Daring Rice

Amber Mist sighed as the clock on the wall ticked and ticked by, the intrusive sound of the second hoof on the clock drilling into her mind. This class has always seemed to drag on and on, and she couldn't even talk to anyone during it, because Professor Blackberry Swirl would throw chalk across the room with her magic if anypony dared to disrupt her lesson.

Amber didn't think that “The History of Equestria Through The Lens Of Published And Recovered Works” was something completely worth her time, but she needed the credit to graduate eventually, and all the other history classes sounded like a waste of her time as well. It was [i]so[/I] boring every day she had to sit in that stuffy atrium, listening to the professor drone on and on about Changeling Poets from a hundred years ago that were only discovered when the Metamorphosis happened.

If she had to hear about the consumption of love from a merchant to get more supplies one more time she was going to rip her mane out with her teeth.

She lets out a deep sigh and rests her forehooves on the table in front of her, leaning in to write some notes with her pencil into the notebook in front of her. It was mostly nothing at this point; a doodle of her roommate, a cute bird she saw that morning while flying, another doodle of her roommate. She pulls back as she looks at the nonsense words she writes and she just lets the pencil fall from her mouth to clatter on the desk.

Hushed hisses around her of ponies thinking she's being too loud are drowned out by the sudden ringing of the bell, a chiming three note tone that tells her that she was free, and she didn't have to sit in this stupid room any longer than she had to. She needed fresh air and to feel the light of Celestia’s sun on her wings as she took to the sky.

She was up with a start, sliding off of the comfy chair and using her wings to tuck her school supplies away back into her saddlebags. She shakes them out, pushing them as far as the sore muscles could handle before she has to relent. An errant thought crossed her mind as she got re-excited by their plans today.

‘Lemon Lime better be ready by the time I get back to the room.’

She thinks to herself with a huff, blowing her straight black bangs out of her face. She *really* needed to get her Mane trimmed, but it was too much of a hassle to do herself. Her normal mare is out of town to some sort of mane and tail stylists convention, which was so dreadfully inconvenient to her.

Shaking out herself again, she dances on her hooves, back and forth in a pattern that she has had ingrained in her since she was a little filly doing her acrobatics. It was to warm herself up before she rushed through the door within a gap of her fellow students exiting.

One of them snarks at her for bumping them, and she calls an “Oops sorry!” Over her shoulder as she bounds past.

—

The wind is beneath her wings the second she feels that escape, that exit out into the open cloudless sky. It was a later class, just before dinner for most of the campus, but she had something else in mind for Lemon Lime and herself than just going to the cafeteria to get the same old same old meals they had been eating by rationing bits between each other.

She shakes her head as she dips and weaves through the buildings and high tall trees, the university being a beautiful place of architecture… until you got to the student dorms for the lower income students.

Amber Mist lands on the balcony to her and Lemon Limes room, opening the door to dart into the room, intent to startle her friend and make him jump.

She succeeded.

“OH MY CELESTIA, LEMON LIME!”

She shouts, hopping over one of the cushions and sliding in front of the sleepy looking Stallion. Her amber eyes flick over his bright green form and she snorts, laughing to herself as he wakes up with a start from his desk.

“Whats- where's the fire?”

He shouts in alert, standing and stumbling over his bag immediately, hitting the carpeted ground with a dull thud.

Amber immediately leans to help him sit back up, breaking in to teasing cackling as she helps right him to be able to not be all legs askew on the floor.

“There's no fire, dumb dumb, it's Dinner time! I know you didn't sleep until like 7 am, but that's what you get for writing all night! Nerd.”

She snorts and smiles at her odd friend, fondly. There was a lot to say about him, but the most important thing was that he was the brightest person she knew. Intellectually, Academically, Creatively and, well, his shining coat was bright green. Like highlighters or paint or something. She could almost swear that he would glow in the freaking dark if it came down to it.

She watches as Lemon blinks once more before he seems to realize the situation. He groans and *thunks* his head against her shoulder, grumbling in the soft snarky voice of his.

“I hate you.”

She laughs, again, and pushes him off, fluttering her wings and folding them neatly on her back.

“Oh, do you? You [i]hate[/I] me? That sounds like somepony who doesn't want their dinner paid for them. That's fine, I'll just go myself and get two meals and bring home the leftovers, all for me.”

Lemon Lime levels her a look, his vibrant yellow eyes conveying everything he needs her to know without even saying it. It's the look of someone who is calling you every name in the book while being entirely too fond of you.

“Your stomach ache is your own problem, what are you on about this time? I was studying for my test I just… took a second to think, that's all. I wasn't sleeping!”

Amber rolls her eyes and bumps him with her flank, pressing their cutiemarks together in the motion. For a moment, her dew spotted leaf makes contact with his quill, and she shudders in delight. She loved having him as a friend.

“Uh, no, you are, like, the most lying liar to ever lie in the history of forever. I had to read a letter about a copper merchant from the south selling bad copper and you are a worse liar than he was.”

Lemon scoffs and pushes her with his own flank, bonking her to get her out of the way of his work desk. His thinking knocked over some of his papers and his books, so he takes the moment to pick them up, his green sparkling magic making quick and light work of the situation.

“I am not an equivalent to an ancient merchant from Abyssinia. Do I look like an Abyssinian to you?”

“No, of course not I just- Ugh whatever!”

Amber huffs and goes to her side of the dorm room dropping her book bag next to the comfy bed and grabbing her every day bag. She slings it over her back and secures it in place, running one of her wings over the embroidered fabric to enjoy the texture.

It was a birthday gift from her mom before….

She shakes her head and turns back around, giving Lemon a big smile.

“What I was [I]trying[/I] to allude to, smarty flank, is that the new restaurant downtown just opened and I have a reservation for us to go eat their signature dish. If we can finish it they will put our picture on the wall!”

Lemon balked, remembering now the sleepy conversation from the night before. He had been running on two days without sleep, trying to meet all his deadlines before the end of the week.

“Oh, I'm sorry, Amber Mist. I completely forgot. Yeah, let me just-”

He turns around and grabs his own bag, and then his glasses, putting them on his muzzle to bring the world into focus. The stallion finally sees the extent of the excitement in his friend's frame and he droops, heading for the door.

“There. Now we can go! You know how much I hate being late.”

Amber happily hops in place, doing a little dance as she follows him out the door.

—

The restaurant was just opened that morning, so to make their reservation and not have to wait hours in the lines for a spot was a blessing she was grateful for. Sometimes she can have a good idea, even if it isn't often.

The door jingles as they walk in, and a small troupe of performers on a stage in the corner of the restaurant wave as they start their next song.

It's not in a style that Amber Mist recognizes, but it's light and airy, with some interesting chord voicings.

Ugh, she was turning into a dweeb. Speaking of dweebs-

“So, we just have to go up and then say what we are getting, you know how a restaurant works, I don't know why I said that.”

She rambles, voice coming out quickly as she herds Lemon into the room as well. Beautiful decorations hung on the walls, and the wooden floors were carved with designs of Kirin and dragons, having some sort of battle. It was beautiful to look at, and Amber felt guilty stepping on the artwork. She made sure she at least didn't step on anyponies face, just to be respectful.

“No, I've never gone to a restaurant before, Amber Mist. Please enlighten me.”

Lemon Lime drawled sarcastically, looking around the room with his own discerning gaze. His notebook floated out of his bag, sparkling with his bright green magic as his pen started to write across the page in thin small writing.

Amber could never make heads or tails of his jargon, or whatever code he wrote in to keep his writings secret, but she knew that by the next few days there was going to be a picture and story about this place in the school paper. That is, if Lemon had anything to say about it.


She laughs and approaches the Kirin at the hostess stand. She was looking at them apathetically, and Amber thinks she recognized her from a physical education class a semester or two ago. She doesn't remember the name so she doesn't bother to ask.

“Reservation for two at six? Under Amber Mist?”

The Kirin checked the list in front of her and nodded, black misty magic striking out their names on the paper.

“Follow me. Is a booth okay?”

Amber nods and nudges Lemon, laughing softly under her breath.

“This place is fancier than I thought it would be.”

He nods idly and then pauses, hissing at her.

“How much is this? I don't have enough bits for anything crazy.”

“Whaaaaat? Uh- if we finish the Daring Rice it's free?”

Lemon looks at her like she's crazy and half turns to glance to the door.

“Are you [I]serious[/I] right now, Amber Mist?! We can't dine and dash if this fails!”

“Pshaw, we got this. Just lock in, Lemon, it will be fine~”

Lemon turns to the Kirin with a blank expression on his face, and Amber hunches a bit, feeling guilty for putting her friend in this position without telling him.

“Hey, I- I have enough bits if we can't do it. I wouldent- I don't steal I-”

When they get to the booth, the Kirin grabs their menus and holds them in the air.

“Two Daring Rice meals? Eat it all in thirty minutes without throwing up or needing milk and the meal is free, and you get your picture on the wall.”

She gestures with a hoof at the wall across the room, where the two of them can see only three pictures up. They could be up there together.

Amber looks at Lemon pleadingly, grin wild and bright at the challenge. Lemon groans and nods, settling back into the booth in reluctant acceptance.

“Fine. Let's do this.”

“Buck yeah!”

Amber happily wiggles as Lemon starts to regret his entire existence, life itself, and Amber's parents ever meeting.

The Kirin hostess just stares at them, with the dead eyed stare of a college student doing whatever they could to get the bits to pay off their tuition.

“That will be out soon, I'll give you the timer.”

She reaches to a shelf and the timer sets itself on the table as her magic pulls away from it.

“Oh, and don't try to cheat. If you do, you get banned. Good luck.”

Her voice has no inflection, utterly bored as she turns and walks away to get their order in.

Amber Mist and Lemon Lime take the time they wait for idle conversations, nothing too important. It's only ten minutes before their food is out, and the *color* of the rice makes both of them freeze in place.

A bright, firey red.

Uh oh.

“No way out now.”

Lemon says with defeated finality and raises his fork to pick up some of the rice. Amber Mist does the same with her wing and they both take that first bite in unison.

Amber's world explodes, the flavors dancing over her tongue almost enough to justify the very sudden burning pain. It feels like steam is going to come out of her ears! Lemon Lime looked to be in a similar boat, tears already gathering in his eyes beneath his glasses at the pain from the sheer spice.

“What the- oh celestia this is terrible!”

He chokes out in between bites, deciding the best option was just to shovel as much of it into his mouth through the tears and burning snot.

“Stop- ugh- no talking focus!”

Amber commands with a pained whine and continues to blink past the burning of her own tears.

This was a mistake, what was she thinking? This is one of the worst decisions she has ever made. She doesn't need a picture *this* bad!

The two ponies, nay, two warriors are bound in this moment by sheer force of will and the hunger of a college student that has way too many loans to pay off.

They finish, barely, just barely, as the last few seconds threaten to count down and leave their packs emptier than before. But they perservere, they *win.*

The timer goes off as the last grain of rice comes off the spoon, and there is a idle cheer from the Kirin behind them, as she brings the both of them a glass of milk.

Amber and Lemon chug them down, crying in relief as the dairy calms the burning heat. Then-

“Oh my goodness we did it.”

Amber whispers in disbelief, looking at the empty bowls through eyelashes wet with tears. She glances up to Lemon and snorts at the sight he made.

Pathetic, adorable, with his eyes red from the crying. He groans as he sets the milk down, and he lets out a hearty laugh, that goes and goes and goes.

“We did it! Holy Hay!”

The Kirin who served them comes over, and she seems impressed, giving them both a soft smile.

“Say cheese.”

She holds up the camera with her magic, and Amber Mist and Lemon Lime hurry to press together. Amber puts a wing over his shoulder and pulls him closer, and in his shock, as the flash goes off, kisses him on the cheek.

Lemon Lime’s eyes go wide, and he turns to his friend, in confusion, in awe. He smiles, melting a little bit as he was watching the Kirin tack the picture to the wall.

They did it.

They won.