A Breakfast Rendezvous [waxworks]

[20monkies]

The night before had been one to remember - Onyx Bass' concert having been a hit with the residents of Ponyville. But when he returned from his outing last night, he found that his band mates had left town.

He was so confused - why did they leave? He saw the letter written atop the small desk in his hotel room:

Dear Onyx Bass,

We are sorry, but the entire team had to leave on short notice.
It was great playing with you, and making a difference.
Spending what little time we got to, with you, was an amazing experience.
We hope you don't mind. But we can't stick around for too long.
We have left your stuff in your room.
You know where to contact us when you need us.

Regards, your bandmates

His heart sank, just a little bit. They left him? They didn't want to stick around with him? Didn't want to enjoy browsing the Ponyville Marketplace, and discovering new cafes and restaurants? It was depressing, being left here on his own without them. But deep down, somewhere in the depths of his being, Onyx knew. He didn't treat his bandmates like friends, and that was the real reason they left. They had tried so hard to break his limelight exterior to get inside and see him as a true mate.

It never seemed to work. They must have drawn a line somewhere, and this was just that. Even him having left the band after the concert to hang out with a couple of mares - he was seen as real selfish.

He rubbed his head and frowned. There, beside the letter was a small card:

Mannequin Grace, Proud Puppeteer of Ponyville's Puppet Theater

Onyx Bass picked it up and turned it over to find writing scrawled messily on the back:

8:00 AM. Town Hall

The puppeteer. The lovely mare with a wooden dragon. Pet? He wasn't even sure if it was a pet. He shook his sore head and ruffled his hair. Quickly, he set the alarm clock and hit the ha, drowsing into a deep slumber.

---

A sharp, buzzing pierced his ears and caused him to roll over and fall with a thud on the ground.

"Ouch!" He cried out, rubbing his behind. Onyx Bass was a tangled mess, blankets wrapped up tight around his body like a mummy. 
There was no mistaking - he looked like a train wreck. Worrying just a little about his appearance and the breakfast date with a puppeteer, he hurried to take a shower and get cleaned. After his tumble in the park last night, he had bits of dirt and grass mussed into his black and blue hair. When all was said and washed out, he pulled on a fresh, crisp white collar shirt and wrapped a plaid blue, black and white tie around his neck. He donned himself with his signature shades and spiked bracelet, brushed out his hair to a smooth point and was ready to head out.

He trotted through the town that was just waking up and business shop owners were only opening up right then. An idea struck him, and he stopped short of a couple of stalls, picking up some things on the way. It was a little cool out, but so much better than it had been the days and weeks previous. Winter was really nearing an end, with winter wrap up not too far away now.

Town Hall. He checked the time. There were still 10 minutes before 8, and he was glad to be here on time.

He leaned against the wall of the building, a small basket lying by his hooves and scanned the crowd - waiting for Mannequin Grace. He hoped she remembered, otherwise he might have felt strangely stood up if she didn't.

[waxworks]

Behind a backdrop of a dreamy forest scene, beyond several piles of coiled rope and a number of carefully stored marionettes, and around several teetering piles of scripts and notes, was a little room. There were several of these small, cubbyhole like rooms around the back of the theater, some of them for storage, some of them for marionettes, one of them occupied by a snoring Mandolin Gray, but this particular room, divided off from the rest of the area by a red curtain, currently contained a sleeping pegasus and a wooden dragon puppet sprawled haphazardly under a collection of blankets.

Mannequin Grace had always been a chaotic sleeper, rolling, flailing, flopping, and stretching wildly while she slept. When they had both been little ponies, her brother Gray found this out just prior to his requesting a separate bed of his own, as well as some ice for his black eye and swollen lip.

A nearby clock, that was thankfully ticking to have been out of swatting range, clicked over at its set 8am time, and began trilling its bright, brassy ring, just in time for Grace to whack it neatly across the room with her hoof. She blinked sleepily for a moment, before happily letting her head flump back onto her pillow, breathing in the sweet scent of sleep, when Stump yawned, scratched himself, and muttered sleepily, "don't you have a date or something today?"

Grace's eyes shot open like window shades. That's right, today was her breakfast with... Onyx. Onyx Bass. She leaned back against her pillow thinking, taking another deep breath and wriggling under the sheets while she considered the day. With a spritely spring she shot out of bed, the blanket slowly descending over the little wooden puppet that began blindly flailing. Another moment and she'd skidded into the bathroom, and was stretching out her face front of the mirror, looking her face over with intense scrutiny. As always, she looked tired. It just seemed to be a permanent feature of her face that she had dark circles under her eyes, but at this point she'd come to consider them a mark of character. Mane? Not too great. She had hydra hair, it was all going in different directions, and looked extremely threatening even from a distance. With a wince she plucked up a wide brush and pulled it through her mane several times in rapid succession, putting a hoof underneath to try to style it.

After a minute's work, her mane was back to looking like a pile of dark scraps piled on her head. Fine, fine. At this point the sink had filled with water, and with a deep breath she broke the surface of the water with her face, puttering like a motorboat for a moment and then emerging with a gasp, a towel swathed in magic then neatly attacking her face. As she levitated a toothbrush into her mouth, Stump had finally managed to get untangled from the blankets and staggered over, rubbing his glass eyes.

"Why are you brushing your teeth before you eat?"

She pantomimed a deep inhaling at the puppet, followed with a furious round of nose wiggling.

"He's a rock star, the mares he normally hangs out with probably smell like... well..."

Stump was hesitating because Grace genuinely had no idea what sort of mares a rock star pony normally hung around with. She bet they were glamorous.

"...chocolates, and perfume and... uhm... money."

She gave the little wooden dragon a gentle kick while she shammied her horn with a buffing rag, and then galloped over to what qualified as her closet. Really, it was a series of pegs on the wall where her hat and cloak hung when she wasn't wearing them. She glanced over her shoulder towards the costume department of the theater, a rack filled with glittering costumes of all sorts. Another moment and her magic had animated a nearby marionette which eyed her and said, "don't even think about it, I'm not restitching those before tonight's show if you mess them up."

"I thought you were just having breakfast," said Stump, now scratching his little wooden rump, "how fancy do you have to be for breakfast?"

Grace considered this and nodded her head back and forth. She didn't want to look like she was putting on too much effort, but she didn't want to look like she was putting on no effort, right? Right. Right.

"You know the concert was just last night, I bet Onyx is probably just exhausted and looking to share a bagel or something."

Another gentle kick and the puppeteer had pulled on her cloak and hat, and examined herself in the mirror once more before nodding in satisfaction, grabbing the little wooden puppet with her teeth and throwing it onto her back, and galloping out of the theater.

---------------------

"D-D-D-Do you really need to g-g-g-gallop," squeaked Stump, clinging desperately to Grace's cloak as she sped towards Ponyville's town square. She'd been debating whether to be early, exactly on time, or fashionably late. She hated the idea of being fashionably late. Alright then, she'd be... a little early. Yes, slightly early, but casually early. Oh, me? Just got here, just happened to get here, had other things to do, finished them up, got here with a little spare time to... contemplate you.

She felt herself blushing as she came to a slow, trying to clear her head. Right. Breakfast. Just breakfast. Even if he's a cute celebrity rock star, he eats breakfast just like every other pony, right?

...And there he was. Casually leaning against town hall, without a care in the world. Right, thought Grace, just a simple approach, trot up casually, a happy smile. She got most of this down, as she warmly trotted up to Onyx, smiled warmly, and then gasped for air as she still hadn't fully recovered from galloping most of the way here. Stump tilted around and waved a little wooden claw at the rock star.

"Morning Onyx!"

[20monkies]

It was 8:00 am, and there was still no sign of the mare he was waiting for. She must have forgotten. He pulled out the little card that was left by Drum Beat and stared at the writing. With the intensity he was looking at it, he could have burned a hole through it. Maybe the timing was off - just maybe, Drum Beat had given him the wrong time. Maybe, just maybe, Drum Beat was poking some fun at him by playing this trick. It couldn't have been a trick. But it could.

His mind was scrambling through the different scenarios - remembering back to last night and the bouquet of flowers. Asking his band mate to go after her and ask her to show up for dinner. He was fascinated by her little wooden dragon. He wanted to know more about her - know more about what she did.

A puppeteer.

He had seen clowns, and jokesters and comedians. He had seen circus acts with high swinging trapeze artists and self proclaimed trainers of wild beasts. A puppeteer? He never saw an act, not even in his youth.

Tucking the card back into his front pocket, he pushed his glasses further down his muzzle and stared off into the sky. He would wait. He wasn't going to leave until it was clear a joke was being played on him or not.

Thankfully, the clip-clop of hooves brought his attention around to the purple mare approaching him - dressed in the same cloak and hat from the night before - with the little wooden dragon perched upon her back.

His sterling silver eyes brightened, hooves pushing the shades up into his electric blue and black mane.

"Morning!" He called out, relief evident on his features. "I'm so glad you could make it! I bet you weren't expecting me to show up, instead of Drum Beat, right?" A grin spreading across his entire face, beaming with pleasure.

He bowed his head down, peering at the other from beneath the muss of his hair.

"Mannequin Grace, am I correct? And this must be…?" he hesitated, not knowing the little creatures name. He tried to wrack his memory for something - anything. He was coming up short. "It's so nice to have you here with me on this fine morning. It's a lovely day out, and I'm sure that both you and I will become well acquainted and enjoy this weather."

He bent down to pick up the basket at his feet, and held it up to show the other.

"I bet you're starving, after last night."

[waxworks]

So coool, thought Grace as Onyx slid his glasses back up into position. It almost looked like something off of one of those animated shows her brother was so obsessed with, and she momentarily expected a dramatic lens flare to accompany them. Grace was also mildly surprised that she found her own thoughts to sound slightly too squeaky and excited.

She nodded eagerly and nervously to him, not even thinking that Drum Beat had planned on taking her to breakfast. Her mind had assembled the band into a sort of entourage all centered around Onyx Bass, and Drum Beat, while cute in his own right, had become a sort a page carrying along a message for the royalty of the bunch. Of course now that Onyx mentioned it she made a quiet note to herself to perhaps try to meet up with Drum Beat sometime. Maybe in a week, maybe in a year. Maybe ten years. She was still reeling a little, and seeing his silver eyes peering through his hair at her did things to her brain that usually would take three acts and a dramatic tension hook.

"Stump," said the wooden dragon sitting on her back. He'd placed both of his wooden claws on her hat, leaning on it like it was a table. His wooden tail was wagging with a notable squeak, and his noseless face was miming the sensation of sniffing lustily at the air. Grace shook her head to settle him back down.

She nodded eagerly to Onyx, spotting the basket and feeling somewhat more charmed than she expected. The unicorn had thought they'd be sitting in some cafe but a breakfast picnic? That was something new. And it had suddenly struck her how one-sided this conversation had gotten. With one hoof she rubbed her stomach and gave it a light punch, before pointing a Onyx, tapping where most ponies would wear a hoof-watch, gesturing over her shoulder, mouthing the word 'WOW', and pantomiming some of his dramatic guitar playing from the night before.

Stump watched with amusement, and swiveled his glass eyes up to Onyx. "She says you were 'pretty good' last night."

The little puppet got swatted to the ground by the unicorn, who smiled apologetically to the musician.

[20monkies]

Stump.

The wooden dragon introduced himself as Stump. A smile spread across his face once again, his pearly teeth shimmering brightly. Onyx held out a hoof towards the little puppet before he was knocked down by Grace herself.

Tilting his head to the side, he watched in fascination as the other was using gestures to speak. At first Onyx wasn't entirely sure what she was doing or saying, but when the little puppet had spoken up for her, his eyes returned to Grace's features and was even more fascinated.

He had seen and met many ponies in Equestria, of varying sizes and personalities. Each of their own flaws, himself with commitment issues, but never had he met a pony that could not speak. It did take him a while to register the fact, although once it was clear she hadn't spoken a word even when they had met, it made more sense.

His heart fluttered just a little, aching for her. But that didn't stop him from wanting to still spend time with her, as promised. He never did anything he didn't want to do - treating a mare out to breakfast, lunch, dinner was his speciality. A part of him always a bit of a gentleman.

Here was a fine young mare, beautiful in her own right, with her own quirks and he was excited to get to know her.

So he was a big shot, a rock star - but that didn't make him a snob.

"'Pretty good', huh? Well thank you for the compliment. I hope you enjoyed it just as much, Stump." He chuckled softly, tossing the basket onto his back. "The roses you gave me last night were very beautiful. But not as beautiful as you." He leaned towards Grace, staring into her eyes momentarily as he smiled kindly at her. Most mares would have worn a dress, prettied themselves up, flowers in their mane, perfume suffocating the air around him. But Grace hadn't overdone it, and he liked it. She was being herself, not something that she wasn't.

"So, Grace, Stump, I'm thinking of a picnic in Ponyville Park. How about it?" He asked in turn, his gaze falling between the two of them. He wanted to start heading towards the Park, a place he had seen last night but unable to relish the beauty of it in the darkness. Daylight would have proven it to be a more exquisite location to be, and more desirable. He was sure he had seen picnic benches there. Thankfully he picked up everything they needed to enjoy the weather and the breakfast out in the open.

They could sit down comfortably and continue their conversation as they went. He had a lovely day planned in his mind, as long as Grace was willing.

As long as no other pony disrupted them.

[waxworks]

Grace was exceedingly grateful when Onyx picked up on things, and doubly grateful that he had obviously become aware of her muteness without actually saying about it. It struck her as a very polite non-gesture of sorts, not that she ever really minded that sort of thing, because if you couldn't be comfortable with who you were then-

"The roses you gave me last night were very beautiful. But not as beautiful as you."

Her train of thought derailed entirely. It not only derailed, but it plowed through several buildings on the way, leaving a trail of devastation and rose petals behind it. As he leaned in forward she drew in a sharp breath, almost as though she were trying to keep her air from intruding on anything it shouldn't. She could feel her cheeks starting to burn as they turned the color of ripe blueberries, her mind drifting away in his gaze. A breakfast picnic in the park sounded absolutely-

"AWESOME," said Stump, having not only climbed back onto her back, but having now jammed her hat down over her eyes, eagerly pumping his little wooden legs at the thought of breakfast of any sort. As Grace uncorked herself from her hat, the little wooden dragon did the ventriloquist dummy equivalent of a smile at Onyx and cheerfully squeaked, "hey Grace, this pony isn't half bad!"

She shook her head for a moment to sort her thoughts out and nodded in somewhat bashful agreement, looking to the park hopefully. It was a gorgeous day, Spring was just around the corner, and she was about to have breakfast in the park with a rock star. She quietly wished he'd look away for just a moment so she could trot in place and burn off some of this flooding enthusiasm, but with amazing self control she calmly walked with Onyx towards the park... while Stump's little legs jogged in place on her back.

[20monkies]

Grinning cheshire-cat like, the stallion's chest puffed out. "Great! I'm glad we're in agreement!" He brought his shades back down over his eyes and gestured to the both of them, walking through a wakening Ponyville. Grace was in step beside him, Stump perched upon her, and he was… carrying a picnic basket. The sight must have been a rather amusing one, Onyx Bass, lead singer and bassist of his own musical devises - carrying a basket.

Since it was early in the morning, there wasn't too much hustle and bustle in Ponyville itself and equally in the Park. Those that needed to open up shop had done so already, comfortable in the warmth of their building. The sun was shining brightly, an absolutely gorgeous morning, with a gentle coolness in the air. It wasn't uncomfortable at all, since the warmth of the sun made the inevitable sight of Spring even more tempting.

Onyx did his best to remember where the Park was, recalling his steps last night. He had a brief visit there with Dark Star and Slipstream, following their lead. In the middle of the night… he had a terrible memory when it came to directions.

He trailed around a couple of buildings, making sure Grace was still with him by glancing over every now and again. They crossed by the front of a hotel, and immediately Onyx knew he had taken a wrong turn somewhere.

Hooves slowing down, crunching on a piece of ice on the ground, he turned to look over his shoulder at Grace apologetically.

"I'm sorry, I thought I knew which way we were going. I could have sworn it was this way." He took another step forward and stopped again. His brows knit together in deep concentration, frowning at himself. He was already making himself a fool in front of Grace and Stump, acting like he was as confident as the sun rising over the horizon.

He was mumbling some incoherent words to himself before bringing his head and attention back up to Grace, smiling politely at her.

"I hate to ask, but do you know which way the Park is? I've only been in Ponyville since yesterday, so I'm not entirely familiar here." He cheeks were burning red from embarrassment, trying to keep calm and cool and collected without showing he was flustered beyond belief.

[waxworks]

A picnic in the park. A picnic in the park with a rock star. A picnic in the park with a cute rock star. It's funny that sometimes when you repeat something enough you stop noticing what it actually means, and it becomes some sort of strange memetic chant. In truth Grace knew the town well enough that she should've noticed quite a while ago that they were wandering aimlessly in the wrong direction, but her mind kept squeeing at her that she was trotting with a cute rock star en route to the park, which was drowning out the part of her mind that was desperately trying to emphasize 'route to the park'. Of course when they wound up in front of the Ponyville Hotel she snapped out of things, and for one brief moment she heard the voice of her mother in the back of her head, warning her about rock-stars. They destroy hotel rooms, that was the warning. Terrible mess for the cleaning staff, no respect whatsoever for a hard working mare pushing a towel cart down the halls.

She shook her head, something had definitely gone off track, and she was sure it was them. Grace glanced at Onyx and raised her eyebrows as he apologized to her. He was even cute when he was apologizing, the blush on his tan cheeks just making him so adorable that Grace experienced a momentary urge to push him down. Nothing aggressive, but similar to how when you saw an intensely cute puppy your first urge was to wrestle it to the ground so you could rub its face and belly while it was helpless.

There was a tap-tapping on her hat, Stump trying to get her attention. "It's that way," he said, pointing down one of the paths.

Grace coughed and smiled sheepishly to Onyx, blushing as well. Her mind was suddenly so terribly unfocused, it was almost like there was a windstorm blowing through her head. Was this a normal reaction that most ponies had to rock stars? She wasn't sure, but she was determined to enjoy herself. With a slight bit of hesitation she lifted her hoof and patted Onyx on the shoulder to say that there was no harm done, it had been a lovely walk, no harm done whatsoever. Slightly more emphasis than she meant, maybe a little harm done when her hoof came down the third time with a little more vinegar than she meant.

"Come on you two," chirped Stump, "I'm getting hungry!"

[20monkies]

When his sense of direction was corrected - Stump pointing in the complete opposite from where they were going in in the first place - a slow smile widened, hoof ruffling the hairs at the back of his neck.

"Thank you, Stump." Onyx murmured, shining eyes switching between Stump, Grace, then back at Stump, and then back to Grace as she patted his shoulder.

Reassurance. It made him feel a little better about himself, his confidence returning. A second pat, and his smile spread out into a grin. The third - coming down more roughly this time - made him flinch just a tiny bit, but with a rub of his hoof, it was smoothed out to no harm done at all.

"Thank you, Grace. You're a sweet mare." He sighed, casually raising his hoof to tuck her hat up a little higher so he could see her face. It was shaded, and he wanted a better look at her expression. There was kindness there, and warmth. Understanding and compassion. Head snapping up, he straightened himself and cleared his throat.

"Right! So, this way, was it? Lets go!" He began to march down the cobbled path, littered with patches of snow here and there, melting in the sunlight. The basket was growing heavier on his back and Onyx knew that it was because he was hungry that it felt that way. "I hope you don't mind the extra walking through Ponyville. I've got plenty of activities lined up for us, as long as the weather is in our favour. Do you like ice skating?" He asked, curiously. He really hoped so, and he hoped that the lake was still frozen over for them to enjoy that. As long as Grace and Stump were okay with it.

He knew that Stump was the more vocal one and his opinion definitely counted. Despite him being a puppet, Onyx had quickly realized that it could only be because of magic that a puppet moved. And Grace must be a unicorn to possess that magic ability. It was fascinating. Inspirational, even.

When the view of the park came into sight, he let out a breath of relief. Finally!

There were a few foals playing in the park, tumbling, showering each other with snow, laughing cheerily. A few older ponies were sitting on the benches watching them, chattering amongst one another. A few birds fluttered in the air overhead, chirping. Onyx's chest puffed out again as he took in a deep, invigorating breath. Ah!

"At last! That spot looks like a great place to set up!" he pointed out with his hoof, towards a small mound with a table perched upon it, a large weeping willow tree with bits of frost dangling at it's ends nestled beside it. The lake was just over the mound, a little further down the path, solid ice with a few ponies making tracks across it.

[waxworks]

"Thank you, Grace. You're a sweet mare."

It was a kind gesture, considering he could've pointed out she hadn't been paying attention to where they'd been going either, only in that small periphery part of her consciousness that was Stump. As her hat was slowly raised by the musician's hoof she looked gently startled (a life of being friends with Waxworks gave her a wide variety of startled expressions to choose from), her eyes peering back at him the same way a squirrel would warily eye somepony from amidst a clutch of leaves when it realized it had been spotted. Her blush certainly wasn't going anywhere.

"Right! So, this way, was it? Lets go!"

Grateful for the abrupt change and the chance to finally exhale (she'd been holding her breath for quite some time now), she nodded smartly to Onyx and trotted along eagerly. At the mention of possible ice skating, she brightened up significantly, pressing a rhetorical hoof to Onyx's chest, that simply said in one gesture, "do I like ice skating???" She trotted backwards neatly, demonstrating a skating poses as they went, Stump sitting the other way around on her back to act as a look out.

Most ponies had always commented that Grace was easily one of the loudest ponies they knew, and it was now that she got loud. A series of whistling noises that came out of her mouth, forming a little melody that said, "zipping up, zipping down, twirls, leaps..." in the way it rose and fell. She'd learned when she was little and the idea of being able to show off in front of Onyx felt... wait, would that be good, or would she look like a show-off? Did musicians like show-offs?

It was only when Onyx started talking about the location that she snapped out of her little mental dialogue, feeling the weight of Stump peering around her. The location was so perfect it could've had a frame hung around it. A sweet, fresh cool breeze was coming off of the icy lake, the umbrella of the snow covered willow above the table giving the illusion of a frozen hot-air balloon.

"Great!" Squeaked Stump, hopping off of Grace's back and awkwardly toddling through the grass and snow to the table, and clonking his wooden rump onto the ground. "So what's for breakfast?"

[20monkies]

Onyx Bass never knew a pony could make use of just sound effects to show how they were feeling, or even communicate their words without opening their mouth to speak. It was incredible, the way she was expressing herself. He was easily impressed, considering that he was usually the one impressing others.

Grace just had a way with words no other pony ever could speak with actual words. And Onyx was smiling widely, laughing alongside with her in happiness and excitement. He knew he needed to have a good time. Considering how his bandmates had just upped and left him last night… how he had abandoned them by thinking about himself first instead of them…

He ruffled the hair on his head with a hoof, placing the basket down upon the table. He smoothed out the front of his shirt, worried that wrinkles may have appeared. Adjusting his tie, he looked down at Stump who found his way sitting on the ground.

"Oh, I hope you'll enjoy what I've picked up. Come, sit up here." He patted a place on the bench and looked over to Grace, smiling widely.

It was a little wet there, so he pulled out some clothes from the basket to wipe down the entire bench and seating area, making a magic show out of it. He produced a large table cloth, red and white checkered laid out neatly, a few napkins, utensils, plates, and glasses. Actual glasses - not the plastic, paper or styrofoam type. Real glass.

Onyx Bass had thought it out - if he were going to have a picnic with anypony, he was not going to skimp out on the details. He wanted the experience to be a positive one. Not one where the other would think negatively about what he gave them to use to eat food.

Then he began to lay out the food. A small basket of breads, ready sliced, butter, jam, jelly, frosted cupcakes, eclairs, apple waffles, maple syrup, and a bowl of fruit salad. He brought out a bottle of apple cider and smiled widely, holding it out to Grace.

"Would you like me to pour you some?"

[waxworks]

Grace slid onto the bench neatly, any possible hesitation gone. She'd been overly concerned with making a good impression, not missing a single step, even trying to measure her breathing rate, but this had all been cast aside from one little thing. The tie. The purple unicorn had just noticed the musician's neck tie, something which looked strangely, but somewhat adorably, out of place on the rock star. That tie put a clear message into her brain, that Onyx was just as overly concerned with making a good impression as she had been, and with that realization her worry had collided with his worry, effectively canceling them out in a puff of nervous energy, at least for Grace anyway.

She relaxed considerably, slipping her magical aura around a glass and eagerly extending it out towards his offer of cider. Her bottom lip drew inward for a moment as she made a cork-like popping sound, followed by a faint glugging noise in the back of her throat like somepony decanting a liquid of some sort into a glass. As she held up the glass, she eagerly stared at the spread on the table with the sort of wonderment she'd only shown when she was little and her brother had let her climb onto his shoulders to see the entire contents of a candy shop. Everything looked amazing, but it was the apple waffles that drew her attention. She'd always loved waffles, something about the way the butter and the syrup just spilled through the little cubby-holes of dough and spilled out as you bit into them.

"Careful, you might start drooling," said Stump, leaning on the other side of the table with a small wooden elbow, slowly mashing a small biscuit into his wooden jaw in the manner one would expected of a puppet, most of it escaping in a series of crumbs to the underside of the table. "You put on a real spread, Onyx!"

[20monkies]

A chuckle could be heard, deep in Onyx's throat as he watched Grace's actions and listened to her sounds for the drink he had offered. Without delay, he topped her off, careful so that not a single drop spilt. He didn't want to make himself a fool, after all. He didn't want to ruin anything. He wanted this moment to be as perfect as could be. If anything happened, he would be quite upset with himself. As long as the plan he had in mind was closely stuck to, there should have been no trouble at all.

Pouring himself some cider, and another for Stump, he settled quickly across the table from Grace and began to pile all their plates with food.

"Thank you, Stump." He said, blushing at the compliment. "I just hope you enjoy everything. Don't be too shy, just dig right in." His own stomach was grumbling, and Onyx knew himself that he wouldn't have been able to help himself. After all, food and sweets were one of his weaknesses, and it was all readily available. Right in front of him.

Manners still mattered, and the way Grace was carrying herself with such poise made it more admirable. She was very concerned with how she was presenting herself, and although Onyx was of having a particular image played in front of others, deep down he was just like them in every aspect.

As he loaded one plate with waffles, he nudged it towards Grace. She had been eyeing them with great interest and Onyx had noticed. He even pushed the maple syrup forward before helping himself to some of the fruit salad and a cupcake. It might have been an odd combination, but Onyx just dove right into his food without much ceremony.

He looked up at her, mouth stuffed, cheeks puffed, chewing contently at his food. Picking up a napkin, he wiped at his face and grinned once he had swallowed everything down with the wash of apple cider.

"Well, how do you like it?"

[waxworks]

"I plan to," cheered the wooden puppet as he leapt forward towards the food, only to be suspended in a pillow of purple magic and neatly returned to his seat. Mannequin Grace wagged a hoof at him and slid a sly smile at Onyx as the waffles made their way towards her. A gesture of waffles was the quickest way to a mare's heart as far as Grace was concerned. It was right up there with swinging on a vine away from danger, sweeping somepony off of her hooves on the deck of a ship, and crashing through a window to infiltrate a villain's layer just before the heroine could be subjected to various evil machinations.

Grace really, REALLY liked waffles.

She loaded several of them up with syrup and butter, the scent alone being a sort of rich maple dream. Folding one of them up like a taco shell she bit into it without a care in the world. A casual observer would've seen the unicorn blissing out to the point that her puppet exhibited a bliss via osmosis, momentarily looking like he was having a stroke and lolling to one side with a wooden clonk.

The clonking sound brought Grace out of it, as she grinned with a slight embarrassment and napkined away the crumbs and globs of syrup that were still sneaking around. She washed it down with a mug of cider, and again came the napkin. She was polite, she was neat, but some things just didn't seem to matter when there were waffles. Priorities. Of course while both ponies had their cheeks filled with breakfast, Grace had the advantage of being able to communicate without her mouth.

"Well, how do you like it?"

She drew a little circle on the table and tapped it twice, before leaning back and rubbing her stomach with both hooves and nodding eagerly. The unicorn gave Onyx a contented smile, still leaning back happily and thinking about sampling some of the fruit salad when a sudden thought struck her. She pointed at Onyx, and began miming a full pony band, a little air guitaring, a little air drumming, a little air... well most onlookers would've assumed it was air tromboning. After that was a quick hoof shading the eyes from the sun to give a searching around glance, followed by a questioning shrug of the shoulders and head tilt.

Stump glanced at Onyx, holding an eclair in his wooden claw. "Your guess is as good as mine."

[20monkies]

Onyx was just about to take a bite of fruit salad, the food hanging mere inches away from his mouth before he froze. Grace was communicating with him, and Onyx had to pay attention. Otherwise, he might have missed out on some action and then the entire sentence would have lost it's meaning.

"I've never had waffles like these before either, so I'm pleasantly surprised by the taste of it. Even the maple syrup is quite delicious. Did you want some more?" He was about to offer a little more to her when further actions stopped him midway through his own.

Silver eyes passed over towards Stump, and they seemed to have the same thought in mind.

"Hmm." He thought, tapping his chin with his hoof. "Did you want me to play some music for you?" He asked, not sure what to take from that. Really, he was almost lost in the air guitaring and eye shading and shrugging of the shoulders. Then, it suddenly clicked. "Oh!" It suddenly dawned on him that she was asking where his band mates were… that they were no where to be seen. How could he have missed such a simple question? She was bound to ask him sooner or later.

Now how was he going to break the news to her? He was also a little disheartened by the thought of seeing the note in his room last night.

It probably showed on his face, the turmoil of emotions passing through in various different expressions as he struggled to reclaim his own composure.

"Well…." He began, his food forgotten for a moment. He took in a deep breath, and smiled almost sadly at her, "My band… they had some urgent matters to attend to, so they had to leave quite suddenly. I hope you do forgive me for their absence. I'm sure Drum Beat and the others would have enjoyed your company as well. It would have made this day a lot more livelier, I'm sure."

Subconsciously, Onyx Bass had been hoofing at his food without realizing. He had mashed up the fruit salad in his bowl, staining his hoof. Juices were dripping, and almost too suddenly Onyx noticed and wicked away the mess with a napkin and smiled sheepishly.

"At least I get to spend the day with you, one on one. Don't you think? And maybe once you're done, we can take a walk around the lake and see if we can find some ice skates."

Onyx was looking at the bright side, wanting to cheer himself up more than anything else. He didn't want to really be reminded of his band's absence - it only made his selfishness more prominent.