When the group of four left the market they were in rather high spirits and Merlin was certainly enjoying himself. This town while certainly having a village feeling to it was definitely larger than he gave them credit for. It even managed to encompass a wildlife preserve that was owned and managed by one of Twilight's friends, a mare by the name of Fluttershy. However they would be saving their meeting with her last as she was would be pretty busy near this later half of the day.
Instead Twilight decided to bring us to another friend of hers. Her name was Pinkie Pie and the way that Twilight, Luna and Celestia all agreed to not try to hard to understand her or how she does things left Merlin wondering what this mare could possibly do that would have such powerful equines on guard. She could be most fearsome indeed, and with a grin he entered quite possibly the strangest themed establishment he'd ever laid eyes upon.
It resembled a large, pink, frosted gingerbread house and hanging just above the entrance was a hoof carved wood sign that read Sugarcube Corner. As the name and themed outside design seemed to give away it was a bakery, and Merlin came alive with the smells of so many different kinds of bread and pastries. After all he was quite a bread artisan himself and if he was being honest, he was quite partial to honey cakes.
When they stepped inside the smells became so much stronger and it took almost all of Merlin's restraint to keep from losing himself amongst the many pastries while other ponies were about. There were only a few who seemed curious as to who he was, but the rest seemed far more interested in their food. That was always a good sign, and Merlin was eager to try some of the baked goods here. Behind the front counter was a pink blur that made him stop as he watched with fascination. She moved at an unworldly speed toward the ovens and went about her baking work with a fluid finesse that could only come with years of practice.
Merlin had to admire her skill, but what really caught his attention were the waves of energy that seemed to exude in rapid ripples from around her. Phenomena like that only occurred when a certain form of Nature Magic was in use, namely increasing ones speed. This would also explain why in the span of the three minutes he had been standing there watching, she had managed to shovel down almost a whole tray of cupcakes to herself. The intake of sugar made sense considering the amount of energy she was burning through at such a rapid rate.
As she worked, Merlin began explaining this to Twilight and the two sisters, who collectively widened their eyes in surprise. They all had wondered at one time or another what it was that allowed Pinkie to be as fast as she was with many things she did. That still didn't explain her ability to just appear from nowhere, which Twilight was keen to point out.
"Ah, that's simple. You remember the gate that I used to get us here? That would be a form of spacial magic. Much like what I've seen of your teleportation, only in this instance it uses Nature Magic. It would seem that if this Pinkie Pie is this adept at using speed magic, then I would assume she would also be able to learn spacial magic as well." He grinned and looked back to the counter, but now there was nopony there. He looked around and strangely enough felt a light pressure on top of his head.
He looked up with his eyes and found a poof mane and two blue eyes looking back. "Hi, I'm Pinkie Pie! I heard my name so I thought I'd come over and say Hi!" She said proudly before hopping off his head with a frontflip. She landed on her back hooves with her forehooves outstretched and a wide smile on her face.
"Well hello Pinkie Pie. I'm Merlin it's a pleasure to meet you. I must say your bakery smells incredible and I would love to try some of your creations if I may. I also happen to now a few recipe's I could share." Merlin replied with a light bow and a smile. At the mention of new recipes Pinkie's mane poofed out further and she got an almost manic twinkle in her eye.
"Oh my gosh! I'd love too! I have just the thing for you to try!" She exclaimed as she shot off back into the kitchen before zooming back out with a tray on her back. There in the middle of the tray was the most perfect, golden, delicious looking honey cake that Merlin had ever laid eyes on. It was practically a work of art and before he could finish admiring it, Pinkie took it in hoof and shoved the whole thing into his mouth. While this would probably choke anypony else, Merlin was skilled enough that he was able to hold his breath for quite a while.
So he did just that and chewed his delectable treat, enjoying each bit before he finished and lamented it's early but tasty departure from this world. "Pinkie, If you don't mind I believe I'll be coming here for breakfast from now on. You've put my own honey cakes to shame. Bravo." He said with a bow of respect from one baker to another.
Pinkie got a serious look on her face that immediately made Twilight and company nervous as she too took a bow. "Your words bring much pride to a humble baking mare. I look forward to hosting you my friend, but I believe you owe me something?" She replied as she raised back up and stared him down. Merlin gave a wide smile and with a snap of his fingers, a parchment flew from one of his sleeves and unraveled itself in front of her. It contained one of his oldest bread recipes, one that required the utmost skill to perfect. Pinkie's eye's widened as she read it over and held it close, almost as though it were a cherished child.
She stuck it in her mane and almost like nothing happened she sprung from where she was standing to behind the counter once more. "So what else can I get ya? Oh! Oh! Wait lemme guess!" She yelled before she scrunched up her face in thought. Then almost as if a lightbulb ding could be heard going off she gasped and ducked behind the counter before coming back up with a single cookie.
"This is an experimental cookie I made with a friend last week. He and I worked hard on it so I hope you like it!" She said happily as Merlin took it and looked it over. In all seriousness it looked just like a cookie. But there was something just...different about it that he couldn't quite put a finger on. However he was not one to shirk from a mere pastry and took a bite. It tasted like a chocolate chip cookie but as he chewed again its flavor changed to oatmeal raisin. He grinned widely and chewed again. This time it was blueberry muffin and next was buttery croissant.
It was without a doubt the best cookie he had ever had and by the time he had finished eating it he was doubled over with laughter and a sense of joy that was profound. Pinkie too had joined him in his laughter and for no reason it seemed other than it was fun to laugh. That was exactly the kind of outlook on life that he enjoyed so much. Merlin could definitely see himself becoming fast friends with this mare.
"I have to wonder with a strange yet wonderful treat like that, would this friend of yours be a certain Lord of Chaos?" Merlin said with a grin and a raised brow.
"Yepperoni, he came over with our friend Fluttershy to help with baking and he and I came up with what we call the Chaookie! It's a pretty big hit too!" She replied with her unending smile. Upon mentioning his name, the spoken of draconequus appeared in a flash wearing a shower cap. He was covered in suds and was holding a scrub brush in his claw as he scrubbed his back and whistled a jaunty tune.
He turned and opened his eyes and upon seeing everypony else staring at him he snapped his fingers and everything vanished. He now stood clean and presentable and seemed to be eyeing up Merlin. He circled him a few times as Merlin watched with a knowing smile.
"Well I must say it's been years hasn't it." Discord said as Merlin nodded in return.
"It has indeed. That little war you helped cause between the Saxons and Britons was pretty chaotic for a while." He said as he turned to noticed that with exception of Pinkie, everypony else's jaws had dropped.
"Oh please Princess, did you really think that I the Lord of Chaos wouldn't be mucking about in a few other worlds too? As much fun as Equestria is, I do like to blow off steam." Discord said as he blew through Twilights left ear, causing steam to come out of her right. She shook her head and waved him away with a hoof as he laughed.
"I never knew he was from Equestria but I did know him as Discord. He was the source of pretty much our whole world. I say this because the world I came from seemed to revolve around chaos itself." Merlin explained as he snapped his fingers, causing a muffin to hop up and in honor of the muffin samurai code, it hopped into Pinkie's mouth. It was the most honorable death a muffin could ask for and it did it's forefathers proud.
Twilight however latched on to that bit of info and noticed that at the same time Merlin snapped the muffin to life, Discord had snapped a banana to dance the salsa on Celestia's head. Something she found amusing judging by her repressed laughter.
"I was wondering, if you snap to use your Nature Magic, and Discord snaps to use his Chaos magic, does that mean Chaos magic is a form of Nature Magic? Or are they in the same family but completely separate entities based on their own intrinsic nature?" Twilight asked as Merlin turned his attention to her.
He was quite fond of those with that ever inquisitive nature of those that wished to learn. "Actually as interesting as that would be, they are no more similar than water is to dirt. I snap for most of my smaller feats of magic simply because I find it to be a good focus or catalyst for it. I imagine it is rather the same for Discord. It is easier to snap you fingers than resort to archaic incantations that with one slip of a syllable could backfire catastrophically." He explained as Discord nodded along before making the banana peel itself and jump into a blender he had conjured from thin air.
While Discord went about making a sentient smoothie, Merlin sat with his new friends and had smoothies of their own to enjoy, though Merlin was using his to wash down the treats he'd already eaten. It felt pretty nice to sit and enjoy food with some friends and the little pranks that Pinkie and Discord played on each other were hilarious. What made them all laugh the hardest though was Merlin changing Celestia and Luna's coat and mane colors for the day. Their cutie marks stayed the same but it now seemed as if Luna had grown larger and Celestia had shrunk.
Discord, Pinkie, Twilight and Merlin were doubled over and attempting to control their breathing as things died down. The two sisters continued to glare at him as they took sips from their drinks. Pinkie got up upon finishing hers and told them that she had to get back to work, but it was great being able to spend time with them. She had also explained to Merlin that she wanted him to come by Sugarcube Corner tomorrow around the same time.
With thanks for the treats and thanks in return for recipes, the group headed out now followed by Discord who was rather curious to see what other little tidbits of chaos that Merlin was sure to cause. Today was turning out to be a really fun day and Merlin was curious to see who they would be meeting next.
What he didn't expect was to be plowed into by a rainbow maned blur as the wind left his lungs. Merlin laid there on the ground, wheezing and trying to catch his breath all he heard was Twilight yelling.
Yep today was a fun day.