A Table for Feather
Restaurant Row is the main place for Canterlot's finest restaurants. Residents and visitors in Canterlot would come here if they're interested in some of the city's cultured cuisines. Among the visitors walking through Restaurant Row was Feather Bangs, a stallion who enjoys poetry and pretty mares. He was in Canterlot visiting his aunt who lives in Equestria's capital city. Feather thought eating his aunt's casseroles were fine, he just wished that casseroles weren't the only thing his aunt could cook. Luckily for Feather, his aunt went out for the night and this allowed him to explore the city. Now here Feather was, deciding which restaurant to eat at. He stopped in front of a fancy-looking restaurant with a unicorn stallion host standing behind a small podium.
"Hello, Sir," The host said to Feather. "Are you interested in eating at the Fine Dine Restaurant?"
"What kind of food does this place serve?" Feather asked. The host used his horn to levitate a menu to Feather.
"Here is what we are currently serving." The host said. Feather flinched when he saw the menu. The menu showed the cuisines along with very high prices. Feather thought that the restaurant was practically serving gold bricks to its' customers.
"You know what, I just remembered that I have already eaten." Feather said with a nervous smile. "I'll be on my way then!" Feather hurried as fast as he could to get away from the Fine Dine Restaurant. He resumed searching for a meal while in Restaurant Row. Feather's grumbling stomach didn't help Feather figure out where he should eat. He stopped when he spotted something strange. It was a small sign with an elephant and a red arrow pointing at a large alleyway between two other restaurants. Feather wasn't sure what the sign meant, but he decided to check it out. When Feather reached the end of the alleyway, he was surprised to see a small restaurant. The restaurant was orange in contrasts to the other restaurants' buildings that were mostly white. Feather also noticed that the exterior of the restaurant had completely different patterns and window designs from the other places nearby. The sign on top of the restaurant had the same elephant but holding a spoon. Feather spotted a menu displayed on one of the windows. He smiled as the prices on the menus were more affordable to him. Feather immediately opened the door to see what was inside the restaurant. There were paintings of colorful elephants displayed on the walls. The ceiling was covered with purple, orange, and yellow blankets. Ponies and other creatures were seated in wooden chairs and tables while eating some exotic foods Feather has never seen before. Feather thought that the restaurants' interior looked like something from Saddle Arabia.
"Welcome to The Tasty Treat!" said a male voice. Feather saw a large, yellow unicorn stallion approaching him. The stallion had fuzzy, brown manes and a brown tail. His face also had a small, brown mustache. The stallion's attire was just a large, orange shirt. "I am Coriander Cumin. I will be your host for tonight."
"Hi, I'm Feather Bangs." Feather said. "I'm just here to get some dinner."
"Follow me and I'll show you what we have!" Coriander said as he led Feather to one of the empty tables. As Feather Bangs sat down, Coriander Cumin used his horn to levitate the menu to Feather. "Here at The Tasty Treat, we serve exotic cuisines from beyond Equestria!" Feather looked at the menu once again to see the various names of foods Feather was not familiar with.
"What do you suggest I start with?" Feather asked.
"I would start with the samosas as the appetizer." Coriander suggested.
"Great!...What is that?" Feather said while still confused.
"It is a deep-fried pastry filled with cooked vegetables and spices." Coriander answered.
"That sounds delicious!" Feather said. "I'll try those."
"Wonderful! For the entree, how about the Trotdorri grains? It's one of our popular dishes here." Coriander said. Feather looked for the said dish and saw that its' price was decent.
"Then I'll take that as well." Feather said. "That should be all of my meals."
"Alright," Coriander said as he took the menu. "I'll have your order ready in a few minutes." Feather waited patiently for the several minutes. It wasn't long until Coriander exited the kitchen to bring out Feather's food.
"Here you go!" Coriander said as he placed the dishes on to the table. Feather was surprised to see how unique his food looked. He took a whiff of it and he thought that it smelled delicious. Feather picked up one of the samosas and took a small bite out of it.
"Wow! This is great!" Feather said as he took some more bites out of his appetizer.
"Wait until you try our grains." Coriander said before he noticed one customer waving at him. "I'll be right back. I got help a customer." Coriander left to let Feather eat his food. Feather picked up a fork to dig in his Trotdorri grains. It made Feather's tongue taste new kinds of flavors. Some of the taste was spicy while at the same time it was still good. Feather continued to eat up his grains until all of his plates were empty.
"Is it alright if I use your restroom?" Feather asked Coriander.
"It is in the back hallway." Coriander said as he pointed at a small hallway next to the kitchen. Feather went to use the bathroom. After he washed his hooves and exited the bathroom, he walked passed the kitchen to hear a female voice.
"Father! Table Five's order is ready!" The female voice said. Feather stopped and took a peak inside of the kitchen. The kitchen looked as rustic as the dining area of The Tasty Treat. What really caught Feather's attention was the mare near the kitchen stove. She was an orange unicorn with fuzzy, dark purple manes and tail. She wore a gold hairband and some gold earrings on her ears. The mare's attire was a yellow shirt with an orange bandana. Her cutie mark was an exotic purple flower. Feather watched the mare use her horn to stir up a pot of soup before she poured the soup into separate bowls. Feather couldn't help being mesmerized by how beautiful the mare looked. He guessed that the mare must be the cook behind the exotic dishes. Little did Feather knew, the mare noticed Feather looking at her.
"Um, can I help you?" The cooking mare asked while confused. Feather got startled and tried to recompose himself.
"N-no, I'm fine." Feather lied. "I-I just sniffed the aroma from that soup you were just making."
"Oh yes, I was just putting the finishing touches on my hazelnut soup." The cooking mare said as she levitated a spoon to scoop up some of the soup. "Care to try some?" The cooking mare offered. Feather didn't know how to respond, but he decided to just try one sip of the soup. His eyes widened.
"Wow! This tastes great!" Feather praised.
"I'm glad to hear that." The cooking mare said. "I am Saffron Masala, the head chef of The Tasty Treat."
"I'm Feather Bangs," Feather said. "I was just walking out of the restroom. I tried some of the samosas and grains. I'm guessing you were the one who cooked that."
"That is true, those are the dishes I usually cook for new customers." Saffron explained.
"You must be an amazing cook for making such scrumptious food." Feather said with a wink.
"Why, thank you." Saffron said while blushing. Feather and Saffron were interrupted when they heard Coriander clear his throat. Feather and Saffron turned to see Coriander with a stern look on his face.
"Father! Do you need to get Table Five's order?" Saffron asked.
"F-Father?" Feather asked nervously.
"Yes Feather, this is my father, Coriander Cumin. Have you two met?" Saffron asked.
"Why yes, Saffron." Coriander said as he moved closer to Feather. This made Feather quake in fear. "I was just looking for Mr. Bangs. I believe he should return to his table. Is that correct, Mr. Bangs?" Feather franticly nodded and hurried out of the kitchen. Coriander huffed to himself while Saffron glared at him.
"Father?! What was that for?!" Saffron complained.
"I was just reminding Mr. Bangs that he should return to his table." Coriander defended.
"I know it was more than that!" Saffron claimed. "You can not do this every time a stallion talks to me."
"I could if that stallion tried to flirt with my daughter." Coriander said strictly.
"Feather was just complimenting my cooking." Saffron said.
"That's what most stallions would start with, complementing one thing before they try to get close to you." Coriander said.
"Father, just try to be polite with Feather until he leaves. He is a customer after all." Saffron said as she went back to cooking. As Coriander turned and made his way out of the kitchen, a devilish smile formed on his face.
Feather returned to his table and waited for Coriander to give him the bill. Feather was really terrified from seeing Coriander turn from a polite host into a threatening dad. Feather guessed that he couldn't blame Coriander to act so protective as Coriander has seen his fair share of stallions flirting with Saffron. Feather hoped that Coriander doesn't stick him with a bill so expensive that Feather has to wash dishes to pay it off. It wasn't long until Feather saw Coriander return to Feather's table. Feather noticed that Coriander was smiling while carrying a tray with a steaming bowl of some kind of soup.
"Hello, Feather." Coriander said while still smiling.
"H-Hey, Mr. Cumin," Feather said nervously.
"Oh Feather, you can just call me Coriander after all." Coriander suggested.
"Alright," Feather said before he continued. "I need to get going now. May I have my bill, please?"
"Before I give you the bill, here is something on the house." Coriander said as he placed the soup in front of Feather. Feather saw yellowish liquid in the bowl along with some diced chili peppers and jalapeños at the center.
"My daughter wanted to serve this to you for being an excellent customer." Coriander said. "It's our special curry. A soup made from the spiciest ingredients we have."
"Oh, how sweet." Feather said. "But um, I'm not really into spicy food that much."
"Do you want me to bring this back and tell my daughter about your complaint? I bet she would be really saddened from you not eating the curry." Feather should've figured Coriander would threaten him like that. Feather looked at the curry and he decided to just take some sips of it. Feather picked up a spoon and scooped up some of it. As Feather moved the spoon towards his mouth, Saffron got out of the kitchen.
"Father? Where are you-" Saffron stopped when she spotted Feather about to eat the curry. "Feather! Don't-" Before Saffron could say anything else, Feather sipped the curry from his spoon. Feather's pupils shrunk and tears started to pour out of it. Feather's face became red in response from how spicy the curry was.
"Ah!" Feather yelled as he got up. The next thing Feather knew, he started running around in panic as he felt his tongue burning up. Luckily, there weren't that many customers in The Tasty Treat, but that didn't stop Feather from crashing into the tables. Feather then tried to grab any nearby drinks and poured it into his mouth in attempt to cool his mouth down. While this was going on, Coriander stood at the sidelines and laughed so hard from seeing such hilarity. Saffron immediately ran into the kitchen to get something. Feather ended up falling to the ground and rolled around as his mouth was still burning. Saffron reappeared while she levitated a bottle of milk. She hurried to Feather to make him drink it.
"Here Feather, drink as much milk as possible!" Saffron said as she shoved the whole bottle into Feather's mouth. Feather started drinking the whole bottle and his mouth was burning way less. When Feather was done with the milk, he panted from all of his panicking. He soon passed out as he didn't have much energy left.
Feather slowly opened his eyes to find himself laying on one of The Tasty Treat's purple couches. Feather looked around to notice that the customers were gone and the whole place was cleaned up. As Feather got up, he felt a wet cloth on his forehead and removed it.
"Feather!" Saffron said as she ran out from the kitchen. "Thank Celestia you are alright!"
"Although my tongue feels really sore, I'm still fine." Feather said.
"I am so sorry for what happened, Feather." Saffron pleaded. "Apparently, my father thought it would be humorous to give you some of our curry with extra spices. But don't worry, my father is cleaning up the kitchen as punishment." Feather could hear Coriander grumbling while washing dishes.
"I should be sorry for causing such a ruckus. I hope I didn't scare off most of the customers." Feather said.
"It's fine, the customers were forgiving." Saffron explained.
"That's good to hear," Feather then stood up. "I better get going now." Feather made his way to the door with Saffron following in pursuit.
"You can come back to The Tasty Treat anytime, Feather. No matter what my father says." Saffron said.
"I can definitely do that." Feather nodded. "Just so you know, if you did want me to eat that curry, I still would've eaten it." Saffron smiled.
"I appreciate that, Feather." Saffron moved closer to Feather. "Here is a little something to motivate you to come back." Saffron then gave Feather a nice kiss on his cheek, causing him to blush.
"Um...ok...see ya." Feather said as he left with a goofy grin on his face.