//------------------------------// // Chapter 4 // Story: Half-Baked // by Half-Baked //------------------------------// “Thanks guys, that should be the last of them” Half said as he placed the last of the boxes down onto the mildly dusty, wooden floor. It was early afternoon in Equestria and Half Baked had finally moved all his worldly possessions into his new house, with the help of a few burly pegasi and earth stallions for help. Earlier that morning Half had a Pegasi-drawn moving truck arrive outside his house to pick up the boxes for the move to Ponyville, this was the last part of the move for Half, after this he would officially be living in Ponyville. “No problem” one of the large stallions called out to him with a tip of his flat-cap as he exited the house. Half sighed as he looked at the stack of boxes that sat there on the floor. “where to start?” He turned away from the boxes and headed into the kitchen, it was an extremely simple and basic kitchen; a few cupboards lined the rather bland walls, the stove sat there next to an aged work surface and a rather bland but fairly large, wooden table lay there in the middle of the kitchen. Possibly designed to act as a secondary work surface. There were chairs that matched the tables basic and rather simplistic design that sat tucked under the table out of the way. Dust coated almost every surface that it could reach in the kitchen, lack of use and cleaning had lead to a buildup of it over time. Half climbed the stairs to the next level of the house, the stairs creaking underhoof every few steps and his steps leaving faint prints in the thin layer of dust. “This place needs a good clean..” Once up on the landing Half walked up to the first door and opened it, the door creaking slightly as it did so. The room was fairly sizable with a window on one of the walls that looked out over the street behind the house which had a few Ponies walking around in it, the room had a bed in it but was barren of sheets and looked a bit musty from age and use. “Will need to get a new bed..” The bedroom also had a small oak dresser with a lamp that sat atop it, aside from that there wasn’t any other furnishing. A bit further down the hall there was the second bedroom, it was similar to the other one in that it was sparsely furnished with a chest-of-drawers and a bed being the main furnishing, but it also had an old, oak chest against the wall under the window that overlooked the front of the house, Half presumed that this was for storage as not everything was going to fit into the drawers. Once again the bed looked old, musty and unappealing. “Make that beds..” Half knew that he’d have to spend money to get the house up to a standard where he’d be able to comfortably live in it. The bathroom was, thankfully, still in good shape despite the neglect and aging, the water was still connected which Half was thankful for, it saved him the hassle of going to the Council to reconnect it, unfortunately for Half though, when he turned on the stove in the kitchen there was no gas; without it he would have no heating, no way to cook food and no hot water. “Guess I’ll be eating out tonight” Half let out another sigh, already he had a growing list of things to do in and around the house. He knew that moving in wouldn’t be a walk in the park and that there would be a significant amount of things he’d need to do. Cleaning the house and getting new beds was his top priority for now. Half picked up his saddlebags and wooly scarf from atop one of the boxes where he’d placed them earlier and wrapped the scarf around his neck before exiting the house, it was late August and there was a slight chill in the air outside despite it being sunny. Half wandered through the streets of Ponyville taking in his surroundings, keeping an eye out for places to eat and any shops that might come in useful in the future. The buildings looked almost entirely different to those of Canterlot, those houses mostly being made of stone having wooden roofs whereas these houses were made of wood and having thatched roofs. Eventually he managed to stumble upon the town square. The Town Hall dominating the center of the square with ponies going about their daily affairs, some talking to friends as they walked through the square, of course this wasn’t new to Half but it still surprised him a little. Everypony looked rather different to those that he would normally see in Canterlot; none of them looked as fancy or snobby, plus there was a greater variety of ponies here. Pegasi weren’t as common in Canterlot as they were here it seemed, it was primarily Unicorns or Earth ponies in Canterlot with the odd Pegasus. Crossing the Town Square, Half wandered into the market section. He was used to visiting markets, his parents normally insisted that they would only have but the freshest of ingredients for anything they cooked, be it dinner or any orders that came into the bakery. However, this market was in a different league altogether. The ingredients on display at each stall, even from just looking, seemed fresher and more appetising than those he’d normally be purchasing. Half looked up at the sky, it was about 3pm so he reckoned, it was then he realised he hadn’t eaten anything since this morning, his stomach giving a small moan, confirming that. Looking around at the stalls he approached one; hoping that the produce it was selling would satisfy his mild hunger. The stall was manned by a large, well-built stallion with a vibrant red coat, a look of content of his face as he chewed on a strand of hay. Half approached the stall, casting an eye over the selection of apples that were available. He knew that there were quite a few varieties of apples but quite simply the amount of varieties that this stallion was selling was astounding. “14” the red coated stallion said. “Pardon?” Half said looking up from the apples to the source of the voice. “14, th’ number of varieties we’re selling” Was his reply. “Oh” Half wondered how the stallion could have guessed what he was thinking “Don’t worry, everypony wonders how many types there are th’ first time they see th’ stall” Smiled the red stallion. “ah’ve not seen you round here before, new ta’ town are ya?” “Yeah, just moved here today” Half replied returning the friendly smile. “Th’ name’s Macintosh Apple, everypony jus’ calls me Big Mac though” Big mac said offering Half his hoof. “Half Baked, nice to meet you Big Mac” Half said as he shook Big Macs’ hoof. “Now what can ‘ah get ya Half?” Big Mac asked, returning to his position of salespony. “Umm, I’m not after any type in particular, just looking for something for a late lunch” Half answered as he returned to looking at all the apples that lay before him in their labeled barrels. “Hm, These Galas’ just came into season” Big Mac said, pointing to a barrel crammed full of bright, red apples, each apple looking enticing to Half. “Try one” Half picked up one of the Gala apples and took a bite into it, the sweet taste of the juicy apple flesh filling his mouth, the flavour was indescribable, he never knew apples could taste THIS good. “By Celestia’s mane.. I’ll take 2 dozen!!” Half exclaimed. Big Mac let out a hearty laugh at Halfs reaction to tasting that apple. “You obviously haven’t tried a Sweet Apple Acres Apple before have ya?” “It seems not” Half said with a tinge of shame in his voice as he admitted that. “Nought ta’ be ashamed of Half” Big Mac said giving half a reassuring pat on the back “Tell ya what, take a half dozen Galas’, free o’ charge, think of it as a welcome gift” Half was taken aback by Big Mac’s generosity, he’d only just met this stallion and was already treating him like a good friend, generosity like this was uncommon in Canterlot as most saleponys tried their best to gain as much profit as they could by any means possible. “Are you sure? I’m more then willing to pay” Half said as he reached into his saddlebag to take out his coin bag. “Ah’m sure, us Apples are known for our honesty” Big Mac said with a hint of pride in his voice and a smile on his face. “That’s very kind of you Big Mac, remind me to return the favour in the future” Half said as he picked out 6 apples from the barrel marked with the word “Gala” in white paint across it. “Heh, I’ll keep that in mind” Big Mac said with a grin and a light laugh. “Did someone say they were new in town?!” With that a bright pink pony with curly pink hair burst out of one of the apple barrels with an unnaturally large smile plastered across her face. “How did you? but that’s... I don’t even...” Half said, flabbergasted as to how this bright pink pony managed to fit into one of the barrels. Halfs’ mind was going a million miles an hour, rapidly trying to answer the questions that were flooding his mind in an attempt to comprehend how she had appeared out of thin air. “Pinkie, this is Half Baked, Half, this is Pinkie Pie” Big Mac said, introducing them both to each other. “OhMyGosh!! A new pony!!! there’s no time to lose!!” And with that Pinkie disappeared back into the barrel of apples. Half just stood there speechless. Everything he thought he knew about the laws of the universe had evaporated into thin air thanks to a certain pink pony. “You’ll get used to Pinkie after a while. She’s like that.” Big Mac said as he picked up the few displaced apples that Pinkies’ sudden appearance had caused. “But how did she do that? IT’S NOT POSSIBLE!!” Half exclaimed, his brain frantically trying to work out how she’d managed to break the universe like that, his eyes scanning the barrel for a way that would allow Pinkie to fit into it, let alone sneak into it unnoticed by himself. “The closest anypony’s come is that it’s Pinkie Pie, afraid I can’t offer any better explanation than that...” Big Mac explained to Half. “But that doesn’t explain anything...” Half replied, sitting on his haunches, hanging his head slightly in confusion. “You’ll get used to it after a while” Big Mac assured Half. Half let out an audible sigh, still looking at the floor. “I can only hope so Mac..” “She’s an alright Pony once ya’ get ta’ know her” Big Mac insisted “Say, you’re a baker judging by your name right?” “You’d be correct in thinking that Big Mac, why do you ask?” Half Inquired, curious as to why Big Mac asked that. “If you’ve got time, you should check out Sugar Cube Corner, it’s the local bakery round here” Big Mac stated. This piqued Half’s interest, “Ooo, I wonder what their food’s like?”, perhaps they’d be able to give him some advice on how to start up his own place if he was lucky. “I might just do that now, thanks Mac” Half said, getting up off his haunches and dusting off himself. “No problem at all, enjoy the apples” Chimed Big Mac as Half started walking away from the stall. “Thanks again Mac, I will, see you again soon” Half called back with a wave and a smile. “Now to find that bakery...” Half trotted cheerfully down the market pathway, passing stalls and ponies, trying to spot Sugar Cube Corner. “Perhaps I should’ve asked for directions.. Nah, can’t be that hard to find.”