“Sorry I’m late, Rarity. I had to take care of some Carne Den business.” The printing press ponies had decided to offer their input on my new menu’s design, which did make it look better, but took more time than I would have liked.

“It’s no problem, dear.” Rarity took a sip of her coffee. It looked like she hadn’t slept much at all. “Let’s talk style and warmth.”

I looked through the pile of sketches Rarity had made, many of which had fur lining and details. Where the fur would come from was something I didn’t want to know, nor why ponies would wear it. “All of these are designed to cover my whole body, right?”

“Of course. I can sympathize with the discomfort of a spot of cold seeping through your clothes, though I imagine it would be more painful in your case.”

“That does help explain the dress-like designs. The entirety of my legs will be covered as well, right?”

“Of course. And there will also be quality footwear as well. I came up with the minimum design requirements of each piece last night. I wrote them down, but I’m not sure where I put the list.”

I found a piece of paper that didn’t have a sketch, but instead had a list. “Is this it?”

“Oh, yes it is. Thanks. It must have gotten mixed in with the pictures.” She yawned in a very un-ladylike manner. “Sorry, sorry.”

“Rarity.”

“Yes?”

“It’s 2 PM.”

“And?”

“Have you been sketching since I left yesterday?”

“Yes.”

I set the sketches down. “Get some sleep.”

“I can’t do that now. We need to figure out your winter ensemble so I can get started on it immediately.”

“I’m not apologizing for this, Rarity.” I reached over to the mare, put a finger on each eyelid, and pulled them down like a pair of blinds. A few seconds later, Rarity’s head drooped and she was asleep on the spot. I picked her up and took her to her bed. After tucking her in, I went back downstairs to the sketches.

“Hi Yang.”

“Hi Sweetie.”

A few seconds later, Sweetie was next to me. “Where’s Rarity?”

“Asleep upstairs. I took the liberty of feeding Opal after I tucked her in.”

“Oh, well, thanks. So, I heard about what happened with the shower.”

“That was not fun, and I apparently have a weakness to the cold. I had hypothermia because of that. It should be in the newspaper sometime soon. Anyways, I’m seeing what ideas Rarity came up with for my winter clothes. Celestia knows I’ll need them.”

Celestia read over the incident report, court transcript, and notes Twilight had sent her. “Hmm. . . Yang’s going to need some serious winter clothes. I’ll make Sir Safehouse pay for them.”

“It won’t be cheap, you know.”

“Better that than feeling really cold when it’s only in the 40’s.”

“I guess so. Any of them in particular catch your eye?”

“Well, I do like this simple one here. Nothing fancy or eye catching about it. Then there’s this one that resembles my work clothes. I’ll admit that while I do like how a lot of these look, I don’t want anything flashy or tight.”

“Any particular reason?”

“I just prefer simpler designs. I’ve never really liked wearing flashy patterns, and with my body’s shape, tight clothes would be a bit much for my liking.”

“What about the clothes you wear when you go running? Don’t those show off your body?”

“. . . I’m going to pick some more simple stuff from these designs, leave a note, and head home.”

Gilda greeted me almost as soon as I walked in. It was between the late lunch and early dinner time, so it wasn’t too busy. “Two unicorns came in looking for jobs while you were out. I told them to find you at the grill tomorrow.”

“Thanks, Gilda. Anything else of interest?”

“I heard a rumor from Ají that something related to the cold shower event is going to be published in the papers across Equestria soon.”

“I wouldn’t be surprised. So, how are the wait staff and bartenders doing?”

“Quite well. And the kitchen staff?”

“Adept at handling rushes.”

“So we don’t have any openings available for now for those two unicorns then.”

“Nope. I’ll let them know tomorrow.”

“Cinnamon Roll and Window Frame, right?”

“Yes” Window Frame answered. “We were wondering if we could get jobs here.”

I took a breath before breaking the bad news to them. “Unfortunately, there aren’t any openings. I’m sorry.”

“Is it because of the thing with the shower water?” Cinnamon Roll asked.

“No, and I don’t hold that against either of you. We really don’t have any positions that need to be filled. But, since you two have been so sincere and forthcoming about your part in it, I’ll be willing to cut you two a deal: two bacon and veggie kebabs for the price of one. Three bits.”

They looked at each other and quietly figured out what to do. “Is this bacon stuff any good?” Cinnamon asked. I didn’t have to say anything because all the patrons on the patio answered for me with a resounding positive answer, even if they didn’t say the same thing. “I guess we’ll do that then.”

“Three bits, please.” While the bits were put in the payment jar, I picked out two skewers and began loading them with vegetables and bacon squares. Once they were ready to go, I set them on the grill.

While the kebabs were cooking, I saw a mare walk up to Cinnamon Roll and Window Frame and offer each of them a whole strip of bacon. The duo, as I’d seen happen before, carefully tried the bacon. Also as I’d seen happen before, the rest of the strip vanished really quickly. The two sat down at an empty table and I could only imagine that they were talking about the bacon.

After sprinkling some cheese on top of the kebabs and letting it melt a bit, I brought the food over to Cinnamon Roll and Window Frame, who both were quick to dig in. “Oh, this stuff is good” Cinnamon Roll said around a mouthful of food.

“Oh yeah” Window Frame agreed as soon as he swallowed his food. “This is amazing.”

I left the two to their meal and went back to the grill. Moments later, someone I wasn’t expecting to see showed up. “Hello, Rarity.”

“Hello, Yang. I saw your note and choices from yesterday, and, well, I also want to thank you for making me get some sleep. Inspiration is one of the best and worst things I have.”

“I can see that.”

“Anyways, I can only make one of the winter outfits with the materials I’ve got right now. Aside from that, I can make some in-between clothes for you, something for when it’s not warm enough for your usual clothes and not cold enough for the winter outfits. I can have some warm clothes ready for you to try on Monday, and the one winter outfit on Thursday.”

“Sounds good to me.”

“Also, unrelated, in my rush at home, I only had a small bite to eat, so I’m a little hungry. Can I have three veggie kebabs with no meat on them?”

“Six bits, please.” As Rarity paid, I started on her kebabs. “So, anything else new?”

“Not really, no. How about you?”

“I’ve got vague and tasty plans for Sunday.”

“I wish you luck with those plans then.” Rarity found some ponies to talk with while her food was cooking. After the cheese on Rarity’s kebabs was on and nicely melted, I put them on a plate and brought them to her. She was quick to thank me and return to her gossip.

Spike was the first guest of the day, and he was the first to order the barbecue baked potato. His order was only the first of many like it.

“Gavan, you’ve created something amazing” I told him during a half hour stretch of almost nothing but orders for the new food. “How did you come up with it?”

“Kind of by accident” he told me as we worked. “There was a potato that had some barbecue sauce spilled on it, making it unusable for customers. I didn’t want it to go to waste, so I claimed it for my lunch, along with a few burnt ends. The potato tasted really good with the sauce on it, then I put some burnt ends in it, and it was even better. I did a bit of experimentation after that, and the rest is recent history.”

Sylvia came in at that moment. “Hey guys, I just heard a funny compliment. I asked one of our regulars what he thought of the barbecue baked potato, and he said that, like every other time he gets some food here, it vanished and took his hunger with it, replacing it with a feeling so good, he gave us some of his money. It happened again today, and he just can’t figure out how or why it happens.”

“If it’s not magic, I’ve got no idea” I said. “Maybe he should have some dessert to see if it happens again?”

“It probably will happen again.” Sylvia left us and went back to the tables.

“I’m definitely going to remember that compliment.”

Author's Notes:

Only one little bit left in this arc to go.