//------------------------------// // Chapter 6 // Story: Sour Sweetness // by RisuUmbra //------------------------------// Pinkie’s Pov: Pinkie’s first question would have been where was Anon taking them, but realizing she would have to actively speak to Anon she decided to instead look around at her surroundings instead. It was around the time Pinkie would be planning out her next party or be working in the bakery so it was much more lively than usual, to her left was a pair of pegasus… pegasi… pegeese? What’s the plural for pegasus again… she’ll ask Twilight later, anyway Pinkie could see two pegasus arguing on some clouds about something, Pinkie had long ago learned not to nose into other ponies private business… though she does forget sometimes. Pinkie glanced back over to Anon mentally debating with herself the pros and cons of asking where they were heading. Before Pinkie could even begin she felt her tail give off a violent twitch moment before a loud crash louder than her party cannon startled both her and Anon making them turn to look at the two formerly arguing Pegasuseses really nice older couple that give her some of those butterscotch hard candies whenever she comes by to visit… they get lonely sometimes. While the two of them were sitting down a young earth pony rushed to serve them, Pinkie quickly recognized his as the older couples nephew who came to stay with them frequently, which was nice of him. Anon said he would pay for anything I would order so I didn’t hesitate to take advantage of that and ordered a large strawberry smoothie with extra whipped cream while Anon ordered a grilled cheese with a side a fries. *ahem*”T-thank you again for agreeing to come speak with me… So I think we should talk about location first is that okay?” Wait what… I thought it was going to be at the townhall like all other official ‘parties’ that Pinkie helps with, deciding to keep her question till after Anon finished speaking Pinkie hesitantly nodded silently wondering what Anon has planned to one-up her. “So I was able to send out some letters to some of my usual locations to get some options on where we could host the meeting and I also mailed a few letters to some of my more trustworthy caterers who could help cook the food we plan to set out for the summit” In mere moments Anon showed more professionalism and preparedness then she had ever seen from him and was momentarily stunned and slightly reminded of her mother when she was speaking to clients about material they had gotten from the farm. Mentally shaking herself out of her stupor she realized what he had said and felt so offended that she actually stuttered when she spoke. “W-why would we need caterers? I always cook all the food needed for my parties” On the outside she looked calm, but inside Pinkie was ranting. Every party she had planned she had cooked and catered, okay sure there were times where her friends help or made something of their own and brought it but that’s what friends do. Who does he think he is just assuming that she’s not good enough to cater her own event, before Pinkie could unleash the righteous fluorescent pink fury that was raging inside of her, Anon spoke again. “While you are very adept at cooking and baking I can’t have you doing that and exhausting yourself when I still need your help planning the whole thing, plus some of the guests are griffins so they might want meat instead of the regular pony fare” And just like that, the fire that was Pinkie’s wrath fizzled out and was reduced to glowing pink embers. She thought about it a bit and still disagreed with the notion that she would burn herself out with just baking, but when… meat… is brought into the menu then Pinkie will have to pass on that. Pinkie could barely remember the last time she saw meat let alone cooked it, though she does remember something about cupcakes before feeling sick for a few days. ”Here are the four locations I reached out to, first we have an open conference room that's in Manehatten which is pretty nice but is very strict when it come to their cleaning and security deposit so there is a bit of risk to choosing this one but it's a good fallback location, second is actually an open garden that´s in Hollow Shades that was recommended to me by one of my clients so I looked into it, third is a presentation hall in Baltimare that has complementary helping staff but they don't really care about your stuff because I came back with a few broken glass bowls from when they were helping me clean up so some caution is advised, and lastly we have the ballroom of Canterlot Castle that was offered to us to use when Spike told the Princess about his day and what he heard about our job, given the chance I would usually choose the castle but once we put tables and chairs and everything it still leaves a lot of open space that doesn't look right so we might be better off with one of the other choices” For a moment Pinkie was reminded of one of Twilight’s loooong speeches about science and could feel her attention waning, Pinkie was still slightly stunned when Anon finished speaking but shook it off when their waiter reappeared with their orders on a platter on his back. Pinkie started licking her lips when the large strawberry smoothie was sat in front of her and was ready to dive right into it literally and metaphorically. Right when she was going to take her first lick of the whip cream she glanced up and barely saw something fly from Anon’s side of the table and over to her then her snoot started to tickle which was her first warning, but before she could turn away from her drink a doozy of a sneeze wracked her body making her close her eyes. “ACHOO!” when Pinkie opened her eyes again what she saw frustrated her to no end, her perfectly pink drink had been launched away by her sneeze. Looking up at Anon just showed him looking around confused which only intensified her mounting frustration along with something else. Looking around for the server and flagging him down took a moment as he had just finished helping another customer. “Can I have another strawberry smoothie with extra whipped cream please?” The server winced at her request and seemed a bit hesitant to reply before take a quick breath and speaking. “I’m very sorry but all the ingredients we use for the smoothies have run out regretfully… again I apologize” For once Pinkie was the confused one so her reply was immediate. “How? It’s still early?” Yes, for once Pinkie the pink perplexing party pony was the confused one as the waiter gestured slightly through the window, in sync both Anon and Pinkie turned and looked through the window into the café where they could see what looks like a grown stallion swimming in a giant glass cup full of strawberry smoothie and laughing all the while. It was at this point that Pinkie just couldn’t deal with all of this anymore and spoke while getting up. “Let’s just do this one, I have some plans later with my friends so I need to wrap this up” Pinkie idly noted she pointed at Hallow Shades before getting and nodding goodbye while trying to keep a straight face, Pinkie thought back to all of the preparation and planning Anon had shown her along with the fact that he had been able to keep that level of professionalism while all she ever does is party. She wasn’t lying when she said she had plans with her friends or more specifically Fluttershy who volunteered to speak to her after her ‘meeting’ was done so she could talk about how it went and how she was feeling, though it would take a talk with her friend for Pinkie to know what she was feeling after everything, she felt pretty… incompetent.