Sandstone Shine flipped through his menu. Getting a grip on the pages wasn’t easy for him, since his hooves were bulkier than a native Equestrian’s. He glanced up at Sapphire, who sat across the open air table. She was studying an appetizer list.
“I gotta say Saph, Canterlot foodstuffs sure are…”
“Exotic?”
“Expensive.”
Sapphire giggled and shrugged her shiny shoulders. “I’m not good at gauging prices. Ya know, since the Crystal Empire is a thousand years behind Equestria when it comes to inflation.”
“You’ve lived in Canterlot for the past five years.”
“Sure, but only as a ward of Heart Manor. That trip I was on when we met, that was the first time I'd traveled with my own purse of money.” Sapphire’s cheeks were getting red. “I also… haven’t been on a lunch date before. Or any date at all.” She buried her embarrassed face in her menu again.
Sandstone didn’t know how a bloodless creature like Sapphire was capable of blushing. But he also didn’t know what he was going to order for lunch, and between the two unknowns, that second one was more important right now. He re-examined the drink selection. Then his sunbleached eyebrows raised in surprise. A glass of water was free of charge? Sandstone most certainly wasn’t in Saddle Arabia anymore.
“Can I take you dolls’s order?”
Sandstone flinched. In the Kalahorsey desert, the only sounds that snuck up on you were rattlesnakes and sand pirates. Not pink-scaled dragon waitresses. Had Sandstone panic whinnied? He hoped not. The goal was to get through lunch without anything embarrassing happening.
“I’ll just start with a water,” Sandstone managed.
“Good choice, doll. ‘Specially on a hot day like this.”
Sandstone’s definition of ‘hot day’ was different from an Equestrian lifer's. He tugged at the sleeve of his windbreaker while Sapphire held up her menu to the waitress.
“What’s this here? The Gem Of The Day?”
“Ah, that'd be imported Dragon Cuisine, ma’am. Today’s stock is topaz crumbles with dipping syrup.”
“Oooh, I had a topaz night light when I was a foal. I had no idea they were edible! I’ll take a plate of that.”
The waitress nodded and plodded briskly away. Sapphire beamed at Sandstone until she noticed his downturned mouth. Her coltfriend was a weathered workhorse, his features so wrinkled from desert life that strangers couldn’t tell his default face from his concerned one. Sapphire, however, was not a stranger.
“You okay, big guy?”
“Are you sure about that dish you just ordered?”
“Whaddya mean?”
“You are what you eat is an Equestrian saying, right? I didn’t think it's supposed to be literal.”
“Huh?” Sapphire examined her forelegs resting politely on the table. They glinted glassy and cerulean in the sunlight. A similar shade to the gems being prepared in the cafe’s kitchen.
“Oh, you mean cuz I’m made of… hm. I’m sure it’ll be fine. Like, seaponies eat fish all the time, right? And Griffons hunt small birds.”
Sandstone shrugged. “Wouldn’t know. Their types don’t visit Saddle Arabia. Or at least not the region where I give tours. I’ve seen dead vultures get ignored by live ones though.”
“Aw, no carrion for carryout?”
Sandstone’s bushy eyebrows shifted again, this time in obvious confusion. Sapphire stuck her tongue out.
“That was a pun. Don’t think too hard about it, Sandy. And back on the whole eating gems thing, you worry too much. This is a gourmet restaurant! The best that Canterlot has to offer!”
“If you’re sure, then you’re sure. You know the capital city better than I do.”
Sapphire bit her lip and Sandstone silently fretted. Was he coming across as mopey and snide? He wasn’t trying to; that was just how he was. Just like how he didn't try to tower above everypony else on the street, and how he didn't try to shiver at this supposedly warm weather, and-
No, Faust dangit! Sandstone had already decided he wasn’t a mopey horse! Must course correct. Must make this afternoon a good one worth making a treasured memory. When Sapphire smiled, she did so for both of them. But right now, she wasn't smiling at all.
Sandstone rubbed his leathery nose. “Erm… how about we check out the downtown history museum after lunch? There’ll probably be exhibits on the Crystal Empire and on Saddle Arabia. Maybe even some relics we’d recognize. Ya know, old world types that we both are.”
Sapphire Oasis pondered. Then nodded. Then to Sandstone’s relief her regular comfortable smile returned. “It's a date,” she confirmed. And as if on cue, the waitress reappeared.
“One water,” she announced. Sandstone was floored by the sight of real honest to Faust ice cubes in his glass. Also perched on the rim was a slice of some fancy exotic yellow fruit.
“And one Gem Of The Day Special.”
Sapphire’s plate was piled high and shining bright. Not as bright as her eyes when she saw it, though.
“Will that be all for now, dolls?”
Sapphire was too transfixed to answer, so Sandstone nodded brusquely and the waitress bowed out. A pregnant pause followed.
“Those look pretty flashy,” Sandstone commented. “But as a flesh and blood pony, I’m not really an expert. What’s the verdict from your, um, Crystal point of view?”
Sandstone sucked on his straw, watching his date palm a piece of deep fried topaz.
“This feels…” Sapphire looked off-kilter. “It feels like me. Or… like someone I know. Shrunk down or something.” She prodded the appetizer with a free hoof, then prodded her cheek for comparison. Her smile was wavering again.
“You know, if you’re having second thoughts, you don’t have to eat tha-”
“Second thoughts?! That’s a laugh! Ha! You hear that? That was a laugh. Just now.”
“Saph,” Sandstone warned.
He was drowned out by loud, over-enthusiastic crunching. Sapphire Oasis swallowed, making a face like a foal who’d just choked down a salt lick supplement. Then she wolfed down another gem. And another. The dipping syrup was so far going untouched.
“These taste like… urgh!… you ever bit the inside of your cheek? They’re just like that.”
“You look really pale.”
“Huh? Nah, I uh…” Sapphire tossed back a fourth gem, this time not even chewing. Sandstone swore he heard it hit the bottom of her calcified stomach. The sound wasn’t a good one. “They’re just dry, is all. Or maybe spicy? I feel hot. Do you feel hot? It feels hot all of a sudden.”
Sandstone hoofed his half empty water across the table. Sapphire wordlessly gulped it down, ice and all.
“Need a refill on that, doll?”
Sapphire locked eyes with the attentive waitress. Sandstone swore he heard the sound of glass breaking. Sapphire suddenly pushed back from the table, bolted to some nearby bushes, and barfed out a dusty stream of powdered topaz.
The waitress shook her head.
“Ya know, the chef gave me a funny look when I told ‘im somepony wanted to sample the gem special. ‘Tween you and me, our Gem Of The Day has actually been Gem Of The Past Few Months, since no one with hooves has been bold enough to order it.”
Sandstone buried his face in his forelegs. Then he heard the waitress soften her tone.
“That sir, is a brave mare you managed to bag.”
Sandstone hadn’t thought of it like that. When he picked his head up, Sapphire was still doubled over in the bushes. Her legs were shaking but she held herself steady. The illness seemed gone, replaced by simple embarrassment. Even her smile was coming back, with all its brightness.
Sandstone knew he wasn't good for producing brightness himself. But what he could produce was a generous hoofful of Bits from his windbreaker pocket.
“This covers our check, right?”
The waitress nodded, too stunned by the amount to answer.
“Then the rest is your tip.”
Sandstone pushed back from the table and trotted over to Sapphire. He was a heavy horse with even heavier steps, so she heard him coming and straightened up.
“We still on for the museum?” she asked sheepishly.