Pony Tails

by Bluecatcinema

A Family Treat

In an unassuming corner of Canterlot was a little restaurant which had recently gotten a lot of attention. The Tasty Treat, once on the verge of going out of business, was now one of the hottest eateries in all of Canterlot, thanks to two out of town ponies with exceptionally big hearts. Coriander Cumin and Saffron Masala had never in their wildest dreams imagined that their restaurant could ever be so popular. They had so many customers that they needed to hire additional staff, with said customers easily providing them with the money to pay said staff.

"Welcome to the Tasty Treat." Coriander greeted some new customers. "Allow me to show you to a table."

The new customers turned out to be Fancypants and Fleur Dis Lee, who had decided to sample the Tasty Treat's cuisine for themselves after word of mouth had spread all over Canterlot.

"So this is the restaurant we've heard so much about?" Fancypants looked around. "Such charming decor."

"And what tantalizing scents." Fleur Dis Lee added. "Which probably explains why it's so packed."

"Right this way, sir and madam." Coriander lead them to a free table. "Now, may I take your order?"

"Let's see now." Fancypants perused the menu. "Hmm, the spicy flat noodle soup sounds good."

"And I'll have the grass sandwich with dijon mustard." Fleur added.

"Excellent choices." Coriander smiled, jotting down their requests. "We'll have them out to you very soon."

"There's no rush." Fancypants said pleasantly. "Personally, I find a little anticipation just serves to heighten the dining experience."

"Speak for yourself, my dear." Fleur joked.

As Coriander made his way to the kitchen, he was joined by one of the new waiters, a blue Unicorn stallion with teal eyes named Silver Platter.

"Sir, do you know who you were just serving?" Silver whispered. "That's Fancypants! He's one of the most influential ponies in Canterlot!"

"Is he now?" Coriander frowned.

"Yes, sir." Silver nodded. "His seal of approval could make our popularity skyrocket! We've really got to go all out to impress him."

"With all due respect, I'm done trying to impress so-called 'influential ponies'." Coriander declared. "And I'm sure Saffron would agree. All customers are equal here. Nopony is more or less important to us, do you understand?"

"...Yes, sir." Silver nodded. "I was just trying to help."

"I know." Coriander said fairly. "But trust me, that kind of help isn't required. We will serve all ponies the same way, and trust that our dishes are good enough to earn acclaim on their own."

"Well, when you put it like that, I guess it makes sense." Silver admitted.

"Of course it does." Coriander grinned. "Now, back to work, if you please. I think table four is ready for their check."

"So they are." Silver nodded. "I'll get right on that..."

Coriander smiled as he made his way into the kitchen, where Saffron was working on several dishes. It had been a while since he'd felt so happy. The Tasty Treat had been floundering for so long. He was ready to throw in the towel, in contrast to Saffron's urging that they keep trying in spite of everything. Their opposite views had bred many fierce arguments between them. But in the end, things had changed for the better. Thanks to Rarity and Pinkie Pie, the ponies of Canterlot had finally embraced the Tasty Treat, but more importantly, Coriander and Saffron had mended the rift between them. In fact, Coriander felt like they were closer than ever.

Coriander entered the kitchen. They had hired a couple of extra chefs to handle all the customers, but Saffron still preferred to do the bulk of the cooking. It was what she loved, after all, and nopony was going to take that from her.

Saffron tasted one of the other chefs' curry sauce.

"Needs just a dash more paprika." She declared.

"If you say so." The chef, a young mare with a sea green coat and blue eyes, nodded, adding a little more of the spice to the concoction.

"We have two more orders." Coriander told his daughter. "One spicy flat noodle soup, and one dijon mustard grass sandwich."

"And here I was, hoping for a challenge." Saffron joked.

Saffron put together both dishes with joy and ease.

"I hope our customers enjoy these." She smiled.

"If they have any taste at all, they surely will." Coriander declared, taking the dishes on a platter.

"Oh, father..." Saffron chuckled.

Coriander returned to the main room, and set down down the dishes by Fancypants and Fleur.

"Thank you for waiting." He said curtly. "Enjoy."

Fancypant dipped his spoon into the soup, bringing the contents to his mouth.

"My word." He smiled. "What a marvelous concoction!"

Fleur took a bite out of her sandwich.

"Positively scrumptious." She announced. "It seems the rumors about your food being so delicious weren't exaggerated."

"Indeed, my dear." Fancypants nodded. "My heartiest compliments to the chef."

"Thank you, sir." Coriander said respectfully. "I'll make sure she gets them."

"Perhaps we should eat here more often." Fleur smiled. "If only to savor the rest of this establishment's wondrous fare."

"We would certainly be glad of your continued patronage." Coriander grinned.

"It would be our pleasure, believe me." Fancypants beamed. "And we would gladly recommend your restaurant to all our friends. I'm sure they'd love it here as much as we do."

"Thank you, Mr Fancypants." Coriander grinned. "We could always use the extra business... and eager customers."

"And I'll see to it you plenty of both." Fancypants nodded, before returning to his soup.

Coriander left them to their meal. Though he had meant what he'd said about the Tasty Treat not needing the stamp of approval from a high-ranking pony, it was still nice to have the restaurant appreciated so.

At the end of the day, Coriander, Saffron and their new staff closed up for the night.

"Another fine day's work." Saffron smiled, as they finished clearing away any leftover messes.

"Yes." Coriander nodded. "Good work today, everypony."

"Thanks, boss." One of the waiters grinned. "See you tomorrow."

"I trust you'll remember the paprika for next time?" Saffron asked the chef from before.

"Of course." The mare nodded. "And thanks for the tip."

"Any time." Saffron smiled.

"Good night, Mr Cumin." Silver Platter declared. "Miss Masala."

"Good night, Silver." Coriander smiled.

"Good night, everypony." Saffron added warmly.

The staff made their way out of the restaurant, leaving only Coriander and Saffron. The two of them retired to their home behind the restaurant.

"Good to rest after a hard day on the job, eh?" Coriander asked, as he sat on their couch.

"It is." Saffron nodded. "But I prefer a busy day to a day with no work at all."

"Hard to believe those days are behind us now." Coriander smiled. "To think, not so long ago, barely anypony knew the Tasty Treat existed. And now, here we are, the toast of the town."

"I never expected us to enjoy such good fortune." Saffron beamed. "But I always knew it was just a matter of time before the ponies of Canterlot came to enjoy our food."

"If your mother was still with us, I know she'd very proud of you, sweetheart." Coriander smiled. He glanced at a picture on a nearby mantlepiece. The picture depicted a younger Coriander and Saffron as a foal, alongside a mare who had a similar mane and eyes to Saffron, but a red coat. "You always look on the bright side, just like she did. You always believed in your dreams, and didn't hesitate to do what you loved, no matter what."

"She'd be proud of you too, father." Saffron beamed, as she hugged him tightly. "I know it wasn't easy for us here for a long time. But you kept on going, even when you thought the Tasty Treat would never work out. Even when you said we should give up, you still tried, in spite of yourself."

"I'd like to say I had hope." Coriander sighed. "But I was just going through the motions. Truth be told, I didn't like to think about what would happen when we actually did close the restaurant. Thankfully, it seems that day is now farther away than I ever imagined."

"Or me." Saffron smiled. "If not for Rarity and Pinkie Pie, we would never have been able to stay open. We would have been forced to close our doors forever."

"But not anymore." Coriander smiled. "Now we're both free to do what we love, and run our wonderful little restaurant together."

"That's all I ever wanted." Saffron hugged her father again.

"And all I ever wanted was for you to be happy, my darling daughter." Coriander beamed, returning the hug. "So it looks like we both got what we wanted."

"It certainly does." Saffron nodded.

"Now, how about we get some food in our bellies?" Coriander offered.

"After spending all day cooking for other ponies, we can finally cook for ourselves." Saffron grinned.

"As long as you don't hide the ingredients you don't like again." Coriander teased.

"Really?" Saffron pouted. "I'm not a little filly any more, you know."

"You'll always be my little filly." Coriander said with paternal love.

"Oh, daddy..." Saffron nuzzled her father happily as they made their way into the kitchen.

Despite endlessly working over a hot stove all day, Saffron went about their meal preparation with gusto. She truly loved cooking, no matter how many times she had to do it in one day. Putting all the ingredients together and bringing a recipe to live was the most wonderful thing she could imagine. As for Coriander, he was just happy he could spend time with his daughter, cooking side by side, just as they had done in days gone by. Neither one of them could imagine a more perfect day to a day.

Though the two of them cooked many a fine delicacy in their restaurant, truly the tastiest treat was the one in both their hearts. A treat marinated in love, and aged over many years. The kind of treat only family could know, that they could never get enough of, and would always savor. It was a treat called "love," and it was a greater delicacy than anything anypony could ever cook up.

Comments

[HolyCross9]

Silver Platter would make wonderful love interest for the beautiful Saffron.

[OmniFox]

Family bonding.

[WatchTheDamned]

I love these stories! Fantastic work.

[Sky Blazer]

Now isn't it a tasty treat for the eyes to read this? s2.quickmeme.com/img/56/560f6e99bc517bf1eb62fb8153bd69f2cba8e1057f5231bcba9452564148925f.jpg

Seriously though, this is far better than what I could ever think of to do for Saffron, Coriander and their restaurant! Thanks kindly for having taken my request!

[Bluecatcinema]

7512868 My pleasure. I'm just glad I could put together a decent enough chapter.

[Sky Blazer]

7513124 yeah too true