"First, we had our taste of food other than love. Second, we were able to watch the Wonderbolts. Third, we got to meet the Princesses of Equestria. Fourth, we got front seats to a parade in honor of the Princesses. Finally, we get to see the Princesses make the day night and I got to see every second of it!"
"At least you're happy with that," Blue Alarm said as he chewed rather noisily on his roti, a flat circular piece of thin bread. "At least we all had good times."
Red Noise slurped the curry sauce in front of him. "And I add a sixth thing to get happy about, Humerus." Then, he yelled, "The Tasty Treat is delicious!"
The ponies eating there who weren't already looking at the changelings were looking at them. A few pouted at them.
The smell of the place was dotted with the aromas of various spices and flavors. The steam of various soups and sauces wafted through the air, even going out the open door. The round wooden tables and their wooden chairs, complemented with the wooden floor, had their customers feasting on various foods like small, square, soft rice-chickpeas cakes, carrots in curry sauce, and rotis. At the center of all the tables there were lanterns of different sizes and shapes resting on table cloths of different colors; all the lanterns had shapes of diamonds and shone a soft light to the eaters. Long curtains snaked through the ceiling. The walls alternated between a painted sea green and unpainted red, violet, and orange bricks. The tables beside the tall windows offered a nice view of the street in the cold dark outside, dotted by street lights and building lights. Several uniformed ponies were using brooms and dustpans to clean the roads littered with confetti and streamers. There were few ponies outside but the few ponies outside were smiling and laughing. Silence was outside, too, holding a bag of donuts.
"I heard that they're offering spicy food in here," Humerus said. "Whatever spicy food tastes like, I think it's going taste great!"
"Don't think you're going to like it," Neon Guard said, holding back a smile.
"Why not? The flatbread not only tastes great but it's aslo crunchier than the donut, the small bowls of curry sauce taste savory, and the vegetables inside the curry sauce—" Humerus raised a hand.
Saffron Masala went to the changelings' table.
"Do you want to add to your order?" Saffron asked.
"I want one of the spicy food!" Humerus said.
"Uh, which one?" she replied.
"Well, what about those recommending things that some restaurants do? What do you call that?"
"That's the chef's recommendations or chef's specials. They are the dishes that the chefs would suggest to their customers especially if they're new to the restaurant since the dishes represent the restaurant's best. Since you kindly asked, if you want spicy food as part of a good meal, then I and my father would want you to try the thali—"
"Give me the thali!" Humerus interrupted. "Surprise me! I'll even close my eyes for the food!" He then covered his eyes with his front hooves and grinned. "And give me the spiciest thali you can make!"
"Well...I guess you really enjoy our food here, Humerus," Saffron said. "Are you sure you want the spiciest thali?"
"Yes, I want the spiciest thali!"
Saffron hesitated. She looked at Humerus who still had his eyes closed. "If you really want that, Humerus,...then your thali will arrive in just a moment." Then, she went off to the kitchen.
Humerus opened his eyes. "She even knows my name! They're all so kind here!"
"Saffron asked for our names when we arrived," Red Noise said. "Did you forget?"
"They remind me that they know my name!" Humerus replied and grabbed a roti from Blue Alarm's plate. "The appetizers are good, I wonder what the main courses would taste like."
"Very painful if you're not prepared for the spice," Neon Guard said. "Do you even have an idea what spicy is to the tongue?"
"All I know is that it's spicy!" Humerus said.
"Do you know what 'spicy' means, Humerus?" said Neon Guard.
"It sounds tasty."
Neon Guard placed a hoof on his head and groaned. "I don't want to disappoint your day—and it's been an exciting day for you—but if you eat something spicy, it means that—"
"The Wonderbolts are here?!" Humerus shouted.
The changelings looked behind their backs. Three pegasi in the blue and yellow Wonderbolts uniform, with goggles raised, entered the restaurant. There were two mares, one with yellow coat and winded orange, fiery-colored mane, the other with white coat and puffy dark blue hair. The one stallion with pale blue coat—who had dark blue mane as well, yet it was winded—opened his mouth. Eyeing all the delicacies, he rushed to an empty table.
"It's the Wonderbolts!" a stallion said. He got a pad of paper with a hoof and a ballpen with his mouth and rushed to the Wonderbolts.
Several ponies rushed to the Wonderbolts, too, who were now sitting down in front of their table.
"The Wonderbolts?" Corainder Cumin walked out of the kitchen with a face of surprise. Saffron walked out, also.
The three Wonderbolts nodded. "I heard from Rainbow Dash that this place has good food," the yellow, winded-mane Spitfire said. "She also said that Soarin would love it. Good thing we also just had a show and a race this afternoon, right Soarin?" She looked at Soarin. His stomach rumbled.
"I'll try a sampler and a full meal!" Soarin declared while he looked at various foods around him. "You have a good restaurant, mister..."
"Corainder Cumin," Corainder said. "And, this is my daughter, Saffron Masala. Together, we cook for the Canterlot ponies and whoever else happens to be here. We are honored to serve the Wonderbolts and have them as guests. Enjoy the food!"
Saffron walked closer to the table. "So, what do you want? I can tell you about the specials if you're undecided."
Soarin's stomach rumbled again.
Humerus turned back to his fellow changelings.
"That means we've had seven great things today!" Humerus yelled. He raised his front hooves. "The Wonderbolts are eating in the same place we're eating in , and I'll get to eat spicy food, whatever it is!"
"It hurts your tongue, Humerus," Neon Guard said. "Chilis and other spicy foods hurt your tongue."
Humerus frowned and looked down on the table.
Then, he looked back up and smiled.
"That means that it must be really delicious!" he yelled. "I don't know what I'm going to feel when I eat that!"
"Here," Red Noise said while he passed a glass of iced cold water to Humerus. "I don't want you to breathe fire like a dragon, burning the restaurant down."
"A changeling that will breathe fire! If this place serves food that makes changelings breathe fire, then this is the best restaurant in all of Equestria!"
"You'll also go the nearest hospital and have to pay hundreds of bits in order to repair the restaurant if you did that," Neon Guard said.
"I think that's the rest of the food, guys," Blue Alarm said.
Saffron walked to the table, floating with her magic a large tray that held plates and bowls of different kinds of vegetables, sauces, legumes, and soups. Alongside the curry sauce, there were also pieces and slices of bread including more rotis, green and fresh salad stews, and circular and square sweets.
"And, Humerus, here is the thali that I'm sure you'll love."
The first plate that glided from the floating tray to the table was a plate that was filled with different kinds of food, placed in front of Humerus.
"Thali is not one food but a meal of foods," Saffron explained. "It can have different foods, too, but thali must have all the tastes that one can imagine: not just the usual salty and sour and sweet and bitter, but even the spicy and the dry. That's why we have carrots and potatoes in salty curry here, sour pickled vegetables here, sweet cakes out of rice and chickpeas, a salad of bitter vegetables like bitter melons, dry quinces, and carrots and potatoes spiced with herbs and the hottest chilis and spices that we could find. Also, there are the rotis for your starch."
And Humerus smelled all of the food in front of him.
"So," Saffron said, "today was the first day you ate actual food?"
"Yes, Saffron." Neon Guard drank his glass of water. "It was a very good experience, to say the least. Humerus was the most excited of us when he tasted the donuts earlier this morning. Now, it's like he wants to try every single type of food in Equestria."
"That's understandable," Saffron said. "But, to imagine...you've never tasted even a piece of candy your whole lives, not even as a child, not even as a teenager, not even as an adult. I honestly find it hard to relate to since everypony's been eating food ever since they were babies." She served the rest of the changelings, making the plates and bowls float down in front of them. "That reminds me: what did love taste like back when you were evil?"
"It's like sweet water," Blue Alarm said. Sweat went down his face. He held up his glass of water. "But, tasting love is not the same as tasting a roti or a donut. When ponies eat something, the taste usually is the same almost every time they eat the same thing. Like this roti." He held up a piece of the flatbread. "I eat this wherever I go, it tastes the same. I eat this alone or with somepony elese, it tastes the same. You can only change the taste by adding other food and ingredients to it." He placed down the roti. "When we changelings eat love, there's still the basic taste of sweet water. However, the taste has a different flavor depending on the pony you're getting love from. The more love they have, the stronger the flavor is, but the flavor is different for all ponies and all other creatures."
"Hot!" Humerus shouted. "Hot! Hot!" He grabbed a pony's glass of water and gulped it down; the pony stared at the panicking changeling. Flailing, Humerus grabbed Blue Alarm's glass of water. "Water! It's hot! It's delicious but it's hot!"
"I told you, Humerus," Neon Guard said.
The changelings laughed. Saffron placed a hoof over her smiling face.
"We get our first night in here for free because we're the first changelings here," Red Noise said in the elevator."I'm liking Canterlot even more!"
"Quiet down, Red Noise!" Blue Alarm whispered. He looked at his bag. He looked back at the red changeling. "The elevator pony is going to get annoyed at your...noise."
"Don't worry," the mare in red coat and shirt said. She turned around to the four changelings in the small elevator. "I've had clients that were more noisy than you. And, your name is Red Noise? You should be louder than that."
"I can be louder than that, miss."
"Noise, this is a hotel," Neon Guard said as he fixed his hat. "You don't want to have security arresting us. I just want to sleep somewhere nice and the others want to sleep."
"Yes, yes, I know," Red Noise whispered.
After a while, the elevator stopped and the doors opened.
In front of them was an intersection. Three hallways went on from there. The floor was covered with green carpets. The walls were made of cleaned wood and so were the doors. On the doors, gold plaques had their respective rooms' numbers on them. Everywhere, lamps brought soft light to the hallway. At the far ends of the hallways were windows. The beautiful and dark night sky with its stars and bright full moon was a great canopy over the bright Canterlot and the roads leading out of the city. The beautiful hills and plains were graced by the glimmer of the moon.
"Do you have your keys?" the elevator pony asked.
"Yes, we do, ma'am." Blue Alarm shook the keys on his hoof.
"You know your room number?"
"15-12, ma'am."
"Then, enjoy your night here, changelings."
The changelings got off the elevator. It closed.
Blue Alarm stood on the small balcony that protruded from the hotel's walls.
The breeze felt cold on Alarm's skin. Some leaves followed the wind. The lights were few in Canterlot now. Ponies on the street were few, too. A couple of carraiges lit the streets, providing more light but not enough to see Canterlot well.
The light of the moon provided all the roofs and the hills and the plains a silver glow. A few stars twinkled in the sky.
"The hotel is tall," he said. "Not that tall, but it's tall. And cold. What about that mare walking over there? Wearing a fancy dress. Looks like she's late to a late night party. She's looking here and there. New to Canterlot? Trying to look cool or fancy or rich?"
He looked away and eyed a carriage. "Yellow? Black and white stripe? Canterlot taxi. Looks like nopony is on the passenger seat. Maybe the driver's going home. Or he's still looking for more bits by looking for somepony on the sidewalk."
"Talking to yourself again, aren't you, Alarm?"
"Ah!" Blue Alarm jumped up.
"You don't need to be scared, Alarm," Humerus whispered. "If you're scared, you're going to wake up a lot of ponies in the hotel."
Alarm narrowed his eyes at Humerus. "What are you doing, being up so late?"
"It's almost sunrise, and I wanna see Celestia raise the sun in person!"
"Almost sunrise? It's three AM. You have to wait around three more hours." Alarm gestured a hoof to their room. "Just go back to bed. I'm sure, with your energy, you'll be awake early enough to see Celestia and Luna—"
"Princesses Celestia and Luna," Humerus said.
Blue Alarm groaned. "I don't need to be corrected like that."
"OK." And Humerus grabbed another donut and went back into their spacious hotel room.
Humerus grabbed his soft hotel slippers and placed them on the clean floor. After walking to a grand double bed, he plopped himself on the bed and grabbed the blanket. He looked at the tableside clock. He squinted through the darkness. "Three and twenty-one," he whispered. "So long." Humerus yawned. He looked at the double bed beside the table. Red Noise was sleeping, Neon Guard was snoring.
"I'll see you, Celestia and Luna." Then, he closed his eyes.