By the time she parked her bike back in the garage, she had nine hours left to burn. Nine hours before she had to get to work. It felt like an eternity to wait. A part of Rainbow wished it would arrive already so she could just get her job over with, but the rest of her dreaded even thinking about it. It wasn’t as though it was the worst job she could possibly have, but she hated the period of waiting beforehoof.
If she could, she’d ride her bike the whole time, but ponies were really out and about now, enough to constitute a hazard, and the last thing Rainbow wanted was to get her license suspended for running somepony over. Again.
A pleasant chirp from her headset distracted her from her thoughts. “You’ve got an incoming audio message,” hummed Twilight, switching the visor’s display from the bike navigation mode to a regular chat and map screen. “Would you like me to play it?”
“Sure,” she replied, trying to keep the relieved tone out of her voice as much as possible. “And set a route to somewhere I can get lunch. I don’t care which spot, though. Surprise me.”
An arrow appeared on the visor, dancing in front of Rainbow’s vision as the audio message began to play.
Good morning, Rainbow Dash! The message purred in a sugar-sweet tone. You’re probably out flying somewhere, and I don’t mean to bother you if you’re busy, but I was hoping you’d have enough time to swing down to the Nightgill Club sometime today. Rarity and I have a booth saved right now, and it’s not a party without you in it!
The caller paused, and the sender’s microphone barely picked up an indistinct murmur in the background. Oh, right. It’s Fluttershy, by the way, in case you couldn’t tell. My earpiece doesn’t really like the vapors in here, it makes the mic go all fuzzy. Or maybe that’s me. We’re so fuzzy, Rainbow Dash. Anyway, stop by if you can!
Rainbow shrugged, following the arrow as she flew towards the crowds of shopping ponies. “Eh, Twilight, after I’m done eating, direct me to… that club. Nightgirl.”
“Nightgill!” Twilight giggled. A logo of a fish surrounded by a cloud of multicolored wisps popped up in a corner of her visor. Rainbow flicked it away without really glancing at it, but the AI ignored her. “It’s supposed to be one of the most unique clubs in the City. First stop, though: the Hungry Hippogriff!”
Rainbow’s brow creased as she turned a corner. “That’s not one of my usual places.”
“You did say to surprise you! Variety is the spark of life, and you could do with something different. By my calculations, it has a 64% chance of increasing your mood.” Twilight sent a flurry of translucent happy faces raining down Rainbow’s vision.
“Ugh, fine.” She huffed, landing on the street in front of a fairly crowded shop. “Just because you know what’s best for me doesn’t mean I have to like it.”
“Noted,” the A.I. said, before the music faded in again. It was a sweet, lilting tune, something that made Rainbow Dash almost forget her concerns.
Almost.
She took a deep breath as she stepped inside. Despite the City being mostly open-air, above the clouds and whatever else laid below, the air inside the Hungry Hippogriff somehow tasted fresher. The scent of fresh-baked oat bread and cinnamon-laced concoctions tantalized her senses. It was busy, but otherwise relatively quiet inside, enough that she felt comfortable turning down the volume of her personal music.
“I’ll be right there, alright? Gimme just a second!” A voice trilled from behind the counter. Rainbow waved towards it absentmindedly as she looked around. The windows were ceiling-to-floor, with garlands of petals suspended inside of clouds strung in between the panes. Mismatched tables and plush chairs littered the floor. About half of them were filled with ponies reading, chattering quietly into their earpieces, or just sipping their drinks quietly.
She stepped up to the counter, a burgundy-red stone that was cool to the touch, and gave a cursory glance at the menu. Pictures of each item lit up as she examined each item. Frilly pastries floated in her vision, tiny tomato-toppped tarts and sweet carrot scones that she could smell from the customers around her. A part of her understood why it was so popular, even if the rest of her resented trying something so outlandishly different. Her typical places were usually smoky, dim, and quiet; not cheery, open, and loud.
“Sorry for the wait,” sang the pony behind the counter, forcing Rainbow’s gaze to the strange mare staring expectantly at her. Her bubblegum face was wreathed in a ridiculous halo of curls that moved as though they had a life of their own. A small half-visor was tucked up next to her ear, folded out of sight, but that was the only piece of tech Rainbow could see on the pony. “You’re new here, aren’t you?”
“Yeah, uh,” Rainbow belatedly remembered to blink. “This isn’t my usual sort of place.”
A pink hoof thrust itself around the cash register. “I’m Pinkie Pie! It’s super-duper nice to meet you! Oh my gosh, we haven’t had a new pony here in days! Not that regular customers are bad, of course. It’s great to see them each and every morning! But you’re a new friend, just waiting to be friend-ed!”
The hoof waved back and forth, swaying to an unheard rhythm. Rainbow stared at it.
“You’re supposed to shake it! Unless you think you’re sick or something, in which case I’d be a little worried about you coming out here, but you don’t look sick, and you’d probably be at a doctor’s office getting an immune booster instead of here ordering food, unless you really really wanted to eat something, and then I’d get you whatever you were hungry for and send you on your way because sometimes you just need a snack to feel better!”
After a moment of contemplation, Rainbow turned the volume to her music back up a little bit.
“Or you could bump it. Some ponies like bumping hooves instead. That sort of trend goes in and out, you know? I remember back when the foals used to tap the sides of the hoof together, first the inside then the outside, and that was what everypony did. Do you remember that? It was an interesting time, but ponies are back to bumping the ends of the hoof together like a clap! And-”
Rainbow couldn’t bump the proffered hoof fast enough. Anything to mute the near-vibrating cafe worker. The hoof retracted, apparently satisfied.
She looked up to see Pinkie Pie studying her with a slowly-fading grin. “You’re not much of a talker, are you?”
“I’m here to order a pastry,” Rainbow replied, feeling a headache coming on. “That’s it.”
The pink mane deflated slightly, but Pinkie’s smile grew wider again. “That’s fine! Friends can take a long time to realize they’re friends, and I’m happy to wait. What can I get you? We’ve got lots and lots of treats for you, and if you want I can even make something special just for you!” Her hoof curled around her muzzle as she gestured Rainbow closer conspiratorially, volume not decreasing in the least. “Just don’t try the Brussel Bites, okay? They make your breath smell like floor moss!”
“I’ll keep that in mind,” Rainbow gagged, making a mental note to better define what “surprise me” should mean for Twilight’s future search parameters. The menu looked a lot larger now that she had to narrow down her choice. “I’ll, umm… take a muffin?”
“What kind?” Pinkie flung herself halfway across the counter, twisting this way and that to scrutinize Rainbow from different angles. “You don’t look like a Cosmic Corn type of mare, I don’t think. I’d suggest you try the Peacheriffic Pudding-cake muffin, but we’ve been out since…” She frowned, sprawled across the countertop, and put a hoof to her chin. “Since our delivery mare stopped showing up to bring us the peach flavoring, I guess. I haven’t seen her in moons. Huh.”
Rainbow wondered how anypony managed to place an order at all. “Maybe she decided to make her deliveries somewhere else. Anyway, I think I’d like a Real Fruit Juice and a-”
“Oooh, Real Fruit Juice is the best!” The earth pony sproinged back behind the register, all melancholic contemplation forgotten. “You can taste a whole bunch of different things in there! Let me think, muffin flavors for my new friend, umm… Oh! I forgot to ask, I’m so sorry, but what’s your name?”
“Rainbow Dash,” she replied irritably. “And I’d like an Appleish Crisp muffin and the juice to-go, if you don’t mind.”
Pinkie was a blur behind the display case before she’d even finished her order. “Sure thing, Rainbow Dash! Don’t worry, I’ll remember your name, and I’ll even send you a coupon on your birthday! Twilight, add her to my calendar and bill her account, please-and-thank-you!”
Rainbow’s visor flickered as the transaction went through. The second the bag with her muffin and her to-go cup touched the counter she snatched them, cradling the drink with her wing. She was halfway out the door when Pinkie’s “It was super-dupery nice to meet you, Rainbow Dash! Come back soon!” reached her ears, but she didn’t bother to respond. A ping from her Twilight notified her that she’d been sent a friend request, and she didn’t even need to check who it was before she set it to “Ignore”.
The fruit juice was about as mediocre as Rainbow had expected it to be, but the muffin, she discovered as she flew out of the shop, was almost annoyingly delicious enough to be worth a return visit.
Almost.