Rainbow Burst chewed on her lip as she stared at the menu. Everything seemed so delicious, it was hard to decide. As she read the description of each one, she could feel her stomach gurgle with anticipation. It was tempting to order one of everything. Unfortunately it would be a waste since there was no way she could possibly eat all of it. Besides, she did not have that much money at hoof.
There was a faint cough followed by "Rainbow."
"Hey, Twi," Rainbow said with a smile as she saw her friend standing there. "What's up?"
"Clouds," Twilight Comet replied. "That's actually why I'm here." She motioned up toward the sky with one of her wings. "It's about to start raining when I noticed you out here. I figured that since we were such good close friends, it would be nice of me to warn you before it started so that you wouldn't get wet."
Rainbow turned and looked up at the sky. Sure enough, it could not be seen. Thick layers of clouds filled the sky, already gray and rapidly getting darker. Soon they would unleash the pent up moisture inside.
A sigh escaped Rainbow Burst. She was comfortable and hungry. Really, all she wanted to do was just sit where she was and have lunch. At the same time, she did not want to get soaking wet.
Maybe there was a way. Maybe she could stay where she was, enjoy lunch, and not get rained on. Twilight did want the ticket to The Grand Galloping Gala after all, and she was one of the senior members of the weather team. Maybe if Rainbow were willing to offer her the second ticket, Twilight might be willing to make a hole in the clouds. Not a very big one. Just enough to keep her dry while--
Ugh, she mentally groaned to herself. What the hay am I thinking? I shouldn't be thinking about manipulating somepony I think of as a friend like that. What would Princess Celestia think if she knew?
"Thanks," she said. "Come on, Spike." Horn lighting up, Rainbow Burst grabbed her menu and started walking toward the door to the cafe. Spike followed after her. The two went inside, finding a nice table beside a window. That way, they could watch the rain while having a nice peaceful meal.
"Have you decided?" the waiter asked.
"Grilled cheese with tomato," Rainbow answered. "With some spicy mustard please."
"Do you have any rubies?" Spike asked, getting a sour look in response. "No?" With a sigh, he shut the menu and held it out. "I'll just have some hayfries, then. Extra crispy." After the waiter was several tables away, the young dragon let out a huff.
"Why is it so hard to get some good gemstones?" he grumbled.
"We haven't been living here very long," Rainbow Burst answered. "Plus..."
"You're the only dragon" had been what she nearly said, but she had stopped herself. Although Spike had always had a family in her and Celestia, they were not dragons. In point of fact, she had never met any other dragons in her life. Most of the time he seemed fine with it. Others, it was a bit of a touchy subject. Normally it was when he was reminded of how different he was from ponies, and how little he knew about dragon-kind.
"Most don't eat gemstones around here," Rainbow said instead. "It will just take time to get used to things around here, for us and them."
"I suppose," Spike said, rolling his eyes. He then decided to change the subject.
"So, any idea of what you're going to do about The Gala?" he asked.
"Not really," Rainbow answered. "It just feels like no matter what, there's going to be disappointment."
"Well..." Spike considered it a moment. "Maybe you can ask Celestia for more tickets. That way you can take them all or something."
"It's not that," Rainbow said. "Well, for the most part. It's more like..."
She paused and took a deep breath.
"Each one of them seems to have this wonderful and great dream of what The Gala will be like and what will happen," she explained. "Twilight thinks she'll get to see her brother and hang out with The Wonderbolts. I can't say anything about her brother, but so many ponies want to be around The Wonderbolts, they barely get to spend time with anypony in particular. Applejack wants to sell her apple goods, but most of the ponies there would rather have the buffet inside. Pinkie imagines the whole thing like one of her parties. I imagine that she would be incredibly bored and disappointed to find out what it's actually like. Rarity thinks she's going to meet Prince Blueblood and fall in love, and she would probably be heartbroken to see what he's really like. The only one that would actually be happy would possibly be Flowershy, and she doesn't even care about the actual dance. She just wants to see the gardens."
Rainbow Burst flopped her head against the table and let out a huff.
"What's taking that sandwich so long?"
"Too bad you can't show them what it would really be like," Spike said as he turned to look toward the kitchen doors.
Rainbow Burst straightened, eyes going wide and ears perking up. A smile spread across her face before turning into a full grin.
"That's a great idea Spike," she said. "Maybe I can."
"Excuse me, waiter. Can we get that order to go, please?"
Spike jerked back around to look at Rainbow, raising an eyebrow.
"To go?" he asked. "Why do you want the order to go?"
"We need to get back to the library," Rainbow explained. "You need to write a letter to Princess Celestia, and I need to get ready to grab the next train to Canterlot."
"Why?"
"Because, I'm going to do my best to show my friends just what The Grand Galloping Gala is actually going to be like."