//------------------------------// // 1: Cake-rocks, Cloaks, and Crazy Children // Story: Speaker for the Silent // by NekroPony //------------------------------// Applejack rolls her eyes "Pinkie, I'm telling yah, someone has been working my orchards, every morning for a week we've come out to find half the work done with the buckets all full. Are you sure you don't know anybody who could be messing with the apple family? I mean it's not the first time it's happened, but I wish I knew who was messing with me." "Nope, I don't, so their aren't any, maybe you apples just picked themselves. Or some animal, maybe some chipmunks are moving! I bet Fluttershy would know." Pinkie says as she bounces around sugarcube corner like a giant pink rubber ball. Applejack sighs, and turns to leave, "Just need to figure out what to do with the rest of my day then." she murmers to herself. Moments after she leaves something stops Pinkie dead, a little hoof pressing her as the little Sweetie Belle pokes pinkie. The little filly whines "Why are you making me bake, I already know my cutie mark isn't in baking and you didn't even make my friends come." "I throwing Twilight a surprise party (Don't tell anyone it's a secret) and I wanted to make a big special cake for her. I was going to get rarity to do the magic I need (It's a doozy cake with levetating bits that I need spells for) but she said that she was going to be up making a dress for Princess Luna (Though my cakes more important it was quite pretty, and totally gonna get her brownie points in canterlot) When the Brownie points are cooked we can eat them and invite Rainbow for the dash... Silly Filly you can't eat brownie points, I just need your magic to do the levitation spells on the cake." says the bouncing pink mare, giving a list to the little filly of things she would need to enchant. Sweetie Belle sighs and gives up, the fourth explanation from pinkie being just as disjointed as the first two, so she get's to work, from what she can tell Pinkies carefully sculpted the cake into a host of little floating islands, and she needs to put a different levitation spell on each to make them float at different heights, if it hadn't been for Twilights endless lessons she would never have a hope of doing it. She's just in the middle of the fourth little cake rock, an elegantly carved statue of her sister standing fabulously atop it, when the little bell above the door rings, signaling a new arrival. Bored with the incredibly intricate work she peeks past the cake to see who is visiting the bakery now. It;s a little hard because the new arrival comes in cloaked, it takes a moment before she manages to peek under the hood, noting from the tiny path of fur visible that the newcomer is a grey mare. The mare walks to the counter and waits, Sweetie notices that the mare fidgets and moves obviously burdened by the heavy cloak, an odd choice for the warm summer day outside. Pinkie is at the counter in a flash, despite Sweetie actively looking at the area, the does not witness the crazy pink mare moving through the intervening space. Predictably the first words out of her mouth are "I haven's seen you before, I'm gonna throw you a welcome to Ponyville party!" The mare seems to almost ignore her stating simply "I'd like a cake please, chocolate, with cherry filling, iced with the words 'Happy Birthday to me.' how soon can you have it ready, I have to leave pretty much within the hour." Her reactions surprised the little filly, most of the time the pony's that Pinkie intercepted were either screaming at this point, or accepting the inevitability... and this one just attempted to delay it, she puts down the little cake rock and watches the two adults.. As it turns out Pinkie seems taken aback not sure how to react to this as she exclaims "What about your party!" "Next time" the grey mare answers "I have to get back, today was only an hour long excursion to this town anyways. I'll be back for longer another day." and while that seems to placate Pinkie, Sweetie Belle can tell that the mare has no intention of ever returning from the way she glances over her shoulder, almost eager to leave. As pinkie goes to work rushing to make the cake Sweetie finished up her current step and then takes a break walking closer to the mare to take a closer looks at her and maybe talk to her. The mares mind seems to be elsewhere, she completely misses the little filly approaching her, from here Sweetie can see a little under the cloak and see barely can make up the pretty mare's horn. Peeking she notes that the mare even appear to be wearing stuff beneath the cloak, as if it alone isn't hot enough. With a sigh the filly attracts the mare attention to her as she says "Hi I'm Sweetie Belle, So who are you? and if your new to Ponyville why are you leaving already, do you not like it here?" she makes sure to put in a little sob and a whine, just as Rarity showed her, hopefully enough to squeeze something interesting out of the stranger. The mare looks at her in surprise, as if she is not sure what to do about a whining little filly, she starts to automatically say her name, but curts out after she's already bleated out the first part "Serene V..., I only came to get a birthday cake, I heard that Sugercube Corner made the best, and I thought I would treat myself, but despite how nice this town is I must continue on my journey, not because I don't like it here." The little filly takes a good look at the mare, noting the odd earthy smell that radiates from her, pausing for a moment she trys to find a way to distract the mare and get her to stay a little longer "Surely you could stay tonight, the last train left an hour ago, and you can't get to the next town before nightfall." She makes sure to put extra care and cuteness in her voice, accentuating the 'can't' enough to melt hearts. The mare tilts her head a little looking at her as if a little confused, but after a moment laughs just a little nervously brushing off the filly's attempts "I do not fear the night, as it is I am running late, so will have to brave it as I have on so many other occasions." With no movement Pinkie is before them, a nicely packaged cake presented to Serene. Without a word the unicorn hands over several dirty bits, that smell as earthy as she does. Sweetie Belle turns back to say goodbye, but she is already gone, the bell ringing her absence. Sweetie sees her just out the window and memorizes the direction the mare travels as she heads out of town, cake in hoof. The bounce of the voice brings the over curious young one back as Pinkie bounces back to the counter "Well, that cake used up all the stuff I had already cooked for Twilight... Be a sweetie dear, and lend me some magic so we can get back on track" Turning back to help Pinkie Sweetie Belle groans. A few hours later she climbs into the Cutie Mark Crusaders tree-house, still dusting flour from her body. She can't help but note Apple Bloom and Scootaloo look like they have been bored for hours waiting for her, and they probably had, their fault though they had duck out of helping her help Pinkie. Still, that made spinning her maniacal plan easier as she says "I found a pony who was avoiding having to deal with Pinkies party's, so why don't we track her down and find out why." Both girls look at her blankly, and she remembers the most important part "Then we can find out if our cutie marks are in tracking, or if they are in joy bringing like Pinkies." Predictably they shoot out of the treehouse, leaving Sweetie spinning, and a moment later they are back as Scootaloo asks "Where did you meet her." She giggles at the silly ponys and leads them back to Sugurcube corner.