//------------------------------//
// Sense 
// Story: One is Silver 
// by El Dante 
//------------------------------//

	Crack an egg. Drip. Not a shell. Another. Cup of sugar, plenty of flour. Salt—just a pinch. Teaspoon of vanilla, shake of baking powder. Beat well, making sure the beaters stop spinning before—never mind! Haha! I'll clean it up in a bit. Ding! Oh, the bread's done! It rose perfectly. Batter in a pan, bread out, slide pan in oven. Great! What's next? Let's see here, crush some almonds—who's that at the door? Come innn!

Twilight entered the pastry shop to find an excited baker taking a taste of the batter from off her cheek.
Someone new!
"Well, hey!” The baker rounded the counter, and with her other hand, took Twilight’s in a vigorous handshake. “We’ve never met. You must be new around here. Are you just visiting? How long are you staying? Are you here to buy or place an order?"
Once her hand was free, Twilight was surprised to find it clean. "Actually," she she said, "I'm looking for someone. Could I speak with the shop owner, please?"
"Mr. and Mrs. Cake are out… somewhere.”
“They didn’t say where they were going?”
“Eh, maybe,” the baker shrugged.
"Actually,” Twilight said, checking her list, “I don’t think it’s the Cakes I’m looking for. This is rather unexpected.”
"Maybe I could help!” the baker offered. “I'm just their clerk, but I do the baking and the sales and take inventory and the deliveries and the—"
"Do you know where I could find a Miss… it just gives 'Pie.'"
"Oh, sure! That's me!" the grinned baker. "Pinkie Pie!"
"You?" Twilight asked. "You’re the Chancellor of Domestic Welfare and Secretary of Public Relations?"
"Yeah, that's the full title, I think," Pinkie said as she wiped her face with a hand towel.
I can never remember the whole thing.
"How… strange. I don’t think we’ve ever had a Council member quite so…" she said as Pinkie  lowered a large tub of dishes into the sink with an unsettling crash, "…so young." 
"Hm?" 
"Erm, what I mean is," Twilight stumbled, “the Council is younger this generation than any before, but the others were at least full adults when they ran for their jobs. I didn’t think it was even legal to run at your age.”
“Oh, well I’m only two years below the mark, and when I said I was ready for the job, no one ran against me, so the Princess just gave it to me anyway.”
“Well, it’s true the descendants of the previous Council members have ran unopposed for centuries, and I respect the Princess’s judgement, but it’s still an important job to give someone your age. You alone have the power to call a vote to impeach the Princess. Are you sure you can handle the responsibility?”
“Oh, don’t worry, my mom taught me all I need to know.” Pinkie nodded towards the bookshelf on the far wall. “That’s her there, if you want to see.”
Twilight absently heard a timer ring as she walked over to the bookshelf. There she found a framed photograph of a woman sitting on a split-rail fence, laughing as her daughter reached over her for the balloon in her hand. The two had the same pink hair, but the daughter’s was curlier and wilder. An unpainted barn could be seen in the distance.
“So you grew up on a farm, then?” Twilight asked, still looking at the picture.
“Yeah, but it was no fun there. As soon as I could I moved here next to the capitol so it’s close to my royal job, except with lower rent than in the city and lots and lots of friendly people!”
“I suppose that would be the best decision,” Twilight said, walking back to the counter. “We couldn’t expect you to keep the pulse of the public opinion living so far from—hold on.” Twilight pointed to the iced four-layer cake now set on the counter. “That cake. How is it that it is already iced?”
Pinkie shrugged. “Well, what’s a cake without icing?”
“No, I mean how is it iced having just came out of the oven?”
“Well, you wouldn’t expect me to ice it before I put in in the oven, would you? That’d be just silly.”
“Ack—no, that’s what—”
Though normally I’d wait for the layer to cool before icing it instead of doing them all one at a time, but I’m in a bit of a crunch.
"So you're here to pick up some papers, right?" Pinkie asked, scrubbing a mixing bowl.
Twilight let a breath escape her teeth. "Yes, I'm here for—hold on a moment. I never mentioned what I came for. How did you know?"
Pinkie wiped her hand quickly on the towel and pressed a finger to her temple, twisting it slightly. "'Pinkie-Sense,'" she hissed. "It never fails.”
Twilight furrowed her brow and gave Pinkie an odd look.
“Plus, your bag is open and I could see the papers like mine, and with your uniform I kinda just figured…"
“Oh, I—yes, I’m here to pick up the documents for last month’s consensus. Would you please retrieve them?"
"Sure, be right back!" Pinkie said and disappeared around a doorway behind her.
Hardly a moment later, Pinkie reappeared through a doorway on the upstairs level. "Hey, did you want the submission form-thingies or the record-stuff?" she called.
"The, um… the records—how did you—"
“’Kay, just a sec.”
A few minutes later Pinkie reemerged, flailing her arms as she descended the stairs. "I can't find them anywhere!" she shouted, then collapsed on the counter with a soft crackle from underneath her. She immediately shot back up and reached into her her apron pocket. "That's where they were!"
Why didn’t I hear them when I climbed up the ladder?
"I forgot I'd put them there so that I’d know where to find them later! Have you ever done anything like that?"
Twilight did not respond.
She’s got quite the look on her face.
“You seem to have a lot on your hands,” she said. “Is it always this busy?”
“No, not really. But we’re catering for the Summer Sun Celebration tomorrow!” Her stirring picked up speed as her enthusiasm grew. “Can you believe Equestria is going to turn a thousand years old?”
Twilight pinched the bridge of her nose. “The kingdom’s far older than that,” she corrected. “It’s only the Fourth Age that’s reaching its thousandth year. If you’ll recall, Equestria was founded at the start of the Third Age.”
Pinkie thought that over for a moment. “Oh, yeah! When they slew that dragon thingy.”
“Chaos demon, yes. If you believe the legends.”
"Do you believe them?" Pinkie asked brightly.
Twilight wanted to say "no." To anyone else, the story would seem like myth, but having studied under the Princess most her life, Twilight had always been inclined to believe the first-hand accounts of her exploits.
Pinkie Pie didn’t wait for an answer. "This party is going to be huge!"
"I'm sure," said Twilight.
"Everyone's going to gather at the plaza…" Pinkie's grin widened and she quickened her stirring.
"We could expect—" responded Twilight.
"The Princess will give her speech, and everyone will hear and cheer…"
"I’m well aware—" returned Twilight.
"And the decorations!" Twilight was beginning to worry that the batter might slosh out of the bowl. But before it could spill, Pinkie set the bowl aside and started loading the bottom rack of a delivery cart with the treats that had been cooling. "There'll be food stands, and banners, and streamers hanging from street lights and—" she stopped loading to lean her full body on the cart. "And the balloons! I love balloons!"
As the baker had closed her eyes, Twilight decided now might be the best time to head for the door, but just as she turned to leave, she was stopped by the voice behind her. "Hey, wait, when's your birthday? And your name! I need your name."
Twilight sighed and turned to reply. "Why do you ask?"
"Well, I was thinking I could throw you a party sometime. Or—or maybe a surprise party—no, wait, you already know about it now. Well, it'll just have to be a regular party then. Those are still fun."
Twilight sighed. "Why would you want to throw me a birthday party?"
"I hold parties for everyone in town! They're so fun, I hold them any and every chance I get! One of these cakes is for one this evening. And it helps with business too; sales, deliveries, services, receptions. I know the birthday of everyone in town. They hardly have to order and schedule the parties anymore, we do it all for them. And if we catch the hosts by surprise and they can’t attend or afford all we've planned for them…" she thought to herself for a moment. "Well, then, it's on the house, I guess."
Twilight mulled that over a moment, then nodded, satisfied with the answer.
“So what’s your name?”
“It’s Twilight,” she said. “Twilight Starbrow.”
She sure looks like she’s having a long day.
“Wait, look out!” Pinkie called, scrambling over the counter in Twilight’s direction. Twilight retreated into a bookshelf behind her, knocking down a vase that would have landed on her head if Pinkie’s hands were not already there to catch it.
“You should really try to be more careful. Good thing my Pinkie-sense was there to saye the day.”
“But I wasn’t—it wasn’t until—you were the one—”
Ignoring Twilight’s stammering, Pinkie glanced at her wristwatch, one of a long-outdated but durable make. Twilight would likely have been delighted to see it, had she taken notice.
“Oh, dear,” Pinkie muttered, then resumed stocking the cart. “I wish I could chat for longer, but this one’s going to be late. Sorry to have to go so quickly.”
“Oh, no, it’s no problem,” Twilight said through clenched teeth as Pinkie sped out the door with the cart.
Wow. What would it take to get her to smile?