//------------------------------// // Time to get Serious! // Story: Switchy Pie // by AleximusPrime //------------------------------// CHAPTER 1 - Time to get Serious! Later that afternoon, the Corner was closing as all the workers were heading out for home. Several of the workers were already talking about what Pinkie had done earlier. “Gosh, that Pinkie Pie is just so unbearable!” said one of the workers to her friends. “I know, just when is she gonna get it through her head that she needs to stop eating all the sweets in there!” said another. “She’d better cut it out before she gets fired or something!” “Do you think Mr. and Mrs. Cake will do that?” “Well, what would you do to her?” Inside the shop, Pinkie and Peachy were still cleaning up their worktable. Pinkie had just finished remaking the wedding cake she ruined a few hours ago. She had a muzzle on her face. “Ok, Sis, you ready to take that muzzle off?” Peachy asked her sister. “Mfffff hmmmmm!” she said with a muffled voice as her sister started undoing the muzzle. “I knew that muzzle would keep me from eating the next cake! Hehehe!” “Pinkie Pie…” said Mrs. Cake walking in with her husband by her side “Mr. Cake and I would like to have a talk with you before you leave to take your sister home.” “Okey dokey loki!” she said. “I’ll wait for ya outside, Sis.” said Peachy walking out the door. “So, what do you guys wanna talk about?” Pinkie asked her bosses. “Pinkie, this is a serious talk.” said Mr. Cake solemnly. “Oooooh, a serious talk!” she said making a serious face. “Look Pinkie, you know both Mr. Cake and I very much enjoy having you work here in Sugarcube Corner, and we have no intentions of making you leave…” “Uh huh…” Pinkie said listening. “But you have to understand, even though this is a very fun place to be, it’s not just all fun and games.” “WHAT?!?” Pinkie gasped “How can you say such a thing?! This is Sugarcube Corner!” “Pinkie, this is a business!” said Mr. Cake. “You don’t fool around in business, you must work, you must focus!” “But don’t I already do that?” “Of course, but you’re always so distracted and impolite. You eat the food which doesn’t belong to you to begin with and that’s gotta stop!” “But it’s so tasty!” “It also doesn’t belong to you. Now my wife and I do not wish to fire you. You’ve been like a daughter to us all these years so we won’t, but I’m telling you now, you really have to shape up! This is your job, and jobs aren’t always supposed to be fun you know. If you don’t shape up soon…….well, you’ll find things won’t get much easier for you. A pony must be responsible, that’s something you lack.” Pinkie listened to what Mr. Cake was saying and the look on her face made it clear she believed what he was saying but found it hard to accept. Pinkie hadn’t ever really thought this through; she always considered her job to be something she must enjoy. She always wanted to be happy and have fun and try to put smiles on others’ faces, but never quite thought about how it might make others angry or make her irresponsible. She started realizing, however, that Mr. Cake was right. “You can’t just be all happy and bubbly all the time, you gotta be responsible.” Mr. Cake continued. Just then Mrs. Cake made a fake coughing noise to get him to ease down on his lecture for she could tell Pinkie was starting to look a little hurt. “Honey, are you ok?” Mr. Cake asked his wife. “Um……what Mr. Cake here means to say is that you just need to take things more seriously from now on, ok? Think you can do that?” Mrs. Cake asked Pinkie nicely. “Well…..I guess so Mr. and Mrs. Cake.” Pinkie said gloomily. “Good.” Mr. Cake replied gladly. “I’d just like to see some improvement, and that will make everyone at Sugarcube Corner’s lives much easier.” “But I mean we still like you just the way you are Pinkie, you just need to wise up a bit.” Mrs. Cake added. “Ok…” Pinkie said walking out the door. “And we’ll see you on Thursday; have a nice day off tomorrow!” Pinkie walked out the door quietly not saying a word in response, just slowly letting the door close behind her. “You don’t think I was too hard on her at all, do you, Honey Bun?” Mr. Cake asked his wife. “I sure hope not…” Later, Pinkie Pie was walking her sister back to their parent’s house before she returned to her apartment up in Sugarcube Corner. “Wow, the Corner sure is awesome, Sissy Pie!” Peachy said excitedly. “The stuff they make there really is great and Mr. and Mrs. Cake are good bosses!” “Yeah, they sure are.” said Pinkie, her mind still on what the Cakes told her earlier. “Say, are you ok, Pinkie? You don’t look like yourself.” “Huh? Who, me? Oh I’m fine, really!” “You don’t seem to be. Was it something Mr. and Mrs. Cake said back there before we left?” “Yeah.” Pinkie sighed. “They were kinda mad at me for eating some of the food today and they want me to start taking things seriously. But I don’t get it, I’ve always been like this and nothing seemed to go wrong!” “Well, you kinda made a big mistake with that wedding cake you know. You probably shouldn’t eat the food and stuff.” “It’s not just that……I dunno why, but after hearing what they said, I can’t help but feel they’re right, I do need to start taking things seriously! Oh I wish right now I were a much better pony than I am.” “Aw, you’re fine, Sis, you can’t change who you are.” “But I could at least try to be more serious about things, but I can’t help it, I’m just too happy! But Mr. Cake is right, it’s a job and I should be a lot more responsible. I wish I could be very organized and dedicated like…like Twilight Sparkle.” “But you don’t even have a magic unicorn horn like her.” “Yeah, but I could at least take life seriously like she does.” Just then a shadow moved over them on the ground. They both looked up to see two white horses pulling a chariot of gold with Princess Celestia inside it. “Cool, it’s Princess Celestia!” shouted Peachy Pie. “I wonder what the Princess is doing in Ponyville today.” said Pinkie stroking her chin. The chariot was heading for the library that Twilight Sparkle resided in. It stopped in front and Princess Celestia dismounted and walked to the door. Pinkie and Peachy watched closely behind. The door then opened and Spike the dragon came out to greet her. “Princess Celestia, it’s an honor to have you here, My Lady!” Spike said with a bow. “Thank you, Spike. Now is Twilight Sparkle inside?” the royal mare asked. “I am Princess. Thank you for coming today.” said Twilight Sparkle stepping outside and bowing. “Are you ready to show me the magic spells you’ve learned since you were last in Canterlot, my student?” the Princess asked her. “I sure am, Your Majesty. I’ve learned much while you were gone and I’m ready to show you. This way please.” Twilight said leaving the door open for Celestia to go inside. After Celestia and Spike went in, Pinkie went over to Twilight to ask her a question. “Hey Twilight, is the library still open?” Pinkie asked. “Oh hey, Pinkie Pie. Yes, it’s open, but I’m gonna be a little busy. The Princess has decided to visit every now and then to see my progress with magic spells.” She explained. “Oh don’t worry, we won’t be in your way, I’m just looking for a book in there.” “But sis…” said Peachy, “you never said we were going to the libra-“ “SHHH!” Pinkie whispered. “I’ll tell you when we get inside” Later, Twilight Sparkle was showing Princess Celestia some various magic spells she had mastered. “And then this is the transforming spell here.” She said as she transformed a book that was on Spike’s head into a hat. “Very good, Twilight!” Celestia said. “Now have you learned the heat spell yet?” Meanwhile Pinkie was watching Twilight and the Princess and listening to them talking. Peachy was looking around in the library for the supposed book they had come for. “So uh, Sis, what book is it we’re looking for?” Peachy asked her sister. “Huh, what?” Pinkie said surprised. “You said you wanted to find a book in here, which book is it?” “Uh……it’s……it’s this one right here.” said Pinkie picking up a random book off of one of the shelves. “Pinkie, that says Advanced Marketing: a Pony’s Guide to a Better Understanding of the World of Business, now why the hay would you choose to read something like that?” “Uh……well……it kinda looked………interesting?” said Pinkie a little embarrassed. “You’re not looking for any books, are you…” said Peachy knowing that Pinkie was up to something else. “Oh alright, I give up. I’m watching and listening to Twilight and the princess. I wanna see how well Twilight does and how she’s treated by Celestia. “Why?” “Cuz I wanna see if maybe I can learn from her.” Peachy groaned. “Pinkie for the last time, you’re fine the way you are, you can’t be just like Twilight Sparkle!” “I just wanna learn a little, Peachy, I’m curious to know how it’s done…” “Well Twilight Sparkle, you’ve been doing very well with your studies on magic.” Celestia told her student. “You’ve grown to become a rather powerful unicorn, but there is still much for you to learn. As a result, I’m lending you this book.” She then used her magic to lift a book out of a bag she had brought in with her. It was a book that contained instructions for learning more advanced magic spells. “Oh thank you so much Princess!” Twilight exclaimed. “I promise I’ll take good care of it and learn all I can from it.” “You’re welcome, Twilight. Well, I guess I’d better be on my way. Thank you for letting me visit and I wish you luck with your studies.” “And thank you for the visit, Princess.” Spike then opened the door for Celestia and she left for her chariot. Twilight had almost forgotten that Pinkie and Peachy were still in the library. “Oh, Pinkie, I forgot you and your sister were here. So, what book is it you would like?” “Oh Pinkie doesn’t want any bo-“ “It’s this book right here!” said Pinkie interrupting her sister and pushing forward another random book that said Carpentry for Dummies. “Um……Pinkie, since when have you shown any interest in being a carpenter?” asked Spike coming in. “A carpenter?” Pinkie said not knowing what the book said yet. “Oh. Um……hehe, I dunno, it just……kinda, looks like something I’d be good at?” the giant grin on her face reaching from ear to ear and the sweat drops proved she was joking. “I guess then we can call you Woody Pie!” said Spike giggling while he was cleaning up some piles of books. “She doesn’t want any books, guys.” said Peachy. “Then what is it you DO want?” Twilight asked confused. “She thinks she isn’t serious enough and that you are so she wants to learn how to be more serious and all that stuff so she was watching you and Celestia and now I think she’s jealous.” said the orange little filly running her mouth. “Jealous?!? I am most certainly am NOT jealous, I’m……envious…” “Pink with envy, I knew it, hehe!” said Spike reiterating a past remark. “Envious? Pinkie, what’s wrong?” Twilight asked Pinkie concerned. “Oh I dunno, Mr. and Mrs. Cake were kinda mad at me at work today cuz I ate too much of the important treats and they said I need to take life more seriously and I think they’re right Twilight.” Pinkie explained. “Well…I mean……they ARE right if you think about it.” Twilight replied. “Exactly, even you admit it! I haven’t ever felt this feeling before, but I really feel I gotta change!” “I think the cake mix got to her head, Twilight, she’ll be fine later on.” said Peachy sarcastically. “No, Sissy Pie, I’m serious…...er, I mean I’m not serious but I wanna be……er, I mean I’m not serious personality-wise, but I’m serious about me not being serious personality-wise and this is serious business, SERIOUSLY!!!” “Ok, ok, Pinkie, calm down!” said Twilight. “Now, what do you want me to do to help you with this?” “Well, I mean, you’re a very smart and organized pony, maybe you could teach me some things.” “Well, Pinkie, you can’t just change your personality and neither can I. You are who you are.” “Yeah, but I just wanna make a good impression on my peers. I don’t wanna get fired or something!” “Pinkie I doubt the Cakes will fire you. You throw the best parties in town and you’re their hardest worker! They know that if they do that their business wouldn’t do too good without you; that would be a huge opportunity cost. Some ponies might boycott them or something.” “Where did you learn all that?” Peachy asked Twilight. “Oh, I overlooked some things in this book a while ago.” Twilight replied lifting the same random marketing book that Pinkie picked earlier. “GRRRRRR! I should know that kinda stuff too, maybe I really should get that book after all!” said Pinkie frustrated. “Pinkie, I think you’re taking this a bit too seriously……er, I mean, not that you take things seriously, but what I am trying to say is that you’re overreacting about this whole situation. Just be thankful for who you are!” Twilight advised as she went back to her table that she left her new spell book on. “But I just can’t Twilight, I dunno why!” said Pinkie walking around with her head lowered. “I just wish I could know what it would at least be like. You know, spend a little time being all ‘serious bu-derious’ and smart and well-rounded like you. If only there was like some magic spell or something that could……HEY, THAT’S IT!! Twilight, you could use a spell on me and change my personality!!” “WHAT?!” Twilight gasped. “Whoa, whoa, hold on a second Pinkie. Do you have any idea how unethical and difficult that is?!?” “Not to mention crazy! I don’t think I’ve ever heard of a spell like that before!” said Spike. “Oh come on Twilight, I’m sure your new book must have something like that in it!” Pinkie said eagerly. Twilight started flipping pages through her new spell book. “Pinkie, I guarantee you, there is no such spell as……wait…” she then came to a page that seemed helpful “The mind-changing spell?” it appeared Twilight and Spike were wrong after all. “YUUUUUS! Use it on me Twilight, use it on me! Pleeeeeeease?!?” Pinkie said jumping for joy. “Now hold on a minute, Pinkie. It reads “This spell is a very advanced spell that requires much focus and a higher understanding of the element of magic. It is rarely used and only used for things like acting, mind-control, or any other specific reasons but is not recommended for practical magic users. If not performed correctly, side effects may include headaches, nausea, dry skin, drowsiness, irritability, constipation, and an extremely stuffy nose. If you do not want to become a mucus-cannon, we advise that you not take this spell.” “Sounds fun, let’s do it!” “There’s one more thing: the effect can only last up to one day.” “Perfect!” “But Pinkie, do you really think this is necessary?” “Yeah, Sis, I don’t want you to change!” Peachy exclaimed. “Oh come on you guys, it’s only one day! I’m sure that after it’s worn off, I’ll have learned how to take things seriously after just one day. It’ll be good practice!” “Well, that’s true…” Peachy said. “But Pinkie, I don’t even know how to use this spell, I haven’t even practiced yet.” Twilight said trying her best to get Pinkie to reconsider. “Then you just let me know when you’re ready. I have tomorrow off, so if you start now, we could try it out tomorrow at this time!” “Well…….if I could study this spell for just about one day, maybe I could learn it even if it is a pretty high level I’m not typically used to working with.” “So you’ll do it?” After a long pause, she gave her answer, “Alright fine. But just to get you off my back and let you know that if your personality changes, it won’t be good for your self-image.” “Okey dokey loki!” said Pinkie excitedly. “Come on Sis, time to go home! Lalala!” she then skipped over to the door with her sister who had a somewhat worried look on her face. “Oh Spike, what have I gotten myself into?” Twilight asked her little dragon companion. “Eh, you’ll be fine, Twilight. You’ve used pretty powerful spells in the past, I’m sure this’ll just be a walk in the park.” Spike encouraged her. “Here, I’ll help you with it and I’ll let you use it on me for a period of a few minutes or something.” “Well, alright, so long as this thing can’t change anyone permanently. I’d hate to change Pinkie Pie’s personality forever. I like Pinkie just the way she is, even if she is a bit annoying and air-headed, that’s just Pinkie Pie for ya.” “Well, I agree, but like you said, hopefully this’ll show her who she REALLY needs to be inside. Hopefully she’ll learn her lesson.” “I guess you’re right Spike. Now, first things first: can you go look for any other books in here that might tell more about this spell? I want to make sure I know a lot about it before I use it…” Later the Pie sisters stopped for some ice cream before Pinkie dropped Peachy off at her parents’ house. “Sis, do you really think this is a good idea?” Peachy asked her sister. “Of course, Peachy! Since when is ice cream a bad idea?” Pinkie replied. “No, I mean the whole personality switch thing you’re having Twilight do to you!” “Oh, that. Sure it is! I’ll be easier to handle before you know it tomorrow!” “But you already are easy to handle! I don’t see why you gotta change yourself; I already like you the way you are!” “This is only for one day, no longer, Peachy. Everything will be fine, and I’m sure it’ll make my job easier.” “What if it doesn’t last a day though? What if Twilight makes some mistake and it lasts longer, maybe even forever?! “Oh Peachy, this is Twilight we’re talking about, she’s amazing with her magic. We have nothing to worry about at all!” “Well if it doesn’t even last longer than a day, what’s the point of it really?” “To get me used to being all serious bu-derious, Peachy. Then I’ll never get scolded by Mr. and Mrs. Cake again!” “Well, if you say so, but I really don’t see what good a magic spell will do…” “It’ll all be over before ya know it, Little Sis.” Pinkie said patting her sister on the head. “And the Cakes will be proud! Twilight’s spell will teach me well!” “I sure hope so…” said Peachy dismally. “I wouldn’t want you to be like how you said our family was before I was born on that rock farm back then. I’m sure glad I was born after that time, a rock farm sounds boring!” “Oh don’t worry, it won’t be that bad! Besides, everypony in our family is happy and joyful now because of me, they’d let me know when I get too serious.” “Well, that’s true. Just letting you know ahead of time, I’ve got my eyes on you, Sis, I won’t let you go too far with it ok?” “Okey dokey loki!” Pinkie said happily. “Oh, and another thing, promise you won’t tell Mom and Dad about this, ok?” “Okay.” “Now, let’s delve into this mountain of unending sugary sweetness!” she then plopped her face into the huge decked-out banana split she had ordered splashing some ice cream on her sister’s face by accident. “Maybe it won’t be too bad having her not like this for a day…” Peachy sighed sarcastically. TO BE CONTINUED...