train track, knowing that he wanted to reserve a good spot for the long ride. Ponyville was becoming the more interesting every day from what he read in the news. It made him look back and forth in anticipation for the train. But there was only one thing missing…
His partner.
The pony checked his watch. He should have known that she wouldn’t be able to leave this early in the morning. In fact, if she stayed too long in the sun, her violet coat would turn beet red from the overload of Vitamin D.
The colt borrowed enough bits from his family to get it off the ground, but she supplied enough so that every piece of equipment would be top of the line and up to code. She preferred being the silent partner; the only thing she asked for in return would be a quiet place to sleep and write. Ponyville could be loud from any random conundrum, but it could also be pretty peaceful.
“I’m here…” A voice said from behind.
“There you are!” The pony perked up, seeing the mare. Her hair was normally a colorful mix of creamy white, hot pink, and eggplant brown, but it currently looked like frazzled, crystallized plum jelly.
“Sunny, why are we going this early?” She moaned.
“It’s cheaper in the morning!” Sunny chirped. He started hustling her along, moving her rump with his head and her much larger set of bags with his magic. The train arrived around the time she did and he wanted the two of them to be in the illustrious muffin boxcar.
“I know…” Quills yawned as she adjusted her glasses She yawned before she continued. “I just didn’t get to have any breakfast is all.”
“Already checked the buffet cart menu. They have cola.”
She smiled. “That’ll keep me awake during the ride.”
They loaded up their luggage above their seats and parked their flanks into the muffin car by the front of the train. Carefully sitting together, Sunny and Quills didn’t want to disturb the morning commute for the Equestrian Train. Both ponies were squished together on a bench near the separating doors, cutie-mark to cutie-mark. Sunny sat by the aisle, keeping Quills’ plump figure hidden by the shadows of his own portly physique.
“It’s been so long since I’ve been on a train…” Quills muttered
“How long?”
“Mmm…probably when I first moved from Trottika to here.”
“Wow, that had to be a while.”
“Yeah, but the train hasn’t change much.” She trailed off. “Except for one thing; Garçon!”
A waiter stopped in his tracks. “Yes, madam?”
“Cola.”
“Very good.” He used his own magic to lift a cola from the ice in his cart and into her hooves. Sunny accommodated her by unscrewing the cap with his own magic.
Sunny commented right as the waiter walked out of earshot. “You think Ponyville’s denizens know what garçon means?”
“Yeah.” She said, before taking a long sip. The gears in her head rushed with energy as she indulged in the sugar. “We wouldn’t be going there if you didn’t think they’d know.”
“You got me there.” He laughed. “They’ll probably be calling me that when we settle down there.”
“Three more days, three more days!” Pinkie Pie hopped around in her usual self, explaining to anyone in earshot.
She hadn’t been this excited in a long while, about a week. She didn’t care if it would be competition for Sugarcube Corner; this was the kind of thing she lived for. It was a new building with new ponies and there’d be new crowds for lots of new parties. The size of the building made it all the more better: twice as long as the Hayburger and two storied like the Clover Café.
“Easily a sixty-seater…” Pinkie murmured, rubbing her hoof across her chin
Pinkie’s attention to parties gave her a really keen eye when it came to architecture. She’d always measure out the size of the party after talking to the target if she’d have enough time to make the atmosphere just right. She’d keep it as contained as possible, but still would give everypony enough room to talk to one another comfortably, as obeying Twitch Hack’s rules of proximity. With this type of set up, she could hold the biggest indoor party she’s ever done.
Pinkie could grind her teeth until she looked like Gummy, but that couldn’t stop her anxiousness. Even without Pinkie Sense ticking off, she knew the Sunny Spot was going to be the next big place in Ponyville. Bigger than Twilight Sparkle’s move into Ponyville. Bigger than Mayor Mare’s re-election victory. The grand opening party for this new restaurant was going to be busy. Busy and fun!
The pink pony visibly vibrated from excitement. Pinkie blinked…that was too powerful for the normal shudder. She cocked her head from side to side, seeing if anypony else saw her shaking like that. She quizzically placed one hoof on her chin while scratching her back.
Pinkie gasped loudly. She scratched her back! With only two days before the restaurant would open, there had to be something going on. She dashed to the one person who could identify with Pinkie Sense the most.
Pinkie knocked on the tree library with a series of irrelevant knocks.
“Morning Pink-” Spike said, before being spun in circles from the charging pony.
“Twilight! Twilight!” She shouted.
“Yes Pinkie-” The unicorn said before getting pressed to the ground. Even studying in the upper part of her renewed domicile couldn’t stop the pink pony from tackling her with affection.
“Twilight!”
“You don’t have to yell!” Twilight shouted back, as Pinkie was right in her face.
“Oh!” She realized. Pinkie squinted, lowered her face to the purple pony and whispered: “Twilight…”
“What’s the big deal Pinkie?” The unicorn said, regaining her composure.
“You know how you used to really obsess with my Pinkie Sense?”
Twilight curled a brow. “Obsess is a bit of a strong word.”
“Well, you tied something to my head and made me sit locked up for a few hours so…I guess you’re right.” Pinkie said matter-of-factly. “But you won’t believe it! I was hopping around town like usual and my Pinkie Sense went off when I stared at one of the empty buildings!”
“Which new building?” Twilight asked. “There are lots of new buildings coming up in Ponyville lately.”
“The one by Carousel Boutique! But this was sooooo much different! My sense was off the charts, but it happened in a good way! You’ll never believe it…”
“Oh, I’ll believe anything with the Pinkie Sense at this point.” Twilight said with a modest giggle.
“My back itched!” Pinkie exclaimed. Twilight looked at her expecting more. She pondered a second to remember what symptom that meant. Every tic from the Pinkie Sense had it’s own chart from what it meant to if Twilight needs to immediately run out of the vicinity. Checking the library for any loose books or knickknacks on the shelves, she went back to Pinkie for a response. “That means it’s my lucky day! Which is just crazy because that hasn’t happened in a while!”
“Really now? Color me surprised.” The unicorn said, true to her words.
“Purple isn’t a surprised color…but yeah! Hasn’t happened at all! But this is big! Big, big big! It has to do with that restaurant!”
“It is an interesting hypothesis.” Twilight deduced. “Maybe you should greet the owners when they come by.”
“Twilight, this is important! The sense is calling; this shouldn’t be any normal greeting! We should give them a surprise party! Maybe we should do a royal opening like we do for Celestia!”
“Pinkie, if we do that, then everyone else is going to ask me directly to promote their stores. Plus, that might not be fair to the people owning the restaurant, because they could get overwhelmed with ponies.”
“If I was the newest, wealthiest pony in town, that’s what I would want!” Pinkie proclaimed.
Twilight remained skeptical of the idea. “You can’t prove that, you know.”
“Of course I can! Why, I’ve imagined what Sugarcube Corner would have been like with that kind of publicity! The ponies would say:
Pinkie wrapped her hair around her nose like a moustache. “These ponies helped my cupcakes sell thousands across all of Equestria!”
She then spun around to another part of the room with her hair in a proper bun. “Yes! Let’s give them our bits and send their kids through school! After all, it’s what this great community deserves for helping us in the first year!”
It was shrewd role-play, but Pinkie did actually have a good grasp on business. Helping out local businesses was something that Cadence would totally do as well.
“Spike! What’s my schedule for today?”
“You have an appointment with Mayor Mare this evening to discuss some permits with some new ponies. Plus the usual goal of finishing two books by the evening."
“That appointment must be for the owners! I can even read while we wait! You know, today feels like the right day for an experiment. Pinkie, call everyone together and let’s head to that restaurant!”
“Those are the exact words I wanted to hear! Okie, dokey, and loki!” Pinkie said, as she sped out of the library with Twilight and Spike briskly following her.
“That’s Ponyville, right?!” Quills asked.
Sunny extended his head past the excited pegasus to check out the window. Everything looked the same from when he went there two months ago to choose a location: Quaint, but not cheesy and comfortable, but not boring.
“Yup.”
“I’m actually looking forward to this.” Quills squeaked. “Oh! That’s the Golden Oaks Library! Canterlot Quarterly put it in their list of The Top 10 Reading Spots in Equestria!”
“Oh yeah…” He murmured. “I don’t think a tree like that would have many books.”
“It’s not just about the books, it’s the atmosphere! Plus, the article said that it has a large portion of the library underground. That’s why it was ranked between the Star-Swirl The Bearded Wing of the Canterlot Archvies and the Public Library of Trottingham. Besides, it looks so cozy from this view. I’d absolutely love to live in a place like that.”
“You would live there.” He said with a cocked brow and grin.
The train began to slow down as it pulled into the station. Both ponies were anxious finally arriving in Ponyville. Sunny levitated their supplies from the baggage compartment and they left the muffin boxcar. Quills and Sunny trotted onto the wooden station. They were gun shy to go forward, the physicality of the change was starting to settle in as other ponies loaded off the train. The two put their hooves around each other. Even with Ponyville’s friendly reputation, the unicorn and pegasus were now on their own in a new town.
“Let’s go find that building.” Sunny broke the silence.
Moving off the train station, the two started peering around for their new house. At this point, the unicorn started to realize that several of the buildings looked the same. Rows upon rows of thatch houses with red trim and straw roofs. They walked through the market in town, keeping an eye out for a larger-than-normal establishment. As they moved through all the fresh looking products and homemade goods, Quills started to talk.
“I thought there would be more standouts here. Ponyville always has some commotion going on…”
“That’s the beauty of it. There’s so much hidden world-class stuff in this town. One of the best pastry stores, one of the best tailors lives here, and what is debatably the best apple farm is on the outskirts.”
“Canterlot had all that.”
“And did you notice how it’s not packed here? Like, at all?”
“You’re right, that makes it perfect.” Quills said briskly. “And that’s why I’m going to like it! The only calamity you want to encounter is something you imagined yourself!”
“Tell me about it. And Ponyville is at the metropolitan at that level of quality right now.”
“I’m starting to see it! Just look at that thing!”
Quills words trailed off as she noticed a castle tent of pastel colors. Angular and diamond-shaped, the building was a loud, beautiful hibiscus in the middle of a field of daisies. It would be too silly compared to the architecture of city, but shines within the village. The pony mannequins made her squeal with glee.
“That’s so amazing!”
“You want to know what’s better? We live right across from that.”
Sunny tilted Quills’s head to the larger building that Pinkie observed earlier. Her expression shifted to sheer shock. She didn’t expect the restaurant he was hyping up for so long to be so big. It was nondescript, not like the boutique at all, but it stood out all the same amongst all the thatch-roof cottages. The one thing that made it stand out was the hanging block of wood above the door with a sun wearing a chef’s hat.
“Now that’s beautiful.” Sunny said, swelling with pride.
“It is.” Quills slowly nodded. “Ooh! You handled the decorations, right? I need to see how good you are at interior design!”
The blue pony took a deep breath before creaking the door open to his new domicile. Their hooves clopped one by one onto a cool wood floor. It was dark, but Sunny could still see the colors he chose months ago finally come to life: chestnut red walls with black trim on the top and bottom, sturdy pecan hardwood flooring perfectly connected together and polished for that feeling of warmth, and a creamy white ceiling with simple three-lamp gold chandeliers.
Blackwood tables with matching cushioned chairs to make all ponies comfortable. A large amount of room for diners and servers to move around gave a necessary flow, from moving to the kitchen, to the bathrooms, to even the stairs. Sunny counted the number of spaces. Two six/eight-seater tables for big families, Nine four-seater tables for average, and six two-seaters for couples, with ten elevated chairs for the bar.
And the bar…polishing mahogany just how he always wanted; a step of extra elegance and comfort to make any pony talk or order a drink. They trotted over to a slightly elevated spot of pecan wood in the corner. Measuring mentally, it was enough space to cram potentially six ponies to perform. The restaurant had to provide everything from not only food and ambiance, but also entertainment for the sporty summers and wild party nights.
“It’s all mine.” Sunny said choking up.
“You did a great job!” Quills said, giving him an affectionate glomp.
“It looks so good, doesn’t it?” Sunny squeaked out, blushing.
“You’re gonna rock this town’s tummies!”
“Oh, they have no idea what they are in for.” Sunny assured. “That’s right! I need to see the equipment!”
Sunny galloped around his bar to look at his tools of the trade. They were beautiful large chrome appliances that gleamed with a cleanly shine. An eight-gas range with a bountiful sized oven for anything he could possibly dream. Seated comfortably next to the stove was a large sized grill for any special ingredient, even meat for the more adventurous types. Next to the wall were all of his small appliances, like a sandwich press and slicer, comfortable for everything. It stood on a metal rack with several other nichey tools that could make possibly anything.
He took a deep look at his cooling station, with several containers and slots to store cold products for easy access. The cutting table was vast and divided by color, so everything could be prepped for the perfect sanitation. It was even connect to it’s own outlet to double as a fridge. Directly facing the crowd would be his glass display, showing off the newest quick-prep apps and desserts for the day or whatever he decided to come up with at the last minute.
“My favorite part from the restaurant in Canterlot, now here for Ponyville!” He cheered.
“Everything looks better than I thought. Who thought it would actually match the magazine!”
“Almost everything. We just need to get to the walk-in.” Sunny walked past the drink station to a double-sided door that would contain everything in the back. He wanted to entertain the diners, but some of the less savory aspects of food prep would be kept in the back. But as he pressed his hoof against the door, he was pushed back against the bar from a sudden burst of force.
“SURPRISE!” A Pink pony busted from the darkness, surprising Sunny and making Quills dive behind a plant.
The navy-colored unicorn held tightly to his bar in awe, as the pink pony bounced around the house point to everything in detail. A strange, blue-Technicolor blur darted through the doors, throwing random items from balloons to confetti to those cone-string hats in a surprisingly organized sequence. Once he finally calmed down, he could see others coming from storage room.
It was four ponies, one orange, one yellow, one white and the purple unicorn from the Canterlot Quarterly article. They were all giving much to excited grins for what was happening. As Sunny turned his head, he turned around to see that all the items were just party favors, carefully placed on each table. Sunny felt flattered, but almost insulted in that it felt like a party filled with animatronic ponies playing instruments and telling puns.
“Wh-what’s all this about?” Sunny mustered.
“We’re the welcome wagon! It’s nice to meet you friend!” Applejack shouted, shaking Sunny’s hoof without warning.
“Happy Grand Opening!” Pinkie Pie said from across the room. “Although this is the start of your new establishment, you should be happy to know that most Ponyville businesses last longer than their first year! And I’m sure you’ll be apart of that track record too!”
“Oh, congratulations on settling in, darling.” The white pony said, as she put a supportive hoof on Sunny’s shoulder.
“Um, is it normal for you all to greet your residents like this?”
“It actually is.” A voice said, trotting out from the walk-in. “Twilight Sparkle, it’s good to meet you.” She said, extending a hoof.
He shook her hoof back. “This is unusual, but thank you. Majestic Sunrise is my name. I never owned my own restaurant until now, but I do know a lot about the gastronomy scene. To be honest, this wasn’t something I expected.” He nervously chuckled.
“EXACTLY!” Pinkie shouted. “And that’s why surprise parties are the best!”
“No they aren’t!” Quills shouted. All the ponies turned their head to the pony in the corner. Pinkie was especially bewildered from than kind of negative reaction.
“Calm down, Quillsie.” Sunny tried to ease the tension. “It’s unusual, but they’re just greeting us here.”
“Quills…where have I heard that name.” Fluttershy muttered.
“Wait a minute.” Twilight said. She started to list the name through her mental encyclopedia of important ponies. Crossing references and thinking about the amount of times she’s been in public, in came together. “You’re Crazy Quills!”
“THE Crazy Quills?!” Rainbow exclaimed. “You mean the greatest adventure novelist next to A.K. Yearling?!”
“We’re different genres.” The author mentioned.
“Ooh! So we have another celebrity in our town?” Pinkie interrupted. “That’s so perfect! We get all kinds of roaming people coming in out of Ponyville from singers to Canterlot officials to destructive bad guys and princesses! But moving here?!” She started to gasp. “You’ll have the best time ever!”
“Oh goodness…that’s bad. So bad.”
“Why bad?” Fluttershy pondered.
“I don’t want people badgering me when I’m here!” She said defensively. “Do you have any idea how many ponies begged me to put their ideas and characters in my work?!”
“Oh, Ponyville ain’t like that.” Applejack waved off. “We have some of the most down-to-Earth and friendly ponies imaginable. Besides, you can’t just hide yerself in your room away from the rest of the world!”
“I prefer to be left alone!” Quills snapped back.
“Don’t worry, Ponyville offers peace and quiet like no one else! If you don’t consider our weekly festivals and the occasional world-destroying bad guy!” Pinkie was blissfully aware at this disappointed looks in her directions.
Quills started breathing frantically while getting close to Sunny. “This was a bad idea. We should have stayed home.”
“We can’t go back now.” Sunny said. “Maybe you’ll get inspired with all the activity here.”
“That’s right! Maybe you can write that sequel!” Rainbow Dash said.
“S-s-s-sequel…” Quills stuttered. The ponies were taken aback, as her pupils started to shrink and she was visibly become distraught.
“Rainbow Dash!” Twilight shouted.
“You want it too, Twilight!” She responded.
“Too much…TOO MUCH!”
Quills exploded from her position and raced out the door. The six ponies were rather shocked from her reaction while Sunny was taken aback seeing her storm out, literarily. He slowly collected himself seeing his partner leave and addressed the Elements of Harmony directly.
“You girls surprised the wrong pony.”
“I swear to you, the likeliness of this happening to ponies I’ve held parties for has only been 1 in 97.” Pinkie confirmed.
“Look, Quills has a really hard time adjusting to new things. She really did want to move here, but doesn’t want her celebrity status to make her a target for attention. ”
“Of all the shut-ins authors to come to our town.” Twilight murmured.
“Perhaps a low-key affair would have been in order. I thought Trottika ponies like big loud parties.” Rarity assumed.
“I can smooth this all over, just get her back here!”
“We can do that!” Applejack said, pulling her rope from her saddlebags.
“I can get her back no problem!” Rainbow boasted.
“Then get a move on! I don’t want a circus!”
“Aww…and this was suppose to be my lucky day.”
The mane six ran out the door to try and find the pony. Sunny felt distraught…he didn’t want all this to take place just as they moved in and in front of royalty of all things. It was a very peculiar situation. In a flash, his expression of worry soon became one of cunning. How could he turn the situation into something good for himself and Quills? His train of thought was cut from an audible gasp outside
“OH MY GOSH, THAT'S THE SHINIEST BIT I'VE EVER SEEN!"
The plump pegasus was erratically flying fast in the air, like a flying tub of Neapolitan ice cream with matching streaks. She wanted to avoid ponies as much as possible, but didn’t keep a clear vision on where she was going. The stress came back at full force, with two of the Elements of Harmony begging for a sequel. It just wasn’t there yet. Quills didn’t know where to go, but it was definitely out of Ponyville.
With her eyes closed, her sense of direction was rather askew from what she believed. She felt like she was going up, but was literarily zig-zagging around the town like a pony imbibed with too much cider and the wind impaired her hearing. Her plan to escape would have been successful if Pinkie’s mention of Ponyville’s activities were the absolute truth.
“As your Mayor Mare, I’m proud to have been a judge for Ponyville’s 1st Underwater Basket Weaving Competition!”
A crowd of the typical ponies about town cheered as the newest competition came to a thrilling conclusion. Three ponies with ornate baskets standing next to a large, see-thru pool were in anticipation to win an award from their mayor: One grey with blonde hair, one minty green, and one with blue and fuschia hair with a buttercream coat.
“And this year’s winning pony is…”
“YAHHH!” A pegasus screamed from Northwest.
Everypony started panicking hearing that screaming voice. A large, pony-shaped torpedo appeared to be diving right towards the stage. The four ponies hopped off the podium while the others scrambled to opposite sides. Most of them prepped for the worse or turned away, but the few watched the amazing luck take place. The purple pegasus angled in the right direction barely missing the stage and went off in a new direction. One of the contestants opened her eyes and was amazed for completely reason.
“That’s Crazy Quills!” Bon-bon shouted.
“Who the heck is that?” Lyra commented.
“You know, Raiders of the Storm Crazy Quills?!”
“Oohhhhh.” Lyra said. She made an inquisitive face realized who that was. “Let’s get her autograph!”
Everypony in earshot of the contestant’s proclamation started running or flying in various places to get Crazy Quills. Some tried to follow her in the air, others wanted to go to their houses for copies of the book or papers for her signature. With the sense of bedlam going on, the ponies seemed to forget the contest all together.
“Who won the contest?” The grey pony asked dejectedly.
“Uh…it was you.” Mayor Mare said, as she threw the medal at Derpy as she sprinted to get her own supplies.
“Yay!” The pony cheered, as she flew back home without a care.
Amongst all the pegasi trying to catch the author, they were outclassed by Rainbow Dash. She sped towards Quills, getting a glimpse of her multi-colored trail. She really underestimated the new pony, as she disappeared into a big patch of cumulus clouds. Even adjusting her eagle eyes, Rainbow couldn’t see a speck of the pony. She flew back down to her comrades for a report.
“She’s pretty quick for her size. I wasn’t expecting her to leave my sight.”
“Looks like I’m gonna need a lot more rope.” Applejack commented.
“Are we going to keep looking for her in those clouds?” Rarity asked. “That really hampers our search party.”
“It appears she doesn’t want any disturbance.” Twilight said ominously.
The Mane Six looked to the skies with concern as the peaceful, white clouds began to turn stony grey. They didn’t move far, but the sky started to match the color ever so slightly from the ruckus.
“Looks like she just wants some peace and quiet.” Fluttershy said.
“Well, she found her place. Normally I wouldn’t think for a second about this, but I’m not gonna risk looking in a pony-started thundercloud for someone who wants to be left alone.” Rainbow said.
“Ahh! She’s clever…” Pinkie said.
“Clever?” Rarity questioned.
The party pony smirked. “If the weather ponies didn’t prep ponies for a sudden thunderstorm, then we can get this crowd to stay go in their houses!”
“Pinkie, that’s a great idea!”
“Call me a wizard, because I know my crowd control!”
The girls looked blankly from Pinkie’s joke, but she was right. Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash began to corral the skittering pegasi from entering the dangerous patches of weathers. The other four moved towards the empty wooden stage to get the rest of the ponies’ attention. Despite getting the materials ready for the author, many of them still had adrenaline pumping through their veins, looking all around for where Crazy Quills might be hiding.
“Everypony, listen up!” Twilight called.
Everypony stopped for a second to look at the four on stage. It was rare that Twilight called on anypony for her attention, but they were captivated.
“You all need to go back to your homes! There is an emergency thunderstorm heading our way!”
“But what about Crazy Quills?!” Somepony from the crowd shouted.
“There are more important things at hand!” Twilight said.
“I want my book signed!” “Yeah!” Various ponies responded back.
“She can’t sign ya’lls books and pictures if they’re all wet.” Applejack said.
The ponies took a break for a second to realize that. Not only would they get wet, but also their precious copies of Raiders of the Storm could be damaged while on the search. After a minute with the clouds growing ever closer, the crowd retreated back to their homes. Various pegasi that were on the hunt for Quills starting parking down to Ponyville for shelter or flew in the opposite direction to Cloudsdale. The remaining two ponies returned to the group.
“We got all of them back home.” Rainbow Dash said.
“So if Quills is in the clouds, do you think she’ll come back?” Applejack asked.
“Oh, I’ve done something like this multiple times.” Fluttershy assured. “She’ll calm down and return to Sunny’s in time.”
The six returned to the restaurant to give Sunrise the update on the situation. What was originally a clear day had an unexpected torrent of thunder and lightning, like a burst of summer rain. He could see the clouds building from the direction that the pudgy pegasi dashed in.
“She’s pretty far from Trottika.” He said.
“Does this happen very often?” Rarity asked.
“Only when there’s press around.”
“Gosh, I’m really sorry this happened.” Twilight apologized. “My first move wasn’t that smooth either, but I didn’t think this could cause someone to run away.”
“It’s alright. She’ll retreat back home once she tuckered herself out.” Sunny said.
“Are we just going to abandon this party?” Pinkie curiously moaned.
“Take it from me Pinkie, some ponies just prefer their space.” Dash said.
“I really appreciate what you all did. Give me a few hours when she comes back. We might be able to have an appropriate little gathering.”
“Shucks, that’s considerate Sunny.” Applejack said. “I’ll give you the address to Sweet Apple Acres when you need to contact me.”
The six ponies joined in giving their addresses to help out the newest ponies to Ponyville. Sunny was pretty surprised, knowing the boutique next door and the Golden Oaks Library belonged to two of the kind ponies offering support. He hoped that Quills would get back soon, because he really wanted to know more about the girls.
A drizzle started to fall on the outskirts of the town, with the occasional roar of thunder. Several ponies looked out the window in anticipation hoping the author would come back. All of them went off to do something else except for one unicorn gazing from the window.
After one hour…
The chef felt a shiver down his spine as an abrupt noise entered the upper level of the building. The uncomfortable sound echoed throughout the entire restaurant like a pony stomping angrily out of bed. Sunny quickly ran across the street to Carousel Boutique to get things back in motion. When he got back to the restaurant, he started to do what he did best and levitate items from his saddlebags.
Quills immediately buried her head into the plush bed that she ordered for herself. It wasn’t going at all like she hoped for, especially with everypony knowing her status. Her anonymity could only last so long. She wasn’t sure what she would do now. Maybe the business could do better with her exposure, but she didn’t like all the extra pressure on Sunny just based her presence alone.
The pegasus continued to rock around in her bed in confusion. She left such a bad impression on ponies that were trying to give a warm welcome. The doubts were taking place in her mind with each anxiety-fueled minute. Would there be another crowd? Would Sunny be able to control them? Was the sequel going to be forced on her by the new fans? What if-
Her crumbly trail of thought shifted as she heard some knocks to the door. She sprinted to the door and pressed her back against the wall.
“Don’t come in!” She shouted.
“Quillsie, it’s me.” Sunny said.
“I’m-I’m not in the mood Sunny. Please leave me alone.”
“I made you a griddled Peanut Butter and Blueberry Jam sandwich.”
Quills hesitated from that. She didn’t have anything since the train ride…and it was two, actually, three of her favorite things at once. She creaked the door open slightly and could feel the scent of toasty goodness drift into her nostrils.
“Come in.” She offered.
Sunny walked in and sat down next to Quills as he put the plate flat between her legs. He gave her a soothing look as she plunged her mouth down onto the sandwich. After getting a few large bites in, she calmed down as she felt the perfect balance of fruit and nut swirl around her taste buds.
“Yu alweighs kno-how ta cheer me uff.” Quills said with her mouth muffled.
“I know.” He said, as he wrapped his hoof around her head.
He held that position tenderly as he let Crazy finish the sandwich off in few minutes. Her mood seemed to increase with every passing bite. Around the time she was done, Quills kept her mouth closed trying to not burp in the chef’s face.
“Feel better?”
“Ya-huh…” She muttered.
Quills nuzzled herself deeply into Sunny’s chest, giving back the warm feelings that made her problems melt away. The unicorn reciprocated as he rested his head on frizzy mane with a loving caress. Quills gave a soothing, comfortable squeak realizing that change would worth it with him by her side.
The two broke from their embrace for a second to gaze into each other’s eyes. Sunny pushed forward, and pressed his lips against Quills to put a firecracker at the end of the moment. Quills closed her eyes feeling her heart flutter, as she pushed back with passion. Nothing else mattered at that moment, even with the thunderclouds still overhead. After a few minutes, Sunny broke the lock.
“So, don’t get upset but some of the girls did want to get to know you.”
“Yeah…thundering off isn’t the best first start. Just don’t have them bring up a sequel.”
“Already told them that.”
Sunny and Quills stood up from the ground and gingerly walked out the door. The trotted slowly from the top of the stairs to the bottom, carefully eying the Elements of Harmony who were all seated or hovering off the ground. All the party favors were there, but this time with a bowl of punch, cups, and a plate of smaller versions of the sandwich Sunny made earlier.
“We didn’t mean to startle you Crazy Quills.” Twilight said. All the others nodded in agreement, although Pinkie still seemed bewildered by the concept.
“I might have…over reacted.” The pegasi admitted.
“Let’s get off on a new hoof, okay?” Applejack suggested.
“Sure.” Quills nodded. She hustled up to the small spread of food. “Have you had any of these sandwiches? Sunny is the best chef out there!”
“Positively Absolutely!” Pinkie exclaimed. “I’ve eaten six already!”
“I guess this is what separates professionals from other ponies.” Fluttershy mentioned.
“Thank you, thank you.” Sunny took the compliment in stride, when it was really one of the most basic sandwiches you could make. “Part of it came from using the best supplies I could smuggle home from Canterlot.”
“Are you from Canterlot?” Rarity said, slowly gleaming.
“Indeed.”
“I had a feeling you were a Canterlot pony. You’re air of confidence was a real giveaway.” The fashionista pointed out.
“Where are my manners? Let me introduce everyone. You already know myself, but” Twilight began her formalities as she moved her limb across the room to introduce everyone. “There’s Applejack, Rarity, Fluttershy over there in the corner, Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie who set up the shindig, and my loyal assistant Spike.”
“Hello!” Spike greeted. Sunny was kind of surprised; he missed the dragon amongst all the commotion. “You cook tasty stuff! Your ovens in the back were quite impressive. I do a bit of dabbling of my own, but I bet you can teach me a thing or two.”
“I look forward to you coming.”
As he gave a greeting bow to the dragon, another part of his brain clicked together recognizing all of their individual accomplishments. He turned his head to the blue pegasi.
“That’s right, Rainbow Dash! You saved the Wonderbolts by making the clouds expode!”
“The Sonic Rainboom is my trademark! But you should see my real performances sometime.”
“Um, Majestic?” Fluttershy piped up.
“Call me Sunny or Sunrise. Just like the shop.”
“Oh, yes…Sunny Stop. You wouldn’t have a problem if I were to bring animals here, would you?”
“I’m completely fine with it, as long as you look after them. In fact, from what I hear about you I might need to ask about your animal expertise.” Fluttershy blushed knowing her reputation was moving beyond Ponyville.
“So if yer the chef, what does Quills do?” Applejack asked.
“I’m the Trottika ambassador is what I am! And part time baker and…server if we get really slammed.” Quills muttered.
“I’ve been meaning to ask.” Applejack said. “Now, I’m not the biggest bookworm, but everypony else knows about your book when I’ve never known about it.”
“Applejack, Crazy Quills is one of the stand-out authors in the high fantasy genre like Trotty Prattle or Pace Beagle.” Twilight confirmed.
“I don’t know who they are either.” Applejack said.
“Oh the things you’ll discover…” Quills said. She took a few steps over to the Earth pony to promote her point. “When you’re around me, you’ll discover books you would have never even considered!”
“And she would know that!” Rainbow Dash backed her up. “Her story was super riveting with awesome treks into the unknown and danger, like Daring Do!”
“Well, I suppose I can borrow the book from Twi when I get the chance.”
“Which reminds me, Twilight Sparkle, you need to take me to your library.” Quills said bluntly.
“Feel free to come by at any time.”
“It was the first thing I looked forward to when I was coming here. It has to be the most enchanting part of Ponyville…”
“It’s just our home.” Spike said nonchalantly.
“The best kind of home!” The author reiterated.
“I’d be honored to give you a tour of Ponyville.”
“Me too!” Rainbow said, hovering closer to her head. “You need to see Ponyville from the sky! It’s really more beautiful when you see it resting on a cloud. Though, you might have seen it speeding off like mad…”
“I think I’ll enjoy it more with a clearer head.” Quills admitted.
“By the way, can you take us to the mayor’s office?” Sunny moved straight to business. “We have things to sign.”
“No problem. Spike, look over everything while I take Majestic Sunrise and Crazy Quills to the town hall.”
“Can do!” Spike nodded, as he started to load him mouth up with blueberry peanut butter sandwiches all the ponies walked away.
“Okay, I need to go to the Mayor’s office so we can get our permits to open the restaurant.”
Quills gave a warm smile to Sunny and Twilight as they prepared to leave. But as the door opened, she got a sudden reality check. She took a few steps back to grab a table cover wrapped it around her body. “I should probably go in disguise first though.”
“Of course.” He acknowledged.
The three ponies fleeted from the restaurant to the Mayor’s office at Town Square. Thankfully it stood out amongst all the other thatch-roofed houses as nicely crafted circular building. Even with a few ponies out and about, none of them weren’t any the wiser to the famous author hiding under a purple sheet. Sunny made sure the coast was clear as the two entered the town hall.
Amongst all the statues and plaques, it was a straight line to Mayor Mare’s. The secretary must have taken off for today. Quills removed her sheet knowing she was in the clear and the two got close as the approached the main door. Twilight Sparkle opened the door to the a tan pony with a gray-and-white mane who was sitting at her office.
“Majestic Sunrise, correct?” The mayor asked.
“Yes.”
“Have a seat then!”
Sunny and Quills entered in taking their respective seats. Twilight gave a supportive wink at the two ponies
“Twilight Sparkle explained to me earlier why there was so much commotion today, Ms. Quills. We didn’t know you wanted to keep your identity under wraps, but it just kind of happened.”
“Yeah, it was a bit of a surprise to me too.” Quills blushed.
“That’s no big deal, it happens all the time.” Mayor reassured. “So, I suppose you are here to sign your papers.”
“Absolutely!” Sunny said. The mayor slid several sheets of papers to the owners. Sunny looked over the meticulously, making sure everything was covered, while Quills wanted to go back to Twilight.
“Thank you so much for handling all that.”
“Oh, it was nothing.” She said. “This is nothing compared to what I deal with most days.”
“Yes. Thankfully you didn’t interrupt our ceremony for the Underwater Basket Weaving Competition too much. It would cause a bigger rift within my already tight schedule.”
“Thanks for taking the time to handle this permit yourself.”
“Well, new businesses don’t always spring up in Ponyville. To me it’s only surprising that you wanted to cover so many bases starting up the restaurant. The Clover Café was a much simpler affair.”
“What are you asking for?” Twilight asked.
“Some of the typical Canterlot accessories. Liquor license-“
“You want to sell alcohol?” Twilight asked.
“Several businesses make a substantial profit from selling alcohol.” Sunny said, not missing a beat. “Besides, what’s better after a hard day than a cider? Especially with the Sweet Apple Acres brand.”
“That’s true.”
“Then of course there’s the sound pollution bill, that allows us to go over a number of decibels for certain nights. We want to provide more than food for entertainment,” Sunny informed. “And the open fire permit-“
“What’s that for?” Twilight asked.
“Do you know what Saganaki is?!” Quills demanded.
“Well, no…”
“Saganaki is perhaps the greatest table food you could possibly have. It’s a rustic, Trottika signature where you take fresh cheese and sear it with olive oil! Right as it’s done, you coat it in Ouzo and light it on fire for everyone to see! And to top it off, you douse it in lemon juice for one of the most magnificent appetizers you can every start with! It’s perfectly creamy, savory, salty and we’ll make the best!”
Twilight and Mayor Mare looked at her with a concerned, but tantalizing look considering what they were just described. Sunny didn’t break a sweat as he finished looking over the paperwork by signing off and initialing every piece of paper.
“And that’s why we need one.” Sunny nodded. He passed the paper to the co-owner. “Everything’s on the dotted line dear.”
Quills broke from her food spell to sign the papers as well. The mayor and Twilight double-checked to make sure everything was filled in the right blanks. She gave a welcoming smile, as everything was finally up to order.
“Perfect! Starting in a few days, the Sunny Stop will be open for business!”
“Hooray!” The two ponies cheered. Twilight gave a supportive clap.
“Thanks for everything you two. We have to get going now, there’s so many groceries to buy, prep work to do, and equipment to test!” Sunny confirmed
“You’ve been very accommodating.” Quills bowed.
“It’s no problem.” Twilight said.
“I’ll have to take you up on that saganaki.” Mayor Mare said.
“Well, I’ll insist. You’ve both done a great job helping me out, let me make you an offer.” Sunny said. Both official Ponyville ponies looked at each other leaned in interested. “If you have any local acts or friends who you would like to be featured at the restaurant, feel free to give me some ideas. It’s pro-bono, so reservations will be on me.”
“Oh my…there’s so many ponies I’d like to bring!” Twilight said, her mind starting to list down all of her favorite things.
“I’m looking forward to your business!” Mayor said.
“I have connections! Thank you both!” Sunny said, as the two ponies left.
With their copies of the deed and paperwork in tow, Sunny and Quills walked out of Town Hall. Quills put the sheet back around her to keep nosy ponies away, but felt a new sense of pride with a new chapter of her life starting. With a blessing from an element of harmony, the supportive local community, and her special somepony by her side, she might finally be able to write that long awaited sequel in the best restaurant in town.
