//------------------------------// // Chapter 9: The Baker, Pink and Annoying // Story: Last of the Elders // by tubeku //------------------------------// “AAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHANEWPONYINTOWN,OHMYGOSHIMSOEXCITED.WHEREAREYOUFROM,HOW’DYOUGETHERE,ANDMOSTIMPORTANTLYWHENAMIMTHROWINGYOURWELCOMETOPONYVILLEPARTY!?!?!?!?!?!” “I take it you’re the baker?” Aphirion responded in a monotone voice. “Why oh why did the baker have to be this sugar induced pink pony with confetti cannons going off in my face. What happen to the old fashion bakers who just made bread?” He thought. “YES SIRIE I AM A BAKER OF DELICIOUS CAKE, CUPCAKES AND ANYTHING ELSE THAT IS PARTY RELATED,” the sugar fueled pony cried out in glee, “SAY, when am I going to throw you a party? How bout right now!” Pulling several ropes at once, hundreds of balloons fell from nowhere and hidden banners rolled down from between the rafters. Confetti filled the room thicker than there was air; Party hats seemed to appear out of thin air as well. Multicolor cupcakes and large triple layered cakes littered the tables and shelves of the bakery. But what really set off the environment was the large, blue tinted, cannon that was being wielded by a pink, smiling ear to ear, laughing pony. Slamming her hoof down on the wick, the cannon exploded with dozens of globs of cake mixture. “OOPS I DID IT AGAIN, I put the confetti in the oven and the mixture in my PARTY CANNON. Vinyl’s cannon got nothing on mine. Like there was this one time were she like totally said hers was better but seriously how can wubs beat confetti? I mean is she loco?” “Oh, my gosh. When will she ever stop?” “And then Octavia just had to get involved and then out of nowhere, Vinyl blasted her with her bass cannon. I don’t think she was able to hear for over a full month. But Twilight always says to use hearing protection whenever I go to her concerts but I usually just stuff cupcakes in my ears, I mean who doesn’t love the sound of cupcakes. HUUUUUUUUUH WE SHOULD TOTALLY MAKE CUPCAKES. THAT SOUNDS LIKE SO MUCH FUN!!” “If there is a divine being, please make me go deaf or smash my head in so I can escape this thing” “Do you like to do fun things? I can think of a load of fun things we can do, we can go swimming, running, hiking, mountain climbing, sword fighting, flying, zip lining, canoeing, baking, cooking, drawing, writing, painting, sculpting, building, destroying, jumping, falling, skydiving, parachuting,.......” “MAKE IT STOP, OH MAKE IT STOP!!!” “Hey, you’re being really quiet and why are you covered in cake batter. Oh yeah that rights. My bad.... so um I’m guessing that you want me to bake you something” she finally asked. Silence filled the room, sweet lustful silence. Aphirion wiped the mixture from his ears and eyes before talking. A lot of self restraint was being exerted from him at the moment and he really didn’t want to snap on such a cheerful pony. “Yes I would like four loaves of bread, two of them sweet bread, one white, and the other one wheat.” He said through grinding teeth, “how long do you think that will take to bake.” “Oh silly, they’re already baked. Right here in this oven. I just had a feeling that this might happen today so I’ve been baking lots and lots of bread and guess what. You show up and you want fresh bread, well mister you’re about to get the most freshest bread in all of Equestria. TAAAADAAAA BEHOLD PINKIE PIE’S MASTER- BREAD-PIECE!!!!!!” Pulling the oven door down, she swiped four loaves of bread out of the oven and placed them on the table. Aphirion stared at the bread, seeing that they had just been baked but were already sliced. He figured it was better not to ask. The crust did look delicious. A light golden brown with a glaze spread evenly across the top. He was about to ask how much the food cost but he realized that this crazy, sugar fuel, beyond hyper pony knew Twilight. “Excuse me, you mentioned Twilight, Twilight Sparkle yes? Do you know her?” He asked. “Well duh. She like my bestest friend in the whole world. Why do you ask?” “This may sound crazy but I was wondering what she liked to eat...” “OOOOOHHHHHHH you thinking of asking her out on a date are you, well Pinkie Pie here can help you two love birds.” “Did she just say date? No I’m not asking her out on a date. What madness is this?” “...Daisy sandwiches, dandelion subs, white and red rose pasta. Apple pie, apple fritter, Carmel apple, raisin oatmeal cookies, No-Bake-Cookies, vanilla cake but chocolate cupcakes. I will never understand that girl. Oh and if you really want to get to her heart, she loves Picotee Begonia’s.” Pinkie said with an obvious and slow wink. “Thanks, Pinkie was it?” Aphirion said, “How much for the bread?” “Two bits for the future happy couple.” Reaching into his coin purse, Aphirion pulled out the two bits. Placing them on the counter, Pinkie tossed the bread loaves into a bag and threw it onto the unicorn. Giving her a thankful nod, Aphirion exited the building before she could throw more confetti on him. Marching down the street, covered in cake batter, he continued his search for food. He found bustles of flowers at several of the stalls, grabbed multiple boxes of pasta noodles with dandelion butter sauce, a bag of apples from a sweet orange mare with a strange accent from what he was use to, and finally he bought various vegetables and fruits from the last market stall. His back slouching from the weight of all the food, he started heading back towards the library. The sun was barely past its pinnacle so he knew that twilight might still be asleep. Picking up his pace to a quick jog, Aphirion saw a flower stand in front of an old greenhouse. His mind thinking of Twilight, he turned around and went over to the stand. A beautiful mare with a violet mane, peach fur and emerald eyes was tending to the vast garden behind the stall. Humming blissfully to herself, she picked small weeds around the flowers stems and threw them into a pail bucket. “Oh my, I apologize. I didn’t see you there.” She said in a sweet airy voice, “is there anything you were looking for in particular?” “Yes, I was hoping you had Picotee Begonia’s or a flower similar?” The mare blushed and turned away from him. “That’s a very beautiful flower; stallions usually only look for those when they are ready to settle down. So may I ask who the lucky mare is?” “I’m not settling down yet Miss, I just want to do something special for a friend of mine.” “Oh well isn’t that sweet of you. I just happen to have a few in the back. One moment and I’ll bring it out to you.” Aphirion flexed his shoulders, trying to shift some of the weight higher up his back. The mare had disappeared for a few minutes and he was left there blushing deeply, not knowing why. He was just buying flowers for a mare he was charged to protect, nothing wrong with that. It wasn’t like he had feelings for her, but in the back of his mind he knew that that was wrong. There was something there that he couldn’t place or figure out. Why, after all of the females that he had met in his life, why did she affect his heart so much? Besides last night’s talk, he really didn’t know anything about the violet unicorn except that she had exceptional power, was the star student of the Sun Princess, and incredibly beautiful. “No, No, I can’t fall for her. It’s unprofessional of me. Then why do I want to be next to her so much? I don’t even want to do anything. I just want to be near her.” “Excuse me, Sir?” Aphirion snapped back into reality and saw that the gardener was waving her hoof in front of his face. “I’m here Ma’am; I hope that you were able to find the flower alright.” He responded to her waves. “Yes I was and while I’m saddened to part with a flower like this, I know that it will bring happiness to another.” She stifled a tear. “Don’t worry, you’ll find your special pony someday. We all do.” He said while putting a sympathetic hoof on her shoulder.