My Little Universe: Season 5

by EquestrianKirin

Heat in the Kitchen

"Alright, y'all, this'll do."

Stopping over in Beach City for another sale, Applejack trotted on into town with her wagon of freshly plucked apples, courtesy of sweet apple acres. AJ didn't had much time to get some proper sales going for her home, so she was trying to make up for it with a good strong sale here in town. She got a good start back in Ponyville already, judging by the sack of bits she was carrying with her, but some dollars from this world couldn't hurt either. She wasn't alone in this little sale either: Rainbow Dash was riding in the wagon she was moving, and the second they stopped over by the boardwalk, the rainbow mare hopped out.

"Alright, here we go. Ten seconds, time me," Rainbow said, wings spread. Before Applejack could slow her friend down, the fast mare immediately started zooming around the wagon, the vision blurred by rainbows and dust as the mare started building the stand. AJ had to hold onto her own hat as she was zooming around and making up the stand, and when ten seconds past, Rainbow skidded to a halt and allowed the cloud to clear.

"HA! What'd I say?" Rainbow said in confidence.

"Eh, Rainbow?" AJ stated. All she needed was a point of her hoof to show Rainbow her little effort. Being speedy, the stand ended up looking a little less than impressive: the main sign upside down, some boards misplaced too. Rainbow took a moment to look, hearing a board drop off and fall to the ground. Well, Rainbow tried, but AJ just went over and made the repairs.

"So, AJ, when do I get my part of the deal?" Rainbow reminded. AJ remembered that pretty well, but it was a bit quick for this deal to be completed.

"In a minute, now hold up," Applejack said, the impatient Pegasus not up for that. Rainbow did a nice job, but she just was a bit too fast to be considered accurate in details like this. Applejack fixed up the upside down sign, and once that was finished, AJ's stand was open for business. Looked pretty good for the orange pony, if she would say so herself. The seller pony got her treats set up on the stand, along with a barrel of freshly made cider. Rainbow looked pretty excited when that barrel was brought out. Such sweet, apple-y goodness just within reach. AJ did the honor of pouring a mug of cider out, right for her friend.

"Cider. Finally, my first cup of the season!" Rainbow said, eagerly drinking up her apple cider. Applejack just chuckled and placed a sale sign on the stand, open for business for her Autumn Apples sale. AJ placed her preexisting bits over by the wagon, and then flipped the sign to open up the place for sure, Rainbow finishing up her glass of O so delicious cider. No way would she ever miss out a cider drink from her apple friend. Applejack did promise a first cider drink for the autumn sale for RD if she helped out a little bit. With AJ distracted with RD, and RD distracted by the drink, none of them were exactly watching the bit count close by. ...

"Rainbow, don't forget, you're payin still," AJ reminded. Rainbow paused, and looked to Applejack.

"Eh ... can I pay you Tuesday?"

"RAINBOW."

"Ok, ok!" Rainbow said. So much for that. Rainbow got out her money, and paid up for the two bit payment, which AJ happily took.

"Thank you for your pay," Applejack said. AJ went on to bring the bits over to the other piles of bits. However, before AJ could drop them, one look and she found that there was something different. No bits. In fact, no bags of bits! AJ dropped the two bits she had in her mouth, trying to see where the bits had gone. She looked over the wagon and ...

"HEY, THIEF!"

Yep, a thief grabbed the money she had earned, and one look down the street and both ponies saw the would-be thief right there. Whoever thought they would get lucky on this little heist wasn't getting the chance today, and the thief immediately took off. Applejack and Rainbow Dash immediately took off after the thief down the alleyway. Honestly, especially with speedy Rainbow Dash, the thief barely got far and was tackled down to the ground right away. Applejack grabbed the money as Rainbow grabbed the thief, getting a good look at who it was.

"What the?"

"Eh. Hey girls."

"What in tarnation - Sadie?! What in hogwash are you doing?!" Applejack asked, not believing who it actually was. Sadie? Who would expect her as a petty thief or all things? Rainbow Dash got off of Sadie to let her stand up.

"Eh, nothing?" Sadie said. She was obvious a bad liar, especially when caught.

"What's the idea stealing my bits for, that's something I'd expect from Onion," Applejack asked. Sadie honestly didn't know what to think for an answer.

"Uh ... I uh ... Hey, Onion's stealing your goods," Sadie said. Both ponies had to turn ...

"... She's gone isn't she?"

EEYUP, she left. And this time, there was no exact place to follow her. Seriously, how could they buy that kind of trick? Well, at least Sadie didn't steal their bits a second time with that apparent getaway, but the concept was still a rather odd one both ponies knew. Since when did Sadie do the pillaging around here?

"... OK. That was ... weird," noted Rainbow, as both ponies went back to the stand. Applejack nodded in agreement, but before they could even go any further than that, both ponies took a look down to boardwalk for the moment. Their chase after Sadie brought them further down the boardwalk, and found themselves near both Citywalk fries, and Fishstew Pizza. Things looked fairly better, but both ponies did end up noticing something a little different, the first being Fishstew Pizza. ... Or rather, "Fishstew Fry", as it was being advertised now.

"Wait. Isn't this place that pizza joint Steven told us about?" Rainbow asked.

"Maybe. They look busy as bees in there, too," Applejack said, and indeed it was. Not exactly in customers, but with the workers inside. Looking in from the front window, they could see the Pizzas going helter skelter with phone calls, cooking, and who knows what else they could get. Both ponies couldn't entirely guess what they were saying, or what was going on entirely, but it was a bit different to see. Why would they be so busy with not as many people inside? Once more, the people inside were just eating fries instead of its namesake.

"Funny. ..."

"Order up!" called a voice from Citywalk fries. AJ turned to the place, and found a customer just got what looked like a fried up pizza. Applejack nudged Rainbow so she could see the result as well. So, Citywalk Fries was selling pizza, while Fishstew Pizza was selling French fries.

"Is it just me, or are things going a little ... backwards?" Rainbow noted.

"Yeah, something's up. You check here, I'm goin for fries," Applejack insisted, trotting over to Citywalk Fries first to see the situation for herself.

.......

After the customer left, looking a bit confused more than most, AJ went over to the counter, her hooves up on the countertop to see what was going on. Mr. Fryman soon took notice.

"Hey, AJ, good to see ya! What can I do for ya?" Mr. Fryman asked, enthusiastic as usual. The orange pony could not Ronaldo and Peedee working their hearts out on the object. Peedee was reasonable, but Ronaldo was a bit of a new thing to see, him working hard on the shop really. Applejack could tell something was up, and rather than beat around the bush, decided to get to the point.

"Hey there. You mind catching me up on this buzz? You and your sons look like you're workin to the bone," Applejack asked. Well, ok, not right to the point, but maybe she'll get her answer anyway.

"Right on that, AJ. I'm making sure to win this war, and put Pizza head over there out of town," Mr. Fryman said confidently. Rather odd since AJ never seen him and Pizza really had a tiff before, last time they checked.

"Well, uh, good luck with that," AJ said simply.

"thanks. Hey, can I interest you in today's special? I call it the fried deep," said Mr. Fryman, basically presenting a friend deep dish pizza. AJ was in no mood to try that kind of food, fried or not, and she just waved her hoof.

"Nah, I'm good. thank y'all anyway," AJ said, starting to head off on her way.

.......

At fish stew pizza, Rainbow did her own little check in with the place. Over in the back of the building, one of the workers went on outside with an order of fries for delivery, even if the box was still pizza since that was all they had. Go figure. Out just behind the building, a tired Kiki Pizza was just about ready to head off on her way, when Rainbow trotted out in sight.

"HEY, RD, long time no see," said Kiki.

"Hey, Kiki. So, what's up? Looks like you and Fryman over there are going nuts," Rainbow pointed out. not entirely tactful, but it jumped to the point more bluntly. Kiki wiped some sweat off her forehead, and took a glance down the road to Fryman's place.

"Eh, yeah, both he and my dad are stuck in a restaurant war. My dad's got me and my sister working our butts off trying to outdo him. I haven't got a good night sleep IN WEEKS," Kiki explained.

"A restaurant war?" Rainbow repeated. However, the concept sounded just silly, and she ended up just laughing. "Come on, you're not the one to jump the shark like that. Seriously, what would spark up a war like that?" Clearly Rainbow wasn't taking it seriously. But before Kiki could answer, suddenly the back door swung open, and RD and Kiki both jump when Kofi Pizza stood there.

"Kiki! We got those orders to make, stop wasting time with that colored horse and go!" Kofi ordered.

"Ok, ok! catch ya later," Kiki said to Rainbow, before going off to do the delivery. Well, Rainbow didn't get her direct answer, but guess Kofi was more serious about this more than most. Kofi nodded, and went back in the restaurant.

"What a tightwad," Rainbow commented, as she moved off.

.......

"So, both places are at eachother's throats right now?" summed up Rainbow.

"Looks like it. Dunno why, both went so well before we left on our monster roundup," Applejack said. After their little venture with both places, they both met back up at AJ's stand, and apparently, both sides of the story were pretty much the same thing: both sides are trying to outdo eachother over some sort of 'Restaurant War'.

"Oh great! First Lapis is stuck in the barn, then Jasper takes off, and now Beach City's acting out of whack! Seriously, can't we catch a break, or what?" Rainbow griped. As if their previous troubles weren't enough to deal with, they got this piled up on them.

"Ok, don't get your tail in a knot. I'll finish up sellin, and then we'll try to fix this," Applejack decided. Though, it was going to be a little bit before they could end up getting things all settled. Work was work, and that had to be handled first.

~~~~~~

And cut to the next day, and the situation was now brought onto those involved. Applejack and Rainbow Dash both met up with Ronaldo, Kiki, Jenny, and Peedee. Mr. Fryman and Kofi Pizza were a bit too busy to really notice their absence, mainly because of the whole war thing going on. To make sure they were more secure, The group all met up at AJ's barn. They'd go to Lapis's barn, but it wasn't the best time to head over that way. So, the four humans and two ponies now had to try and figure things out in the long run.

"Thank y'all for coming Ronaldo, Jenny, Kiki, Peedee. Think we're all aware of why we got y'all here," Applejack started, walking back and forth past the four humans. Rainbow Dash sat over nearby on one of the hay bales.

"This war has to stop!" Rainbow said.

"How do you think we feel, RD? You know how many concerts I had to miss because of this war?" Jenny brought up.

"How many?" Kiki questioned.

"... One?"

"You know how much blogging I haven't been able to do?!" Ronaldo added, obviously angry himself. both ponies didn't know what blogging was exactly, but it still had the result in it one way or another.

"Calm down, everypony, we'll fix this I promise. First things first: anypony care to say what even started this scuffle?" AJ asked. It took a little bit for them to remember what triggered this, Peedee looking surprisingly guilty.

"Peedee, what's up?"

"A customer wanted something different from Citywalk Fries, and I gave her some mozzarella sticks and sauce. I broke our pact," Peedee said, feeling bad for even doing the order in the first place.

"Pact? What pact?"

"Years ago, our parents had signed a treaty to never try to steal eachother's business. When I made that order, all that did was ignite the boiling oil of war," explained Peedee. And by the sound of his voice, it seemed pretty important whatever this treaty was.

"OK, I'll just say it, you guys are WAY too deep into this," Rainbow pointed out. AJ quieted Rainbow down with a whack of her hoof to the back of her head. True as it may be, that's not a good thing to say, nor would it fix anything.

"While I dunno a thing about this sticks and sauce, I promise you we'll all work it out."

"How? There's no end in sight to our parent's fighting," pointed out Peedee. If this war lasted this long, it made a bit of sense to think so. They all tried to figure something out in this, AJ having basic experience when it came to this rival business stuff. Eventually, AJ then got a little idea of her own.

"I know, let's just fight fire with water," AJ decided.

"Don't you mean fire with fire?" asked Kiki.

"Nah, listen. Your folks only seem mad at eachother, but they like their own kids, right? I mean, y'all get along pretty good, don't ya? Get the folks to see that, and maybe it'll be enough to have em stop their little fight right there," Applejack explained. Not too bad of an idea in her eyes. Friendship worked wonders in Equestria, why won't it work in their world?

"It might work," Kiki concluded.

"Right. Now, here's what we'll do ..."

Unfortunately, at least for them, two scheming eavesdropping snakes slithered over to the barn, and stayed hidden just out of the way. Acid and Cyanide had been some rather busy bees for quite a while now, and hearing this starting to be touched upon by the friendship horses caught their interested.

"Shall we?" asked Cyanide.

"I think we shall." replied Acid.

.......

Their first plan went into action over that afternoon. And, even if the menus had been switched up, this was when Fish Stew Pizza was at its busiest, something Citywalk Fries had a more natural disadvantage over. Or at least that was the normal case, but since the food wars started, the customers coming in and out were a bit less than before. That didn't mean ol Kofi Pizza wasn't busy as ever with it. Rainbow peeked in and made sure that Kofi Pizza was indeed too busy to notice much. When that was confirmed she flew straight behind the building, and back to the others. Kiki, oddly, was underneath some nearby boxes, and quite a number of them and pretty heavy too.

"OK, run by the plan again?" Asked Kiki.

"We're playing the role of the hero and damsel: Ronaldo, you're going back to Citywalk Fries when you heard this crash from out front,. You come in and find Kiki trapped underneath these boxes. you come in, Kofi will see you get rescued, and hopefully that'll be enough to stop the war."

"Hopefully?" Peedee questioned.

"Well, it's worth a shot."

"I .. got a bad feeling about this," Ronaldo said.

"Shut up Ronaldo! Nothing bad is really going to happen, and you get to save the cutest girl in Beach City!" said Jenny, referring to her twin sister. While a nice compliment, being stuck underneath some heavy boxes was a bit of a different approach, but if it works, it'll be worth it. All Ronaldo had to do was save Kiki from this mess. As the ponies got into position, so did Acid and Cyanide, slipping in just behind the other boxes not too far away. Rainbow and Peedee moved just out of the way, Applejack moving into positon for this to get started.

"Get ready Ronaldo," said Peedee. Ronaldo got his act together, and then came the trigger: AJ brought her hooves up to the extra boxes, and shoved them all down, all crashing with a loud banging noise. Jenny made her move from there, and rushed inside to get Kofi. The ponies and Peedee hid off out of the way, and Ronaldo was ready to get moving. When Jenny raced in, Ronaldo got his breath to quicken, and then rushed to Kiki's supposed rescue. However, just before he could ...

Bam! All of a sudden, Ronaldo felt something whack his leg, and next thing they knew, Ronaldo stumbled onto the boxes! Bad time to be clumsy.

"Ronaldo, get off before -"

"HEY!"

Too late. Jenny got Kofi to the back, but unfortunately this supposed rescue didn't turn out like they hoped. Kofi moved straight over to Ronaldo, forced him off the boxes, and pulled his daughter out with ease. Kofi stared daggers at Ronaldo.

"You think you can cripple my business that easy?! You got another thing coming!" Kofi snapped. Well, Kofi's assumptions were far from what they wanted, and so Kofi brought Kiki straight into the restaurant alongside Jenny. Ronaldo didn't even get time to explain himself to Kofi before the door was slammed in his face. Once the twins left, Peedee, Rainbow, and AJ went out of hiding.

"What the hay was that, Ronaldo?!" Rainbow Dash snapped.

"That wasn't me, I swear. Something hit my leg," Ronaldo insisted.

"Ok, ok, so the first time didn't work. We'll meet up later and try again," AJ decided.

~~~~~~

So, their first attempt didn't work, and so they all went off again back to Equestria next day to try and think up what to do about this. Rather than the barn this time, they met up over by Sugarcube corner. There wasn't really much in terms of seating, Peedee being the only one who was actually comfortable in said seats while the other three were just a little too big for it. Well, at least not many ponies were going to bother them here. AJ and Rainbow also met them up there, ordering a round of milkshakes for them to try, and this gave them time to get plan B going. Whatever happened in plan A was a bit problematic, and AJ had the idea it may or may not work out anyway.

"OK, so the damsel in distress didn't work. Any other ideas?" asked Rainbow, as AJ sipped her milkshake.

"Well I'm up for anything, just to get this war to stop," said Kiki.

"We could try to get one of them to save another instead?" suggested Peedee.

"Don't think Kofi's willing to save Ronaldo or you after earlier," admitted Rainbow. Good points are good, and they had to agree on that. If anything, that might make the situation worse. As they tried to figure something out, one pink pony was suddenly right over in between Ronaldo and Jenny.

"HI!"

Jenny and Ronaldo jumped aside to let Pinkie Pie come in. What other pink pony would do that unprovoked like that?

"Oh, hey Pinkie," said Rainbow Dash. The pink mare was quick to hear about the situation, or at least what they were talking about over by the counter, and she just wasn't going to stand by and see their faces all down and pouty.

"Why the LOOOOONG Face?" Pinkie asked, her hooves on Jenny's face to emphasize the term.

"Their families are having a problem with eachother, and we're trying to fix it. Got any ideas?" Rainbow asked. If anypony were to know anything about making people happy, it would be the party pony Pinkie Pie. Pinkie Pie took some very deep thought about it, in a pose not dissimilar to the thinker. She stayed this way for a good three seconds, her gears working hard until she finally got the idea popped in her head.

"Pinkie Pie gots an idea!" Pinkie said, lightbulb lighting up over her head. ... and the lightbulb landing in Peedee's hands.

"Where'd this come from?"

"Best you don't ask," Rainbow quietly said. No way were any of them going to at least attempt to question Pinkie Pie's antics, or odd occurrences for the life of them, no reason to start now. But anyway, Pinkie Pie hopped up onto the table to get their attention, making sure to not knock over any of their milkshakes.

"Ronaldo, Kiki, you two are right next to eachother. You two should pretend to be in love! Families can't fight when planning for a wedding!"

... Wait, what? They just tried one stunt with the two earlier, now they had to make them in a wedding setting? Kiki was unsure slightly, but she did say she'll try anything to get the war to stop. As for Ronaldo, he was a bit more forceful with that.

"No way! We can do this," Ronaldo insisted.

"Why not?"

"Because I ... have a girlfriend!" Ronaldo announced.

"Where's she at, though?" asked Jenny.

"You said what I was thinking," replied Peedee.

"Don't pretend to be married, silly! Just be in love and your family will be happy for everypony!" Pinkie cleared up. She still had a job to do of her own, so Pinkie Pie hopped off to get some baked goods going for today. Well, with little plan for the moment, what else could they do? They might as well give it a shot if it meant to stop this war. ...

.......

Next thing they knew, they were back into the swing of things and back on the boardwalk. As they would expect, Fryman and Kofi were as busy as ever, trying to outdo eachother one way or another, the group out and ready to start. As they were busy, Ronaldo and Kiki were up and ready to act, both of them having bouquets of flowers in their hands.

"Oh, Kiki my darling,~" Ronaldo started, holding out the flowers in a sort of dramatic way to push the point forward. Kiki went over with the same type of flowers behind her back.

"Oh, Ronaldo my sweet,~" said Kiki, running towards him. It didn't take too long til both were right in front of eachother, all smiles. The others stayed off side and observing the situation not too far away, keeping themselves hidden away as best they could to see if this'll work. As they went to each other, Mr. Fryman and Kofi Pizza were quick to see them approach one another.

"My dear, sweet Kiki. I love you with all my blog,~" said Ronaldo. Mr. Fryman looked especially confused as Kiki giggled.

"Oh, Ronaldo, you're so sweet and quirky in a way I can tolerate,~" said Kiki. While Mr. Fryman was confused, Kofi was more than quick to run out the door to his daughter.

"What're you doing?! You're supposed to be a your shift!" Kofi yelled.

"you too Ronaldo, we got customers!" added in Mr. Fryman.

"But, Dad, ever since this war started, I've had to spend countless hours away from my beloved Kiki.~" said Ronaldo, acting dramatic to spice it up.

"What?!"

"It's true. The only way for us to be together is if we quit working! We have been together for some time now," said Kiki, sounding true and sincere, and even holding Ronaldo's hand for good measure. A rather convincing move, admittedly. Kofi though was a little suspicious, and looked to Ronaldo.

"Mm-hmmm! You two are only hugging, right?"

"Uh, yes, sir! Just hugs and longing looks," Ronaldo replied, a few nervous chuckles escaping him, though that could be from yesterday when Kofi accused him of hurting the same girl. Kofi had to think hard on this.

"Well, Kofi, love is a beautiful thing," Mr. Fryman admitted.

"Yes, love is beautiful. We must end this feud in order for this love to blossom!" agreed Kofi. Yes, this is looking good. Will it be enough to be sure?

Yeah! The restaurant war is officially -"

"R-Ronaldo?"

Oh no. They all looked on, and soon there was another person who saw this little endeavor go on. She had shoulder-length rosewood-brown hair with teal-green eyes and a matching hair clip. She also wore a red uniform with a white name tag, and freckles below her eyes. By the look on her face as well, she was appearing rather heartbroken by the sight, Ronaldo looking both shocked and blushing a ton. Oh, what're the odds?!

"Ronaldo? I come all this way to return your Koala Princess DVD's just to find you with another girl?" she asked, sounding shocked at the whole thing.

"Whaaaaaaaat?!" Jenny, RD, AJ, and Peedee said quietly. And here they thought Ronaldo was kidding!

"Jane! Jane, my sweet, I-It's not what you think! It's just a trick to get my dad to stop selling -"

"Save it for your blog: Keep Beach City Single!" AND with that, Jane turned, dropped the DVDs, and left a heartbroken Ronaldo on the boardwalk. Well, not only did Ronaldo lose a girlfriend, but they were exposed of this little game they were playing. Fryman and Kofi both crossed arms, and moved right back to their establishments, flames ignited again.

"The deal is off!" shouted Kofi.

"Fine by me!" replied Mr. Fryman. Well, back to the drawing board. ...

As they all were sighing and dealing with Ronaldo's crying, Jane raced down the boardwalk until she was out of sight. Once she was though ... well, let's just say they weren't the only ones acting here. Jane stopped, took one look back, and all of a sudden her body morphed and changed, until Acid remained back to normal! Yes, a devilish snake in disguise, and seeing Ronaldo crumble like that made her and Cyanide feel pretty giddy with themselves.

"That was way too easy," said Cyanide.

"Very much so. Creatures like that are so easy to crumble. Care for one more?" hissed Acid.

"I'd be glad to. Let's make this a collaboration this time. It's always fun working together."

~~~~~~

"Now what do we do?" groaned Rainbow.

Next day (again), and they got themselves altogether to try and work things out. So far their methods had gone to pot this time around. The meeting wasn't involving the four kids this time, only RD and AJ stuck with the situation on their shoulders. Both ponies met up over at Café Hay, though admittedly both ponies were just kinda stuck on what to do. Their idea didn't work, Pinkie's idea didn't work, so what to try now? They couldn't leave them alone like this.

"This is much harder than I thought. Peedee said somethin about a treaty, but how'd that start?" Applejack wondered, as the waiter went over to them with their orders. They weren't going to think on an empty stomach.

"Beats me. And they're not even trying: French-fried Pizza, fried up pizza, what's the difference?" Rainbow pointed out, as the waiter gave them both two hay sandwiches with a glass of water a piece. Applejack realized she was right about that one, considering what both tried to advertise in basically the same thing. Rainbow Dash took a bite of her hay sandwich, but after a few chews and a swallow, the rainbow mare stuck her tongue out.

"Ech, I keep telling them not to dry it up," Rainbow coughed, drinking up her water.

"It's called a hay sandwich fer a reason, Rainbow," Applejack reminded, taking a bite of hers as well.

"You eat what you like, I can make this myself without paying five bits," Rainbow complained. Applejack just sighed, and her mouth was just about to take a bite of her own sandwich when suddenly a thought struck her. Especially when Rainbow made that little comment. The gears started to turn in the farmer pony's head, and suddenly she got her own little lightbulb moment (not as literal as Pinkie, of course).

"Rainbow, you got it!"

"THANK YOU, everypony keeps telling me -"

"No, no, not the hay sandwich. Go fly by Pinkie's place, and meet at Beach City, I think I found our answer!" Applejack instructed. AJ left ten bits on the table, and both ponies took off on this supposed task. AJ had time later to explain.

.......

Cut to that night, and off over at the Temple, which was a bit of a different spot over the typical boardwalk. Some bit of work on the place left a small sign over above the door, much like a sign for a restaurant. Both the Pizzas and the Frymans all met up there, choice by their children mainly, and they all were waiting just outside. AJ, Pinkie, and Rainbow Dash all were inside, and they were all set for this next plan. Each pony was dressed up as if they were working for a eatery: three waitresses and one main chef.

"Alright, everypony, let's do this," AJ announced, their next plan up in action. Raindow, the greeter, was the first one to head over and open up the door, trying her absolute best to look professional.

"Welcome, everypony, to the Crystal Cove Café. You may be seated now," said Rainbow Dash. On the word, the two families went on inside, Rainbow bringing them to their respected seats. Surprisingly, the temple had been pretty spruced up and made into quite the restaurant: two sets of table lined with red sheets, lots of star decoration lights running along the ceiling for show, and a few red curtains, accompanied by some candles on each table. Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie were standing not too far away, over in the kitchen. For just making the thing in one day, it looked rather snazzy.

"Not bad," commented Peedee, only getting a rather rough *ahem* from his dad.

"It's alright," said Mr. Fryman, but not as enthused as his kid was about it.

"There's not enough tables!" noted Kofi.

"There's just enough, daddy," sighed Kiki, and indeed their was. With only two tables to sit in, the Frymans sat over at one table while the Pizzas sat over at another. Jenny and Ronaldo both went on their phones, Jenny bored while Ronaldo heartbroken over yesterday, as Kofi and Mr. Fryman stared daggers at eachother. Rainbow gave them their menus, and went over to the others over in the kitchen. Seeing the situation, it wasn't going to be easy, but this might be the one to actually finish it. Before any of them could really get a word out to eachother, AJ went over to them as a waitress.

"Good evening, gentleman. May I take your order?" Applejack asked, sounding sophisticated, much like Rarity would normally. AJ was in a similar get up, and her hat had to be removed for the sake of presentation. Applejack started with Mr. Fryman, who was quick to make his order out.

"Your Fantastic Fries," Mr. Fryman said. Though, admittedly, the ponies would've guessed that. Still, Applejack took the order. When that order was made, AJ went over to the Pizzas next.

"And you?"

"I will have the Pizza Bagel!" ordered Kofi. AJ nodded her head, and moved over back to the kitchen. Applejack acted like she wasn't hearing them, but both restaurant owners had their own opinions on these options.

"I bet their fries aren't as fantastic as ours," whispered Mr. Fryman.

"I doubt a pizza bagel can beat pizza that isn't on a bagel," said Kofi, with a chuckle. Hearing them, they got their targets and they got their orders.

"Ok, everypony, the Gems allowed us to use the house for the night, let's make this work. Pinkie, an order of fry and pizza," AJ instructed.

And so, things got busy. AJ and Pinkie got right to it and started to create their orders for the Frymans and Pizzas. The pink pony was especially in charge of the special details to these orders, while Applejack worked on the basics. Pretty standard stuff, but with a little something special added into each and every single one. Even if both ponies hadn't made either item before, there was nothing like some special testing on what they had on retainer. The Frymans and Pizzas were waiting for what they were making, some a bit more impatient than others.
Unfortunately, as with the other two times, Acid and Cyanide were not too far away. Both vipers were hidden just out of sight up on one of the house roof beams, peering down at them, and seeing the little situation from their own roost. With the ponies baking, and the humans waiting, neither noticed them. Both snakes slithered silently along the beams until they were just above the cabinets, to which they snuck onto, and into. Both snakes looked down from a cracked open door, seeing that they were almost finished with their orders.

"Kabooya," Pinkie said, bro-hoofing AJ once they were finished. both meals were done and ready to go, and if there was a time for Acid and Cyanide to intervene, it had to be now.

"And here's the bait," said the sly Acid snake, before she slithered back, and pushed out a bag of chips from the cabinet. It would've landed on Rainbow if Pinkie didn't nudge her aside, the chips opened and spilling on the floor. A quicmk little distraction for the three ponies, and Cyanide did the little honor of heading down to the orders, and adding her own little ingredient to the mix, curtesy of a drop of chemical from Cyanide's own fang. A quick bite in Kofi's pizza and a few in the fries, and both snakes went out of sight again, deciding to observe the situation over just outside the front door, going just fast enough to not be seen or caught.

"Ok then? I got this," Rainbow said, getting the orders as AJ and Pinkie cleaned up. Rainbow Dash used her wings like arms, and she placed each one of the orders out onto each table. It was all the draw of the card now, and see if this'll worked. Kofi and Mr. Fryman took a minute to look at each order, each one looking a bit small and rather unimpressive compared to their own meals.

"Can I get some ketchup?" called Mr. Fryman.

"No additions and/or substitutions," said Applejack.

"HA! This place is all talk, how can you have fries without ketchup?" commented Mr. Fryman. Everyone waited for the main reaction from the two main fighting adults, as each one readied to take a bite of the food.

.......

"What is this?! These fries are nothing but raw potato!"

"There's nothing but molded cheese on my Pizza Bagel!"

What? Even with their best efforts, still something happened that none of them were prepared for. This time though it made no sense whatsoever: Pinkie and Applejack are pretty good cooks, they wouldn't leave anything raw or molded if they could help it, but according to Mr. Fryman and Kofi, both meals were only fit for the garbage can!

"What? now hold on a minute," Applejack said, going over and checking the stuff herself. She picked up a fry with her hoof, feeling it suddenly cold and drooping as if dunk and soaked in water. Not the best result for any chef to have. As for the Pizza Bagels, sure enough, the cheese on it looked a rather sickly green.

"What?"

"I knew this place was just talk. Come on, kids, we're going," Mr. Fryman decided.

"Same here! I'm not spending a dime on food poisoning!" said Kofi as well. Without a chance to even explain themselves, both adults stormed out, their children having to follow so. Jenny and Peedee stayed behind, and they weren't too pleased with the results themselves.

"What was that plan?! We're trying to stop them from fighting, not send them to the clinic!" Jenny yelled.

"We just made those meals, we swear. I don't use any raw or rotten ingredients in ANY MEAL," insisted Pinkie. However, this was all Rainbow Dash could take. After a yell in anger, and grabbed the dishes, and stomped them to nothing but rubble.

"ARGH! What the hay?! Everything we tried somehow screws up on us, what gives?! First we tried a damsel in distress - Kofi thinks Ronaldo's crushing his daughter. We tried a love interest - Ronaldo's real girlfriend just HAPPENS to show up! And now our cooked foods turned to nothing but garbage!" Rainbow included the last statements with a few angered kicks of the meals under her hooves. However, as this little temper explosion went on, the pair of snakes couldn't help but snicker at their own little accomplishment. Nothing better than seeing someone lose it after a good ol trolling, far as both snakes knew.

"Sorry, y'all, we're trying our best," Applejack said, as she went to pick up her hat from nearby on the counter. They've been trying their hearts out, but for some reason they couldn't get a grip on it.

"By giving our folks raw food?" Peedee asked.

"That food was not raw when we made it, I swear!" Applejack insisted.

The two snakes continued watching this little trouble escalate, and both snakes finally ended up laughing in loud hisses. They couldn't help themselves from doing so at the reactions of it all. Cyanide was on her back laughing as Acid laid on her side to the wall itself.

"Can you believe her? such a pathetic display of anger out on food," Cyanide chuckled. Both snakes calmed down after a little bit more, Acid wiping off a tear with her tail.

"And just as well, those two adults are still at eachother's throats with this lovely little war. Who's to say they won't try to take eachother out in an alley perhaps when we're done?" suggested Acid, the idea sounding pretty good to Cyanide, just imagining some sort of cage match between Mr. Fryman and Kofi Pizza just to prove the better food item.

"Perhaps we should help things along. What do ya say?" Cyanide snickered, starting to slither off towards Beach City.

"You don't need to tell me twice," Acid replied, slithering after her fellow serpent in crime.

......

One tiny thing they forgot to consider: Getting watched while laughing their heads off.

"... Y'all thinkin what I'm thinkin?" asked Applejack, fuming.

"OH YEAH," the other three replied, also fuming.

Here we go.

~~~~~~

The next day, and as expected, both restaurants were still trying to outdo eachother with their latest attempts. Ronaldo and Kiki both were a bit stuck with their dads to handle this little project, and for Ronaldo's case, the project this time appeared to be his own interpretation of a literal fry-sized pizza pack. A rather odd way to do it, but Mr. Fryman seemed confident in the little scheme to bring customers in.

"Ronaldo, have you seen your brother? He's supposed to be helping us?" asked Mr. Fryman at one point, but Ronaldo didn't really know for sure. He was a little too busy getting the orders prepared to even notice that Peedee was gone, which was surprisingly ironic.

"I don't know. Here," Ronaldo sighed, giving his father the next order of pizza fries for the customer there. Unlike the other days, this one was especially slow, so Ronaldo got that going for him. It doesn't help his broken heart over the loss of his girlfriend. As they were there, Acid and Cyanide both slithered in from the back of the building. both snakes were on a rather good role with their mischief, and both were more than ready to head in and cause more trouble. But, before they could even go in ...

"Weird, there's not a single customer out here," commented Mr. Fryman, figuring that out after his latest customer.

"STOP THE WAR!! COOK FOR GOOD!!" a number of voices chanted.

"What the?"

Mr. Fryman looked out the window down the boardwalk a little bit, finding the source of this supposed protest. Looking over, there was Jenny, Peedee, and Rainbow Dash all stomping around, basically on strike: picket signs and all. This protest was what's driving customers away from not only Mr. Fryman's restaurant, but Kofi Pizza's place too. The picket signs they were showing either had a heart with a pizza and fry on it, or a picture of a red X over battling swords. The combine protesting of all three of them was proof enough. This time, it was Mr. Fryman who went outside first, alongside Ronaldo who heard the protests going on.

"Peedee, what're you doing? We got customers to take care of!" Mr. Fryman said.

"I am not working!" Peedee insisted. Shocking to Mr. Fryman to hear, as kofi and Kiki came outside.

"Jenny, the phone's been ringing for ten minutes, what have you been doing?!"

"What does it look like we're doin?!" said Jenny, showing the sign in her father's face, bringing the point home. A rather bold move. Jenny and Peedee went back to their marching protest for about five more verses until Kofi got in the way. As this happened, Acid and Cyanide both slithered dangerously close by, hidden off just out of the way for this strike attempt, both snakes more than ready to get one more little strike at them. Both snakes peered over at them, ready to head in when ...

"No you don't."

AJ was not having it: suddenly, and with a lasso, Applejack found both snakes and just went to town on them. A quick grab, and quick tie up, and suddenly both snakes found themselves stuck in a tight mess of a knot. No snake could react fast enough, and Applejack was secure with this plan. Acid and Cyanide tried to move, but it didn't work too well.

.......

"Quit it! You're driving my customers off!"

"GOOD! We're not going to work until this war ends!" Peedee yelled.

"What?"

"What do you mean what?! All those attempts before? They're so you two overgrown foals can stop this stupid feud! ... Oh, no offense."

"Non taken," said Jenny and Peedee.

"This is nonsense! you're going to drive us out of business if you three keep this up," Mr. Fryman warned.

"Whatever! Its not like you two had been doing better! Seriously, fried pizza? Pizza fries? What's the difference?! You're just copying each other!" Peedee pointed out, though he tried to keep his composure over arguing with his own dad about it. Both were going to say something, but honestly they came up with nothing.

"Yeah! And me and my sis have no problem with Peedee and Ronaldo. We're all cool, why can't you be?" added in Jenny. Both kids pretty much had their share of points.

"Stop cooking out of hate, and cook for yourselves and for the boardwalk!" Both kids said. There was some silence between them for a little while more, and soon a smile appeared on both of their faces.

"Yes, let's do what we do best!" said Kofi.

"Agreed," said Mr. Fryman, both men hugging it out.

"YEAH!" the kids cheered. That was just what they wanted to hear. Applejack and Rainbow Dash were happy about it too, though it was just enough for Acid and Cyanide to slip away.

After months of trouble, the great restaurant war was finally over and done.

Author's Note:

You didn't think i was going to leave the trouble in terrorist town alone, do you? BOY these chapters are getting slower, I'm sorry. But hey, I'll try to get these out a bit quicker than one per month, i promise I know so many of you are anticipating.

And BTW, I HATED when Ronaldo just lost his girlfriend and no one seemed to care . Yeah, Ronaldo's not the most likable person in the fandom I know, but REALLY, that's just cruel. At least this way was just some snakes screwing with them and not the real thing.

Comments

[ShogunWriter106]

I admit it is nice to see Acid and Cyanide to get some justice for the Restaurant War... BUT THEY ARE SO GOING TO GET IT FOR MESSING WITH THE CRYSTAL GEMS!!!

[EquestrianKirin]

8365978
IF they ever catch them ... but yeah, they're mincemeat

[GamerDroid23]

8366013
Speaking of mincemeat, this chapter legit got me hungry. That's never happened to me, and I don't know if that's a good thing or bad thing. Still though, good chapter, and I agree about the episode glossing over Ronaldo's GF breaking up with him. It felt jarring, to say the least.

[EquestrianKirin]

8367010
I know right? And we don't know yet if they're back together or not, which makes the moment a bit more rough to deal with.