Dear brother,
I’m sorry for not writing to you earlier. Ever since I moved into Ponyville to open the new restaurant, I lost track of things; which included finding quills to write to you. Luckily I was directed to a shop within town that sells quills and, conveniently, a large amount of sofas. I’m using a quill that I bought from the shop to write you this letter. I’m also sitting on a very comfortable stool I bought from the shop as well!
Anyways, things have been going better than I expected ever since I started working in Ponyville. The ponies here are very welcoming. Unlike Fillydelphia, everyone here is always in a bright mood and they are more than happy enough to shake hooves and say hello. One local pony who works at a pastry shop close to the building went as far as to throw me a welcoming party! I was surprised to have one thrown just for me, but I was even more surprised at the fact that it seemed like the entire town attended!
You’re probably wondering about the shop. Well, I found a vacant building that offered space on the first floor big enough for a small restaurant, and had enough space on the second floor for me to live in. Thanks to the party, I now know that plenty of ponies can fit comfortably inside of the shop and still be offered a seat. They also seem to really like the menu, especially that special iced tea you taught me how to brew. I’ve been receiving a few compliments from a few well-known ponies within town. I even have the mayor stopping by on some mornings to get a cup of coffee!
As you can probably tell, business here is booming!
But aside from the party and the visitations from ponies like the mayor, those still weren’t the most interesting things that has happened here so far. A few days ago, this purple and green baby dragon walked in just a few minutes after I opened up shop to order breakfast. Soon afterwards a rainbow maned pegasus came in and sat near him and started talking to him after she ordered some food as well...
“Twilight was up late last night. She went past her usual bedtime frantically searching for something in her books and wouldn’t tell me what it was.” Spike spoke as he was chewing on a piece of pancake. He swallowed before continuing. “That’s why she’s still asleep. I thought I’d go ahead and grab some breakfast before she woke up to keep digging.”
The sun had creeped over the distant mountains, beginning a new sunny day in Ponyville. Both Spike and Rainbow Dash were sitting in a booth next to the window at the Coffee & Waffles restaurant eating pancakes. Rainbow was listening to Spike’s story while wolfing down her noticeably larger stack.
“Mmm, maybe she’s cramming for a test or something.” Rainbow said while continually stuffing her mouth with more and more pancakes, almost causing a mess. “Man, these pancakes are AWESOME! How do you make this stuff taste so good?”
Belgian Waffle was busy transporting the now clean plates from the back-room to the front and placing them on a rack, ready for any new customers. “Well, I get my batch of syrup straight from Whitetail Woods. That’s one of a few reasons why I brought the shop here instead of Manehattan.” Belgian thinks back to his self-guided tour through Manehattan, and recalls the many corner coffee shops and restaurants all over the city. He knew business there would not be easy with so much competition. And the fact that Whitetail Woods was nearby and had maple trees pouring out maple made it easier to pick which city he was going to open his restaurant.
Rainbow deeply swallowed another mouthful before responding. “Yeah, yeah. But it’s not just the syrup. The whole pancake is delicious. What do you put in them?”
Belgian chuckled. “Secret recipe. I can’t tell you.”
“Geeze Rainbow, you really like those pancakes don’t you?” questioned Spike who was looking quizzically at the strangely enthusiastic pegasus sitting across from him.
“They’re the best pancakes I’ve ever tasted... come to think of it, I can’t remember the last pancake I’ve ever had...” Rainbow thought for a moment before shrugging. “Eh, it doesn’t matter.” Then she stuffed in another mouthful and gleefully chewed on it.
Spike was still giving Rainbow a quizzical look. “You remind me of Pinkie, except you’re not a bottomless pit. You couldn’t stuff as much pancakes down your throat like Pinkie could if you tried.”
At this, Rainbow reflected the same facial expression back to Spike. “You think I couldn’t eat as many pancakes as Pinkie Pie?”
Spike then realized that Rainbow was about to put herself into a challenge; the results of which interested him. “I’d like to see you try.”
Rainbow swallowed hard before putting a hoof forward. “You’re on!”
Spike grabbed the hoof and shook it up and down. As soon as he released it, Rainbow called for Belgian Waffle to bake as many pancakes as he could, and to keep serving her until she ran out of bits to purchase more.
Even though Belgian was working, he overheard their conversation and became worried. “Are you sure about this? I don’t want you stuffing yourself silly over a measly challenge.”
“Hey, I can handle it. I am the toughest pony in all of Equestria!”
---
Rainbow wasn’t even out of bits before she drastically reduced her speed of pancake consumption. She was cooing at her food and feeling slightly nauseated. Her slightly enlarged and seemingly swelling belly showed that she had reached her limits on food intake and is about to throw in the towel; or napkin for that matter.
“Wow, that was pretty impressive.” Spike said.
“I’ll say!” Belgian agreed. “I think I went through a day’s worth of batter on you.”
Rainbow did not respond. She simply stared at the remaining food sitting on the table in front of her; occasionally closing her eyes hoping that they would just disappear.
“Hey! You gonna finish that?!”
Rainbow quickly opened her eyes and found Pinkie Pie violently smashing her face into the remaining pancakes, gobbling them all up in one swift “munch”.
After Pinkie swallowed, Rainbow perked up and regained her composure. “Hey! Yes, I was gonna finish that.” she yelled at Pinkie. Just as she finished, a wave of nausea washed over her. She hugged her stomach while slightly leaning forward. “Oooohhh.”
“You feeling alright Dashie?” Pinkie said with a worried look on her face.
“She’ll be fine.” Spike reassured Pinkie. ”She took on a challenge saying that she could eat as many pancakes as you.”
“Really? Why would she do that?”
“I guess she wanted to prove that she was still the toughest pony in Equestria.” Spike said while shaking his head at the thought of one pony going so far to keep that title.
“But I thought she was the toughest pony in Equestria? Didn’t she beat Applejack at the Running of the Leaves?”
“No, she tied for last place with Applejack. Remember?” Spike answered her.
“Oh, yeah! Now I remember! We were the announcers for the race. I’ve always wondered why they call it the Running of the ‘Leaves’ when the leaves don’t run? They just fall to the ground.”
Spike put a hand to his face, clearly not wanting the awkward remarks from when Pinkie was in the balloon with him to resurface.
Rainbow’s stomach gurgled, and she placed a hoof over her mouth.
“I remember how you said ketchup would help them both and then I said it wouldn’t help them in a race unless it was a hot dog eating contest where you raced to eat the most amount of hot dogs then yes it would have helped them there. Then I mentioned how I liked mustard on my hot dogs and you said you liked pickles do you still like pickles on your hog dogs?” Pinkie said at a very quick pace under one breath, which left her gasping at the end of her rant.
Spike was about to answer when he realized something. “Wait, you like hot dogs?”
“Yeah-huh! Why do you ask?”
“Aren’t hot dogs made out of meat?”
“Oh... umm, well...” Pinkie sheepishly clopped her hooves together while looking away from Spike.
Spike raised an eyebrow at Pinkie, waiting for an answer.
Rainbow’s stomach gurgled louder and her eyes shot wide open. It wasn’t long now.
“S-so, um. Hey! I have an idea for the challenge!” Pinkie exclaimed, clearly changing the subject. “We could hold a competition in Ponyville for who could eat the most amount of pancakes!” Pinkie gleefully finished, throwing her hooves up in the air at the last word.
Spike wasn’t as enthusiastic at the idea, but soon shrugged off his last assumptions of Pinkie and went along with the new topic. “Yeah, sure I guess. And the pancakes could be made here. Right Belgian?” Spike called out the last two words towards the kitchen, expecting Belgian Waffle to still be eavesdropping.
As a matter of fact, he was. “Sure thing!” He called from the back room. “I will need some help with the cooking though.”
Pinkie raised her hooves like an eager school filly. “Oh! Oh! I could help with cooking! I’m a great cook!”
“Then it’s settled. We’ll hold a competition for who can eat the most amount of pancakes.” Spike proclaimed.
Both Spike and Pinkie were oblivious to the changing facial expressions on Rainbow Dash’s face as they were talking.
Rainbow moved her hoof away from her mouth enough to allow herself to speak. “Guys?”
Both Pinkie and Spike looked at her, surprised that she finally said something after all this time.
Spike spoke up. “What is it?”
“... Uh Oh.”
I stepped out of the kitchen as soon as I heard it. I had to close off the booth they were in so I could clean up the new mess. I thought I’ve seen unique colors in her mane, but I was proven wrong by the time I got to her. Clearly she’s going to need a lot of practice for that competition.
I’m so excited to be hosting such an event. This kind of thing never happens in Filydelphia. It will be occurring in a few days, so I’m hoping that you will be able to make it in town to see it. I’m sure it’s going to be a lot of fun, and I could use the help. I’ll write back to you as soon as I hear how many competitors will be entering.
Hope things are going well back at home, can’t wait to hear from you!
-Belgian Waffle
Author's Note: Oh I'm so happy! My first. Story. EVER! I hope it's not bad, and I hope you guys could provide help on any revisions or changes needed. Criticism is welcome and appreciated! Thank you so much for reading!