//------------------------------// // Chapter 60: Generosity // Story: Pandemic: What you are Meant to Be // by Halira //------------------------------// The restaurant that they chose had a sign posted on the door explaining that it was open for business, but was sad to say that it would be closing down at the end of the month. The family that operated it thanked the town for years of visiting, and said that they were no longer able to keep up with the costs of maintaining it. The family plus Amber entered into the restaurant and were immediately greeting with the gazes of all the patrons. There was no hostility in any of the gazes. It was primarily open curiosity mixed with tinges of anticipation. Remedy tried to picture what was going through their minds. Being caught off guard by seeing ponies in town already? Trying to imagine droves of such ponies roaming the town? Wondering if the problems and decline of their town were finally coming to an end? Trying to connect the idea that ponies were people and not furry little animals? A mix of all these things most likely. "Do we just take our own seats or are we seated or what?" Amber said as she looked around the possible places to sit. "I think we seat ourselves," Rosetta said as she looked around. She then pointed to a pair of unoccupied booths next to one another. "Over there, we can have the boys, Amber, and Wild in one booth, and the rest of us in the one next to it." "Why are you sitting me with the brats?" Wild demanded. Then quickly turned to Amber. "Not you, my little brothers." "Couples and singles, plus the four of you're more likely to break down into telling jokes with one another and who am I to get in the way of a good time. On top of that I want to be able to talk to Mama and Papa about some stuff and prefer to do that without trying to talk between booths," Rosetta explained. "Yeah Wild, have fun with us, like you used to, before you got so serious and grouchy," Miguel pleaded with his sister. Wild looked like she was going to protest. Her mouth was open to do so as she paused and closed it. She looked at her brothers thoughtfully and then nodded that the seating arrangements were okay with her. Remedy knew exactly what had just gone through her mind; Wild was scared of becoming angry all the time and Miguel had said the exact thing to get her attention. She smiled a little at seeing Wild realize she had been getting a little too cross with her brothers as of late. There was no denying the twins adored both their older siblings, and Wild was the one closer in age that they looked to most. They all took their seats and quickly found menus at the far ends of the tables to browse. While the two couples started focusing on reading the menus the other table could be heard starting to chatter with one another. A waitress who looked like she was in her sixties came over to the tables within a minute to be the first human to break the ice and to start on taking their orders. "Hello folks, we're happy to see some fresh faces in here. We don't see too many. Are you passing through to somewhere else?" The waitress asked as with a smile. "Actually, we're planning on moving into town, all of us. We are only in town for the day today, but are planning on scouting houses. It seems like a lovely town," Jean answered with a smile. Remedy could see every patron of the restaurant trying to eavesdrop on the conversation. Most weren't even trying to hide the fact they were doing it either. She wondered how much they all knew about how negotiations were going and what deals had already been arranged. "Oh, that's great. Are you from Charleston?" The waitress asked. "Charleston area, there are a lot of us planning on moving out here actually. We're just here early to get a look and tell the others about what we saw. Get the first impressions and stuff, you know?" Remedy decided to answer. She wanted to see the reaction to the news. "We had known there were some talks going on about trying to get some interest from ponies moving here. I guess it's not hearsay. How many ponies are we talking about if I might ask?" The waitress asked in anticipation. "Well, some will be coming to some nearby towns as well, but all told it is well over ten thousand, probably even more than since I don't know the actual figures. There'll be some more humans too, Westvaco is talking about opening up a site here," Remedy answered and waited for the reaction. The reaction was shock across the whole restaurant. Gasps could be heard and the number ten thousand could be heard bring muttered in disbelief throughout the establishment. "Are you really serious? Ten thousand? As in a thousand times ten?" The waitress asked with wide eyes, she looked like she was going to hyperventilate. "Probably more than ten thousand. I don't know the figures. If the town isn't interested in us moving here we could pass that news along. There'd be a lot of disappointed ponies, but..." Remedy began before the waitress cut her off. "No, I mean yes. I mean...we'd be thrilled to have so many interested in moving here. It's just hard to imagine. The last time this town had over a thousand residents I was just a little girl. Most people have just moved on. We were worried that in twenty years there wouldn't even be a Riverview anymore. Now we're hearing we won't just survive, but swell to a hundred times our current size. It's a lot to take in," the waitress said with a hand across her chest like she was checking her breathing or heart rate. "Actually I do know the figures and Phobia is understating them by a lot. We're talking about closer to fifteen thousand between who's moving to this town and it's closest neighbors. And that's before y'all count the eight hundred some humans that decided to come here as well with their pony relatives. There'll probably be enough new development that they'll end up building right up to one another and more or less fusing into a small city," Amber chimed in. The waitress's eyes about popped. The shock that had been in the restaurant somehow increased. Remedy was taken off guard by the news too. She certainly could believe that her mom had gathered far more ponies than she had originally thought, but she had heard nothing about that many humans. It made sense, and Amber would be among one of those to know since she spent the better part of her days flying from place to place as messenger, search party, ambassador, and minor organizer. It was just now occurring to Remedy how much work these parties of pegasi that Tonya sent out on Remedy's mom's behest were actually doing and accomplishing. To put it in church terms like her mom thought in the pegasi were her missionaries. Tonya was definitely working them hard, but their labor was definitely yielding results. Unfortunately, or fortunately, depending how you looked at it, the twins were oblivious to the situation. "Can we order now?" Miguel asked. The waitress blinked a few times to clear her head. She then got to taking orders. The food selection for the ponies at this point was not the widest. What most ended up getting was either mushroom or vegetable soup, though Wild had insisted on trying spaghetti without meatballs. The rest of the ponies warned her that it might not work out still, as there may still be traces of meat in the dish even after the meatballs were taken out. Wild insisted and the rest shrugged it away, with mutters about if she spent time vomiting later they told her so. Eating in peace was not going to be happening though. Other humans frequently found excuses to walk by them and start up conversations. There wasn't any ill intent, just curiosity. There were questions about what kind of work each of the adults did, with Wild Growth describing herself as a tree expert rather than saying what she was capable of doing. There were questions about what kinds of jobs might be coming with the ponies. Questions for the ponies about what it was like going through ETS and what their new lives were like. Right before the meal was done Wild Growth made a quick run to the camper and returned with a purse. She then insisted on covering the meal for the family and Amber herself. After requesting the bill from the waitress and getting it she carefully considered the tip. Amber watched Wild fill out the tip section, carefully using a pen in her mouth, and gasped at the amount that Wild had given. "That's a little...excessive, don't you think?" Amber said as she looked at the amount. "Sunset had told me to make a big splash spending money early on when we moved to town. We aren't moved in yet, but figured why not?" Wild said with a grin. "How much did you give to them?" Roger asked. "Just wait," Wild said still grinning. The waitress returned and picked up the debit card and initially didn't look at amount she had been asked to run on it. She made it all the way to the register before finally looking at the amount of gratuity that Wild had listed and literally stumbled back, which caused all the patrons to look over at her to see if she needed help. The waitress then took a deep breath and walked with forced calm back to their booths with debit card and bill in hand. "Is this some kind of joke?" She demanded as she held out the bill towards Wild. "It's no joke. I know how much I listed on there, and it really isn't a big deal to me. I have a lot of money and ponies are generous. Go ahead and run the card, it won't be declined," Wild said. "Um, I kind of am supposed to get your ID if I run a card for an amount this high," the waitress said like she was uncertain what to do. "Got that too, though I do look a little different than the picture on it," Wild said with a smirk before fishing into her purse with her muzzle. "We're her parents and we have our ID's if you need them. We can verify her identity if you need us too. She's good for whatever she listed as a tip. How much did she tip you?" Roger asked as he watched his daughter pull her ID from the purse and pass it to the waitress's trembling hand. "That won't be needed, I'll take your word she's your daughter," the waitress said as she quickly checked the name on the ID against the card. "Catherine Martinez, correct?" "That's her," Roger nodded. "I can't say what it is out loud," the waitress said with a shake of her head and then showed the bill with the written tip on it. The two parents blinked as they looked at the bill. All of this had gathered the attention of all the patrons in the restaurant once again. "She's good for it. Though I hope she doesn't make a habit of tipping that much, no offense," Jean said slowly. "Um, none taken. I'll just go run this card and see what happens," the waitress said slowly. She returned to the register and took a deep breath. She entered in the amount that was written down on the bill and everyone in the restaurant watched with anticipation as she swiped the card and waited for the response of approved or declined. "It's approved," the waitress said letting out a gasp that quickly descended into happy sobs. "Are you okay, Wend? How much did the pony tip you?" One of the older patrons called out. "I can't say, that's private information," the waitress, who Remedy assumed was named Wendy, said with a shake of her head. "I can say one thing though." The waitress walked to the front door, and with a smile and tears still in her eyes she ripped the sign announcing the closing down from the door. She then very deliberately and gleefully ripped it to shreds. "We aren't shuttering our doors at the end of the month, or anytime. This place is staying in business," she said happily and was greeted with a chorus of cheers.