//------------------------------// // Search for the Passes // Story: Pinkie & the Candy Factory // by Zenitram Nadroj //------------------------------// At the School of Friendship, Twilight Sparkletine is teaching a class on how to use spell books. “Alright, class, I’ll call one of my friends to give a demonstration.”, Twilight says. “Pinkie Pie!” “Yes, Twilight?”, she says as she pops up from her desk. Twilight jumps for a moment. “Where did you come from? You know what, never mind. I’d like you to do something for me.” “Oooohhhh. What is it? Do you want me to show how to use a party cannon? You want me to show how to blow eight balloons at once?” “Pinkie.”, she says. “How to plan a party in only one hour? How to bake a cake while mixing frosting? How to wrap a twenty foot tall present?” “Pinkie.” “How to make streamers for a family of eleven? How to make confetti out of grass? How to write a birthday song in fourteen languages?” “Pinkie Piecket!” “Yes?” “I just wanted you to show the class how to use a spell book.” She then gets it and blushes furiously. “Oh, sorry. I guess I got too excited again, didn’t I?” “Yes, you did.” “Ok, let me take a look.”, Pinkie says before she picks up the spell book. She then reads it for twenty seconds and Twilight takes the book away. “Hey.”, she complains. “Alright, Pinkie, now if I were to use a sicailocras spell, then use a poltinue spell and instead of a michasa spell, I would use a ghereiz spell, what would happen?” Pinkie starts sweating bullets at Twilight’s instructions. “Uh…..Is there any chance that spell book had a glossary?”, she asks hesitantly. “Incorrect, Pinkie. It would be the weightless spell. You see how important it is to read the spell books?” “Well, Twi, doesn’t it seem a bit unfair since, you know, I’m not a unicorn?” “Well, I guess not.” “But I guess it doesn’t matter since we’re two birds of a feather. Even though you’re the one who has wings.” Twilight clears her throat and continues. “Now, Pinkie, can you please try and lift this chalkboard?”, she asks. “Okey dokey lokey.”, Pinkie replies. She grabs the chalkboard and tries to lift it. She then stops. “Now when I use the spell like this...”, Twilight says before her horn glows. “Now try.” Pinkie tries again, but this time she manages to lift it over her head. The students are amazed. “Thank you, class. And thank you Pinkie for the demonstration.” A commotion disturbs the lesson and Twilight goes to the door. She opens the door and sees foals rushing past the school. “Scootaloo, Sweetie Belle, Apple Bloom, come over here.” The fillies approach the door. “Hi, Twilight.”, they all say. “What’s going on out there? Why are all of the foals rushing to the front doors?” “Didn’t you hear?”, Sweetie Belle asks. “Hear what?” “Billiard Blonka’s opening his factory. He’s finally allowing ponies to get in.”, Scootaloo says. “What?! He’s gonna open the gates after all these years?!” “Yes. It’s all over the paper.”, Apple Bloom says before giving her a newspaper. It reads, ‘News Flash: Billiard Blonka opens gate for the first time since its reopening.’. Twilight is astonished by this revelation. “Alright, everypony, class dismissed.”, she says with enthusiasm. All the students cheer. “Now hold on, it’s for five ponies. And they have to be mares or stallions.”, Sweetie says. Twilight’s ears droop. “Sorry, everpony. Class un-dismissed.” All the students groan in disappointment. “But wait. The newspaper says that Mr. Blonka has hidden five golden factory passes in various candy wrappers. And one of them will receive a prize that they can share with their friends and families.”, Scootaloo says. “Are you serious?”, Twilight asks. “Yes. We’re heading out to find the passes.” “OK. Class re-dismissed.” All the students cheer again and rush out the door. Twilight then follows suit. Pinkie stays behind in bewilderment. “Mr. Blonka is opening his factory?”, she asks herself. “Imagine all of the candy I’d be able to eat when I get in. My family will never have to eat stone soup again. Well maybe once in a while, but still. I’ve gotta find those passes.” She then zips out and closes the door behind her. A radio broadcast spreads throughout the kingdom. A news pony talks about the current event. “This just in. Ponies all over Equestria are searching through every single piece of candy to find one of Blonka’s five golden factory passes.”, she says. “The winner of this contest will receive what is possible to most amazing prize in Equestrian history, a lifetime supply of candy. Everypony is working hard to find those passes and only time will tell who will earn the most respect.” In Pinkie’s home, she, her mother, her sisters and her grandmother are listening to the same broadcast as Pinkie turns to her grandmother. “Nana Pinkie, do you think I have a chance to find a pass?”, she asks. “A pass?”, she queries. “Heck, I bet you’ll be able to find all five of them. But then again, what’s the point of having this contest is all five of them are already found a the same time? Plus wouldn’t it be cruel if all of the other ponies never got a chance to find their own passes? Somepony should tell that stallion that there should be more of those passes that way everypony has a chance to...” She then notices her daughter and granddaughters staring at her. “Oh, sorry. Was I rambling?” “It’s ok, Nana. I had the same problem in the previous chapter. Back to the story at hoof.”, Pinkie says. “As of right now, four point seven million pieces of candy are being sold and hundreds more are being opened as we speak.” Various ponies in various parts of the kingdom gather and swarm purchasing and opening every single piece of candy they can get their hooves on. Resulting in the Equestrian landfill to fill up more than ever. They were doing everything they can to get a piece of candy. Including making bets, offering trades, interrogating thieves and even taking wrappers from the landfill. Pinkie and her family were getting more and more anxious by the second. But Pinkie managed to make keep her family’s optimism stable. Two days later, the news pony give her update. “This just in, the first golden factory pass has been found. Last night the first pass has been found in the Cloudsdale cloud factory by a pegasus stallion by the name of Dumb-belloop. We have him over the phone right this moment. Dumb-belloop, you’re on the air.” “Yes. It sure was an unexpected turn of events for me.”, he says. “And when my coworkers found out about it, they flipped. They tried to pay me their annual salaries just for that pass. But I said, ‘No way. This is my pass and I’m not sharing it with any of you bozos’. After that they forgave me and accepted the truth.” “Uhhh. Wow. That’s quite a story.” “Yes. Well I better get back to work. Later.” The phone hangs up. “Ok, there are only four passes left to find. Who will find them. Stay tuned to find out.”, she says. In Cloudsdale, Dumb-belloop as he leaves the phone. "Oh, man. I can't believe I was on the radio.", he says to himself. "Well I can officially cross that off my bucket list." He then puts his hard hat and coat on. "Alright. Time to get back to work." Suddenly, he’s approached by a strange creature wearing a trench coat, glasses and fedora hat. “What? Who are you? What are you doing here? And more importantly, how did you get in here?”, he says in shock. The creatures approaches him and whispers in his hear.