Hotshot nervously chewed his bottom lip as he gave his new premises the once-over. Even with a plan as foolproof as his, he still couldn't help but feel a few butterflies fluttering about in his stomach. He supposed that was a natural response to taking a step this big—opening a restaurant was a pretty big deal, after all.
One thing he was very pleased with himself over was the location he had picked for the restaurant, which was to be simply named Hotshot's Grill. The building where the restaurant was to be housed used to be a shop that sold quills and sofas, until it went bust and the owner put it up for sale. Hotshot had managed to buy the place for a song, and its location really was perfect for a small town restaurant. It was quite close to the centre of town, pretty much guaranteeing that everypony in town would at least catch sight of it before long, and was therefore an excellent spot for snapping up potential customers. Hotshot was also pleased to note that it was just a short walk away from the local schoolhouse. Fillies and colts could usually be counted on to have some pocket money on them, and there was potential to do a pretty good trade with them during lunchtime, especially if they were offered some kind of special discount. All in all, the restaurant's location in town was just about perfect.
Once Hotshot had bought the building, he'd set about equipping it to run as a restaurant. The place now held an oven, a grill, a refrigerator, some tables and chairs, and a neat little desk and cash register. Most importantly, in a small case next to the fridge were a dozen vials of blubbercup essence, ready to be surreptitiously added to whatever Hotshot was cooking and to hook whichever poor sap who took a bite.
Now that the preparations were done, all that was left for Hotshot to do was open the doors and wait for some customers to turn up. Again, he felt that twinge of excitement and nerves as he stood patiently behind the counter, tapping his hoof and whistling tunelessly through his teeth.
After a few more minutes of waiting, he heard voices and laughter coming from outside. He looked out through the front door and saw that there were three ponies walking and talking together, and it looked like they were headed towards the restaurant. He took a deep breath.
This is it, he thought to himself. The moment of truth.
Taking another few breaths to steady his nerves, he glanced back to the kitchen for a reassuring glimpse of the case containing the vials. He then turned his attention back to the door as the three ponies entered.
The three ponies were all pegasi; one a charcoal stallion with a silver mane styled into a Mohican, and two lilac mares. Hotshot steeled himself and gave them his best small-town "how can I help y'all?" smile. "Hi there!" he said cheerfully. "Welcome to Hotshot's Grill, how can I help you?"
"Hey there," the stallion replied, giving Hotshot a friendly smile of his own. "We were just passing by and noticed this place, figured we'd grab some lunch. I don't think we've seen you around before. Have you just opened?"
Hotshot nodded. "That's right," he said proudly. "Name's Hotshot, owner and proprietor, and you three are my first customers."
"Awesome!" the stallion beamed. "Well, welcome to Ponyville. I'm Thunderlane, and this is Flitter and Cloudchaser," he said, pointing a hoof at each respective mare, who gave Hotshot a smile and a "hi" in return. "We just got off shift from the weather patrol and we've worked up a bit of an appetite. Is there anything you'd recommend?"
"Well, I've been told my oat burgers are pretty good. Could I tempt you with one of those?" Hotshot asked.
"Sounds good," Thunderlane replied. "I'll take one."
"Actually, I'll have one too, please," Cloudchaser added, with Flitter nodding and echoing her.
"Okay, so that's three oat burgers. Give me a minute and I'll have them right out." Hotshot gave them yet another smile, before turning and heading into the kitchen.
After grabbing a couple of oat patties from the fridge and grilling them to a toasty brown, Hotshot prepared to add the most important ingredient of all. With slightly trembling hooves, he opened the case containing the vials and withdrew one, uncapped it and drew out a small amount of blubbercup essence using a dropper. Then, very carefully, he applied three drops of essence to each of the oat burgers. If the essence was as potent as Astuto had said, three drops would be more than enough to get those three schmucks addicted in no time. Once he'd done that, he dressed the burgers up with ketchup and lettuce and took them back out to his patiently waiting customers.
"Alright, here we are! Three oat burgers, as requested. That'll be twelve bits, if you don't mind," he said cheerfully, trying his hardest not to let any nerves show on his face. Inside, though, his stomach was turning faster than a hurricane.
"Great, thanks," Thunderlane replied, placing the money on the counter as Flitter and Cloudchaser grabbed their food, before taking his own burger. Heart pounding, Hotshot watched as the three ponies opened their mouths and took a bite from each of their burgers.
The effect was fast, taking hold almost as soon as the trio swallowed their first mouthfuls. Thunderlane's eyes went wide and his ears pricked up, Flitter's mane and fur prickled, and Cloudchaser's wings flared up with a comical springing sound. There was a beat for maybe half a second, before all three ponies shoved the burgers into their mouths and chewed as if they hadn't seen food in a week. Hotshot was startled. He hadn't expected the effects to be quite that dramatic.
Within seconds, the ponies had finished wolfing down their burgers, and Thunderlane was looking at Hotshot with hungry eyes and a ketchup-smeared mouth.
"C... can I get a-another one?" he stuttered.
"Yeah, I-I want another one, too," Cloudchaser said, looking almost desperate.
"Me too, p-p-please!" Flitter added, nodding and trembling slightly.
"Um... uh, sure," Hotshot said, trying to contain the ten-metre wide grin that was threatening to break out across his face. He returned to the kitchen and cooked up three burgers the same as before. This time, he decided to only add one drop of essence to each of them, to see if that had any less of an effect on them. When he took the burgers out, the trio tore into them just as ravenously as before, with loud chewing and slurping noises that would surely have given even the most uncouth pony pause.
They demanded a third round of burgers, and Hotshot obliged, this time electing to add no essence to them. If they tore into those burgers the same way they had with the last two, then Hotshot would know for certain that he had them well and truly hooked. And sure enough, they made short work of the burgers in a matter of seconds. Hotshot was almost beside himself with joy. This was almost too good to be true!
"You know," he said casually, as he watched the three new addicts swallow their last mouthfuls of burger, "I do a bit of a takeout service, too. I can put some burgers into a doggy bag for you guys to have later, if you want."
"How many have you got?" Thunderlane demanded, staring at him wildly like he was hungering for something much stronger than a burger.
"Um..." Hotshot tried to remember how many patties he'd seen in the fridge. "Thirty?" he replied.
"We'll take them all!" Thunderlane, Flitter and Cloudchaser screamed in unison.
"Really?" Hotshot said, trying to look surprised while fighting the urge to laugh with pure glee. "Guys, that's about a hundred and twenty bits. Are you-"
"Put it on credit! Just give me those burgers!" Thunderlane shouted desperately. Beside him, Flitter and Cloudchaser looked so frantic that they looked like they were on the verge of tears, with wide eyes and gritted teeth. They'd no care for worries about money or debt, only getting more of those burgers that they so badly needed.
Within ten minutes, the three pegasi had flown off with ten burgers each stuffed into their saddlebags. Hotshot watched them go, before turning and calmly walking into the kitchen. Once he was safely alone in there, he allowed his delight to finally surface, letting out a great whoop and doing a little jig where he stood, laughing euphorically.
It had worked! Those three ponies had fallen under his spell like it was nothing! Before now, Hotshot had had his doubts about his plan. But now, as he looked at the cheque for a hundred and twenty bits lying on the counter, he knew one thing was an absolute certainty.
Hotshot's Grill was going to be huge.