//------------------------------// // Chapter 3 // Story: Starry Skies over the Apple Orchard // by anotheraccount //------------------------------// Starry Skies over the Apple Orchard Chapter 3         Luna walked beside Big Macintosh as they headed towards a restaurant that was halfway across town from the hospital.  She looked around as they walked and saw that more ponies were walking on the streets now that it was later in the morning.  After they had been walking a few minutes, Luna sniffed the air and was rewarded with the heavenly scent of breakfast cooking in the distance.  She breathed out and smiled as she thought of the upcoming meal, and then her stomach began to growl.  With a faint blush she started to open her mouth to say something until a matching growl in a lower octave sounded off right beside her.  Looking to her left she saw Big Macintosh grinning at her.  “So, are you thinking what I’m thinking?” she asked. “Eeyup!” replied Big Macintosh with an enthusiastic nod of his head. “Breakfast Supreme Combo #3 from Breakfast Epiphany!” Luna and Mac excitedly said together. Suddenly, a pink blur zoomed in from the space between two buildings to stop in the street in front of Luna and Big Macintosh.  The blur became a familiar pink mare with three balloons on her cutie mark.  She began dancing in the street and sang, “And I said, what about...Breakfast Epiphany!  She said I think I’d, like the number 3 combo...” and then as fast as she appeared, she stood up on her hind legs, spun around on one hoof, then jumped up into the air.  There was a loud sound that was a cross between a kazoo and a cannon as she threw confetti and streamers into the air, and then she zoomed off again into the crowd of ponies walking along the other side of the street to perform another random song and dance. Luna looked back at Big Macintosh and saw that he was covered in confetti and also had pink curled streamers clinging to his mane.  Even after the sudden dance number, she was not prepared for the sight of Big Macintosh.  Before she could contain it or even cover her mouth with a hoof, an abrupt snort gave way to a giggle.  Big Macintosh looked back towards Luna, and the pink curly ribbon followed the movement of his mane, which caused Luna to go into a full-bellied laugh. Big Macintosh chuckled and said, “Pinkie Pie sure knows how to keep things lively ‘round here.”  Upon noticing that Luna’s mane was covered in confetti, his chuckles increased in volume.  “Say, you’ve got a little somethin’ right here,” he said as he reached up to his own mane to show her where to reach.  Upon moving his hoof, he felt the mass of streamers on his head and pulled them off to look at them.  Pausing for a moment to inspect the pink streamers, he then waved his hoof around and watched as they swayed in the air.  He tossed the streamers behind him and then grinned at Luna.  “Nice touch, but they don’t really match my yoke.”  They both chuckled and then continued walking towards the enticing aroma coming from a building that is no longer very far down the street. As they drew nearer to their destination, Luna looked around and saw that Breakfast Epiphany was still busy, even though it was getting closer to lunch than breakfast.  She looked back and forth until she spotted an empty table at the edge of the crowd.  Luna turned her head to speak with Big Macintosh and saw that he had also turned his head towards her.  “Why don’t we split up...if you don’t mind going to the counter to place our order, I’ll head over and claim a table.” Big Macintosh nodded.  “Eeyup...good idea.” Luna walked over to the empty table and turned to watch Big Macintosh as he walked towards the restaurant’s counter.  She saw his ears turning to the side as if he was listening to something, but other than a twitch of his ears he showed no indication that he was listening to anything.  Curious, Luna focused in that direction and heard a young filly speaking.  She looked in the direction of the sound and saw a mare and a filly walking down the road. “But why?” said the filly as she looked up at the mare.  “He doesn’t really like that hospital food.” “Shh, it’ll be alright.  Maybe we can make something tonight for tomorrow’s visit.”  The mare gave the filly an encouraging smile, but Luna noticed that the smile had some stress lines around the edges. Hearing the sound of hoofsteps approaching from the side, Luna turned and saw Big Macintosh walking over to the table that they would be sharing.  “That was fast,” she said as she first looked at Big Macintosh and then at the counter where the line had vanished. “Eeyup.  They take the orders at the counter, and then when the food is ready they’ll bring it out to the tables.”  He smiled at Luna as he sat down beside her at the table.  “It keeps the line moving and ya don’t have to stand at the counter waiting for your food.” Out of the corner of her eye, she saw a mare wearing the restaurant’s uniform pick up a pie at the counter and putting it onto her back for carrying.  She then trotted over towards the two ponies that Luna had watched walk down the road and briefly spoke with them.  The filly jumped up and down excitedly and the waitress transferred the pie from her back to the other mare’s back.  The waitress bowed her head for a moment and then trotted back to the counter to pick up the next order. “So, Starry, what brings ya to Ponyville?”  Big Macintosh asked as they began waiting for their breakfast. “Well,” replied Luna as she looked over to Big Macintosh, “We’ve been rather busy lately...at, uh, work... and it was beginning to wear us down.  Our...uh, my... sister mentioned that it would be a good idea to take a bit of a vacation.  A few days off sounded delightful, so I accepted her offer.  For a while I have wanted to visit Ponyville again, and thought that it would be a great place to relax.  I’ve been here a few times, but it has always been for brief visits.” Hearing the sound of hoofsteps approaching from behind, Luna looked around and saw the waitress bringing their breakfast.  Luna watched as the waitress first placed a bowl of oatmeal in front of Big Macintosh, who smiled and cheerfully thanked the waitress before he lowered his head to his bowl and started to eat.  The waitress then placed three plates in front of Luna containing an order of Breakfast Supreme Combo #3.  Luna looked at Big Macintosh’s bowl of oatmeal and it was not lost to her that the cost of a Breakfast Supreme Combo #3 minus the cost of a bowl of oatmeal equals the cost of one of Breakfast Epiphany’s specialty pies.  “Say, that oatmeal looks pretty good...may I try some?” she asked Big Macintosh. Big Macintosh sat up, smiled, and nodded.  “Eeyup.” Luna moved closer to Big Macintosh and lowered her head to take a bite of oatmeal.  “This is rather good,” she said through a mouthful of oatmeal.  Hiding a smile, she proceeded to rapidly finish off the rest of the oatmeal.  Raising her head again, Luna stifled a burp.  “Oh, dear...I think I got caught up in the moment.”  She turned her head to look at Big Macintosh and smiled.  “Well, no bother...we can split my order.”  Seeing the stallion about to protest, she gently placed her hoof over his mouth.  “Oh come now, ‘tis only fair.  I’ve eaten over half of your breakfast already, you can have some of mine.” Luna pushed the now empty bowl off to the side and moved her three plates over so that they could be easily reached by both of them.  She lowered her head to one plate and began eating, taking a bite and raising her head again to chew.  She smiled as she saw Big Macintosh doing the same. Luna and Big Macintosh quietly ate, savoring the flavors of the restaurant’s famous signature meal.  Nearing the end of their meal, Luna closed her eyes and thought about her morning as she swallowed a bite of food.  She lowered her head to take another bite and felt something brushing against her lips.  Opening her eyes she saw she was right up against Big Macintosh’s face.  Big Macintosh was frozen in place at the plate they shared with a panicked look in his eyes.  Luna blinked and slowly it dawned upon her that she had just brushed her lips up against Big Macintosh’s...and were still in contact.  After a few moments of attempting to think, she felt her cheeks warm up and then she pulled away from Big Macintosh’s lips to sit upright again.         Luna scratched the back of her head and looked at Big Macintosh.  “Um, “ she started to say and then coughed to clear her throat.  “It appears that keeping one’s eyes open while eating is probably a good idea.”         Grinning sheepishly, Big Macintosh nodded.  “Eeyup.”         “Oh, you two are so cute together!”         Luna slowly turned around to see the waitress standing behind them.