//------------------------------// // The Cherry Incident // Story: The Silanos // by Kama and Hallie //------------------------------// Sugarcube Corner was having quite a few customers today, both ponies and humans, and Pinkie Pie was serving all of them with excitement and a smile on her face. Not too many humans have moved into Ponyville compared to somewhere like Canterlot, but despite that, business has been booming since humans have moved here. Sugarcube Corner seemed to be very popular for a lot of the humans who moved or travelled to Ponyville, many even declaring Sugarcube Corner as their favorite bakery now, and now become regular customers, which Pinkie was more than happy to see. Some of the humans who moved to Ponyville have even started either helping around in different jobs around the town, or even started their own jobs and businesses. One of the notable ones Pinkie can think of is a new restaurant called "Giovanni's", which served food from a country on Earth called Italy, and Pinkie was surprised to see the food wasn't entirely different than food around Equestria like spaghetti and pizza. Around the restaurant, there were even small stores owned by it which sold other Italian products like olive oil, wine, pasta, and cheese. Pinkie has eaten there a couple of times, and she had to say, the food there was actually pretty darn good, she had at least four servings of spaghetti on her first time there. The weird thing was, Pinkie has never met the actual owners of the restaurants and stores, who the employees said were often away, which was a shame since Pinkie really wanted to throw them a welcome party for them. Oh well, she made sure to make a mental checklist to properly greet them when she saw them. Today was a particularly special day in Sugarcube Corner, as they have just recieved a very large order of cherries, and Pinkie was excited to put them on top of every cake in the bakery, even the cookies. Pinkie was satisfied seeing the result of her work, all the cakes and pastries were officially cherry-decorated, which she thought really gave them a special touch that really completed them. She couldn't really decide why, maybe it's the dash of color, but she was really excited to serve these, even putting up a "Special Cherry Day" sign in front. So far, everything about this day was going smoothly and perfectly normal. Customers were lining up, enjoying their food, and they and Pinkie were all happy. Pinkie took care of the cashier and the oven, while Mr and Mrs. Cake were in the kitchen. Then, a very unusual customer came up to the counter. This one was a young human male, except he looked and dressed very femininely, all in white and pink, except for his heeled shoes which were black over his white long socks. The young man was fairly small as adult human males came, and had a very thin build. He had hair that was dyed white, while the tips were dyed pink. His face was oval-shaped, and he had thick eyelashes, and he wore a white crop top as well as a pink mini skirt. "Hi, there! What can I get you today?" Pinkie asked in her usual happy voice. "Well, I'll have one of those cupcakes and chocolate-chip cookies, my dad'll have the tiramisu, and my brother wants the banana cake," the feminine-looking young man said. He then turned from the display counter and observed Pinkie. "I really like your hair, by the way, maybe I can try doing mine like that," he said with a smile. "You like my mane? Aw, thanks! I like yours too!" Pinkie said back with a smile as well. "Thanks, I did it myself. Excuse me for asking, but you're Pinkie Pie, aren't you?" the young man asked. "Yup, that's me!" "Yeah, I saw you on TV with Princess Twilight Sparkle! Y'know, I actually really admire you. God knows our world needs more parties and laughter." "Aw, shucks. I just like making others smile! And I hope our pastries can do that." "I'm sure they will. Thanks!" the young man said as he walked away back to his table. "Thank you too! Enjoy your meal!" Pinkie waved at him. Pinkie never took her eyes off the young man as he walked back to his table, even while she served the next customers. She saw him arrive at his table, and there was someone else sitting with him. Sitting across from the feminine young man was a much older man, probably middle-aged, that Pinkie guessed from his order might be his father. Pinkie was quite perplexed by just how different the father and son looked. While the son was a small thin feminine figure dressed in bright colors, his father was a very large-built man, with a very square-shaped torso, wearing a hat and fancy striped suit that had a little red flower pinned on it. The father had a very round face as well, with a large nose, squinted eyes, wrinkles, and having a double-chin, barely having a visible neck, and under his hat was greasy black slickback hair that was greying, with several white streaks showing. As Pinkie continued serving the customers, she decided to eavesdrop on them from the counter. "Here ya go, Dad," the young man set down their orders on the table. "Damn, they really put cherries on everythin'?" the father asked, who Pinkie noticed had an accent that for some reason the son didn't have. "Well, it is 'Special Cherry Day', after all. Here's your tiramisu," the son set his father's order in front of him. "But when we have our "Special Pasta Day", we don't put pasta on everythin', do we? I mean, look at that, cherry on a chocolate-chip cookie? Whose stupid idea was that?" the father said, which kinda took Pinkie aback a bit. "Alright, Dad. Just eat your cake." "Hope the cake here is as good as ev'ryone says it is. Maybe I'll eat the cherry first," the father said as he picked the cherry off the tiramisu and ate it. Suddenly, the doors to the bakery slammed open as three fillies came in, revealed to be the Cutie Mark Crusaders. "Hey, Pinkie Pie!" the three of them shouted, startling everyone in the bakery, including the father who was eating his cherry. The large man in the striped suit suddenly held a hand to his neck and gasped for air, getting up from his seat and looking as if he was trying to spit something out. "Dad?! Oh my god, he's choking! Someone do the Heimlich Maneuver! He's too big for me!" the son cried out in distress as his father began gasping for air even more. "Gabe! Vincenzo! Where the hell are you guys?! Get in here! Dad's in danger!" the son shouted out the door of the bakery. Pinkie Pie realized what was happening, and gasped. "A cherry emergency! Don't worry, sir! Pinkie Pie to the rescue!" she declared as she put down her tray and took off her apron, jumping out from behind the counter. Pinkie then jumped onto the man's back and wrapped her hooves around his midriff like two rubberhoses and squeezed as hard as she could, causing the man to spit out the cherry pit stuck in his throat with such force that it shot out all the way to the counter and whizzed past Mr. Cake's head and stuck itself in the wall. The man coughed and finally began gasping in air, and after a moment he finally restored enough air in himself to form words again. "Marone! That was a close call! I think I almost saw grandpa back there," he said before he turned to look at Pinkie Pie, who has let go of him. "Why yous doin' this favor fa me?" "Well, I couldn't just stand there and let a customer choke in my bakery, could I?" Pinkie said with a friendly smile. "Ya mean ya work in this bakery?" "Yup!" "Good thing fa you too, 'cause if ya weren't I woulda considered suin' the hell outta this place," the father said. "C'mon, Dad. She just saved your life!" the son said, happy to see his father safe. "I know, son. Don't worry, I won't give trouble ta someone who jus' so selflessly saved my life. I owe you a lot, kid." Two other men then ran into the bakery. One of them was fairly young in age, only being a few years older than the man's son, and he had a big nose, greasy black hair, and wore an unbuttoned yellowish brown shirt over his white undershirt where Pinkie could also see he had a gold chain necklace. The other man was a lot older, being of similar build and shape as the father, though he was more fat than just naturally large like the father, and was probably at least a decade younger. He had tanner skin compared to the other three men, he a double chin just like the father, wore a buttoned-up dark purplish-brown shirt, and even had greasy black hair and wore a gold chain necklace like the other young man. "What's goin' on 'ere?! Is everythin' alright?!" the young man asked, having the same accent as the father. "Where the hell were you guys?! Dad almost died back there and I couldn't see you guys anywhere!" the son yelled at the two men who came in. "I told ya, we was on a smoke break outside! It ain't my fault!" the young man retorted. The son then shifted his attention to the three fillies who caused the incident in the first place, whose ears were all drooping in shame. "You kids! My dad could've just died! Do none of you know how to not cause trouble?!" "We're sorry..." the Crusaders whimpered, recoiling in fear. The father then put a hand on the shoulders of the two young men. "Kids, kids, please. I'm perfectly fine now. 'Sides, they's just children, they don't know no betta'. Ya should all be thankin' this little pink horse. What's ya name, horse?" he asked. "I'm Pinkie Pie! Nice to meet you!" Pinkie greeted. "Remember her, Dad? She's one of the five ponies alongside Princess Twilight that we saw on TV!" the feminine young man said. "Really? Well, it's an honor ta meet ya. Ya mus' be a pretty powaful figure," the father said with a smile. "'Powerful figure'? Oh, silly. I'm not powerful. Sure, I'm friends with Twilight who's now ruler of all Equestria and I'm on the Council of Friendship, but other than that I'm just regular ol' Pinkie Pie." "'Council o' Friendship'? What tha hell do ya even do there? Is that jus' some get-togetha' fa famous people or somethin'?" Gabriele asked. "No, well, sort of. Anyway, what's your name?" Pinkie asked the man this time. "Roberto Giovanni Silano, but ya can jus' call me Mr. Silano." the man greeted himself before gesturing to the other three around him, first to the black-haired young man. "This is my son, Gabriele." "Ay, how ya doin'?" Gabriele greeted. Mr. Silano then gestured to his other son, the feminine-looking young man. "This is my younger son, Ainsley." "Happy to meet you!" Ainsley greeted with a cheery attitude. Gabriele then spoke up. "Somethin' ya should know about Ainsley 'ere is he's, uh...he's a little off to the side, y'know? He's...foofy. Up to the knuckle. An' he likes to dress up as the other team." "Huh?" Pinkie said, not understanding a word Gabriele just said. "Gabe, Mom's not around. You don't need to use confusing descriptions about me." Ainsley said, looking frustrated at his brother. "Well, Dad's around." Gabriele retorted. "Dad's fine with it now, remember?" "Eh...'fine' is kind of a strong word." Mr. Silano said. "Dad! You know what? Let me just say it myself, because I'm not ashamed of it! I am a femboy and I like sleeping with men! There! See? Easy!" Ainsley declared, before realizing he's now getting stared at by everyone in the bakery. "What are you all looking at? You gotta problem with it?!" he shouted, which made everyone stop staring and went back to minding their own business. Silano took a deep breath before continuing, now gesturing to the older man. "Anyway...and this is my most trusted henchman, Vincenzo De Luca." "Hey there." Vincezo greeted plainly. "Vincenzo De Luca?" Pinkie asked. "Well, I'm not actually the Vincenzo De Luca, I'm jus' someone who also happens to be named Vincenzo De Luca." "Who?" Pinkie asked again. "Ya know, Italian politician? Eh, neva mind, fahgettaboudit." Vincezo said. "I've never seen you guys around Ponyville. What do you do?" Pinkie asked them. Mr. Silano answered while taking out a cigar from his coat pocket and lighting it. "Well, I'm a businessman, an' I run...several businesses. But my main one is that Italian restaurant named 'Giovanni's', as well as the other Italian stores. We actually 'ave that restaurant in a lotta places, back on Earth, an' even on Canterlot." Pinkie then gasped in shock. "You're the owners of that restaurant?! Oh, I've been wanting to meet you for so long! YouseeI'vebeengoingtothatrestaurantacoupleoftimesandthefoodwassodeliciousandIthoughtIjusthadtothrowawelcomepartyforyoubecauseIalwaysthrowasurprisewelcomepartytonewcomersinPonyvillebutforsomereasonIcouldneverseeyouanywheresoIjusthadtowaitforyoutoshowupandnowyou'refinallyhereandIcanffinallythrowthatsurprisepa-!" "Shut up!" Mr. Silano suddenly shouted, causing Pinkie to go quiet immediately. "Sorry, but please just say one thing at a time." "Oh, yeah, yeah, sorry." Pinkie chuckled. "I was just saying, how come I never see you around?" "I'm a very busy man, Pinkie. Like I says, I run several businesses, some o' whcih involve gettin' outta Ponyville." Mr. Silano answered. "Ah, okay. Your restaurant, 'Giovanni's', is that named after you?" Pinkie asked again. "No, it was actually named after my grandfather, Giovanni Silano, who immigrated to America from Sicily in the early 1900s, an' he opened up his own Italian restaurant in New York, an' even opened up several stores sellin' stuff like olive oil an' wine. He was the firs' Silano ta come to America, now I'm the firs' Silano ta come an' open up a restaurant in another world! If only he could see me now!" "Aw, that's so nice." Pinkie smiled. "So ya see, I've been thinkin'. As repayment for ya savin' my life, how about we help each other's businesses out? I can help earn ya more money for this bakery from my large restaurant chains, an' you can let us sell ya pastries an' cakes as dessert fa our restaurants? How's that sound?" Pinkie gasped again. "Would I?" Pinkie turned to Mr. and Mrs. Cake, who have been standing behind her the whole time. "Mrs. Cake! Mr. Cake! Can we?" "Well...I suppose it wouldn't hurt." Mrs. Cake answered hesitantly. "Yipee! It's a deal!" Pinkie excitedly shook her hoof with Mr. Silano's hand. "An' who knows? Maybe in the future, we can even start helpin' each other do...special jobs, y'know?" Mr. Silano winked with his squinted eyes. "Ooh! I love special jobs! Sure!" Gabriele then cleared his throat, bringing all the attention to him. "Look, pops, it's nice you an' Pinks over 'ere are gettin' along, but can we talk about the whole 'you almos' dyin' thing'?" "What about it?" Roberto asked. "Don'tcha think it's kinda odd that the timing in which it happened is pretty conveniant? Y'know, this bein' a cherry day, happenin' right on me an' Vincenzo's smoke break schedule, an' the fillies comin' in at the right time after school is over?" Gabriele said. "C'mon, guys. It's obviously just an accident. Accidents happen. Not everything is an assassination attempt." Ainsley said. "In my line o' work, son, you can never be too careful. Anythin' can be an assassination attempt." Roberto said to his son. "Someone's trying to hurt you?! Why?!" Pinkie gasped in disbelief. "If there's one thing ya learn as a businessman, Pinkie, is that business can be very dangerous." Mr. Silano answered. "You know, I was going to throw you special Pinkie Pie welcome party, but now I think I'll need to put on...a Pinkie Pie welcome investigation!" Pinkie said in a mysterious tone. "Yeah, sure." Roberto said, mostly just confused. "Think, Mr. Silano! Who would want to wish you harm?!" "Well, that'd be a pretty long list ta go over, but there is one that springs to mind. A certain client involved in our recently opened horse-racin'...or I guess here it's just racin', who is a little late on his due payment." "Who could that be?" "Ya don't need ta get involved, Pinkie. But lemme ask ya, 'cause this could be another lead, who sends in the cherries?" "Well, they're sent in from Cherry Hills at Dodge Junction. I hear there's a human from Ponyville who freelances there named Leroy!" "Leroy, huh?" Mr. Silano rubbed his chin while his cigar was in his mouth. "What a damn coincidence, I was jus' thinkin' o' the same guy! Guess we gots ta pay 'im a visit now, boys." "See ya 'round, Pinks." Gabriele said as the four men exited the bakery. "Come back soon!" Pinkie shouted. As the Silanos along with De Luca walked down the street, Ainsley then spoke up to his father. "Look at that, Dad. You just became good friends with one of the most important ponies in the land, and friend to the Princess herself!" "Friendship is good fa business. It makes it stronger and thrives more. An' y'know? Considerin' that pink horse is one o' the Princess's closest friends, it seems we mighta jus' gotten a bit o'...political influence. That sounds like it could help us a lot. Maybe later on, we should pay a visit ta the otha friends o' the Princess." Roberto suggested. "Sounds good ta me, pops!" Gabriele exclaimed in agreement, with excitement written all over his face. The Silanos laughed with each other as they walked down the street, planning their next move.