It was only a few days after meeting Charming that the shop was finished being built and ready for staffing and furnishing. Walking down to the downtown location, I looked up at the sign that was hung on top of the light-yellow colored building where the old vacant lot used to be when I first came to Los Pegasus. It read “Chai’s Tea House” in a lovely, rose script with a picture of myself on the edge of the sign. My heart fluttered at the sign, with this dream of mine finally becoming a reality. Finally, I was going to be somepony that made a difference to this town and maybe to all of Equestria.
“Chai! There you are!” Cindy shouted, opening the front door of the shop. I waved to the red-maned mare in the business suit, no longer bogged down with the yellow-safety-hat before following her into the brand new tea café. Everything was sparkling, being freshly built and ready to be used once we opened. The worker ponies were still adding on a few additional pieces, but I slowly made my way around to the back of the counter, admiring all of the fancy tools and everything to make the drinks and snacks.
“I’d figured you want a say in the menu, so we haven’t put that up quite yet.” she commented, pointing to the blank white board that would hang above the counter. “But, what do you think so far?”
“It’s all so wonderful!” I said happily, not being able to contain the smile on my face. “Thank you so much for this opportunity, Cindy!”
“The pleasure is all mine, Chai. I’m sure you will be very successful here in Los Pegasus.” she nodded, “You said you had plans to hire staff to help around the shop?”
“Oh yes! I want to teach them the exact way to make all the lattes and drinks and sandwiches and everything. Has anypony came by yet?” I asked, looking at my reflection in the new, shiny granite counter.
“Not yet. We’ve put out a few wanted ads in the local LP papers and there’s a sign in the window. I’m sure you’ll come across somepony looking for work soon enough.”
I nodded, looking back up at the shop with the sparkling tables, along with the nature-themed wallpaper surrounding the room. With the illusion of vines and branches climbing up the walls, I felt like I was back in my cottage in Ponyville. For once here in Los Pegasus, I felt like I was home.
“Anyways, the boys will take care of the finishing touches. It’s up to you when you want to open the shop for business, so no rush. Just be sure to invite everypony you want to the grand opening.”
“I will! Thank you again, Cindy.”
The mare smiled as she made her way out of the door. Aside from the occasional drilling and hammering off in the corner where the worker ponies were still installing things, I could almost imagine the woodpeckers and and hummingbirds flying around. Sitting in front of the empty menu with a paintbrush, I got to work on creating the menu, making sure to add all of the great recipes of tea and snacks I had from my cottage and that I had learned from Vinyl’s café.
Later on in the day, I heard the front door open as a grayish-blue pegasus trotted in while I was finishing up the menu. She had a flowing, straight light-blue mane with a stylish pink bow on top. Something about her seemed somewhat familiar but I couldn’t put my hoof on it.
“Hello?” she asked in front of the counter, looking around the room. Putting down the paint brush on the table, I eagerly flew to where she was standing, smiling.
“Hi there! How can I help you?” I greeted happily to the pegasus.
“Hello, umm, yeah. I heard about this place in the paper and I figured it could help me during the downtime of my other job.” she said, playing with her mane in her hoof.
“Well, I don’t see why it wouldn’t. What is your other job, if you don’t mind me asking?” I asked, offering the mare a seat at one of the new tables.
“Well, I am well-known interior designer here in Los Pegasus, but more in terms of cloud real estate. Although, I have to say that whatever pony you hired down here did a great job. The nature theme seems like a breath of fresh air compared to the hustle and bustle of downtown.” she answered, looking at all of the fancy decorations throughout the café
“Really? I hope every other pony thinks that as well, heehee!” I said, looking back at the pegasus.
“I’m sorry, what was your name again?”
“Oh! I’m Flutterchai, but you can just call me Chai for short.” I introduced. “Could I interest you in a cup of tea?”
“My name’s Flitter, which probably would have been better to say at the beginning. And I would love some, thank you.”
“See, you already passed the first test!” I said happily, flying over to behind the counter as I opened the cabinets to see the many tea varieties that were stocked in there. Naturally, I picked up the vanilla chai blend, readying the old-style kettle on the fancy, electric stove-top. Looking over, I noticed Flitter fixing her bow as she sat patiently at the table. “So, what made you want to come here for a job?”
“I guess it’s because it seemed a cool place to work, outside of the few design jobs I have. Although, it would help if I spent more time here in Los Pegasus than visiting Ponyville every now and then.”
“That’s why you look familiar!” I shouted from behind the counter, hearing the tea kettle whistle to signal the boiling water. Carefully dipping the bag of tea in the hot water, I replaced the top of the kettle and turned my attention back to Flitter. “I live in Ponyville!”
“Wait a second, what did you say your name was again?” she asked, looking hard at my face.
“Flutterchai.” I answered confidently, smiling back at the mare. Her expression faded at some sudden realization. Her mouth moved as she tried to speak, but no words managed to come out. I turned back to the kettle, which was ready to be served in the little, fancy tea cups that were stocked behind the counter for those who decided to have their drink in the shop rather than going out to their job. Pouring two cups, I flew carefully back to the table where Flitter was covering her half of her face with her light-blue mane.
“I’m sorry, Fluttershy. I understand if you wouldn’t want to hire me.” she said somberly as I placed the cup of vanilla chai in front of her.
“What? Why wouldn’t I want to hire you?” I asked, confused at what she was saying.
“I was horrible to you during the time where we bringing the water to Cloudsdale, remember? Why would you want to hire somepony that laughed at you?” she brushed her mane back, looking into the light-brown drink in her cup. I tried to remember what she was talking about, but it only came to me as bits and pieces. I sighed, taking a sip of the tea that I had made.
“That’s in the past, Flitter. Besides, I remember the other pegasus you were hanging out with was laughing harder than you were.”
“You mean Cloudchaser? My twin sister?” she asked, playing around with the tea cup in front of her.
“You two are sisters?” I asked, starting to remember that they looked kind of similar. She nodded, taking her hooves off the table.
“Yeah, she’s busy in Cloudsdale, trying to get the head position on the weather team. I was never a very strong flyer, so I decided to stay here in LP and make a living on my own.”
I put my tea cup back down and moved my hoof closer to her, brushing my long pink mane out of my face as I smiled. “I’m sure you’ll do just fine here then.”
She smiled back, starting to smell the delicious aroma coming from the cup in front of her.
“Well, go on.” I said before sipping from my own cup. “Try it.”
Flitter carefully picked up the tea cup, blowing on it to cool it down before taking a long sip. She paused for a second before that impossible-to-resist smile slowly grew on her face.
“This is amazing!” she said, drinking more of tea. “You made this?”
I nodded and finished off my cup. “Yep and I’ll be sure to teach you the right way to make all of the great drinks we’ll serve here.”
“You mean it? I got the job?” Flitter asked, setting the tea cup back down. I smiled back as she got up from her seat and gave me a quick hug.
“Thank you so much for this, Chai.” she whispered into my ear, using my new name instead of what she knew me as before. Suddenly, the door opened as a familiar stallion trotted in.
“I hope I’m not interrupting anything, I’m just looking for a place to eat.” the brown stallion said coyly as Flitter and I broke away from our hug.
“Charming, we’re not open yet.” I giggled, flying up to him.
“Didn’t I tell you to call me Stal, Chai?” he corrected, surprising me in another hug. My cheeks reddened at the sudden display of affection.
“Sorry, I forgot.” I said softly, trying to hide my face in my mane. In the corner of my eye, I saw Flitter finish her cup of tea and get up from the table.
“Thank you, again. I’ll see you tomorrow morning for training, Chai?” she asked, opening the front door as she about to leave.
“Yes. We have a lot of work to do before we open.” I answered to the new employee. She nodded back before flying off to the uptown part of Los Pegasus. Stal finally let me go from his hug and sniffed the air in the room.
“Either, you started bathing in tea or you made a sweet drink for you two to share.” he commented, sniffing a little closer to my mane. I playfully pushed his muzzle away, giggling.
“There’s some tea in the kettle if you must know.” I replied, flying back over to behind the counter.
“Ah, a sneak peek of what Chai’s Tea House has to offer.” Stal said, resting his hoof on the shiny, counter as he brushed back his dark-green mane. I carefully poured another two cups and set them in front of him.
“To following your dreams,” he toasted, holding the cup in the air. I lightly clinked my cup with his and sipped the drink. Stal did the same, with a shocked expression to the flavor that he had tasted in the drink.
“Wow! This is really good! So much better than the stuff that you can get from that coffee place!” he commented, taking another sip of the drink. I giggled at the compliment, not really sure how else to respond. “So is that pegasus that was just here your only employee or are you still looking for some more ponies?”
“I could always use some more help around here.” I said behind my tea cup as I took a sip.
“Nice, I’ll be sure to tell some of my students of the openings. The school bleeds those kids dry of Bits at the end of the day, I don’t know how some of them do it.” Stal added as he finished off the drink.
“You know, I’ve been thinking.” I began, setting my half-full cup down. “I don’t really remember a whole lot from my past, but it seems really clear to you. Why is that?”
“Well you have to remember that I’m a couple of years older than you, Chai. That and I wasn’t exactly always around you, but more of how you were sort of around me when you were just a filly.”
“That makes sense, I guess.” I said, taking another sip of the tea.
“Say, do you want to go out sometime? I mean, later in the day when you’re not building your army of tea-making ponies.” he asked with his glimmering, dark-green eyes looking right at me. I couldn’t help to giggle at the joke, trying to think of a reasonable answer. Unfortunately, none came at the end of the laughter. “Is something wrong?”
“No!” I shouted, almost knocking over what was left of my cup of tea. “I mean, no. Nothing’s wrong. What did you have mind?”
“Well, seeing as I am a dance instructor and you look like a mare that’s light on her hooves, how about a nice, calm dance hall? Not like the place I first found you at.” Stal explained, reaching over to keep the tea cup from shaking back and forth on the plate.
“I’d like that.” I blurted out without thinking. Stal smiled at the response, backing away from the counter back on his four hooves.
“Alright, call me when you get a chance to and we’ll set something up.” he said, starting to walk towards the door. “Oh, and by the way, it’ll be a pretty fancy place so dress up in something nice.”
“I will.” I said shakily as the stallion walked out the front door to the shop, heading out to the streets of Los Pegasus. Finishing what was left of the tea in my cup, my heart raced at the idea of dancing with the charming stallion. I searched my thoughts for any reason as to why I shouldn’t have agreed to the outing, but he was just an old friend from the past. I didn’t see anything wrong with it, so why should anypony else?