It was a nice and warm summer evening in Ponyville. The birds sang happily on the branches of the trees and on the thatched roofs of the picturesque little houses. A tiny filly played with a ball.
Fluttershy was trotting trough the mane square of the town, smiling a big, happy smile. She was really enjoying the warm summer breeze and the soft, friendly light of the sun. However, she felt a bit hungry. Maybe she should buy some groceries, go home and make dinner? But on the other hand... It was pretty boring to always cook at home. She had allready fed her animals and got plenty of time to do with as she pleased.
Maybe she should indulge in a delicious dinner at a fancy restaurant, just to pamper herself a little? It was perhaps a little luxury, she thought, but the idea appealed to her more and more. It was so long since she visited a restaurant last time.
The yellow pegasus stopped in front of "The Prancing Pony", a very old and famous restaurant in Ponyville. The sign over the entrance depicted a prancing pony, just like the name suggested. Rarity had said that this place had received five stars by the Royal Canterlot Gourmet Guide. It had to be true, because from inside the building, a wonderful, spicy smell of freshly cooked food reached her little nostrils. It smelled so good that she almost wanted to break into song. She decided to go in.
The tables were set with freshly ironed white tablecloths, candlesticks made of silver and little shakers with salt and pepper that looked like miniature unicorn horns. In the background she could hear peaceful, classical music.
"Thank you," Fluttershy said when the waitress, a very elegant unicorn with a bowtie and an apron, showed her to her table and handed her the menu.
Fluttershy skimmed trough the dishes, trying to decide what to order. Maybe soup with croutons? A fresh salad with daisies and olive oil? Tortellini? Tagliatelle? Falafel? Spring rolls? Everything looked so delicious... The pegasus choose to order a three course dinner, just to make this moment really memorable.
"Um... excuse me," she said. "I would like to order the three course dinner... the one right here."
She pointed with her hoof on a picture in the menu. Another waitress, an earth pony this time, wrote down a number on her notepad.
"Very well. Which one of our fine wines would you like with that? We have one of the five best wine collections in whole of Equestria."
"Oh... I usually don't drink wine. I have... never actually tasted wine before."
"Then allow me to recommend the Chateau de Luna, a very flamboyant white wine with a hint of vanilla."
"That sounds very nice. Yes, please."
Soon Fluttershy took a little sip of her wine. She thought it tasted very sour and strange, but she didn't want to tell the waitress that she didn't like it. Maybe she just had to get used to wine to enjoy it as much as Rarity did? The white unicorn had told her that a real gourmet dinner simply must have wine.
She took another sip. Now she had waited a long time for her food and she started to feel a little neglected. The waitress passed by, without even looking at her.
"Um..."
Maybe they had forgotten all about her? Fluttershy decided to try harder to get the waitress's attention.
"Um... excuse me..."
But the waitress didn't seem to notice her this time either.
"I hate to bother, but can I please..." she said, a little louder.
It was as if she suddenly had become invisible. The soft spoken pegasus nervously twisted in her chair. What if they had forgotten her order? Fluttershy tried to tap a table knife against the candlestick. She didn't appreciate to be ignored like this at all! Maybe it was because she was too nice to everypony and not assertive enough? The thought made her a little annoyed and she tapped the candlestick a bit to hard, resulting in the candle falling out of its socket.
Quickly she tried to reattach it, but it was too big to fit neatly in its place. Fluttershy desperately tried to drill it back into the hole, spilling molten drops of candle grease on the tablecloth.
And now the waitress appeared from the kitchen, carrying a plate of food in her direction! Fluttershy hastily covered the mess she had made with the menu.
But even this time the waitress passed her without noticing! Fluttershy decided that she must somehow show her that she was ready to eat! She promptly tied her napkin around her neck in a manner that she had only seen comic book-characters do when they visited restaurants. Now she would surely get her food!
"UM!" she said, in a loud voice. "UM! EXCUSE ME! Please, may I have my meal soon... if that's okay with you?"
"In a minute."
"Okay... sorry to bother you."
But a minute passed.. And then another minute. Fluttershy was getting more and more annoyed. They ignored her on purpose! They didn't think she mattered! The shy pegasus drank a big sip of her wine and grabbed her table knife to tap the candlestick again. But this time she missed and instead hit the salt shaker, making it fall over and spill some of its contents on the table. Pinkie Pie used to say that spilling salt on the table was a sign of bad luck that could ONLY be averted by throwing some of it over the shoulder. Quickly Fluttershy threw the shaker over her shoulder, but the small lid came off and a hoofful of salt landed right in the open mouth of Lyra who, from behind, just was about to say hello to her!
"Ugh! Oh!" she cried, desperately trying to spit the salt out.
The sudden taste chock and the spitting made her vomit her entire meal over the carpet! The remnants of a blueberry pie was clearly visible against the red fabric.
Every pony in the room had turned towards the scene and now the waitress came running!
"I must ask you to leave!" she said in a firm voice.
"NO! It isn't fair! I want my food first!" Fluttershy screamed and flipped the table in front of her.
The wineglass was shattered against the floor and the candle fell over, breaking into pieces. The unicorn waitress tried to use a spell to subdue the raging pegasus, but Fluttershy hit her on the horn with a quick punch. She then jumped over the flipped table and ran across the room screaming:
"I DEMAND MY FOOD! NOPONY DENIES ME MY DINNER!"
The other waitress, the earthpony, came out from the kitchen carrying three plates. Before she could react, Fluttershy rammed her like a raging buck! The food and the plates rained down on the carpet and some of it ended up in Fluttershy's mane and in her face, stunning her for a quick moment and completely breaking her momentum.
Splattered with gravy and béarnaise the pegasus tried to escape, but the angry staff had now gained the initiative, cutting her off from the only exit trough the front door! In panic Fluttershy turned around and galloped for the kitchen, where it had to be another way out somewhere!
When she entered, the chef, a big fat griffon with a mustache, looked at her with surprise and chock in his eyes.
"What in the name of Ce..."
But before he had time to finish his sentence, Fluttershy had jumped onto the kitchen counter and slid down the other side in a desperate attempt to get away. She carried a great fear of griffons since an earlier incident. However, on the other side was a metal bucket with kitchen waste for the compost bin! Fluttershy got her legs stuck in the bucket and fell over, kicking and fighting to free herself from this terrible trap!
In the turmoil she spilled grease, trash and waste over the whole kitchen and even hit the poor chef in the head with the bucket, making him drop to the floor like a log.
"I'm sorry!" she screamed before she got up on her hooves again.
With both waitresses in hot pursuit Fluttershy threw herself trough the nearest exit, an open window, and by accident landed in a big garbage container filled with rotten food!
Humiliated and covered in a truly horrible stench she slowly crawled out of the container and snuck away behind a corner. This was the worst restaurant visit ever, she thought. On the way back to her cottage, all of Ponyville's citizens held their breath and ran away in disgust from her. Poor Fluttershy, all she wanted was to have a nice dinner.
THE END
