//------------------------------//
// 6: Ponyville Layover 
// Story: Tales of a high-altitude coffee and tea dispenser 
// by hiigaran 
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Sugarcube Corner. Well, it wouldn't be my first choice of places to grab a small bite, but I'm not complaining. I have been craving for something with lots of sugar recently. I mean, ignoring my excessive on-board consumption of mango juice and cheesecakes. Glancing at my watch, I see that I'm a few minutes early. Making my decision, I walked up to the counter. "Pardon me." I called to the pink mare, who had her back turned to me, busy stocking the shelves with confectionery.

Turning to face me in a blur, I tensed up immediately. "Oh dear Celestia, it's you!"

"Hiya, Redred!" the pink menace beamed at me. "How's my favorite trolley dolly doing?"

"Worse, now that I've seen you again, Pinkie," I deadpanned.

"Aww, c'mon! Didn't we have lots'a fun on that flight?"

"I don't consider personally apologizing to half of my passengers due to a lack of food for them to be fun," I felt my left eye twitch. "Certainly not when they refused to believe a single pony consumed the entire mid-galley while my crew were distracted. How—how did you even eat ninety-five casseroles straight out of the ovens? Weren't those hot?"

"Excruciating! The whole inside of my mouth was swollen for a week!"

"Yes, well, perhaps I'd show a little more sympathy if you had not cleaned us out of every meal tray, juice box, chocolate—"

"Don't forget the sugar packets!"

"Which brings me to my next question," I practically slammed my hooves on the counter, leaning forward as if interrogating a suspect. "What in the name of Luna were you doing snorting all my sugar on the galley floor?"

"Umm, my stomach was full? Duh!"

"I—that's just—" I sighed, backing off. "Just—just get me a large cup of chamomile tea, please."

As soon as my order came up, I seated myself at a table as far from the counter as possible. Shortly after, the mare I waited for finally walked in, glancing around until I waved to get her attention. Trotting over, she greeted me with excitement in her voice. "Hey! I'm glad you were able to make it! I've got some amazing news," Flitter danced on the spot. "Guess who just passed the first stage of her EAL interview?"

"Great stuff!" I beckoned her to the seat opposite. "So when's the next stage?"

"Tomorrow, nine in the morning," she bounced in her seat, squealing like a schoolfilly.

Beside her, Pinkie appeared, bouncing in sync, "Soooooo, can I get you lovers anything to eat?"

"Buh—I—we're not—" Flitter spluttered. "I mean—"

"I'll try a slice of the chestnut puree cake," I cut in, scanning the menu between sips of tea. "Flitter?"

A small squeak was the reply.

"Uhh, I suppose any three random items for her, please." I handed the menu to Pinkie, who quickly scribbled what I assumed was our order on a notepad. It took me a little too long to realize she had done that entirely with her mane. By the time I opened my mouth, the mare hopped away. "Right, so second stage of the interview next. You'll probably have some fun doing group activities for a few hours."

This seemed to snap Flitter out of her petrified state. "Y-yeah, they mentioned something about that. Any advice?"

"Eh, hard to say. They always try to do something different," I paused. Nothing in particular came to mind about the interview process. "Just show them you're confident, willing to make the first move for anything, and above all, be social. We're there for safety first, but they want to know if you can easily interact with many strangers and keep them happy."

"Thanks," Flitter eyed the freshly procured plates that slid onto our table, going straight for a slice of apple pie. Looks like she's already got the crew appetite perfected, I see. "Speaking of," she quickly swallowed, "I remember the recruiter was telling us how our jobs are like ninety percent safety-related duties, and the other ten percent is the actual service. Is that true?"

"More or less. You'll find that there are a lot of rules and regulations. Many might seem silly, but make sense when explained. You'll learn about all this in training, but I may have a few personal experiences that you might find amusing, if you're interested."

"I'm all ears..."