After Sugar Cube Corner, the second favorite place for Canterlot High School students to grab a bite was La Grande Tacqueria. The restaurant made their own tortillas every hour. They used fresh ingredients. And they were cheap and fast.
At lunch time, La Grande Tacqueria was full, even on the weekend. The smell of cooking tortillas filled the fast food restaurant. Patrons, young and old, moved down the line, ordering, picking up their food, and paying their bills.
Seven girls in the late bloom of their adolescence, and dressed in all the colors of the rainbow, finished getting their food and moved out of the line towards the seating area.
“I’ve got the drinks.” Rainbow Dash balanced seven different cups in her arms, with various flavors of soda, iced tea, sports drink, and sparkling water.
“I’ll get the napkins, straws, paper plates, and lots and lots of hot sauce!” Pinkie Pie juggled her load as she bounced down the aisle.
Fluttershy carried a purple backpack with a six pointed star on it. “You stay quiet in the backpack, Spike,” she whispered. The small purple dog nodded in reply.
“Over here, girls. I got us a big table,” Sunset Shimmer pulled two empty tables together so that there would be room for all seven of them.
“And I’ve got two family sized trays of tacos,” said Twilight Sparkle. She only made two requests when the girls ordered at La Grande Tacqueria: make sure the tacos were veggie, and no quesadillas (not after the hot melted cheese incident on a previous visit).
Twilight turned with her hands full of food. From a table full of boys, a blue haired young man stood up directly in front of Twilight. She stopped just short of running into him.
“Oh… Hi Flash!” Twilight stammered. “Fancy meeting you here. At lunchtime, In a place that serves lunch.”
“Hi Twilight! I didn’t know you were in town.” Flash Sentry’s body language lit up at the sound of her voice. “Hey, we didn’t bump into anyting this time.”
“I know, breaking our pattern.” Twilight grinned. Several locks of purple hair fell from over her shoulder and dangled in front of her face.
“Is there anything… funky… going on? How long do you think you’ll be here before going back to… you know where?” Flash smiled conspiratorially. He knew strange things often happened when Twilight came around. She normally lived in another world and only came here on rare occasions.
“There's no big emergency, I'm just visiting for the weekend to see my friends.” Twilight tossed her head to get the hair out of her eyes. “I’m going back to Equestria tomorrow evening at 5:00.”
Flash looked the the boys at the table with him. “I have practice with my band today. Can I catch up with you tomorrow, before you go back?”
“How about 3:00 o'clock at Sugar Cube Corner?” Twilight tossed her head the other way. Pesky long hair. “I can walk from there to the portal in the statue at Canterlot High School when it’s time to leave.”
“Or I could give you a ride?” Flash said hopefully.
“That would be great, Flash! Thanks a lot!” Twilight blew hard, and the hair in front of her face finally flew up then settled back behind her shoulder.
“No problem. It’s a date. I’ll see you tomorrow, 3:00PM, at Sugar Cube Corner.” Flash turned to follow the other boys, who had gotten up from the table and headed for the door. “Wait up for me, guys…”
“Twilight, over here!” Dash waved her arms. “Hungry girls, waiting for tacos.”
Twilight sighed happily. Then her eyes went wide. “Wait. What? A date? Does he think tomorrow is a date? Because I don’t have anything else to wear…” She turned her head to search out where Flash had exited, while she walked the opposite direction toward the girls.
Dash raised a hand. “Twilight, watch out for the…”
CRASH!
“Counter.”
FLUMP. FLUMP. FLUMP. Twilight bounced off of a counter and ended up sprawled on the floor. The trays of tacos clattered down to either side of her.
“Princess move, Twilight.” Dash snickered.
“Taco status?” Applejack asked.
“They’re all still in their wrappers…” Twilight replied from the floor.
“Five second rule, silly!” Pinkie pulled Twilight and the trays of food up off the floor. “Hand ’um on over!”
The backyard of Rarity’s house was large and lush. Tall trees around the perimeter provided privacy. Rays of sunlight filtered through the trees and tinged orange, red, or green, depending on if a particular leaf had begun to turn with the coming of the Fall. A covered patio shaded a table and chairs. The table was loaded with iced drinks. A lightweight net bisected an expanse of grass. The net was strung more than head high.
The excited voices and laughter of seven tall, thin, girls, filled the yard. A small dog lay curled up on the patio, in the cool shade.
“Here’s the badminton racquet, you’re up Twilight.” Applejack walked off the grass, handed over the racquet, and the picked up her glass. She wiped perspiration from her forehead with the glass, then took a long drink.
Twilight accepted the racquet and moved tentatively onto the grass to the right side of the net.
“My serve,” Dash said from the left side of the net. “You’ve never seen a birdie go this fast and high before!”
“I don’t like it when they call it a birdie,” whispered Fluttershy. She sat on a chair on the patio, next to where Spike lay.
“Is shuttlecock any better?” asked Rarity from the chair next to her.
“Not really.”
TWACK! Dash tossed the birdie into the air, and hit it high into the air over the net.
“It’s yours Twilight!” Applejack called.
“I got it! I got it!” Twilight’s eyes were to the sky watching the birdie, as she backpedaled.
From the patio, Sunset's eyes went wide. “Watch out for the…”
CRASH!
“Hedge.”
Twilight tripped and found herself sprawled across the greenery. At least she held onto the racquet!
“Princess move there, Twilight.” Applejack stepped over and offered a hand up. “Are you OK, sugar cube?”
“I’m fine, Applejack.” Twilight brushed leaves off of her blouse. “Good hit Dash!”
“My point!” Dash called. “I serve again!”