//------------------------------// // Plan B // Story: Shipwrights // by PonyAmorous //------------------------------// "Rainbow Dash!" "Hmm?" Rainbow Dash rolled over on her fluffy napping cloud to find Twilight hovering above her. "Oh, hey Twilight. I was wondering where you ran off to. Look, about that thing with Applejack." "Oh, never mind about that for the moment. I just wanted to invite you to lunch!" "Lunch?" "Yeah, my treat. It was just going to be a working lunch between me and Cadence. You know, princess stuff. Then I decided, hey, why not invite some of my other friends? So you and whoever else is free. We'll just see who turns up. You're not busy, right?" "Are you kidding?" Rainbow Dash jumped to her hooves, instantly alert. "I'm never too busy for free food. Lead the way." "Great. I managed to get a reservation at the Golden Saddle." "That fancy place downtown? On short notice? On Hearts and Hooves Day? How'd you swing that?" "I have my ways." Said ways amounted to two alicorn princesses throwing hefty sacks of bits at the owner while informing him that his establishment was temporarily closed to the public for the day. "Weird, I would have thought this place would be busier" Rainbow Dash remarked upon entering the deserted and surprisingly dimly lit restaurant. "Oh, uh, I guess everypony thought it would be too busy so nopony bothered? Or maybe they're all just filling up on carnival food at the festival?" "Oh, right. I totally forgot that was a thing happening today." "Yeah, that's probably it. Anyway, here's our table." They arrived at an opulent private booth, the seats upholstered in red velvet. Candles in the center of the table shed a gentle glow, which only seemed to highlight the darkness caused by the blacked out windows cutting off the midday sun. No sooner had they taken their seats, then Twilight spotted the other two guests making their way through the door. "Excuse me a bit. I have to go use the little fillies' room." As Twilight quickly exited, Cadence made a similar excuse to Applejack and darted out of sight, leaving the two ponies alone at the booth. The two shared a look and sighed. "I see what's going on here." "Eyup. Pretty darn obvious if you ask me." "Yeah. Twilight saw you coming in and panicked." "And Cadence caught one look at you and bolted. I guess it'll take a while to get over that awkwardness." "Right. So do you think they'll come back after a bit, or is the lunch cancelled?" "I reckon we can give them a bit of time to powder their noses and settle their nerves." Just then, their waiter arrived. An unusually tall, pink unicorn in a neat suit with surprisingly feminine features that clashed with their bushy mustache. They placed a tray of appetizers down on the table. "For ze lovely couple." They said in a truly terrible Prench accent. Meanwhile, a lavender pony had begun playing a viola nearby. "Actually, we're here with two other friends." Applejack clarified. "They should probably be back soon, so bring us two extra menus, please. " "Ah, no need for zat. Zee entire meal has been pre-selected and paid for in advance. You need only to relax and enjoy." "Oh. Well, thank you kindly, then." The two helped themselves to the delicious cheesy biscuits serving as appetizers. Though they initially planned on saving some for Twilight and Cadence, this quickly gave way to a mutually agreed upon policy of snoozing begetting losing. Drinks and salads followed quickly, along with some mouth watering pasta dishes. "This is some top quality grub, I tell you what." Applejack said between mouthfuls of stuffed ravioli. "Yeah. A shame Twilight and Cadence are missing out. I'm pretty sure they're not coming back, though." Rainbow Dash replied through mouthfuls of her own. "You think maybe we should stop, then?" "No way! You heard the waiter. It's all prepaid. We can't let Twilight's bits go to waste, can we?" "You're right. It would be downright irresponsible to NOT keep stuffing our faces." "Exactly! Though the one thing I could do without is the champagne'. It always gives me heartburn." "Yeah, I never cared for the stuff either. But don't worry, I got you covered." Applejack reached under her hat and retrieved a metal flask. She stretched across the table to fill Rainbow Dash's glass with apple cider. "No way! Thanks Applejack! You're so awesome!" "Ah, it's nothing. You know I'm always gonna look out for my best gal." "Seriously, I love you! You're the best." No attention was paid to the snapping of a viola string and the player darting hastily away to the kitchen as the two returned to their meal. The main course was soon finished and cleared away to make room for dessert in the form of a selection of stuffed pastries, along with various fruits and a chocolate fountain. The pair made short work of the strawberries, but when they got to the cherries, Applejack decided to show off. Into her mouth went a single cherry, and out popped a stem tied in a perfect bow. "Dang, AJ. You got some serious tongue skills. You really gotta teach me how to do that sometime." "Yeah, I reckon I probably could teach you a thing or two. Might take a couple long nights of practicing though." The clattering sounds of several dishes being dropped rang out from the kitchen, but were ignored. The two moved on to the eclairs. Neither being known for their neat eating habits, this resulted in errant bits of cream sticking to faces. "Uh, Applejack? You got a little something right there." "Hmm? Where?" Applejack began blindly wiping at her face. "No, over there. Just wait a sec." Rainbow Dash leaned forward and reached out a hoof as two ponies watched with baited breath from around the doorway to the kitchen. With careful precision, her hoof gently scraped the dollop of cream from Applejack's cheek, quickly bringing it back to her own lips where it was greedily devoured. "Did you get it?" "Most of it. Looks like there's a bit of residue though. Hang on." Rainbow Dash suddenly lurched forward and licked the residual dessert off Applejack's cheek. Muffled screaming emanated from the kitchen. "Seriously? You that much of a greedy glutton that you gotta take every last bit of my dessert as well as yours?" "Hey, would you believe it actually tastes better that way?" "Hush, you. I swear I can't take you anywhere. Anyway, it looks like we're about wrapped up here. I guess we don't need to wait for a check since it's all pre-paid. Do you think we just get up and leave or—" "Excuse' moi." The waiter returned, nostrils now stuffed with tissue paper in the wake of a recent nosebleed, and bearing an envelope. "An urgent letter for the two mademoiselles." The two opened the envelope to find a letter from Twilight. Hi guys. Sorry we missed lunch, but some important princess business suddenly came up and Cadence and I had to go take care of it. We already ate, so don't worry about that. Anyway, there's actually something we both need your help with, so please meet us at the spa. We'll get there as soon as we can to let you know more. -Twilight