//------------------------------//
// Can't Stop The Smooze! 
// Story: Cooking Up Trouble 
// by SuperPinkBrony12 
//------------------------------//

                It was the start of another beautiful morning in the land of Equestria. Celestia's sun was beginning to peak over the horizon, basking parts of the land in its radiant glow.

For one pony in the town of Ponyville, today was the dawning of another day of smiles and laughter. And this pony couldn't be happier, as she rose from her bed.

"Good morning Gummy!" Pinkie Pie said, greeting her ever faithful toothless baby alligator. Gummy responded, as usual, with a blank stare.

As the morning went on, Pinkie Pie greeted her employers Mr. and Mrs. Cake, and their twin toddlers, Pound and Pumpkin Cake. All of whom, returned her cheerful greeting, with one of their own.

"We'll be out of town, visiting some relatives today." Mrs. Cake notified Pinkie at breakfast "It seems that my mother, Fruit Cake, would like a chance to see her favorite grand kids."

"You can handle any customers that might stop by, right?" Mr. Cake asked.

"Of course I can. Sugarcube Corner will be exactly as you've left it." Pinkie Pie said eagerly "You go ahead and enjoy your visit. With me around, you've got nothing to worry about."

"Are you really sure you can keep things under control?" Mr. Cake asked "No offense, but you do have a tendency for getting into trouble. Not that anypony thinks any less of you because of it."

"Come now Carrot dear, Pinkie Pie has proven herself trustworthy on several occassions in the past." Mrs. Cake said to her husband "Besides, today is likely to be a slow business day. I'm sure Pinkie will have everything under control." Pinkie Pie couldn't help but blush a bit in response. It made her happy to know that The Cakes trusted her with such a big responsibility. 

The last time they had trusted her with looking after Sugarcube Corner, half of Ponyville had ended up poisoned from a case of "Baked Bads" as Pinkie Pie had put it. Sure, it was more Applejack's fault for putting the wrong ingredients in, but Pinkie Pie was still to blame for not double checking before she made the muffins. She was determined to prove that such an incident had been a fluke, and that The Cakes trust in her was not misplaced.

"Goodbye Pinkie, we'll back early tomorrow morning." Mrs. Cake called, as she and her husband, along with their children left the building.

"Make sure to close up shop when it gets really late." Mr. Cake added.

"Have fun, and tell Fruit Cake I said hello." Pinkie Pie replied, and she waved until The Cakes were out of sight. Now, she alone was in charge of Sugarcube Corner. Needless to say, she was delighted.

But eventually, she started to grow bored. Only a few customers stopped by, and none of them were really interested in talking. Pinkie Pie sighed, as she saw that only an hour and a half had passed since The Cakes had left town. "Mr. and Mrs. Cake weren't kidding about this being a slow business day. I think I've only had 3 customers so far. What's a party pony to do on a day like this?" she thought to herself. Minutes ticked by, as Pinkie thought about what she could do. 

Then, it came to her. "Why didn't I think of before? I'll just do some baking." she said to herself, as she raced into the kitchen. The only question that remained on her mind was, what to bake?

The answer came, in the most unlikely of places. While browsing through the shelves, to see what was in stock, Pinkie Pie saw something give off a faint glimmer in a corner. Brushing aside the sacks of flour, Pinkie Pie discovered that the object was a cookbook. A very old and dusty one at that "What the hay is this doing in here?" she asked herself, as she removed it from its hiding place. The cookbook was unlike anything that Pinkie had ever seen before, at least as far as cookbooks were concerned. It looked ancient, as if thousands of years had passed since it was written. And it was so dusty that Pinkie had a hard time making out the title.

"Well, there's only one thing to do in a situation like this." Pinkie Pie said to herself, and took a deep breath. She blew the dust away until the cookbook was completely dust free. Unfortunately, some of the dust got into her nose. "Oh no!" Pinkie Pie gasped, as she felt her nose begin to twitch. She tried to stop what would come next, to no avail. "Achoo!" she sneezed, very nearly blowing the book out of her hooves "I hate when that happens!" she complained, as she set the book down on a nearby counter.

Now, she could finally get a good look at the title. It read as follows: Cooking Wizardry: Recipes so delicious, they must be magical. "This looks promising." Pinkie Pie said, and she opened up the book. She was quite surprised when she discovered just how old the book was. "Year 12 of the Palio Pony Period? That was just after Princess Celestia and Princess Luna rose to power. I didn't think this cookbook would be that old." Pinkie Pie thought to herself.

Pinkie flipped the page, and a table of contents revealed itself to her. All of the listed dishes sounded absolutely tempting, and she found it hard to pick out one to try. At last, she settled on a reciepe for cupcakes, her personal favorite treat. There was just one problem though, the reciepe called for a serving of six, and there was no way she was just going to hog them all to herself. She couldn't just leave them out as a free sample for customers either, seeing as she couldn't be certain if anypony would stop by. That meant, there was only one option left.

Twilight hadn't been expecting visitors on a day like today. She had already planned to spend most of the day dusting shelves, and then reorganizing everything on them. In fact, having someone knock on her front door was so unexpected she very nearly jumped in surprise. Fortunately, she didn't. Instead, she merely put down the feather duster she'd been holding with her magic, and went to open the front door.

"Twilight!" Pinkie Pie shouted happily, the noise was so loud that Twilight was surprised that the vibrations hadn't somehow moved her castle at least a few inches.

"Oh, Pinkie Pie. What an unexpected surprise. What are you doing here?" Twilight replied, somewhat nervously "Got some sort of random holiday you wanted to celebrate?"

"Not today Twilight. Can't have a random holiday everyday, or else they wouldn't be random." Pinkie Pie said, chuckling at her own logic "I was just wondering if you could stop by Sugarcube Corner at some point? Like say, right now! I could really, really, REALLY, use your help with something."

Twilight felt incredibly tempted to say no, but she realized that she hadn't really done much of anything with Pinkie Pie in quite a while. "She probably just wants me to spend some time with her. Or she needs my help dealing with another one of Pumpkin Cake's magical surges." she thought to herself, remembering how during the last surge, Pumpkin Cake had somehow managed to turn herself invisible. "Sure thing Pinkie." she said with a nod of her head "But what exactly do you need my help with?"

There was no response from Pinkie Pie. And when Twilight turned to look, she saw that the party pony had already disappeared. She simply chuckled and said to herself "Why doesn't that surprise me?"

"What was that all about?" Spike asked, as Twilight came back inside.

"I have no idea Spike, but it's obvious that it's something really important to her." Twilight explained "If I had to harbor a guess, I'd say Pumpkin Cake's surges have caused some sort of problem, again. I'll just head over and straighten things out."

"Okay. Just be careful you don't get turned into a potted plant or something." Spike teased.

"Very funny Spike." Twilight said crossly, as she headed out the door.

A short time later, Twilight arrived at the front door of Sugarcube Corner. Where she was surprised to see her friends Rainbow Dash, Applejack, Rarity, and Fluttershy. Apparently, they'd all been called over for the same reason. But none of them knew what it was.

"This is just like that time when she called us over to taste test rock candies for necklaces." Rainbow Dash said, somewhat crossly.

"Well, at least this time she's not asking us to come in through the back door." Rarity added "So it can't be that important."

"She didn't tell you anything about why she wanted you to come over, did she?" Twilight asked the others, they all replied with a shake of their heads. "Well whatever it is, I hope it's not some kind of secret she's expecting us to keep. I'm really bad at keeping secrets."

"I hate to be captain obvious, but there's only one way we're ever gonna find out." Applejack spoke up, and knocked on the door.

"Oh good, you're all here! I was hoping you'd come!" Pinkie Pie said cheerfully, as she greeted her friends and pulled them inside before they could say or ask anything.

"What's going on Pinkie? Is everything all right?" Fluttershy asked nervously.

"Of course it is, I just needed your help with one teeny, tiny, thing." Pinkie Pie replied.

"What is it?" her friends asked.

"I need your help taste testing some cupcakes." Pinkie Pie explained.

"Really? You called us over here just for that?" Applejack asked.

"You don't understand, these cupcakes are from a new reciepe that I wanted to try." Pinkie Pie explained, as she rushed into the kitchen and returned with a tray of six cupcakes "I want to make sure I got it just right. I have the feeling that there's something different about them."

"What do you mean? They're just cupcakes." Rainbow Dash replied, as she grabbed a cupcake from the tray.

"Baking is an art, just like dress making or weather patterns." Rarity explained, as she picked up a cupcake with her magic.

"Yeah, and any baker worth their sugar will tell you there's nothing more exciting than getting a new reciepe just right." Applejack added, as she selected a cupcake.

Fluttershy and Twilight both took one cupcake, as did Pinkie Pie. But she wanted to wait until after her friends had tasted theirs, before eating hers. In a matter of seconds, all of Pinkie's friends had tossed the cupcakes into their mouths. Pinkie Pie waited with anxiety. "Well, what do you think?" Pinkie Pie asked, under her breath she added "I hope I got them just right."

"They're simply devine!" Rarity exclaimed "I think it's safe to say, you really outdid yourself with these!"

"I'll say, they're the darn best cupcakes I've ever had!" Applejack added.

"Well, they're pretty good in my book." Rainbow Dash said casually.

"I don't know what it is, but these cupcakes are even tastier than the other reciepes you've tried." Fluttershy commented.

"You really like them?" Pinkie Pie asked, as she unintentionally held her cupcake behind her back. This allowed for Gummy (who was attracted by the cupcake's sweet aroma) to sneak up, and snatch it out of his owner's hooves without her being any the wiser.

"Of course we do. They're delicious!" Twilight said happily.

"Oh, I'm so glad to hear that! Well, far be it from me to miss out on the fun!" Pinkie Pie exclaimed, and prepared to eat her cupcake. But instead of the sugary sweetness that cupcakes were known for, the only thing Pinkie Pie tasted was her own hoof. When she pulled it out, she was shocked to discover that the cupcake she'd planned to eat was gone. "Hey, what happened to my cupcake?!" she asked crossly "It was here just a minute ago, and it's not like it just grew legs and walked away!"

"Are you absolutely sure about that Pinkie?" Rainbow Dash asked "Maybe there's some leftover magic from one of Pumpkin Cake's surges that affected your treat."

"Sorry, but I'm afraid that's impossible." Twilight explained "Magic doesn't just hang around after a surge. The instant the surge fades, the magic fades with it."

"Besides, the day magic can bring cupcakes to life is the day pigs fly." Rarity added.

"Well if it's not magic, then there must be some other reason why my cupcake disappeared. I just wish I knew what that reason was." Pinkie Pie said with a sigh. 

Just then, Pinkie Pie became aware of a faint gumming sound, and she knew that it could only be coming from one source. She turned around, and confronted Gummy. Looking him right in the eyes she asked "Gummy, did you eat my cupcake?" Gummy's only response was a huge belch. "Gummy! I was gonna eat that!" Pinkie Pie scolded. Gummy, feeling a bit upset, wandered away. Pinkie Pie merely sighed "What am I ever gonna do with him?" she thought to herself.

"Cheer up Pinkie, you can always make more." Applejack suggested "These cupcakes are so good that I'm certain everypony's gonna want some."

"You really think so?" Pinkie Pie asked.

"Hey, would I lie to you about something like this? Bakers always help other bakers, no matter what." Applejack replied.

"Well, thank you very much for helping me out. I'm so happy to know that this new reciepe was a success." Pinkie Pie said with a smile.

"Anytime Pinkie." Rainbow Dash said eagerly "Now I'd better be going. Those clouds aren't gonna bust themselves you know." And with that, all of Pinkie's friends left Sugarcube Corner. 

But Pinkie Pie didn't mind at all. It just meant that only she would know how to make those cupcakes that they enjoyed so much. Perhaps, once the cupcakes took off, she'd share her little secret with her friends.For right now though, it was time to get back to baking.

"Alrighty, let's see here." Pinkie Pie said, as she checked over the ingreidents mentioned in the book "Everything is where it should be." But as she turned to grab a sack of flour, she accidentally knocked the cook book onto the floor. When she picked it back up, she saw that the page had somehow turned away from the cupcake reciepe. She was just about to change it back, when something caught her eye. Unfortunately, the text was small and Pinkie had a hard time making out what was written.

Fortunately, that problem was soon solved when she pulled out a magnifying glass. "Ah, my trusty, rusty, magnifying glass. What would I do without you?" Pinkie Pie thought, as she examined the text at the bottom of the page.

The text turned out to be a warning, and went it something like this:

Warning!:

This book once belonged to The Cult of The Smooze, and it still contains influences of that creature.

Do not attempt to make any of the reciepes shown in this book, unless you wish to see the demon take control of those around you.

This book was restored for historical purposes only. It is not intended for actual use in the kitchen.

Pinkie Pie was horrified at what she read, and dropped the book back onto the ground with a loud gasp. "Why didn't I notice this sooner?!" she asked herself "And who was the one who decided not to put a warning like that in bold print and big letters?!" She sighed, and turned to Gummy with a worried look in her eyes "Oh Gummy, I think we're in big trouble!" And, she was right.

"So, what was the important thing that Pinkie called you away for?" Spike asked Twilight, when she returned to her castle.

"It wasn't anything serious actually, turns out she just needed my help taste testing a few cupcakes." Twilight explained.

"Aw man, I can't believe I missed out on that!" Spike complained "Were they good?"

"Oh, they were amazing Spike. I don't think I've ever tasted anything so wonderful before in my entire life." Twilight commented "Hopefully, Pinkie will whip up another batch of them so you can try one for yourself."

Spike sighed "Well, in the meantime I suppose I'll just get back to work."

"You know Spike, you can take a break if you want. You've been working hard enough as it is." Twilight suggested.

"Thanks, but I'm almost done anyway. Besides, it's not like I really had anything better to do." Spike sighed again.

"Well, if you're sure that's what you want. But feel free to take a break if you change your mind." Twilight said kindly "I'll just be upstairs reading a few books."

"Guess I'll see you later then." Spike replied, and set to work once more.

Meanwhile, Twilight found that she couldn't get the cupcakes out of her mind. She could still remember the taste of her own, as if she'd just eaten it a second ago. "Chocolate frosting, with a dash of sugar. A pinch of cinnamon" she said to nopony in particular "And just a hint of-" Suddenly, Twilight froze in mid sentence. There was a flash of lime green magic, and when it had faded a sinister smile had appeared on her face "Evil!" she chuckled to herself.

Spike had spent the last few minutes dusting and re-dusting the shelves. He was very nearly finished, when he heard a knock on the door. Spike was a tad bit suspicious. "Twilight didn't say she was expecting company. But then again, maybe there's something she meant to tell me that slipped her mind. Besides, it could very well just be Pinkie Pie stopping by to say that the cupcakes are ready." He carefully put the feather duster down, and with a smile he walked over to the door. When he opened it though, he suddenly wished he hadn't done so. For there stood Rarity, Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash, and Applejack. Only now, they didn't so look so friendly. Maybe it was those fiendish grins that they were wearing, or perhaps it was the way their eyes seemed to glare at him for no reason. But something about them felt off.

"Hello Spikey Wikey." Rarity greeted, her tone of voice sounding anything but warm and cheerful.

"We were just wondering if Twilight was around by any chance." Rainbow Dash spoke up.

"Why?" Spike asked nervously.

"Oh, no reason really." Fluttershy explained.

"There's just a little somethin' we wanted to discuss with her. That's all." Applejack added.

Spike blinked. Was he imaging things, or did he see an all too familiar lime green tint in their eyes? Before he could say or do anything else, Twilight suddenly appeared beside him. "Oh good, you're here. I was hoping you'd all show up." Twilight said warmly "Come in, we have much to discuss."

"Just what is this all about?" Spike asked, as the ponies made their way inside.

"Nothing that need concern you Spike." Rarity said bluntly.

"Yeah, so why don't you just mind your own business and back off?!" Rainbow Dash snorted.

"I was just asking a question is all, no need to be rude." Spike replied, as he nervously backed away.

"Well, why don't you keep your silly questions to yourself from now on?" Fluttershy said crossly.

Spike, deciding it wasn't best to unintentionally anger his friends, said nothing more. But in his mind, he was really confused. His friends were acting rather unusual for some reason "Was it something I said?" he thought to himself.

"Now that we're all here, we can start discussing our plan to take over Equestria." Twilight said evily "And the first item on our agenda, is to eliminate the only pony who can stand in our way. Pinkie Pie!"

"What?! Why her?! What did she ever do to you girls?!" Spike asked furiously, unable to keep himself from blurting out his frustration.

"Hey, butt out! This is a private conversation!" Applejack said crossly.

"Oh yeah? And what are you gonna do about it?" Spike asked sarcastically. A few seconds later, he was tied up with Applejack's lasso, which was wrapped tightly around a chair. "Maybe I shouldn't have asked." Spike thought to himself.

"There, that oughta teach you not to evasedrop on other ponies conversations!" Applejack said firmly "Now, if there are no further 'interruptions' from the peanut gallery, let's discuss how we're going to take down Pinkie Pie."

"You won't get away with this!" Spike threatened.

"He's right, we won't." Fluttershy said reluctantly.

"Yeah, with our plan the way it currently is, Pinkie will see right through it." Rainbow Dash explained.

"If we want to catch Pinkie Pie-" Rarity began.

"Then we need to think like Pinkie Pie." Twilight finished "Now let's get to planning."

The five mares left Spike tied up in the basement, and put a piece of tape around his mouth to keep him from 'commenting'. Then, for good measure, they headed back upstairs.

"I say we just go for a direct approach." Twilight suggested, pointing to a series of mini pony figures on a board "We throw all our might into a frontal assault. Simple mathematics indicates that with the odds being 5 to 1 against her, Pinkie will have no choice but to surrender to us. And with her out of the way, Equestria will be ours for the taking."

"But what if Pinkie Pie somehow gets lucky and overpowers us?" Rainbow Dash asked "I say we send some of the more physically gifted out first to draw Pinkie's attention, then those of who can fly will sneak around and attack her from the rear. With all her escape routes cut off, she won't be able to escape. And we'll have her!"

"A very good plan, but it won't work." Applejack objected "What we need to do, is tunnel underneath her somehow. Then we can pop up and use the element of surprise to our advantage. And by the time Pinkie realizes what's going on, it'll be too late!"

"That would be a waste of time, and I'm not about to dirty my coat if I can help it." Rarity protested "What we should do is kidnap Gummy, and hold him hostage. And we tell Pinkie Pie that we'll only let him go, if she surrenders to us. Then we throw her and Gummy into some sort of dungeon and throw away the key."

"Gummy spends all his time with Pinkie, we'll never be able to steal him away without Pinkie Pie finding out." Fluttershy stated grimly "If you ask me, we should just send Pinkie an invitation to some sort of fake party, and then capture her before she has time to realize it's a trap. Parties are her one weakness. Well, outside of sweets that is."

Before anyone could say anything, Pinkie Pie burst onto the scene. "Not so fast!" she shouted.

"Ah Pinkie, what a surprise. We were just talking about." Twilight said deviously "Isn't that right girls?"

"Drop the act, I know what you're up to. It won't work!" Pinkie Pie said boldly "I came here to save you all from evil, and that's just what I'm gonna do!"

"Oh really, and what are you gonna do to stop us?" Rainbow Dash asked "There's five of us, and only one of you."

"I..... don't know actually. I didn't think I'd get this far." Pinkie Pie admitted nervously "I was hoping something would come to me by now."

"Get her!" Twilight shouted, and the five evil mares began to close on Pinkie Pie.

"Wait, before you attack me, I just wanna know one thing." Pinkie Pie said suddenly.

"Well whatever it is, make it quick!" Fluttershy demanded "I mean, unless you'd rather keep it to yourself."

"What's that over?!" Pinkie Pie asked, pointing a hoof off into a random direction. The five mares all turned to look.

"I don't see anything!" Applejack complained, then it hit her "Wait a minute!" But it was too late, Pinkie Pie's distraction had worked like a charm.

"So long suckers!" Pinkie Pie shouted, and ran off as fast as her legs could carry her.

"I can't believe this! We fell for the oldest trick in the book!" Rarity groaned, facehoofing at her shere stupidity "After her!" And the five mares took off in pursuit of their fleeing target.

"Where did she go?!" Rainbow Dash asked a short time later. Somehow, Pinkie Pie had managed to seemingly disappear into thin air.

"Beats me." Applejack admitted "We've searched every nook and cranny, but we've found nothing. That Pinkie Pie is sneakier than a worm in a cider barrel."

"Ugh, I don't believe this! She must be around here somewhere!" Twilight groaned in frustation.

"The question is, where?" Rarity pointed out "If she was hiding out somewhere, you'd think we would've found her by now. Alas, we have found nothing."

"Well, I guess we'll just have to wait and let her come to us." Fluttershy suggested "After all, we're still holding 'him' captive in the basement. And knowing Pinkie Pie, she's not going to leave until she's rescued him. It's only a matter of time until she emerges from hiding to try and save him, and that's when we'll grab her!"

Twilight sighed "I hate to admit it, but that's probably the best course of action right now. She just better not take too long to find him!"

When Pinkie Pie was certain that nopony was around, she breathed a sigh of relief. Then she chuckled to herself "Did they really think they could find me so easily? I knew all those times playing camouflage would come in handy one day!" Slowly but surely, she emerged from her hiding spot. Then, despite knowing that it was probably a trap, she headed down to the basement.

Spike wasn't sure how long he'd been stuck tied to a chair. For all he knew, it could've been hours, though something told him that was unlikely. He'd given up on trying to call for help long ago, because he knew no-one could hear his muffled cries.

Suddenly, Spike heard the sound of hooves in the distance. "Just great." he thought sarcastically "It's probably one of the girls coming down to check up on me. Someday this is turning out to be."

"Spike? Spike? Where you are?" a familiar bubbly voice called out. 

Spike knew at once who it was. He was so happy, that he momentarily forgot about the piece of tape across his mouth. As loud as he could, he called out "Over here!", but the piece of tape prevented the words from being heard. Fortunately, he didn't have to wait long for the owner of the bubbly voice to appear.

"Ah, there you are!" Pinkie Pie said, sighing with relief. Then she noticed the piece of tape stuck to Spike's mouth. As carefully as she could, she ripped it off.

"Pinkie Pie! Boy am I glad to see you!" Spike said happily.

"Don't worry Spike, I'll get you out of this mess somehow. After all, I kind of got you into it." Pinkie Pie stated, as she set to work on trying to untie the rope that held Spike to the chair.

"What do you mean?" Spike asked.

"If we make it out of here in one piece I'll tell you." Pinkie Pie replied, as she continued to work on untying the rope.

"Ow! Hey, try be a little more gentle!" Spike complained, as Pinkie suddenly tugged hard on the rope "Just because I have thick scales, doesn't mean I don't still feel pain!"

"Oopsie. Sorry about that Spike, that won't happen again." Pinkie Pie promised. In her mind she was thinking "That better be his strange way of showing appreciaton." It was a lot harder then Pinkie Pie had originally thought, but at last she managed to untie the rope and set Spike free.

"Thanks for the help Pinkie." Spike said happily "It feels so good to be out of that chair. So, now what do we do?"

"Uh, about that. The thing is, I don't really know." Pinkie Pie confessed.

"What?! You don't have a plan?!" Spike asked furiously.

"Of course I do. I'm just..... making it up as I go along, that's all." Pinkie Pie explained.

"Well, that's reassuring." Spike replied sarcastically.

"See, I told she'd rescue him." Fluttershy spoke up suddenly.

"Looks like you were right after all Fluttershy." Twilight said with a fiendish smile.

"Enough chit chat, let's get em!" Rainbow Dash shouted, and she lunged forward, prepared to snatch up both Pinkie Pie and Spike in one swift motion.

Thinking quickly, Pinkie Pie grabbed Spike, who was quite surprised. "Please forgive me for this Spike." Pinkie Pie thought, as she started shaking Spike as hard as she could.

"Wait, what are you dowooooooooooooahhhh!" Spike screamed, as Pinkie Pie shook him up, down, left, right, and all around. Just before Rainbow Dash could close on Pinkie Pie, Spike let out a humongus belch. His firey breath providing the necessary incentitive for Rainbow Dash to stop right in her tracks.

"I have a baby dragon, and I'm not afraid to use it!" Pinkie Pie said seriously, as she held Spike close, as if he were a flamethrower. Taking advantage of the situation, she made a break for freedom. Her evil friends, however, were not about to let her just slip away without a fight.

"Oh no you don't! You're not getting away this time!" Applejack shouted, as she hurled her lasso through the air. Unfortunately, her lasso ended up snagging an unintended target by mistake. In her haste to catch Pinkie Pie and Spike, Applejack had forgotten that Rainbow Dash was flying after them. And her lasso caught the cyan pegasus instead.

Rainbow Dash was anything but pleased by this, and complained quite heavily. "Who's side are you on Applejack?!" she growled.

"Oops, sorry sugarcube. I didn't see you there." Applejack apologized.

"Don't just stand there, get me out!" Rainbow Dash demanded.

"Now's my only chance, I have to get away!" Pinkie Pie thought to herself, and she clutched Spike tightly. Before Spike had a chance to say anything, he felt himself and Pinkie Pie going faster and faster. In the blink of an eye, they broke through one of the basement walls, leaving behind a pony and baby dragon sized set of holes. 

Spike was horrified when he saw the holes. "Pinkie, you do realize that Twilight is going to kill you for that, right?" he asked.

"We'll deal with that later!" Pinkie Pie said seriously "Now come on, we've got to get back to Sugarcube Corner!"

"They're getting away!" Rainbow Dash shouted.

"I can see that, thank you very much!" Rarity hissed.

"Want me to go after em Twilight?" Applejack asked Twilight "With a little luck, I think I can catch up to em."

Twilight looked at the cloud of dust Pinkie Pie was kicking up as she fled down the road. It seemed rather thick, and from what she could see, Pinkie Pie showed no signs of slowing down, or stopping. "Let her go." Twilight spoke up.

"What?! Are you crazy?!" Applejack asked "You're just going to let them give us the slip?"

"Let them enjoy their false sense of security. They're sure to come back sooner or later to try and stop us." Twilight explained.

"And that's when we'll take them down, right?" Fluttershy asked.

"Exactly. It's all part of the plan." Twilight grinned "Speaking of plans, I think we need to have a little chat about the performance of someponies. And I'm sure you all know who I'm talking about!" she glared at Applejack and Rainbow Dash, who gulped as the 5 mares headed back upstairs to plan for Pinkie's return.

Pinkie Pie kept on running as fast as her legs would let her. She was determined to put as much distance between herself and her evil friends as possible.

Poor Spike held on tightly for dear life, as buildings and ponies whizzed by in a flash. "Pinkie, slown down, please!" he pleaded.

"Just hang on Spike, we're almost there." Pinkie Pie reassured him, as the familiar gingerbread rooftop of Sugarcube Corner came into view. A few seconds later, she raced through the front door and slammed it shut behind her. Only after she had done that, did she finally take a deep breath. "There's no way they'll catch up to me now." Pinkie Pie said.

"Well, in that case, now would be the perfect time for you to tell me just what it was that you meant, when you said that you kind of got me into this mess." Spike demanded.

Pinkie Pie sighed, a promise was a promise. And there was no point in trying to hide the truth from Spike. "Well, it all started with an ancient cook book." Pinkie Pie began, and told Spike everything that happened up until she'd come to rescue him.

"So let me get this straight," Spike stated when Pinkie Pie was finished "You just decided to try out a reciepe from this ancient cook book, without even checking to make sure it was okay. And you only noticed the warning about The Smooze after you had already given the cupcakes to Twilight, Rarity, and the rest of our friends?"

"Hey, it's not completely my fault." Pinkie Pie protested "In my defense, that warning really should've been written in bigger text. I mean, how was I suppose to know?"

Spike said nothing, and merely sighed "Well, we can discuss who's to blame later. For right now, I think we need to focus on what's most important."

"And what would that be?" Pinkie Pie asked.

"Isn't it obvious?" Spike aked "We need to find a way to turn our friends back to normal! And the sooner we do so, the better!"

"Relax Spike, I've already thought of an idea. And if I'm right, it should work just fine." Pinkie Pie said with great confidence. 

"Wait, you actually thought of a plan?" Spike asked with shock "I thought you said you didn't have one?"

"I said I was making it up as I was going along." Pinkie Pie explained "There's just one teeny tiny little problem though."

"What is it?" Spike asked.

"Well, it's kind of hard to explain." Pinkie Pie said nervously "He's not exactly the kind of guy who'd willingly do a favor for somepony else. Not to mention, he's kind of hard to contact."

"Who are you talking abo-wait a minute!" Spike gasped, as the realization hit him "Surely you don't mean Discord?"

"I'm afraid I have no other choice Spike. He's the only one that I think can help us out of this mess." Pinkie Pie said reluctantly "I know the last time he was trusted to do something, he kind of double crossed us. But Fluttershy said we needed to give Discord another chance. I just wish we had some sort of way of contacting him. It's too bad Fluttershy isn't here. She knows everything there is to know about how to reach him."

"Funny you should mention that Pinkie." Spike stated.

"Why?" Pinkie Pie asked.

"Because, I found this." Spike explained, holding up a rather unusual and odd looking whistle. At first glance, it looked like a bird call of some kind. But upon closer inspection, it seemed way too out of shape to serve that purpose.

"But how did you-" Pinkie Pie began.

"Fluttershy dropped this when she was busy tying me up." Spike interrupted "Don't worry, when this is all over I'll be sure to return it to her."

"Do you know how it works?" Pinkie Pie asked.

Spike nodded "Fluttershy told everything I needed to know. From the looks of things, I'm guessing I wasn't the only one who knew about this."

"She did show it to me once." Pinkie Pie explained "She said that if anything were to ever happen to her, she felt that I would be the best one to call Discord. I can't believe that something actually has happened, and that it's all my fault."

"Well, I just hope I can remember how this thing works." Spike admitted nervously, as he took a deep breath and blew into the odd looking whistle. Seconds passed, but nothing happened.

And then, just when Pinkie Pie and Spike were starting to think it was a dud, there was a sudden whirl of color. In a matter of seconds, it had descended from the sky and passed through the kitchen window as if it wasn't even there. In a dazzling flash of light, Discord appeared.

"And he sticks the landing mares and gentlecolts, give him a hand!" Discord narrated, seemingly unaware of the fact that he had been summoned. At least, that was before he said "So Fluttershy, what it is it you called me here for today? You interested in some more time travel?" But when Discord looked around, he noticed that the pegasus was nowhere in sight. In fact, the only ones that were present (besides himself) were Pinkie Pie and Spike. "Wait a minute, you're not Fluttershy!" Discord gasped "What sorcery is this?!"

"Still think it was a good idea to call him here?" Spike whispered to Pinkie Pie.

"We had no other choice Spike. Desperate times call for desperate measures. Even if it means trusting the least trustworthy guy we know." Pinkie Pie whispered in reply.

"Hey, I heard that!" Discord complained "I'll have you know that ever since that little 'incident' with Tirek, I have been on my absolute best behavior. And if you don't believe me, just ask Fluttershy. She'll vouch for me. Speaking of Fluttershy, where is she? And what are you two doing with that emergency whistle I gave her?"

"Uh, about that." Spike said nervously "Pinkie, I think there's something you'd like to discuss with Discord if I'm not mistaken."

"I do? I mean, I do." Pinkie Pie gulped.

"Well, I'm all ears." Discord said eagerly "You gonna tell me, or do I have to start playing 50 questions?"

"No need for that." Pinkie Pie said suddenly "You see, it's a funny story actually. I kinda sorta, sorta kinda, accidentally turned Fluttershy evil."

"Oh, is that all? And here I was starting to think it was something important... wait, you did what?!"

"I didn't mean to, I swear." Pinkie Pie said nervously, as she slowly backed away "You gotta believe me. I can explain."

"Well then start talking!" Discord demanded "And don't even think about trying to lie to me, or I'll know. So Pinkie Pie, do you swear to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?"

Pinkie Pie gulped and weakly replied "Yes."

"Good, then we can begin." Discord said, placing a microphone in front of Pinkie Pie, and pressing the record button on a nearby tape "So, tell me how it was that you 'accidentally' turned Fluttershy evil."

Pinkie Pie sighed "Well, it all started with an ancient cook book. A harmless looking one at that." And she proceeded to tell Discord everything. How she had whipped up a batch of cupcakes according to a reciepe she found in the book. How she discovered that said book once belonged to The Cult of The Smooze. And how she had barely managed to escape capture by her evilized friends. All the while, Discord listened with interest.

"So, once we got back here we decided to contact you." Pinkie Pie explained "I figured that if anyone could think of a way out of this mess, you could.

"I see." Discord replied, casting a suspicious eye at Pinkie "So let me see if I've got this straight, you're saying that because of that cookbook and that reciepe, you turned your friends into these evil masterminds?" Pinkie Pie was too nervous to say anything, and merely nodded in reply. "Well, if I ever need a vacation I know who I can trust to take my place." Discord teased "Maybe I should consider taking you under my wing as my own personal student of chaos."

"Discord!" Spike growled, glaring angrily at the spirit "Two words, not helping!"

Discord normally would've just replied with some sort of witty remark, but seeing how unhappy Pinkie Pie looked, he decided against it. The last thing he needed was to lose another friend. It had taken a month of up, down, and all around apologizing, before Fluttershy had forgiven him for betraying everypony. "Okay, okay, I'm sorry." he apologized "But what exactly do you expect me to do?"

"I was hoping you'd know." Pinkie Pie admitted.

Spike faceclawed "Seriously? Am I the only one around here who actually takes time to think of a plan before he does things?"

"Hey, if you were in my horseshoes you'd be facing the same perdicament!" Pinkie Pie protested, then she realized how harsh her words had sounded "Sorry Spike, that just slipped out." she apologized.

"It's okay, I know you didn't mean it. This is a pretty stressful situation." Spike replied "Just, keep those remarks to yourself from now on if you don't mind."

"Of course Spike." Pinkie Pie said with a nod "So, where should we start?"

"Well, as I believe Twilight would say 'Let's hit the books!'." Spike spoke up "That ancient cookbook to be precise."

"And why would we do that?" Discord asked "What good would that do us?"

"I'm hoping beyond hope, that there's some sort of cure or counterspell written in that book. And if not, hopefully it'll at least contain some sort of clue as to where we can find such a thing." Spike explained.

"Then what are we waiting for?! To the kitchen!" Discord shouted.

"You do realize that it's literally seconds away from we are now, right?" Spike groaned.

"You're always such a buzzkill." Discord muttered under his breath.

"What was that?" Spike asked.

"Oh, nothing." Discord lied.

"It better have been, for your sake." Spike said, casting an angry glare at Discord.

"Well, here we are!" Pinkie Pie interrupted "I'll just go grab the cookbook really quick, be right back!" She disappeared in a pink blur, and reappeared a second later with the book in her hooves.

Discord used his powers to hold the book in the air as he, Pinkie, and Spike, all browsed through the cookbook. Looking for anything that mentioned how to turn the affected ponies back to their normal selves. Several minutes passed, but they couldn't find anything. 

And then, just when they were about to give up, Spike noticed something out of the corner of his eye. "Wait, don't turn the page!" he shouted.

"Did you spot something useful?" Pinkie Pie asked.

"I think I did." Spike replied "It says here, that in order to return our friends to normal, we just need to bake another batch of cupcakes with the counterspell worked into them."

"That's it? Sounds like a piece of cake." Discord said confidently.

"It's not quite that simple." Spike explained "For the counterspell to work, we need to have traces of DNA from the affected ponies. Like a piece of their  mane, or a patch of fur from their coat."

"That doesn't sound too hard. All we need is a pair of scissors, and a dark room to catch them off guard." Pinkie Pie stated.

"Actually, I have a better idea." Discord suggested "This should just take a second." And snapping his talons, he disappeared in a flash of light. When he reappeared, he had several mysterious bags. He placed them on the ground, and began to search through them. "Now let's see here, where did I put them?" Discord muttered to himself, as object after object flew out of the bags. "Aha!" he said at last.

"Are those-" Spike asked.

"Samples of your friends manes? Yes." Discord replied.

"But how did you-" Spike began.

"I just 'borrowed' these from the spa, they didn't need em." Discord explained.

Spike opened his mouth to say something, but he decided against it.

"Okie dokie lokie then." Pinkie Pie said cheerfully "So Discord, you thinking what I'm thinking?"

"I think so Pinkie, if you're thinking of baking that is." Discord replied.

"It's like you read my mind." Pinkie Pie laughed "Now let's get to it!" 

Pinkie Pie, Spike, and Discord, all worked as hard as they could. Soon, the cupcakes were ready.

"Alright, these'll be perfect!" Pinkie Pie exclaimed, as she hastily scooped them up and ran out the front door of Sugarcube Corner.

"Pinkie wait!" Spike called out, but it was too late. The party pony had taken off and disappeared in a cloud of dust. Spike sighed "I'd better go after her, hopefully I can still catch up before she does something foolish."

"You do that Spike, I'll keep working on the cupcakes. Something tells me we're going to need a whole bakery worth of them." Discord replied, as he set to work on another batch.

"Curse my tiny body." Spike thought to himself, as he stopped to catch his breath. He knew now that he wouldn't be able to catch up to Pinkie Pie as soon as he'd hoped. All he could do was hope that she would have enough common sense to at least think of a plan before charging in.

"So, we're all on the same page about what we need to do, correct?" Twilight asked sternly. Everyone else in the room nodded "Good, now if there are no further objections, let's rediscuss what we're not going to do when Pinkie Pie shows up."

"Hello again everypony, did you miss me?" Pinkie Pie asked suddenly, as she burst through the front door.

"Back for more?" Rainbow Dash asked "Someponies just never learn."

"That's what you think!" Pinkie Pie said boldly "This time, I came prepared!" She whipped out the cupcakes, and started throwing them willy nilly (while hoping for the best). Needless to say, things didn't go so well.

Twilight and Rarity had no trouble catching their cupcakes with their magic, and flinging them back at Pinkie Pie. "Did you really think that was going to work Pinkie?" Twilight asked.

"And to think we were once friends." Rarity added "What a joke."

Rainbow Dash managed to fly up and avoid her cupcake, which splattered on the wall behind her. "Nice try Pinkie, but not good enough."

Applejack, thinking quickly, blocked her cupcake with a hoof. "Come on Pinkie, it's like you're not even trying to put up a fight." she teased "If this is your idea of a challenge, it's not entertaining."

Just as Pinkie was about to throw a cupcake at Fluttershy, Spike burst onto the scene. 

"Well, if it isn't Mr. Two Timer himself." Rainbow Dash snorted.

"You've got some nerve showin' your face round' here." Applejack said crossly.

"Enough talk, grab him!" Rarity ordered, and she lunged at Spike, as did Twilight, Rainbow Dash, Applejack, and Fluttershy. But Spike was one step ahead of them, and dodged out of the way at the last second.

Reacting quickly (and taking full advantage of the confusion), Spike snuck around and when Fluttershy wasn't looking, he grabbed her by the tail. Before she had a chance to scream for help, Spike put a claw around her mouth and dragged her away. It was a lot harder than it normally would be, because Fluttershy fought back as hard as she could. But it was no use. 

"What are you doing Spike?" Pinkie Pie asked.

"Now's your only chance Pinkie, throw the cupcake into Fluttershy's mouth!" Spike instructed "Do it!"

"Somepony, anypony, help!" Fluttershy screamed at the top of her lungs.

"Do it, do it now!" Spike ordered "I can't hold out much longer!"

Taking a deep breath, and hoping that faith was on her side, Pinkie Pie tossed the cupcake. Then she shut her eyes "There's no way I'm gonna hit the mark." she said to herself, and waited for the inevitable sound of a cupcake splattering against the wall of a building. But to everyone's surprise, the cupcake landed in Fluttershy's mouth with perfect accuracy. 

Fluttershy gasped in surprise, and as a result ended up swallowing the cupcake whole. There was a sudden flash of light, which provided Pinkie with the encouragement she needed to open her eyes again. She could hardly believe that she'd managed to actually hit what she was aiming for in such a short span of time.

"What happened? Where am I?" Fluttershy asked wearily.

"There's no time to explain, use your stare!" Spike instructed.

"Why?" Fluttershy asked, then she saw Twilight, Rarity, Rainbow Dash, and Applejack charging straight towards her.

"That's why!" Spike explained "You've got to do it, or we're in big trouble!"

"But I vowed not to misuse it!" Fluttershy complained.

"I know that, but you're going to have to make an exception for this case!" Spike spoke up "Hurry, before they catch us!"

Fluttershy said nothing, and reluctantly unleased the most powerful stare she could in such a short amount of time. Fortunately for her, Pinkie Pie, and Spike, the stare was powerful enough to completely immbolize the others.

"Come on, now's our chance!" Spike shouted, grabbing Fluttershy before the pegasus could say anything. The two of them, along with Pinkie Pie, made a hasty retreat. They knew the stare's power wouldn't last for long, and they wanted to get as far away from their evil friends as possible in that short timespan.

"Where are we going? What's going on? What's the rush?" Fluttershy asked, completely confused.

"It's a long story." Pinkie Pie spoke up.

"And for right now, we've got bigger things to worry about." Spike added "If we don't make it back to Sugarcube Corner, we're done for!"

"Why?" Fluttershy asked.

"I'll tell you why, just as soon as we're safely back at Sugarcube Corner and away from our friends." Pinkie Pie stated.

The journey back to Sugarcube Corner passed in relative silence, aside from Pinkie Pie or Spike checking every so often to see if they were still being followed. Fortunately, they weren't.

"Good, we're here." Spike said, panting with relief "You know Fluttershy, you're pretty heavy for a pegasus."

"Hey, are you trying to say that I'm fat?!" Fluttershy asked crossly.

"Of course not. I'm just not use to carrying an entire pony. Let alone a pegasus." Spike explained.

"Enough chit chat." Pinkie Pie spoke up "We'd better get inside. I have a feeling that someone is going to be very happy to see you again Fluttershy."

"What do you mean?" Fluttershy asked.

"You'll see in a second, I hope." Pinkie Pie said with a smile, as she led Fluttershy and Spike inside and locked the door behind them.

"Oh Fluttershy, oh how I've missed you!" Discord happily exclaimed, upon seeing his closest and dearest friend.

"Discord, what a surprise." Fluttershy replied.

"Indeed it is. Then again, today has been quite a day for surprises." Discord said happily "Oh, I'm so glad you're back to normal!"

"Normal?" Fluttershy asked, still confused.

"I guess now's as good a time as any to tell you what's been going on." Pinkie Pie said with a sigh "The thing is, let's just say that I might have unintentionally turned you and the other girls evil. And that I had to 'borrow' your special whistle for Discord, in order to bring him here to help out."

"Is that why our friends were chasing after us back at the castle?" Fluttershy asked nervously.

"I'm afraid so." Pinkie Pie explained "You're not mad at me, are you? If so, I'd totally understand. I really messed up, even if it wasn't really my fault that somepony didn't put a warning in bigger letters."

"I wouldn't say mad, but I am a little bit disappointed." Fluttershy said firmly "I hope you've learned your lesson."

"Oh I have Fluttershy. In more ways than one, I might add." Pinkie Pie explained.

"Well, not that this isn't heartwarming, but we've still got four evil friends on the loose." Spike spoke up "It's too early for us to celebrate."

"Not to worry, I've already prepared a second batch of cupcakes." Discord said, pulling them from what appeared to have been thin air "I have quite the knack for baking you know."

"Great, now we just need to give them to our friends and everything will go back to how it was before this silly mess began." Pinkie Pie said enthusastically. She reached for the cupcakes, but Spike stopped her.

"Hold on a minute there Pinkie." Spike said seriously "You can't just go around, throwing those cupcakes and hoping for the best. You need a plan, or you'll just end up exhausting your supply, and you'll run out again. And it'll just keep happening again and again, until you can't make cupcakes anymore.  Then we'll really be in trouble."

"Well, I haven't really had time to come up with a plan. What with everything that's been going on for the past hour or so." Pinkie Pie explained.

"All the more reason why you need to have one in place before you go charging out the door." Spike suggested "For example, why don't you try to turning our friends back to normal one by one? You've already succeeded with Fluttershy, so who do you want to try your luck with next?"

"Well, I'll probably have to save Twilight for last, since she's so smart and all." Pinkie Pie stated "I'll probably need to have either Rarity or Applejack back to normal before I can confront Rainbow Dash. So I guess I'll focus on whichever one of them I run into first."

"That's a start." Spike encouraged.

"Thanks." Pinkie Pie smiled "Well, I'll think over my plan some more as I go looking for our friends. But I'd better get going, the longer they're under The Smooze's influence, the more likely they are to cause some sort of trouble."

"I think I'd better go with you, just to be safe." Spike said, as he climbed onto Pinkie's back "Plus, I can keep a sharp lookout for any sort of trouble."

"What about me?" Fluttershy asked.

"Why don't you help Discord make some more cupcakes, in case we need them?" Pinkie Pie suggeted.

"Sounds good enough to me." Discord smiled, and he pulled Fluttershy into the kitchen "Come on Fluttershy, it's baking time!"

"Okie dokie lokie, time to get going." Pinkie Pie said, as she headed out the door "It's not like I'm just gonna bump into Rarity or Applejack by chance." But she was wrong, for at that very minute, Rarity came charging down the road. She didn't stop, until she bumped straight into Pinkie Pie. The pink party pony, and Spike, were sent flying into the air along with the cupcakes. Spotting the Rarity cupcake floating nearby, Pinkie Pie grabbed it. "Oh, I hope this works." she thought to herself and after taking a second to aim the cupcake, threw it at Rarity.

The cupcake landed in Rarity's mouth, just as Pinkie Pie and Spike hit the ground. Then Pinkie Pie looked up, and gasped. "The cupcakes!" she shouted. Thinking quickly, she scooped up the tray and caught the cupcakes before they could hit the ground. Unfortunately, they still splattered upon impact.

While all that was going on, Rarity had to started to chew on her cupcake. Just like with Fluttershy, there was a sudden flash of light. When it had faded, Rarity was back to normal. She shook her head, as the realization of what had just happened sank in. "Brainwashed yet again." she complained "This is so embarassing."

Spike, for his part, was relieved to see that Rarity was free from the influence of The Smooze. He could barely contain his excitement. "Oh Rarity, I'm so glad you're okay." he said happily. 

"The feeling is mutual my dear Spikey-Wikey." Rarity said kindly "I'm just glad that unlike the last two times, this little brainwashing episode didn't last very long."

"I feel the same way." Pinkie Pie added "It sure is hard to go up against your friends, especially when you're the one who made them evil in the first place."

"Whatever do you mean Pinkie Pie?" Rarity asked. Pinkie Pie proceeded to let Rarity know just who was responsible for her falling under the control of an evil entity. "Pinkie Pie," Rarity said seriously, when Pinkie had finished explaining "when this is over, you and I need to have a little talk about how to prevent these things from happening in the future."

"I understand Rarity." Pinkie Pie sighed "I really wish I'd never found that cookbook in the first place. It's turning out to be quite the headache. Not to mention, it's putting quite the strain on baking supplies."

"Well, we can discuss all of that later. For right now, we should probably focus on getting the rest of our friends back to normal." Rarity said formally.

"Good point." Spike added "Let's head back to Sugarcube Corner and pick up more cupcakes. And this time, hopefully it'll be for the last time."

"Speaking of cupcakes, if you're out here, and Spike is with you, then who's baking?" Rarity asked, as she followed Pinkie Pie and Spike back to Sugarcube Corner.

"Well, I can't tell you." Pinkie Pie said nervously.

"Why?" Rarity asked.

"Uh because... it would spoil the surprise?" Pinkie Pie replied.

"What surprise?" Rarity asked "No offense darling, but you're not making any sense. Is there something you're not telling me?"

"You'll see who it is soon enough." Pinkie Pie said with a sigh "Just, try not to be alarmed. Remember, I was only doing what I thought was right." And with that, she opened the front door of Sugarcube Corner. "I'm back, again." she called.

"Already? That was fast." Discord replied, emerging from the kitchen "I'll have you know that although I am a spirit of chaos, I am not a miracle worker!"

"Discord?! What are you doing here?!" Rarity gasped.

"Um, remember when I said I couldn't tell you who was baking becasue it would spoil the surprise?" Pinkie Pie asked Rarity.

"Yes." Rarity nodded, then the realization hit her "Wait! You don't mean-"

"Surprise?" Pinkie Pie said nervously.

"I..... I think I'm gonna faint!" Rarity exclaimed dramatically.

"I gotcha Rarity!" Spike said seriously "Just, faint into my claws. I'll catch you." He had no sooner said those words, when Rarity collapsed from shock. True to his word, Spike managed to catch her. But he found Rarity to be just as heavy as Fluttershy, and it took everything he had to keep himself from dropping her onto the floor.

"Is everything all right?" Fluttershy asked, as she emerged from the kitchen "I thought I heard Rarity's voice." Then she saw Rarity, laying on the ground. Spike was standing over her with a worried look on his face, as were Pinkie Pie and Discord. Needless to say, Fluttershy got the wrong idea. "What did you do to her?!" she asked crossly, rushing to her friend's side.

"I swear this isn't what it looks like." Spike spoke up "Rarity just fainted, that's all."

"Fainted?" Fluttershy asked.

"Apparently, seeing me here was more than she could handle." Discord explained "I guess The Smooze took more out of her than she let on. Or perhaps something else is to blame."

"Will she be okay?" Fluttershy asked with concern.

"I think so." Pinkie Pie replied "In fact, given her fainting spells, she should recover in 3, 2, 1-"

"My goodness, I just had the most unusual dream." Rarity said with a yawn, as she woke up "I dreamt that I was evil again, and that Discord was running Sugarcube Corner. Pretty strange, wouldn't you agree girls?"

"Uh, hate to break to you, but that wasn't a dream." Fluttershy said nervously.

"What do you mean it wasn't a dream? It had to be!" Rarity said crossly "There is no way any of that could've actually happened."

"Well, look who's still here." Discord replied, drawing attention to himself "Still think you're dreaming Rarity?"

"I must be. Someone pinch me right now!" Rarity demanded.

"Okay, but only because you asked me to." Spike said, and pinched Rarity on the hoof.

"OW!" Rarity exclaimed "What did you do that for?!"

"You said you wanted someone to pinch you." Spike replied. 

Rarity glared at Spike for a second, then she pleaded "Just please tell me that Discord is gone, and that things are back to normal." 

"Sorry Rarity, but he's still here." Pinkie Pie spoke up.

"Indeed I am." Discord said happily "And all of that other stuff wasn't a dream either."

"So it wasn't a dream after all? Well, that certainly doesn't make me feel any better about the situation." Rarity admtited glumly, and let out a sigh of discontent.

"Now that we've gotten that out of the way, I think the next batch of cupcakes should be ready." Fluttershy stated, and headed back into the kitchen to retrieve them.

"How are you feeling Rarity?" Pinkie Pie asked.

"Well, I've felt better. The fact that it's taken Discord's help to turn me back to normal doesn't help." Rarity complained "But I suppose it's nice to be able to count on him for a change. I suppose that, perhaps I've been a bit too hard on him in the past."

"Oh, Fluttershy would be so happy to hear that!" Pinkie Pie said happily "She's always hoped that the rest of us would learn to trust him the sane way she does."

"I don't know if I'm ready to fully trust him just yet." Rarity admitted "He hasn't exactly established a good reputation in the time since he was quote unquote 'reformed'. But all the same, I want him as a friend, not an enemy. So long as he proves that our trust in him isn't misplaced, I could probably vouch for the legitimacy of his reformation."

"Knowing Discord, I'd say that's close enough for him." Pinkie Pie replied.

"But what we need to focus on right now, is turning the rest of our friends back to normal." Spike said firmly.

"If you need my help, I shall gladly offer it." Rarity said seriously "Let's just say that after being manipulated yet again, I have a bit of a score to settle. A lady doesn't start fights, but she most certainly can finish them if she has to."

"Good to know. I'll make sure not to get on your bad side from now on." Spike said, somewhat nervously "So, why don't we discuss what our next course of action is going to be?"

"Here's the third batch of anti-Smooze cupcakes, ready and raring to go." Discord said, as he gave Pinkie Pie the tray with the cupcakes on it "If it isn't too much to ask, maybe you could try to really make these ones count."

"Running low on supplies are we?" Pinkie Pie asked.

"Oh, don't be silly. With my powers, I can pull sacks of flour out of thin air as if they were nothing." Discord boasted "It's just getting a little tiring, having to make cupcakes every five minutes or so."

"Don't worry, I'll be more careful this time." Pinkie Pie promised "But we're gonna need Fluttershy to tag along for the next part of our battle plan."

Fluttershy was surprised "You want me to help you? I'm not sure if I'll be much help."

"Nonsense Fluttershy, I'm sure you'll do great." Rarity encouraged "And without you, we'll have a much harder time catching Rainbow Dash and freeing her from The Smooze's control."

Fluttershy sighed "If you're really sure I'm important then I guess I'll go along with it. Just don't make me the live bait, I hate being the live bait!"

"Relax Fluttershy, we'd never do something like that." Spike said seriously "Now come on, we've got some friends to catch!"

"Take care girls Try not to hog all the fun, cause I want to have some too!" Discord called, as he was left to hold down the fort at Sugarcube Corner by himself.

"So, what's the plan? If you don't mind me asking that is." Fluttershy said nervously.

"It's a little tactic that's always worked wonders for me." Rarity explained "Twilight is still too big of a target to take on with our little rag-tag group. If we want to stand a chance against her, we need to get Rainbow Dash and Applejack back on our side first."

"And how are we gonna do that?" Fluttershy asked.

"By seperating the two of them, and then playing to their biggest weakness." Rarity replied.

"What would that be?" Fluttershy asked reluctantly.

"Their pride of course." Rarity stated "Those two will never back down from a challenge. Sure, Applejack is better skilled at hiding her pride, but it's stil there. And you all know what they say about pride."

"Then, once we've got them both distracted, we hit them with cupcakes and BLAMO! They'll be back to normal in no time." Pinkie Pie exclaimed excitedly.

"Will it really be that simple?" Fluttershy asked hopefully.

"I'd like to believe that Fluttershy, but I'm afraid it's going to pretty tough." Rarity said grimly "Not to worry though, I'm pretty sure we can pull it off."

"So, who's going after whom?" Spike asked.

"I have decided that, reluctantly, Pinkie Pie and I will go after Applejack." Rarity explained "My magic and Pinkie's randomness should be enough to give us the edge against Applejack. That means that you and Fluttershy will have to go after Rainbow Dash. I know that it will be hard for you to do such a thing Fluttershy, but the sooner we act, the sooner we can get it over with."

Fluttershy sighed "Very well then, just give me the cupcake for Rainbow Dash. I'll try my best not to miss."

"Relax, I'm sure you'll do fine." Spike replied "After all, you've got me by your side. Let's go." And the two of them set off to look for Rainbow Dash.

"You think this is gonna work out?" Pinkie Pie asked Rarity, as the two friends went to find Applejack.

"Not 100 percent, but if it fails at least we can't say we didn't try." Rarity admitted.

"Well, it looks like we're gonna find out sooner than expected." Pinkie Pie spoke up "Look over there!" There was Applejack, strolling down the road. She wasn't aware of Pinkie Pie or Rarity's prescence, yet.

"This was almost too easy." Rarity whispered to Pinkie Pie.

"You think it's a trap?" Pinkie Pie asked.

Rarity shook her head "Not likely. But even so, we'd better be careful. Applejack must be up to something."

"What kind of something?" Pinkie Pie asked. a bit too loudly.

"I don't know. Now keep your voice down, before she hears us." Rarity replied. But it was too late.

"I heard that!" Applejack shouted "You can't hide from me! Come on out and face me, unless you're afraid!"

"Afraid?! Nonsense!" Rarity replied, emerging from hiding.

Pinkie Pie watched anxiously, as she moved from place to place to try and avoid being spotted by Applejack. All the while, she was trying to find a good spot to hit the farm pony with a cupcake. She found this to be a lot harder than she had originally anticipated. "I sure hope Fluttershy and Spike are having better luck with Rainbow Dash." she thought to herself.

Fluttershy and Spike had no trouble finding Rainbow Dash. In fact, you could say that Rainbow Dash had more likely found them.

"Well, well. If it isn't the backstabbing pegasus and dragon duo." Rainbow Dash snorted "You two didn't really think you could escape me forever, did you?"

"Uh, as a matter of fact, yes." Spike spoke up.

"Can't we all just get along?" Fluttershy asked nervously.

"She's being controlled by The Smooze, remember?" Spike faceclawed.

"It was worth a shot." Fluttershy replied.

"Got any last words you want to say?" Rainbow Dash asked "Better make them count, for your sake!"

"You bet we do!" Spike said boldly.

"We do?" Fluttershy asked.

"We've got to get her mad so she'll chase after us." Spike whispered "It's part of the plan, remember?"

"Enough bickering, talk!" Rainbow Dash demanded.

"That mane of yours isn't natural. It's a fake!" Spike taunted.

"You're just jealous because it makes me look more awesome than you." Rainbow Dash replied "What about you Fluttershy? Got anything you wanna say? Anything at all?"

"Um, you're a lousy flyer?" Fluttershy said weakly.

Rainbow Dash laughed "Is that the best you can do?"

"Come on Fluttershy, make her mad." Spike whispered "I know you can do it."

"Uh....., your mother.... was a LLAMA!" Fluttershy shouted, as loudly as she could.

Those words seemed to touch a nerve with Rainbow Dash, because steam began to shoot out of her ears. "How dare you talk about my mother like that! That does it! You crossed the line, and now I'm gonna make you sorry! GET OVER HERE!"

"Catch us if you can!" Spike taunted, as he and Fluttershy took off.

"Get back here!" Rainbow Dash shouted, and chased after them.

"I hope Rarity and Pinkie Pie managed to do the same thing with Applejack." Spike thought to himself, as he and Fluttershy tried their best to keep Rainbow Dash from catching up to them.

"You can't beat me Rarity!" Applejack taunted "I'm much stronger than you!"

"That's what you think." Rarity replied "You forget that I have magic, and you don't."

"I don't need that stuff to win, unlike you!" Applejack said furiously. She was proud of being an earth pony. 

Rarity knew this all too well, and decided to use that to her advantage "You know, I'll bet that the reason why you lose to Rainbow Dash so much is because you're an earth pony and not a pegasus like her." she teased.

"Them's fightin' words Rarity!" Applejack hissed.

Rarity took no notice and merely kept on taunting. "Just think, if you were a unicorn like me, you'd actually be a worthy opponent. Alas, you're not even entertaining."

"Rarity, you'd better shut the hay up right now, or so help me I will knock you into next Tuesday!" Applejack threatened "So unless you'd like that, I suggest you back off."

"Oh please, you talk a big game, but in reality you're nothing more than a pushover." Rarity taunted "Even Fluttershy would give me more of a challenge, and she use to be afraid of her own shadow."

Applejack grew red in the face, and her eyes cast a glare that would've made Fluttershy's stare look tame by comparison. Rarity took that as a sign that her strategy had succeeded. Now for the final blow.

"What's the matter?" Rarity teased "You always were one to talk. Got nothing smart left to say?"

"YOU'RE A DEAD MARE RARITY!" Applejack bellowed at the top of her lungs, and lunged forward. Rarity dodged out of the way, and quickly ran back to Pinkie Pie.

"Nice try Applejack, but you can't catch me that easily." Rarity taunted.

"Come back and fight like a mare!" Applejack snorted.

"Only way to stop me is to catch me!" Rarity smirked, and she and Pinkie Pie ran off as fast as their hooves could carry them. Applejack followed in close pursuit.

"I can't believe this is actually working." Pinkie Pie said to Rarity, as the two of them ran away.

"Me either, but we can't stop now." Rarity replied "If all has gone well, Fluttershy and Spike should be bringing Rainbow Dash to us right about..... now."

Rarity had no sooner spoken those words, when Spike and Fluttershy came rushing around the corner at a frightening speed. Rainbow Dash was nearly right on top of them.

"We did everything you told us to do Rarity." Fluttershy spoke up anxiously.

"And I think your plan worked a little too flawlessly." Spike added.

"Well, this is when it all comes together." Rarity replied "Now, stay close to me and do exactly as I say." Following Rarity's instructions, Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy, and Spike all ducked out of the way of both Rainbow Dash and Applejack at the last second. The two athletes were going too fast to stop, and they ran smack into each other. The resulting collision leaving them both quite dazed, providing exactly the opening that Rarity had hoped for.

"Now's your chance!" Rarity said to Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy "Throw the cupcakes and let's get our friends back!"

"Okie dokie lokie. You ready to do this Fluttershy?" Pinkie Pie asked.

"As ready as I'll ever be." Fluttershy gulped.

"Alright, on the count of three. One, two, three!" Pinkie Pie shouted, and she and Fluttershy threw their cupcakes. There was a tense silence that lasted for only a few seconds, but those few seconds felt like an eternity for Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy, Rarity, and Spike. Fortunately, the cupcakes hit their marks, and both Rainbow Dash and Applejack were soon enveloped in a blinding flash of light.

"It worked! It worked!" Pinkie Pie cheered.

"Ow, my aching head!" Rainbow Dash complained "It feels like I got run over by a train."

"I feel kind of the same way." Applejack replied "Except the pain feels more like banging my head against a rock. What are the odds we'd both be suffering a headache at the same time?"

"This sure as hay isn't a coincidence!" Rainbow Dash said crossly "There's something fishy about all of this."

"Uh, that would be me." Pinkie Pie nervously admitted.

"What do you mean?" Rainbow Dash asked.

"You got somethin' you'd like to share with us?" Applejack asked somewhat crossly.

"Well, there's really no way to put this lighty." Pinkie Pie said nervously "I know this sounds crazy, well crazier than usual that is."

"Just get to the point!" Rainbow Dash and Applejack demanded.

"The point is, I might have, accidentally mind you, turned you both evil." Pinkie Pie confessed "You remember those cupcakes from earlier?"

"Yeah, what about em?" Applejack asked.

"Turns out, the cookbook that I got the reciepe from belonged to The Cult of The Smooze." Pinkie Pie explained "And because of that 'oversight' I ended up turning you two, and the other girls, into these evil masterminds. I had to get Discord to help me whip up a batch that could turn you back to normal."

"Discord?! Seriously?!" Rainbow Dash asked.

"After what he did to us you were willing to just trust him?" Applejack said crossly.

"I had no other choice. I couldn't just leave you girls like that." Pinkie Pie replied "Besides, he's been a big help. And you know how much Fluttershy's been pressuring us to try and get to know him better."

"True. I guess you have a point there." Rainbow Dash said reluctantly "I suppose, he's not all that bad."

"Hey, at least this time he didn't get me sick with blue flu." Applejack added.

"Blue flu?" Rainbow Dash asked.

"Don't ask." Applejack said with a sigh "It's too embarassing."

"That wouldn't by any chance be related to his visit while I was away studying the breezies, would it?" Fluttershy asked. Applejack said nothing, and merely shook her head in reply.

"I apologize for all the comments I made when we were fighting." Rarity said to Applejack "I didn't mean them even the slightest, but I did what I had to do to lure you out into the open."

"You're forgiven, but you'd better not let it happen again!" Applejack said seriously.

"Speaking of not happening again, you'd better make sure you get rid of that cookbook when this is all over Pinkie." Rainbow Dash demanded "That little 'oversight' of yours caused some very big problems. And I for one do not want to go through them ever again for the rest of my life."

"Well, I'll probably do it. Assuming Twilight doesn't want to hold onto it in the hopes of learning more about it." Pinkie Pie promised.

"There's only one way we'll know for sure." Spike said nervously "We've got to get Twilight to eat one of those cupcakes from Discord, and turn her back to normal. Once we do that, we can put this whole thing behind us."

"Twilight is going to be very difficult. She's pretty tough for an egghead." Rainbow Dash stated "And you don't know how much it pains me to say that."

"You had to save the toughest for last, didn't you Pinkie?" Rarity asked crossly.

"Well, you agreed to it." Pinkie Pie replied.

"I'm not saying it was a bad idea or anything. Far from it." Rarity explained "Even so, I hope you have some sort of plan as to how we're going to outsmart her."

"Uh, I've been trying. Really I have!" Pinkie Pie said nervously "But Twilight is super smart, and she's really talented with magic. Coming up with a plan under those conditions is almost impossible. Believe me, I've considered everything! Even the plans that are so far out there, they couldn't possibly make sense! Not one of them is even the slightest bit foolproof!"

Spike sighed "Just great. We're up the river without a paddle, and at the worst possible moment no less."

"Actually, I have a plan." Fluttershy spoke up.

"You do?!" everyone else asked.

"Yes, and it's a pretty clever one if I do say so myself." Fluttershy said confidiently.

"So, what's the plan?" Spike asked anxiously "What do we have to do?"

"Come on Fluttershy, fill us in already!" Rainbow Dash demanded.

Fluttershy looked around for a moment, just to make sure Twilight wasn't somehow nearby, listening in. When she was convinced that the coast was clear, she ushered her friends closer to her. "It's a bit of a long shot, but it should work." she explained "Here's how it's gonna work." She proceeded to whisper her plan to the others.

"Are you sure this is gonna work Fluttershy?" Pinkie Pie asked a short time later, as the six friends marched towards Twilight's castle "I mean, what if she sees through it?"

"She won't, just so long as you don't blurt out what's happened in the past half hour." Fluttershy replied "She only knows that you managed to turn me back to normal. She doesn't know about the others, yet."

"I still say this is crazy." Spike said crossly "I really don't like it. Was there really no other alternative?"

"We all agreed to it Spikey-Wikey." Rarity stated "I don't exactly like it either, but at this point we've come too far to back out."

"Rarity's right. We've just got to give this our best shot!" Applejack encouraged.

"We're almost there!" Rainbow Dash called out "I can see the entrance from here."

"Okay, places everyone." Rarity whispered "Remember, we need to make it look convincing or Twilight will see right through it."

Twilight was waiting impatiently at the entrance to her castle. She had sent Rarity, Rainbow Dash, and Applejack out about half an hour ago. And they had yet to return with any sort of update or progress report.

Just as she was about to head out and look for them however, she saw a familiar group of ponies coming over the horizon. Rarity led the way, as Applejack and Rainbow Dash stood to either side of Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy, and Spike. Preventing them from running away.

"Sorry we took so long Twilight." Rarity apologized "These three proved to be more of a hoofful than I originally thought."

"Yeah. It took some time, effort, and lots of sweat, but they're finally ours!" Rainbow Dash bragged.

"And you were right." Applejack added "Pinkie Pie led us straight to both Fluttershy and Spike. They put up quite the fight, but they were no match for us."

"You just got lucky, that's all!" Spike complained "Besides, you all ganged up on me first!"

"Then you used him to force Pinkie Pie and I surrender." Fluttershy said crossly.

"Yeah, that wasn't fair!" Pinkie Pie shouted "If it had been, I would've kicked your sorry flanks from here to the Crystal Empire and back!"

"That's enough out of you!" Applejack said seriously, putting a hoof around Pinkie Pie's mouth. Pinkie Pie continued to shout protests, but they did little good.

Twilight, for her part, was incredibly pleased. "Well done girls! I knew you wouldn't let me down!" she said happily "Now we can finally make Equestria ours!"

"I can't wait!" Rainbow Dash cheered "Finally, I'll get a chance to show everyone how awesome The Smooze is!"

"What's gonna happen to us?" Fluttershy asked nervously.

"You'll all serve as the perfect example of what happens to those who get in our way." Rarity explained "When ponies see what the price of resistence is, they'll surrender to us in a heartbeat!"

"I don't think I like where this is going." Spike gulped.

"Well then, you certainly won't like what I have planned for you, traitor!" Twilight hissed.

"So, are we gonna go inside, or are we just gonna stand around here talking to each other?!" Rainbow Dash asked impatiently.

"Follow me, and make sure to keep a close eye on our prisoners." Twilight instructed, and led them all inside. No one said anything, out of fear that Twilight might overhear it and catch on. As for Twilight herself, she was not one to boast, even under the influence of The Smooze. A few tense minutes passed, as the door to the castle slammed shut. There was no turning back now.

"Before we go any further, there's a little something I'd like to give to all of you." Twilight said, as she suddenly stopped in her tracks.

"What is it?" Applejack asked reluctantly.

"Oh, you'll see soon enough." Twilight replied. Was it Applejack's imagination, or was Twilight smirking slightly? She hoped beyond hope that she was imaging things. 

Then, Twilight began to light up her horn. Within seconds, she had gathered up as much magic as she could. Then she turned around, so that she was directly facing the others. Applejack wasn't imaging things, Twilight was definitely smirking. And she held that smirk, as she fired a blast of magic at the others. They all panicked, and barely managed to jump out of the way before the blast hit. "Did you really think I would be fooled so easily?" Twilight asked.

"What are you talking about?" Fluttershy replied nervously.

"It's simple." Twilight explained to Rarity, Applejack, and Rainbow Dash "I specifically told all of you to go after Pinkie Pie first. The fact that you told me you ganged up on Spike, was all the proof I needed to know that you'd all been turned back to normal. You'll have to do better than that to trick me."

"I don't believe it! I thought for sure my plan was gonna work!" Fluttershy thought to herself "I should've known that this was too easy."

"Twilight please, I don't wanna hurt you!" Pinkie Pie pleaded "We're friends!"

"Use to be friends!" Twilight corrected "But now, thanks to The Smooze, I see the light! With a friend like you, I don't need enemies! I'll take you all down and conquer Equestria by myself! Starting with you Pinkie Pie!"

"Not if we have anything to say about!" Spike said boldly, as he, Rarity, Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash, and Applejack all stepped forward to defend Pinkie Pie.

"Oh really?" Twilight said sarcastically "And what are you going to do about it? Even with your combined might, you guys couldn't beat me!"

"We'll just see about that!" Spike boasted "Get her!" Before Twilight had a chance to stop them, one by one, her friends lunged at her. Except for Pinkie Pie, who was too shocked to do anything.

Meanwhile, Twilight's struggle with the others began to kick up a thick cloud of dust. This made it impossible to see just what was going on, but Pinkie Pie could hear all the sounds of the ensuing struggle.

"Hey, I didn't agree to this!" Fluttershy protested.

"Sorry Fluttershy." Rainbow Dash apologized "Watch out behind you!"

There was a brief flash, followed by Twilight muttering "Curses! I won't miss next time!"

"There won't be a next time! Not if I have anything to say about it!" Applejack shouted.

Pinkie Pie heard the sound of a lasso grabbing something, and assumed that Applejack had managed to grab Twilight. But she was proven wrong when she heard Rarity complain "Hey, I'm not the enemy!"

"Oops, sorry Rarity." Applejack apologized "Sure is hard to see through this cloud of dust. Rainbow Dash, think you can clear it up for us?"

"I'll try." Rainbow Dash replied.

"Oh no you don't!" Twilight shouted "You're not getting away that easily!"

"Let go of me!" Rainbow Dash demanded.

"Never!" Twilight said fiercely. Then she let out a scream.

"Sorry Twilight, but I had to do that!" Spike insisted "Believe me when I say it hurt me more than it hurt you!"

"Oh that's it, now you've made me very angry!" Twilight shouted. A second later, there was a sudden zap followed by Spike screaming "My leg!"

"That was uncalled for!" Rarity complained "No one does that to my precious Spikey-Wikey and gets away with it. Let's take her down!" The sounds of the struggle grew more and more intense, but a few seconds later it finally died down. When the dust had settled, Twilight was on the ground, bruised and battered.

Spike was slowly rising to his feet, relieved to see that nothing was broken. As for Rarity, Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash, and Applejack, they were all exhausted. But outside of a few scratch and bruise marks, they were unharmed.

"Now's your chance Pinkie!" Fluttershy stated.

"End this nightmare, once and for all!" Applejack encouraged.

"Right." Pinkie Pie replied, and pulled out the cupcake she'd been saving for the right opportunity. She moved forward, prepared to stuff the cupcake into Twilight's mouth and turn her back to normal. But when she was just seconds away from Twilight, she suddenly slipped and lost her balance. "Noooooooooo!" she shouted, as the cupcake slid out of her hooves. Time seemed to slow to a crawl, and all Pinkie could do was watch as her chance to free Twilight slipped away.

Just before the cupcake hit the ground however, Twilight caught it in her magic. Everyone gasped. "A cupcake, for me?" Twilight asked "Oh Pinkie, you never cease to amuse me. Everyone else came prepared, and yet you decide to just bring a snack? I guess I shouldn't have expected any different, you always have been a bit scatter brained. Oh well, I suppose I'll humor you and eat this cupcake. I don't see how you thought this would help." And with that, Twilight stuffed the cupcake into her mouth.

Pinkie Pie was speechless, and it took everything she had to keep a straight face. Just like with the others, there was a blinding flash of light. When it had faded, Twilight was back to normal. Or at least, she appeared to be back to normal. Considering her recent deception, no one could be certain if she wasn't still under The Smooze's control.

The answer came, as Twilight shook her head. "Oh, that's the last time I eat a hayburger before bed." she said to herself. Then she noticed what was going on around her. "What is going on here?! Why are you all holding me down?" she asked "I want answers!"

"Oh, I'll give you answers all right." a booming voice said suddenly.

"Who said that?" Pinkie Pie asked nervously, looking all around.

"I did!" the booming voice replied, revealing its prescence in the form of a cloud of lime green magic. "I am Lord Smooze!"

"Lord Smooze?!" Twilight gasped "How and what are you doing here?!"

"It's quite simple really." Lord Smooze explained "Thanks to that pony you call Pinkie Pie, and her stumbling across my old cookbook, I have been released back into this world."

"Is this true Pinkie?" Twilight asked furiously.

"Yes, but I didn't mean to do it. Honest." Pinkie Pie replied.

"We'll discuss this later." Twilight said seriously "For now, we've got to focus on sending Lord Smooze back to where he came from."

"Fat chance!" Lord Smooze hissed "I'm never going back! Not now, not ever! I'm free to unleash my reign of destruction upon Equestria! And no one will stand in my way!" To prove his point, he began to reign down blast after blast of his arcane magic.

"What are we gonna do?" Fluttershy asked, as she and the others dove for safety.

"There's only one way we can stop Lord Smooze!" Twilight explained "We need to seal him back into the cookbook that unleashed him in the first place."

"How are we gonna do that? The cookbook's back at Sugarcube Corner." Pinkie Pie stated.

"Well that's just great." Twilight replied sarcastically "Guess we'll just have to make a desperate break for Sugarcube Corner, and hope we find the book before Lord Smooze finds us."

"I have a better idea." a familiar voice suggested. 

Fluttershy knew at once who it was. "Discord?!" she exclaimed.

"The one and only." Discord replied, appearing before the ponies in a dazzling display of light. The cookbook clenched firmly in his talons. "I couldn't help but overhear your conversation."

"Discord!" Fluttershy scolded "What did I tell you about evasedropping on other ponies conversations?!"

"I know, I know. But I just couldn't help myself." Discord apologized "Anyway, I've already prepared the spell that you'll need to seal Lord Smooze away. Just throw the book at him already, because the sooner I don't have to worry about that rank amtuer, the better!" he handed Pinkie Pie the cookbook, and then disappeared.

"Well Pinkie, looks like you're our only hope now." Applejack stated.

"So don't screw it up!" Rainbow Dash demanded.

Pinkie Pie gulped "Wish me luck girls." she said nervously.

"You won't need luck." Rarity encouraged, but under her breath she stated "You're going to need a miracle."

"Hey, Lord Smooze!" Pinkie Pie called "Guess what I've got?!" she promptly held up the cookbook and flipped it to the correct page.

"What?! No, how did you manage to find the sealing spell?!" Lord Smooze bellowed.

"It doesn't matter!" Pinkie Pie replied "You're going right back into these pages, where you belong!"

"No! I'm never going back!" Lord Smooze screamed at the top of his lungs, as he was sucked back into the cookbook. Bursts of dark magic flew everywhere, creating a tremendous noise that made everyone cover their ears. In a matter of seconds, however, it was all over. Lord Smooze had been sealed into the cookbook. 

Pinkie Pie promptly slammed it shut with a tremendous thud. She sighed with relief, the nightmare was over. "That closes the case on you Lord Smooze!" she said firmly.

"Pinkie Pie, you did it!" Twilight cheered.

"That was amazing!" Spike added.

"Thanks." Pinkie Pie replied "I'm just glad that whole 'The Smooze Incident' has finally ended."

"Well, it's not over just yet." Twilight said seriously "You and I need to have a little talk about where it is you found that old cookbook. Now!"

"Yes Twilight." Pinkie Pie sighed "I caused this whole mess in the first place, the least I can do is make sure it doesn't happen again."

A short time later, Pinkie Pie was writing in the journal about what she had learned:

Today sure turned out to be a day for surprises. I certainly wouldn't have thought that I'd ever be responsible for turning my friends evil.

Who would've ever guessed that an old cookbook I found while browsing through the shelfs, would cause so much trouble? And all because of a warning that I probably should've spotted much sooner.

I sure learned my lesson the hard way. But I didn't just learn to be more careful with old books that I find in the strangest of places. I also learned that when you make a mistake, the best thing you can do is correct it and fix what went wrong, if at all possible. 

And I learned that, when somepony says they're sorry, and they're truly willing to make everything right, you should accept their apology. Forgiveness isn't always easy, especially when it's something you have to earn. But it's just as important to friendships as trust and honesty.

"Think that's good enough Twilight?" Pinkie Pie asked.

"I'd say that's more than good." Twilight replied "Now come on, that hole in the wall isn't going to fix itself."

Pinkie Pie sighed "I said I was sorry."

"I know you are Pinkie, but sorry isn't going to magically fix that hole." Twilight explained, as she guided Pinkie Pie into the basement of her castle "Relax, it shouldn't take you too long to fix it."

Pinkie Pie said nothing else for a while, and simply set to work. But as she was about half way done repairing the hole she had made in her hasty retreat from her smoozeified friends, she stopped. Suddenly, something had popped into her mind and it wouldn't leave her alone.

"Is something wrong Pinkie?" Twilight asked.

"Well, it's just, you know how when I made that first batch of cupcakes, Gummy stole mine and ate it?" Pinkie Pie spoke up.

Twilight nodded "What about it?" she asked.

"Why do you suppose Gummy didn't turn evil as well? He should have, and yet he didn't." Pinkie Pie explained.

"Your guess is as good as mine." Twilight shrugged "I guess The Smooze doesn't work on alligators."

"I guess so." Pinkie Pie replied, and returned to working on repairing the hole.

Meanwhile, inside Gummy's mind, a familiar figure was gloating to himself. "Things didn't turn quite how I'd expected, but at least I still have control of this baby alligator. When those ponies least expect it, I will turn him into the weapon of my revenge. Equestria will yet be mine!"

"That's what you think." another voice said seriously.

"Discord? What are you doing here?" Lord Smooze asked crossly.

"I think the better question is, what are you doing here?" Discord replied "For the record, I was occupying this mind long before you were."

"Oh, you were?" Lord Smooze asked nervously "I'm sorry, I didn't know. There must be a way for us to make this work out though. Hm.... I know. We can be roommates!"

"Uh, I think you mean mindmates." Discord corrected.

"Oh yeah, good point." Lord Smooze chuckled.

"Too bad it will never work out." Discord said seriously.

Lord Smooze was taken by surprise upon hearing that statement "Why?" he asked reluctantly.

"Because I'm kicking you out!" Discord explained "Nothing personal, but Fluttershy and the others would chew me out if I didn't do this, and I want to stay on their good side."

"Wait, wha-noooooooooo!" Lord Smooze cried, as Discord ejected him from Gummy's mind.

"All in a day's work for your reformed spirit of chaos." Discord said to himself "Too bad that Lord Smooze fellow was a joke. Oh well, they can't all be like Lord Tirek. Now, I'd better get out of here. These cramped living conditions are not my style."