//------------------------------// // Chapter 1 // Story: Pizza Delivery: MLP Edition // by MrAquino //------------------------------// It was near the end of Saturday at Ponyville, with the sun begining to set, and inside Sugarcube Corner, Gallus the griffon stood behind the cash register as Sandbar the earth pony colt swept the floor. Both students took on a temporary job of working in Sugarcube Corner to get some extra bits and experience for the future, though the former fell for Gallus while the latter was more for Sandbar. Mr. And Mrs. Cake were away, along with the cake twins, on vacation, leaving Pinkie Pie in charge of Sugarcube corner. The two students were getting ready to close the bakery for the night. "Hurry up with those chairs, Sandbar," Gallus spoke "it's after closing and I'd like to get back to my dorm." The phone next to him run. "I got it, I got it, coming!" Sandbar shouted, running to and leaping for the phone. Unfortunately, Gallus answered it first, with Sandbar crashing to the floor. "Hello?... Sorry, sir, we're closed-" Pinkie leapt in next to him, snatching the phone and answering herself. "Hi there, Sugarcube Corner! How could I help you?... Pizza?... Of course we have pizza!" "Uhh, Professor Pinkie-?" "Our delivery bird will bring it right over!" She hung the phone. "Professor Pinkie, we don't serve pizza!" Pinkie Pie pulled out a plate of cupcakes and, with some rapid moves with her hooves, turned it into pizza. Gallus had a confused look. "We don't deliver." "WE don't deliver, but you do." "Can't you just get Sandbar to do it?" "Great idea! You'll both deliver it and gain some experience from it." Sandbar snucked right over with a huge grin. "That's not what I had in mind!" Gallus stood with an impatient look as Sandbar looked at the wagon they were gonna use to deliver the pizza with. "Front end...check. Magical sensor...check. Bumper...check. Bumper sticker..." the bumper sticker read 'I Brake For Ducklings' "...check." Sandbar unscrewed one of the wheels and spun it around his waist, before floating a bit "Tire weariness!" He began to slowly descend, landing gracefully next to an annoyed looking Gallus "check. Wagon inspection complete! We're really making history here Gallus. That lucky customer is going to get the first Sugarcube Corner pizza ever. "Good, then you carry us." Gallus replied, strapping Sandbar in with a saddle. Sandbar had a very nervous look. "... I can't. I'm not even in wagon School. "Come on, Sandbar. It's just around the corner. "Well, yeah, but-" "Just do what you'd do normally." "Well, okay." Sandbar sweated as he looked around and at his own hooves. "Wait, don't tell me." "Back it up." "Huh?" "Back it up." "Right... back it up." He very slowly backed up, though there was no movement. "Back it up!" "Okay! Okay!" "Just walk backwards, Sandbar!" "Backwards? Oh, yeah, backwards." His vision went blurry as he began to sweat even heavier. "Back it up!" Sandbar snapped as his legs went into overdrive. "Back it up!" They both went backwards really fast. Gallus held on tight. "Give me the saddle, Sandbar! Give me the saddle!" "Backing up! Backing up!" Their wagon crashed through a few houses around Ponyville then through the field, and through the everfree forest. It was barely dawn as Sandbar began to slow down, panting heavily, before going to a full stop. They were somewhere between Ponyville and Canterlot. Their wagon's tires creaked heavily before cracking a bit. "Well...You backed up." Gallus said as he got out of the wagon and took Sandbar out of the saddle. "And you know what? I think the tires are broken. And you know what else? We're in the middle of nowhere!" "And you know what else else?" Sandbar added "I think the pizza's getting cold." Gallus had a blank look on his face. "And the pizza's cold? Oh, the pizza's cold. Not the pizza! Oh, how could it get any worse!?" Out of anger, Gallus kicked their wagon. The wagon quickly rolled away before the two could stop it. "Well... we can still deliver it on foot." Gallus had an irritated look. Both students walked along the road, next to some train tracks, with Sandbar singing, trying to regain their spirits, though Gallus hated walking. "The Sucarcube pizza is the pizza for you and me. The Sugarcube pizza is the pizza- "And my feet are killing me." Gallus fell over as he tripped over Sandbar." Sandbar!? What are you doing!?" Sandbar rubbed the floor with his hoof. "It's an old pioneer trick. I read it in a book once." "Sandbar this is no time for-" "Shh, shh, shh. It's working." "What is it?" Sandbar quickly pulled Gallus and pointed ahead "Train! Sixteen wheels. Now I can show you how the pioneers hitchhiked." Sandbar got onto the tracks and started to dance. Gallus just sat unamused as he doodled on the floor with a stick he found. In the train, the conductor saw the pony on the train tracks. "Crashin' Fashion Break Dancers!" The stallion yelled as he pulled and caused the chain to let out it's noise. "He's stopping! He's stopping!" Gallus yelled before realizing the train's not stopping. He wings flared as he grabed Sandbar out of the way, both getting covered in mud thanks to the train. Heavy winds started to blow as the two made their way through, though it soon became a dust storm. Still, Sandbar sang as Gallus had to pluck the feathers off his head to not be blinded. "The sugarcube pizza is the pizza for you and me. The sugarcube pizza is the pizza free delivery. The sugarcube pizza is the pizza very ta-asty." Sandbar was quickly carried around in the air by the huge winds. "Will you let go of that stupid pizza, already!?" Gallus yelled. "I can't, it's for the customer! "Who cares about the customer?" "I do!" "Well, I don't!" The wind stopped momentarily as Sandbar gasped. "Gallus!" The heavy winds continued "Let go of that pizza!" "No!" The winds made Sandbar crash and ran over the griffin. Gallus got up, but quickly grabbed on and held onto the colt's legs. "Sandbar, let go of that pizza!" "No, it's for the customer!" "Sandbar!" Hie eyes widened as he saw they were heading towards a tornado. "Let go of the pizza!" The were lifted up into the tornado. "Sandbar! "Hang onto the pizza!" The tornado spat them both out. Sandbar used the pizza as a parachute, but Gallus fell hard onto the ground. Gallus looked around and nervously panicked "Hey! Hey! Where's the road? We're doomed! How are we gonna get home, which way do we go? What are we gonna do now! There's no road here!" Sandbar looked down and saw a rock with moss growing on one of it's sides. "I think town's this way." "Oh, don't tell me, Jethro. The pioneers?" "That's right. Moss always points to civilization." "That way? That way there? Sandbar nodded "So, let me get this straight...you think that we should go that way?" "Yep." "Well, then I'm going this way." He walked the other direction. "Huh? Gal, wait! If you can fly, you-!" "Trust me, I know where I'm going." As they walked, a pair of pegasi flew landed nearby. "Huh, did you saw a little colt and a griffin in our tornado?" One of them asked. "Hard to say. But at least we got rid of all the excessive dirt in our village." The other spoke. Gallus and Sanbar kept walking, with Gallus holding back all his anger as Sanbar kept singing away, beatboxing, and dancing as they traveled. But after such a long time under the hot sun, the two literally dragged themselves. Gallus's stomach growled loudly as he clinged to it in pain "Sand, we gotta eat something." Gallus spoke. "I read in times of hardship, the pioneers would eat sticks." Sandbar replied as he grabbed a bundle of sticks. Gallus quickly grabbed the bundle and chewed on the sticks, but looked very uncomfortable. "No, maybe it wasn't sticks." Gallus spat out the sticks. "Maybe it was sand, no, mud." "Give me the pizza!" "Wait, I remember now. It was sticks!" "Give it to me!" "No, we promised it was for the customer." Gallus then had a smug look on his face. "You're right! It's for the customer. "Yeah." "Maybe we better check on it, make sure it's okay." "Well..." "Just a peek." Gallus opened the box a bit before Sandbar quickly closed it. "Okay, it's fine!" "No, I think I saw something." He opened the box, revealing a large, evenly cooked, and unaffected pizza that was somehow sizzling. "Oh, no I was wrong. It looks okay. Sure is a fine looking pizza." "Yeah..." "What's that? Is that the cheese?" "Yeah." "And the pepperoni?" "Yeah!" Sandbar's mouth began to water. "Oh, looks good, huh?" Sandbar eyes quickly dilated as he realized what was going on. "Wait a second! I know what you're trying to do Sandbar! I'm not letting you eat the pizza!" He slammed the box and held it tight. "Give me the pizza!" "No!" "Don't make me take it away from you, Sandbar!" "Get away!" Sandbar quickly ran away from the griffin. Gallus flared his wings as he gave chase. "Get back here, Sandbar! Give me the pizza!" "No!" "Sandbar!" "No!" Gallus began to go slower "Sandbar!" "No!" Gallus fell to the floor, panting heavily. "Wait..." "No!" Sandbar ran into Gallus, prompting the griffin to stand over the colt. "I want that pizza and you're gonna hand it over: one way or another!" Sandbar shivered, but saw something that made him gasp in happiness. "Look, we're saved!" "Sure, we're saved, now give me some pizza!" "No, really Gal, we're saved! We're saved! We're saved!" Sandbar jumped and danced in celebration. "Will you cut that out?!" His words fell on deaf ears as Sandbar kept dancing, then ran to and climbed a huge boulder. "That's just a stupid boulder!" "It's not just a boulder; It's a rock!" Sandbar hugged the huge rock, tearing up. "A ro-o-o-ock.The pioneers used to ride these babies for miles, and it's in great shape." "Sandbar will you forget the stupid pioneers? Have you ever noticed that there are none of them left? That's because they were lousy hitchhikers, ate sticks and took directions from algae! And now, you're telling me they thought they could drive-!?" Gallus was ran over by Sandbar riding the rock. "...rocks?" He got up and flew after Sandbar. "Hold on there, Jethro!" Sandbar and Gallus arrived to the house on their rock, with some ponies looking at it in pure confusion. "I can't wait to see the look on our customer's face!" Sandbar announced as he got off the rock with the pizza on his head. He rang the doorbell, greeted by a muscular looking stallion with tiny wings. "Yeah!?" He asked in a tough voice." "Congratulations, sir! Your Sugarcube Corner pizza is here!" "Wow, thanks, I've been dying for one of these!" He took the box but paused. "Where's my drink?" "...What drink?" Sandbar had a confused look on his face." "My drink! My Iron Will Energy Drink. Don't tell me you forgot my drink!" Sandbar pulled out a notebook and double checked the order, stammering a bit. "But, you didn't order any-" "How am I supposed to eat this pizza without my drink!?" Sandbar began to tear up a bit. "But...but..." "Didn't you ever once think of the customer?" He slammed the pizza on the floor in front of the colt's hooves "You call yourself a delivery colt? Well, I ain't buying!" The stallion slammed his front door. Gallus looked in pure shock as Sandbar walked back with the pizza. "Sand?" Gallus spoke up, landing next to his friend. "Sand? It's okay. Sand?" Sandbar fell to the floor and began to cry heavily, causing a small puddle around the stallion's head. "Sand?" Though they didn't exactly see eye to eye, Gallus knew what he needed to do. He picked up the pizza and knocked on the customer's door. It was answered by the same muscular stallion. "Another one?" He asked "Look, I told your little friend I ain't paying for that!" "Well, this one's on the house!" Gallus threw the pizza in the rude stallion's face. The griffin walked away, wiping his claws, proud of what he had done. Sandbar looked up, sniffling a bit, "Did he change his mind?" The colt asked. "He sure did. Ate the whole thing in one bite." "No drink?" "Nah." He picked Sandbar up and placed him on the rock. "Now take me my dorm." Sandbar had the most estatic look on his face. "Are you kidding!? We have just enough time to make it back to work!" Sanbar backed up the rock where they were instantly at Sugarcube Corner. Gallus's eyes widened "Work? "Oh, my aching claws."