//------------------------------//
// Imaginations from the Other Side - Episode 12 
// Story: Book 1 - The Behemoth came to Canterlot 
// by Equimorto 
//------------------------------//

"Talk about ocular diabetes."
"What?"
"See it's an eye candy joke but also a hiatus pun."
Applejack stared flatly at Pinkie. "What?"
"You wouldn't get it." Pinkie dismissively waved a hoof at her, then plucked up a tall glass from the counter and sipped its contents.
Applejack sighed and rolled her eyes, picked up a squishy cube from the counter, tossed it up and had it land in her mouth. She chewed on it thoughtfully for a few seconds, then swallowed. "Well, anyway, what now?"
"We party, 'Jack." Pinkie downed the full contents of the glass, advertised as a milkshake but mostly consisting of foam that tasted like it was from the milkshake, but didn't quite feel like it. Then she tossed the glass aside, for Gummy to frantically run after it and catch it just in time before it could fall to the ground and shatter like Twilight during a panic attack. Pinkie specifically thought of that last part. "We're back, on full air time, unshackled and free from all restrictions! This calls for a celebration." She tapped the counter she was leaning against with one of her hind hooves. Confetti shot out from the corners of the room, and a plate emerged next to her from the counter itself, whereupon a cupcake was deposited from the ceiling.
Applejack wordlessly grumbled to herself. "This is no time to party, Pink'. The world is still ending out there." Regardless, she did tap the counter with her hoof as well, and gladly bit into the cupcake that was similarly deposited there for her. "You saw what just happened there. Imagine if something like that happens here too!"
"Read." Pinkie bit into her cupcake.
"Same difference." Applejack finished her treat. "We're well past half the runtime and we've only done setup. Are we actually going to do something?"
Pinkie laughed briefly. "You silly filly, have you not learned not to invoke timing?"
Before Applejack could speak again, the door opened and Twilight and Rarity walked inside. "What's going on in here?" the former asked.
"Some kind of party?" asked Rarity, then she seized up. "I'm not ready! Why didn't anyone tell me there was going to be a party?" she whined.
"So what's the cause for celebration?" Twilight got up to the counter on Applejack's unoccupied side, tapped the base of it, and was greeted with her own cupcake.
"Oh, nothing much." Pinkie shrugged. "The impending apocalypse and that stuff."
"I see." Twilight bit into her cupcake. "Business as usual then. Can I have a milkshake?"
Pinkie nodded, and Gummy, dressed as a bartender, slid an appropriately filled glass down the counter for Twilight to catch it.
Rarity also walked up, next to Pinkie instead. She turned around and leaned into the counter with her back, and began to apply lipstick to herself aided with a pocket mirror. The source of the mirror was unclear, as she had no pockets, due to having no clothes on at all. "So how about those new chapters, Twilight? The story is finally tying itself together, isn't it?"
"If by that you mean plodding along for dozens of thousands of words on a single event while still leaving everything else up in the air, then sure."
The machine outside loudly creaked.