Choice

by AnOrdinaryWriter

55

You reach back into your saddlebag, pull out the extra five bits inside and hoof them to the waitress. She gladly accepts them.

“Your food will be here in just a second,” the waitress says cheerfully before heading off to the kitchens to deliver your orders.

“Respect for that, man. Thanks,” Vinyl says. “I’ll pay you back at the party, promise. Thanks a lot.”

“Here you are.” The waitress is back with two plates of food and she sets it down in front of you before heading off to a different table. You look over your meal. Sitting on one side of the plate is a hayburger. The juiciness of the burger itself makes your mouth water with an urge to wolf it all down instantly, and it's presented beautifully next to a serving of just over a dozen deep-fried horseshoes. Vinyl’s plate is smaller with a simple hayburger with a matching juiciness, and Vinyl’s face doesn’t even try to mask the fact that she, like you, is itching to consume it as soon as possible

You eat.

“See, what’d I tell you? Amazing food. You won’t find fast food that tastes this good for miles,” she says as soon as you two finish cleaning your plates of all food. You nod in agreement. “By the way, Pinkie Pie’s party is probably gonna start really soon. Let’s dip.”

You comply, sitting up from your chair. Vinyl then starts walking past you, and you turn around to follow, only to suddenly find yourself on a path outside the front entrance of the restaurant, bathed in the morning summer sun. Why does that keep happening?!

The two of you begin walking down the path, which you soon recognize leads to Sugarcube Corner. Somewhere down the line, Vinyl stops.

“I just remembered something. You go on ahead to Sugarcube Corner, I gotta go home and get Octy but I’ll meet you there, okay?”

You nod, and Vinyl rushes off in the opposite direction, leaving you alone on the path. So you walk by yourself down the path, already seeing the gingerbread top of Sugarcube Corner in the distance and speed up, galloping past the left turn in the path. Soon enough, you reach the front door of the bakery. Loud music and ponies inside chatting and laughing booms from inside, and you open the front door to go in.

Inside, the room is bustling with ponies young and old. There is not one corner of the room that is empty, ponies dancing to the groovy music, playing one of the many games set up throughout the room or simply conversing at the tables. Along the walls sit tables carrying different flavored cakes, including the large one Pinkie had showed you inside the kitchen, and the place looks livelier than ever.

The difference between when the place was empty and when it was filled is outstanding. You walk toward the crowd to join in. Among the crowd, ponies spot you and wave. There’s no one in particular that recognizes you, but they nicely acknowledge you, so you wave back, a smile on your face.

You aren’t sure what you should do first—whether you should dance, or play some games and get to know some more ponies in town. But then you hear your name being called, and you look over. Pinkie is walking over to you from within the assembly of ponies in the room with a happy expression on her face.

“Hey! glad you could make it. How are you enjoying yourself? Havin’ fun?” she asks excitedly, and you nod. “Yay! I’m so glad! By the way, I know you don’t know that many ponies here, so in case you feel uncomfortable, just know that Ponyville has the nicest ponies a town could ever offer, so there’s nothing to worry about.”

You nod again in understanding, telling her that you’ll try to have as much fun as possible. “That’s what I like to hear!” she says, bumping you in the shoulder with a foreleg. “You wanna try out some of the games? I dunno if you saw when we walked in, but there’s apple bobbing and pin the tail on the pony, two of the more famous games partygoers tend to glide toward. Any of those suit your fancy?”

Pin the Tail on the Pony____________________________________________________________________________Apple Bobbing