"And here you are, sir. Congrats on getting the cell tower completed today!" Sunny said, sliding the filled smoothie cup across the counter to the pegasus wearing the yellow hard hat and high-visibility vest.
"Thank you again, Miss Starscout. It was a pleasure to help Maretime Bay and Zephyr Heights keep in touch with each other more easily. I hope our team over in Bridlewood had just as much luck as we did these past couple weeks."
Sunny gave the forepony a smile and nod before he trotted off, slurping at his smoothie, and another pegasus came up in line, this one with a light blue coat and a blonde mane and tail.
"Hello there, ma'am. What can I interest you in today?" Sunny asked.
The pegasus mare quickly looked over the menu, and shrugged.
"Your best-selling smoothie, please!" She replied, before reaching into her saddlebags and produced a business card, putting it on the counter and slid it across to Sunny. "I'm actually wondering if you and I could talk business."
Sunny picked up the card, and read aloud.
"Fifi's Flying Fruit Smoothie Smooth Fruit Delivery Service. Well, I couldn't say that three times fast, that's for sure. As for my best-selling item, one Berry Blast Blitz coming right up," Sunny said, immediately getting the ingredients gathered and tossed into a blender. "Well, with how business has been absolutely booming ever since reunification, I could certainly afford to hire another delivery company. Depending on what pegasi grow in Zephyr Heights, that could even lead to a menu expansion!"
"Well, to be completely honest, it isn't exactly, um, 'flying' just yet. Queen Haven's got all the librarians in the city looking up ancient texts for any kind of formal flying lessons. Flying with just a saddlebag or two is tricky enough, but while towing an entire fruit cart behind you? That's a whole other book," Fifi replied.
"I'm sure the pegasi will figure it out, Fifi. After all, in ancient times, royal guards used to ferry the princesses across Equestria on royal chariots," Sunny told the pegasus mare as she started the blender. A minute later, a cup filled with a rich pink goop was place in front of Fifi with a straw. She took one slurp, and the look on her face was all Sunny needed.
"Absolutely delicious. Here's to a potential future partnership!" Fifi told her, raising the cup before returning the straw to her mouth, continuing to drink the beverage as she trotted away.
Sunny took the business card and put it into the cash register drawer. When she turned back, her breath was taken away by the next two ponies in line.
"Well, sis. According to Maretime Bay, this is where you get the best smoothies in town," Zipp said with a smirk.
"Oh, I don't know. I think she'll have to prove it to us," Pipp replied, before they both turned their heads and smiled at Sunny.
Nearly considering jumping over the counter, Sunny burst out of the side entrance of her smoothie cart and threw her front legs around her two royal pegasi friends.
"Welcome back, girls!" She greeted, squeezing them affectionately.
"Sorry we took longer than we said we would, mom was absolutely adamant on throwing us that farewell parade," Zipp explained.
"How have things been with you, Sunny?" Pipp asked.
"Well, to be honest, a little on the rough side. Things have been happening so fast around here that a rush period at the smoothie cart is the calmest part of my day. I've actually been preferring when it's that busy because it doesn't give me the time to think about anything else."
"What kind of things?" Zipp asked.
Sunny took a deep breath, then let it out as she turned and went back inside her smoothie cart, washing the blenders out in the sink.
"CanterLogic isn't going to be able to fund the rebuild of the lighthouse. Phyllis spent so much of the surplus on that scrap heap at the bottom of the cliff that they can't afford it. After they finished disarming all of the unicorn traps around town, they closed the building, then... Then passed legal ownership of the property to me," she told them as she put the washed and rinsed blender jars back on the bases.
"So... That place is yours now?" Pipp asked.
Sunny nodded.
"And I don't have an inkling of a clue what to do with it. Right now I'm leaning towards selling it as-is to the first entrepreneurial pegasus or unicorn that wants it, as long as they give me enough to rebuild my home."
The siblings' mouths dropped open.
"It sounds like you need to close up shop and come get some dinner with your friends, Sunny," Zipp told her.
Sunny smiled softly at the two of them while she made them each a mixed berry smoothie, before giving her blender jars one more rinse, closed all of the crates containing her fruit, and gathered up the bits for the day into her saddlebags, before closing and locking her cart.
"You're right. Let's go and see if Hitch was successful in keeping Sprout out of the kitchen. I know he's been increasingly desperate to make himself useful around the house."