"I'm not sure if I can do that," said Pinkie, standing behind the counter of Sugarcube Corner. The lights inside were unusually dim during this time in the afternoon, as a mysterious hooded stallion was standing in front of the counter.
"As you wish. I'll take my business somewhere else then," stated the mysterious hooded stallion as he turned his back and hoofed his way out the door, without even closing it. The opened door was letting in a ray of bright sunlight, along with specks of dust floating within the rays. Sugarcube corner didn't seem to have that energetic vibe it always got. The shelves were a bit dusty, the air was a bit on the dry side, the lights were pretty dim as stated before, and some of the shelves didn't even have anything on them. It seemed to look like Sugarcube Corner was showing the impression that it seemed abandoned, knowing that it really didn't have that much in stock to start with. Pinkie took a big yawn, dropping her head showing herself that's she's bored due to the lack of customers and tainted atmosphere. Meanwhile, a blue Pegasus trotted into the opened door, intercepting the rays of light onto her folded wings.
"Hey Pinkie, what's up?" the blue Pegasus said, as she flew over to the counter. Pinkie lifted her head in an erratic way, seeing Rainbow Dash in front of her.
"Oh...hey Dash," Pinkie taking another lengthy yawn. Rainbow Dash gave out a puzzled look. She was confused on how one of her most energetic friends in all of Equestria, was actually in a bored state.
"Are you alright? You seem....exhausted," Dash observed, feeling a little concerned about her pink friend; Although, Dash could actually notice the unusually desolate atmosphere that surrounded her and Pinkie. It gave her kind of an idea why Pinkie Pie seemed to have a loss of energy, especially at this time of day.
"I'm just kind of bummed out that the only customer that I've had was just some random stallion asking for a blowtorch instead of cupcakes!" Pinkie exclaimed as she jumped a little, regaining some energy. Rainbow was even more confused as it sounded like that stallion was planning on doing some sort of experiment. It sounded a little familiar to herself but she couldn't pinpoint what she was having in her mind.
"Why would he try to order something like that, especially in Sugarcube Corner?" Rainbow investigated, trying to put the puzzle together.
"He said something about hardware stores in Ponyville being out of stock, specifically on blowtorches. He said he wanted to heat something up, which kinda sounded sketchy so I said no," explained Pinkie. Rainbow Dash was tapping her chin until a few seconds later, she found out what was going on.
"Pinkie, have you heard of the new thousand degree knife meme going on?" Dash cringing due to the fact she used the word 'meme'.
"Ummm, kinda. What do ponies do exactly?" Pinkie question, bewildered on why Dash is cringing. Rainbow was able to regain control of her expression and started to explain the new fad.
"So basically, ponies go around to hardware stores to buy blowtorches and possibly french knives if they don't own any of them themselves. Usually they buy like three of four blowtorches because it adds 'extra heat' to the knife. Then they turn the torches on and heat up the knife for around ten to fifteen seconds. Then, they grab whatever inanimate object they can find and attempt to slice it in half. For some reason, a lot of ponies have some weird obsession with watching videos of it and they say they find it 'satisfying'," Rainbow explained in full detail, still having some remnants of the word 'meme' on her mind.
"That...kinda makes sense I guess. Do you know if any of our friends doing it?" Pinkie taking a little bit of interest as she trotted around the counter.
"I think I heard Twilight actually trying it at the Canterlot Boutique...dear Celestia she is such a dork," Rainbow stated in a sarcastic tone. Pinkie started to have a jolt of energy, knowing that she started to have an interest in this activity if one of her friends are doing it.
"Oooo, can we try this out?" Pinkie stated, bunny hoping a few times in excitement. Rainbow's eyes started to dilate smaller, as she didn't want to be in some sort of fad that she thought was a meme.
"Pinkie, no," Dash starting to have a cringe episode, regretting giving her pink friend this information.
"I'm going to rush over to Canterlot right now, see if Twilight can help me out with this, bye dash!" Pinkie speeding out the door of Sugarcube Corner, leaving a cloud of dust behind her. Dash shut her eyes and coughed up a storm, due to the massive dust cloud.
"Pinkie *cough* wait!," yelled the blue Pegasus, as she flew out of Sugarcube corner, leaving even more dust behind with an open door.
***
Meanwhile in the Canterlot Boutique's tailor room, Twilight was assisting Rarity on finishing touches on dresses that customers ordered.
"Aaannd done," Twilight cutting a cloth string off a dress with a heated french knife. Rarity grabbed the dress with her hooves and wiped off any remains of dirt or ash, if there was any left remaining.
"Oh marvelous, Twilight! Thank you so much for helping me out on this. That new cutting technique really helps out with loose ends, if you know what I mean," happily stating Rarity, as she lets go of the dress and levitates them.
"No problem, Rarity! Just have to make sure it doesn't burn all the way through and it should be clean!" exclaimed Twilight, hovering the knife onto the table as it was cooled.
"I'm just going to head downstairs and deliver this dress to the awaiting customer and I'll be right back with another dress," Rarity quoted as she trotted out the door.
"I'll be here then," Twilight relaxed as she felt proud for the work she's done. Unlike Sugarcube Corner back in Ponyville, Canterlot Boutique was pretty busy, despite it being in the evening. There were customers encircling clothing racks at every degree of angle you turn. It really shows how full a pony's business can be if they can do it right. Rarity, just arrived to the bottom floor just about to give the dress to the mare customer, until the door slammed right open. Meanwhile, Twilight was starring out the dim window, wondering about what her other friends were up too.
"Hmmmm, I really wonder what Pi-", she was interrupted by a huge slam opening the door of the tailor room.
"TWILIGHT!" Pinkie yelled, hopping her way in followed by Dash slowly flying in, looking a bit embarrassed. Twilight rapidly turned around, seeing the two mares approach her. She was quite startled and bewildered that one of her friends she was thinking about actually showed up at this particular time. Nevertheless, she had to ask what her friends were doing here.
"Hello, Pinkie Pie and Rainbow Dash. What brings you two here?" Twilight questioned, unfolding her wings. Twilight noticed the complete opposite expression on both of her two friend's faces. Pinkie was grinning and doing small bunny hops while on the other hand, Rainbow was trying to hide her flushed red face with her hooves. Twilight was beginning to become a little concerned, as if something really embarrassing happened back in Ponyville.
"I've been hearing about this new cutting things with a knife trend, how does it go?" Pinkie asked. Twilight was still a little disoriented, as Pinkie's question was still a little too vague.
"What are you talking about?" Twilight asked, noticing Rainbow's face becoming a deeper flushed red.
"Well basically you go around tool stores and you buy something that's called a blowtorch and/or a knife. Then, you go back home and-" Pinkie being cut off my Rainbow Dash.
"She wants to try out that meme you think is 'satisfying' and everypony else is going crazy over," Rainbow uncovering her face, showing a deep red flush of embarrassment.