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// Chapter 1 
// Story: Pinkie's Pastries 
// by _AnonymousPublisher_ 
//------------------------------//

     The sunny rays peeked over the horizon, and their lengthy arms reached out towards the leafy forest. The sun ducked beneath the horizon and left behind pinks and oranges, swirls of color and mixtures of nature’s paint in the sky. Two sat together on the edge of a peek, looking into the grand view before them. The ocean (which was a great deal away from them) hid behind the forest and reflected the vibrant hues off its liquid surface. This spot was the only place in all of Ponyville where one could sit back, relax, and enjoy the sunset behind the ocean. It was actually the only ocean that could be accessed by anypony in Ponyville. It was hard to get to, though, due to the fact you’d have to cross through a forest to even reach the sand, but there was an edge perfect for the view. On top the hill, the surface was covered in grass and flowers. If you were to go to the very edge and look down, there’d be a steep arrangement of rock and gravel. The grass was soft enough to sleep on. That evening, though, only two ponies had made their way to that peek. One being a light-hearted, sweet land pony, and the other being a prideful, but caring pegasus. 
The pink land pony laid on the grass and watched the sunset while munching on a few pastries from Sugar Cube Corner. They were good, but she’d messed up on the recipe. She’d run out of flower, and tried to make a similar substance by crushing up seeds and mixing it with powdered sugar. When she ran out of eggs, she replaced it with a goopy liquid that had both a similar feel and smell to egg whites, and even though she didn’t know what it was, she mixed it in gallantly with the crushed seeds and powdered sugar, vanilla, vegetable oil, milk, and delectable fruit filling. Once the Cakes found out, they demanded her not to serve them to costumers, so she was stuck with a whole batch of fruity baked-goods. She thought they tasted fine for disobeying the recipe. Great, actually. She’d already eaten five out of the nine she’d been stuck with, and they were good. That’s when her little pegasus friend appeared. They hadn’t planned on seeing each other, it just kind of happened. 
“Hey, Pinkie Pie!” the cyan, winged-pony greeted with a smile before even landing on the ground. 
“Oh, hey Rainbow Dash!”  she replied after she finally managed to swallow her baked treat. “What’s up?” 
Rainbow Dash was the fastest flyer in all of Ponyville. Although she could be conceded and overly prideful at times, she was still a good friend, and fun to be around. She had a mane and tail highlighted with every color of the rainbow in a neat alignment of stripes. She had magenta rubies as eyes. 
“Not much, you?” 
“Today I made these pastries, but I had to replace some ingredients. Mr. and Mrs. Cake wouldn’t even let me serve them to the costumers. I mean, they taste fine and everything. It’s not like I put anything dangerous in them, but they just didn’t let me no matter what I said!” 
Pinkie’s overly optimistic behavior and hyped up attitude could often come off as creepy, but Rainbow Dash was use to her mangled fast-paced speech and happy-go-lucky cheerfulness. 
“Oh, uh… That sucks…At least you got free pastries, right?” 
Pinkie smiled with a nod. “Would you like to try one?” 
Rainbow Dash smiled. “I’m up for free food anytime!” 
The pink party pony opened the small, brown picnic basket with her mouth and pushed it over to let her friend have her pick. Inside were four crispy, golden pastries. Rainbow chose one filled with a bright red filling, and simply assumed it was strawberry. When she took a large bite of the treat, her suspicions of the flavor were confirmed. It was delicious and fruity, but would’ve tasted ten times better warm. 
“Wow, Pinkie. That was better than the last batch of pastries you made!”  
Pinkie Pie smiled big from the compliment. “You really think so?” 
“Well, sure. They’re crispier, sweeter, and just better tasting.”
Pinkie smiled in thoughts of what this could mean. She could remake the recipe, not tell the Cakes and sell it. When all the ponies tried it, they’d fall in love with the recipe, and business would be better than ever! She could just imagine all the smiling happy faces as the ponies dug their faces into the new recipe. Pinkie’s eyes widened at the imaginary sight in her mind. 
“Oh, thank you, Dashie! You gave me the best idea ever!” 
In a happy panic, she threw her hooves around Rainbow and squeezed her tightly, nearly taking the life out of her. Pinkie then took the basket in her mouth and galloped off happily. The confused pegasus rubbed her head. Although she was bewildered, she still had the slightest idea of what Pinkie was planning. 
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A lavender unicorn walked into Sugar Cube Corner with a saddle-bag on her back. She had a flat, purple, mane with a pink and darker purple strip going through it. She entered the shop with a smile and approached the counter. At the time, a light blue earth pony was at the cash register. Her layered, pink mane was done up in an odd style that reminded the costumer of icing on a cupcake. 
“I’m here to pick up Zecora’s ingredient.” she announced to the shop owner. 
“Of course.” Mrs. Cake replied. “I’ll go get it.” 
The light blue baker went into the kitchen of the shop. She opened a typical cabinet and grabbed a glass bottle, which contained a thick, clear liquid. She felt it and shook it slowly. The liquid swooshed around and coated the glass walls in the thick substance. 
“That’s odd…” she said to herself. “This seems lighter than before.” 
She shrugged the feeling off and just made an assumption that her memory was whacked. Mrs. Cake then proceeded back to the counter. Twilight was waiting there patient ally. Nervously, the baker gave Twilight the bottle. She took it, and she too questioned its weight. 
“Are you sure this is 26 ounces?” she asked in concern. 
“Of course it is! We wouldn’t sell you anything if it wasn’t what you wanted. It’s just a little thin. Once it gets thicker I’m sure it will be heavier.” 
Twilight blew away the uneasy feeling there was something wrong, and tossed some bits on the counter. She walked off, trusting Mrs. Cake as best she could. It was the most important ingredient of Zecora’s potion, and she didn’t want to bring her too little of it. It was only a matter of time before Twilight knew if she’d been given a fair deal or not.