//------------------------------// // Ch2: The meeting // Story: Baking Bad // by Tank the Dragon //------------------------------// Pinkie was sitting at an outside table at her favorite restaurant. She remembered this place. Back when Twilight had an extra ticket, they bugged her for it here. Well, Rainbow and Rarity did. Then they went back later that night to apologize. The memory brought a smile to her face. Well, every memory of her and her friends brought a smile to her face. However, this was serious. She was staring at a piece of paper, waiting for the milkshake and sandwich she had ordered. She was trying to do two things: Find a pony she could tell about her situation and write down a bucket list. 8 months. The doctor had given her 8 months to live. And she wasn’t going to waste it. 1. Throw dream party with everypony. 2. Make everypony smile. Well, those two have always been what she’s been trying to do. She crossed them out and started over. 1. Visit Manehattan 2. She stopped right there. She was Pinkie Pie. If she starts sightseeing, everypony would know something was up. What could she do? She crossed it out and rested her head on her hoof. “Ma’am,” Pinkie looked up to see a unicorn with her order. “Your order is here.” Pinkie put her paper away as her food was placed in front of her. She wasn’t very hungry, but she had to eat something. She ate slow, thinking about what the doctor had told her right before she left. Who was a pony she could tell for support? She thought about her friends. Which one should she tell? Twilight? No, she’d probably guilt her into telling her friends. Rainbow Dash? When was she ever compassionate to anypony? Fluttershy? Maybe. She’d be supportive, though she might try to be ‘Doctor Fluttershy’ again. Rarity? They haven’t really hung out together, other than a few shopping trips, so that might be weird. Applejack? Again, maybe. She is the loyalist of ponies, so she would keep the secret if asked. Pinkie Pie? Wait, that was herself. Although it would be possible… “Pinkie!” Pinkie jumped in her seat. She put on a smile when she saw it was her best friend, Twilight. “Hey Twi!” “Pinkie, are you ok?” Pinkie just smiled. She knew Twilight knew something was wrong. After all, she was just caught deep in thought about it. “I’ve never been better.” “You sure?” Pinkie nodded. “O-kay then… Pinkie, I need you to come by my house in half an hour. Got something that we need to talk about.” Pinkie gave a confused look, but was nervous on the inside. Did Twilight somehow know about her tuberculosis? If she did, Pinkie was going to have a word with the doctor about the importance of keeping Pinkie Promises. “What about, Twi?” “I got a letter from the princess of utmost importance.” The doctor was safe, for now. “We’ll talk about it more when we’re all at my house. I have to tell the others.” Twilight began to run off to tell some other pony. “Okay, see you in a bit.” Pinkie relaxed when she saw Twilight turn the corner. It was going to be hard keeping it a secret, and she was already off to a bad start. But it was going to be worth it to have everypony treating her the same, not having to smile, but wanting to smile. She took a sip of her milkshake. What was she going to do with her last months? “Excuse me, miss…” Pinkie looked up. There was a lady with a cart of desserts. “Can I offer you some dessert?” Pinkie wasn’t even hungry for the sandwich and she was almost done with her milkshake. “Oh, no thank you. Can I just get a box for this?” She pointed at the half-eaten sandwich. “You sure? We got Ice cream, carrot cake, pound cake, cup cakes…” That’s when it hit Pinkie. The Cakes. What will the Cakes do without her? She helps out in the shop, with the babies, and is a major costumer of their shop, parties and all. She can just see the family falling into financial problems up to the point where they lose their business. Their home. She couldn’t let that happen. She won’t let that happen. She… “Miss?” Pinkie looked back at the dessert lady. “Anything look good?” “Oh, none for me. Just a box or bag or something.” She nodded and went on her way. Pinkie went back to thinking. How can she make sure the Cakes were going to be okay when, well, the end of Pinkie Pie came around? She didn’t want to tell them about her situation. After all, she sees them the most. She lives with them. She just couldn’t leave them with nothing either. She took the final sip of her milkshake and pulled the list back out. 1. Make sure the Cakes have enough bits. She folded the list and put it away. This was her bucket list. And she had 8 months to make it happen. She was going to do anything possible to make it happen. But what? She couldn’t work extra hours at the bakery, the Cakes pay her. So she would be taking money from them to give to them later? None of her friends were hiring. What could she do? “Ma’am, your box.” The waiter handed her a small box for her sandwich. “And your bill.” Pinkie looked at it. A milkshake and sandwich, 7 bits. Seemed about right. She placed her sandwich in the box and 8 bits on the table. She’ll think about it later. Right now, she had to get to Twilight’s. “Good evening, girls.” Twilight began. “Now, I know we all want to get to the party an hour from now, so I’ll jump right to the point. I have received a letter from Princess Celestia a new threat to Equestria. It’s a new type of, umm, drug…” The ponies all looked at each other, confused. Except for Rarity, she just rose her hoof, “Excuse me, Twilight darling. Is this about that new ‘Phoenix’ thing spreading around, is it?” “Well, umm…” Twilight used her magic to bring the letter to her, “Uh, yes. Yes it is. How do you know about it?” “Please, I design clothes for all the celebrities. I heard about it before the princess did.” She turned to the other 4 ponies, “Did you know, that it’s actually called Phoenix because it makes ponies’ minds feel reborn?” Twilight looked at the letter in disbelief, “Uh, Rarity, the princess has written down ‘it is unknown what the name means or what it is made from…’” “Gemstones bonded together with hydroiodic acid and potassium hydroxide.” “Really?” Rarity nodded. “Wow, um, Spike take a letter, please. Dear Princess Celestia, Please don’t send an expert on Phoenix, as it turns out we already have one. Your fateful student, Twilight Sparkle.” Spike finished the letter and went over to the window to send it. “Rarity, do you want to take over?” Twilight and Rarity switched places. Spike came back over to listen and hopped on Twilight’s back. It’s his favorite spot to sit, as it makes him feel taller. “Alright girls, here’s what I know about it… Twi, could you be a dear and write this down on that chalkboard over there?” Twilight nodded then walked up next to Rarity, chalkboard magically moving right behind them. Rarity continued, “About a month ago, somepony in Canterlot found out by accident how to mix 2 gems together using hydroiodic acid and potassium hydroxide. Now, it is unknown how this happened, nor why his friend decided to smoke it at the time because he and his friend were, um, out of it, at the time. Anyways, that’s when their 3rd friend, who was clean, came into the room and saw he’s 2 friends making almost no sense. And that’s when he saw the opportunity and the 3 of them got cooking up another batch the next day.” Rainbow dash looked completely bored and as always, wanted to jump to the part that featured her, “Yeah yeah, but what does this have to do with us? It’s in Canterlot, right?” Twilight spoke back up, handing the chalk to Rarity, “Well that’s the thing. It spread to Ponyville this week. And the princess as suspicion to believe that there is a lab over here as well. Growing demand for it and all.” Rarity circled the word ‘lab’ and continued, “Now, a lab does not have to have lab equipment, although, it would make more sense if it did. Any place with chemistry equipment would be most common. But just to be safe, we should also look for places that have kitchen and some types of cleaning equipment as well. It would be less common that they would use these to cook Phoenix in, it would still have the same results.” “Also, be on the lookout for anypony that seems to have large, unexplainable amounts of bits. According to Princess Celestia, a pound of Phoenix goes for about 20,000 to 50,000 bits, depending on the gems used.” “Did you hear that Applejack,” Rainbow said as she nudged Applejack, “If you start cooking some, maybe you can replace all the old and broken things on the farm!” Applejack glared at Rainbow. Twilight held up a small bag with her magic. Inside was a gem that was two colors swirled together. “Now this is what Phoenix looks like, just so you know what to look for.” Pinkie didn’t hear much after that, as she when back to thinking. 20,000 to 50,000 bits. A pound. If Pinkie could just start making some Phoenix, she could leave the Cakes with… No no no. She couldn’t start thinking like that. She was going to make money for the Cakes, but not this dirty, drug money. She was going to get them clean… something money. Could she? Well, she would be gone in 8 months. And it seems to be the fastest way to make bits. She could leave them a good sized bag of bits when she goes. But the risks. They seemed too great. First of all, where could she cook it? Wait, could she even cook it? “Any questions?” This was her chance to see if it was even possible. She rose her hoof high, “Ooh! Ooh! Pick me!” “Yes Pinkie?” Her hoof went down immediately, “Who should we look for? Like, which ponies can make it?” “Good question Pinkie. I can’t believe we forgot that,” Rarity went over to the chalkboard and wrote it down, “It usually takes two ponies, but one unicorn could easily do the same task. Any more question?” Nopony raised their hoof. “Ok. Twilight, shall we go to the party?” Twilight nodded and lead everypony out. Pinkie grabbed the box with her sandwich. She now knew who she was going to tell and how she was going to get the bits. After all, Rainbow Dash had given her both answers. Neither pony was going to like this idea, but if she words it right, they would both have all the bits they will ever need.