The Steeden University of Culinary Arts
By Dee Pad
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Chapter 9: Dough-crastination

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As good a baker as Pinkie Pie was, for every delectable, undeniably delicious pastry she produced, she made just as many bombs. Literally. In the six months or so that she's been studying at the Steeden University of Culinary Arts, she's gone overboard with her recipes or her measurements more times than Gustave was willing to count. Thankfully, no harm ever came of her explosive miscalculations, just a big mess of dough, batter, or icing; in some cases, all three. She was always happy to clean up afterward, though. If there was one redeeming quality that Pinkie had that was of great relief to Gustave, it was her willingness to take responsibility.

Today's incident in particular involved a project about creative presentation. Pinkie Pie decided to present her creativity in the form of a chocolate fountain, or rather a chocolate volcano. The situation was rather self-explanatory. Suffice to say Pinkie's volcano made any foal's third grade science fair projects look like a simple shaken can of soda. Pinkie's project would have sent the villagers at the bottom of the mountain running for high ground. And happenings such as that are why Gustave has adopted the policy of always saving Pinkie's work for last. That way she wouldn't compromise the other students' work.

By this point, Pinkie must have spent a good day of her life staying behind to clean up her messes. It certainly would have been more if it weren't for her friends, who were always kind enough to lend a helping hoof. But now that the current mess was cleaned up, the trio were ready to head back to their dorms to unwind.

As they stepped out into the halls, Candy started in the opposite direction of the dorms. "I'm gonna head over to the student lounge for a cup of coffee. You girls wanna come with?"

Pinkie offered a chipper grin and spun around to join her. "Sure! I do have a hankering for a nice, buttery bagel."

Puff shrugged and also altered her direction. It was just as well to go with them rather than go back to the dorm by herself where she'd just be waiting for them to get back anyway. Although, now Rainbow Dash was there. She would have somepony to keep her company, even if just for a few minutes until they returned.

Rainbow Dash had been staying with them for over a week at this point. So far, there haven't really been any issues. As long as she remained in the dorm when Pinkie and Puff were in class, she was fine. However, there's only so much foreign television one pony could watch before they started getting bored. It was clearly an aspect of Dash's plan that she hadn't quite thought through before making the trip. The only thing keeping her from a case of cabin fever was their frequent outings into the city, but even that has gotten a bit risky. After a close call in the lobby, it was evident that Rainbow Dash would need an alternate route out of the university to avoid being caught, so now she had to fly out of the window and meet up with them at the school's gate. For somepony whose ego needed to be fed regularly, being all covert and avoiding the spotlight was starting to grind on Rainbow Dash's nerves.

As the trio arrived at the student lounge, they immediately halted in their tracks. It appeared that all of that boredom that had been building up had finally reached a tipping point because they could swear that there was a rainbow-maned pegasus seated on a couch in the middle of the room. None of them said anything; they were rendered speechless at Rainbow Dash's reckless abandon. To not only wander around the school by herself, but to mingle with the students was simply... not thinking. She wasn't so much interacting with the students as she was observing them over a banana bread muffin and a cup of orange juice. Oddly, she also seemed to have a set of Pinkie Pie's spare saddlebags and stuffed them with books.

Dash's eyes drifted toward the door where Pinkie, Candy, and Puff we standing with their mouths agape. She grinned at them and waved them over. "Hey, guys! Over here!" she called, as if they hadn't been staring straight at her this whole time.

Pinkie briskly hurried over to the couch, glancing side to side to see if anyone was looking at them suspiciously, and leaned over the arm to get in Rainbow Dash's face. "What are you doing down here?!" she managed to whisper in her panic, still looking around to ensure she hadn't drawn any attention.

Rainbow Dash immediately dismissed Pinkie's scolding with a carefree scoff. "Relax. It's cool."

"What's cool?" Candy asked rhetorically. "That you're jeopardizing yourself by coming down here without telling anypony?"

Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes and chugged down the last of her orange juice. "Geez, you guys are such worrywarts. Look, I've been down here for the last hour and a half and no one's looked at me like I'm not supposed to be here. I've got this under control."

"How exactly do you have this under control?" Puff asked. "If somepony does raise questions, vhat are you going to do?"

"What?!" Pinkie bellowed, inadvertently earning a few raised eyebrows from the other students.

Dash took a bite of her muffin and gestured for Pinkie to calm down. "Didn't I tell you to chill? There's, like, a thousand students in this school. Do you think that all of the instructors know and recognize every single student?" She pat the saddlebags sitting next to her. "Turns out, if you just walk around with a bag full of textbooks, people just assume you're a student. When the teacher didn't recognize me, she just asked who I was, and I told her I was with a different instructor and that I was between classes right now. And she bought it. Trust me, I used to do this in junior high. I managed to pass myself off as a high school sophomore for four years. Guess they must've thought I was a late bloomer, too, cuz I was one short sophomore. Heh heh."

"And what if you ran into Gustave?" Pinkie postulated. "You'd be outta here faster than... well... you."

"Gustave's your teacher, right? So as long as you're in class, he's in class. No worries."

Puff cast a glance at Candy and Pinkie, who still seemed skeptical of Dash's reasoning. "She has a point."

Pinkie scratched her chin, trying to devise a counter-argument, but came up empty. "Well, uhhhh... Hm. I guess when you put it that way..."

Dash leaned back against the couch triumphantly. "See? No biggie. This way I don't have to be cooped up all day while I'm waiting for you guys. You don't cage Rainbow 'Danger' Dash."

"Look, if it makes you feel any better, we can head back to the apartment now in case Gustave shows up," the pegasus suggested. She took one final bite of her muffin, threw on "her" saddlebags, and hopped off the couch with a smile.

Pinkie seemed pleased with that suggestion, and considering nothing bad had happened, decided not to get on Rainbow Dash's case any further. "Right-y then! Let's move it!"

As they were leaving, Candy glanced down at the books in Dash's saddlebags. "Where'd you even get those books?"

Dash simply shrugged. "Somepony just left them on the table back there. Can you believe how careless some people can be?"

Candy rolled her eyes, but Puff had a hard time holding back her amusement at the irony of the pegasus's words.

Rainbow Dash picked up the remote and flicked off the television. With a deep sigh of boredom, she lounged back on the couch, resting her hooves behind her head and crossing her hind legs. She just stared up at the ceiling for a minute. Normally, when Rainbow Dash was bored she would just fly up into sky, pull aside a nice, fluffy cloud, and settle in for a nap. She figured there would be nothing wrong with doing that here in terms of being caught; she'd be off the university's property and nopony would recognize her anyway. The only reason she didn't is because she felt she was out of her jurisdiction, so to speak. Back in Ponyville she was the weather manager, which meant that she was in charge of cloud control for the most part. But in Steeden, those weren't her clouds, and she felt she had no right to tamper with them. Still, though, she was kind of craving the unique comfort of a cushy cloud, but she had to settle for Pinkie's couch. Not that the couch was uncomfortable, quite the contrary actually, it was very comfy. It just couldn't compare to a good altocumulus.

Rainbow Dash tilted her head back against the arm of the couch, giving herself a view of the large living room window, albeit an upside-down view. Perhaps this time of year wasn't so great for lounging on clouds anyway. She had a pretty high tolerance for cold—she had to if she was going to be dealing with stormy or cold weather—but sleeping on a cloud in sub-zero temperatures was not only uncomfortable, but dangerous. It might be fine if the sun was beaming down on her from above, fighting off the slight chill that would be beneath her, but on an overcast day like today, it wasn't preferable.

But thinking about the time of year brought up an interesting thought: it was almost time for Winter Wrap Up. Dash frowned slightly as she thought about it. This was probably going to be the first time she hadn't participated with the Winter Wrap Up since she moved to Ponyville, and that goes back to her position as Ponyville's weather manager. Who's going to be in charge of clearing the skies with her gone? She didn't consider finding somepony to fill in for her while she was gone. She was sure Twilight could find somepony to do at least a half decent job, but now she felt guilty for leaving her colleagues to figure things out for themselves.

Rainbow Dash groaned quietly as she settled back into the couch. It wasn't worth thinking about it. She was just here to spend time with her best friend. She'd deal with the ramifications when she got back home. Right now, she just wanted a quick nap. But after a few minutes, her eyes slowly opened again. Something wasn't right. It was too... quiet. Normally, that wouldn't be a problem. Although Rainbow Dash was accustomed to a little ambiance when she'd take a cloud nap, having some peace and quiet was definitely still conducive to getting some shuteye. But this was Pinkie's dormitory. Nopony ever assumes that silence and Pinkie Pie can co-exist, and whenever it actually happened, it usually meant Pinkie was up to something, like she was preparing a surprise party or an elaborate prank. That thought made it difficult for Rainbow Dash to pursue sleep.

The pegasus stretched out her legs and rolled off of the couch, deciding to investigate Pinkie's unexplained absence. She knew even before she got up that Pinkie wasn't in the kitchen; there was no distinct aroma of pastries or sweets in the apartment. That alone greatly narrowed down her search options. Either she had left to go visit Candy and Dash somehow hadn't noticed, or she was in the bedroom. Obviously, her first choice was the bedroom since it was right there anyway.

Sure enough, when Rainbow Dash opened the door, there was Pinkie Pie, lying on her bed and skimming the pages of one of her textbooks, with several others piled in a stack beside her. Puff was there as well, lying on her own bed and doing exactly the same thing Pinkie was doing.

Rainbow Dash raised an eyebrow at how well-behaved Pinkie was being. It wasn't like her to let silence take over the space around her. "What are you guys doing?"

That answer only served to puzzle Dash further. "Studying? I thought the equivalent of studying here was just baking cakes 'n' stuff. You're looking like Twilight with the way your nose was buried in that book."

Rainbow Dash walked over beside Pinkie Pie, picking out a few books and looking over their covers. She tilted her head, her confusion escalating still. "Math? Geography? History? What the hay does this stuff have to do with baking?"

"Math is important," Puff answered. "Vee need to be able to convert measurements und such."

"Yeah," Pinkie agreed. She tapped the covers of the geography and history texts. "And geography and history help us learn about other cultures and their cuisine. This school is super in-depth. I've already learned a lot more than I ever thought I would."

"I'm sure you could have learned all of this stuff from Twilight's books," Rainbow Dash pointed out. The look that Pinkie gave her at that moment made her wish she had worded that differently. She didn't want to open that can of worms again. "Look, I'm just trying to ask why all of this is really necessary," she clarified, gesturing to the books. "Why do you need some grade on a piece of paper to tell you that you're good when your work can speak for you?"

Pinkie Pie let out a sigh and shrugged. "It's just... We gotta do it, that's all. It's part of the curriculum. I can't get my diploma if I fail all of my tests."

"You're not gonna fail," Dash said with a dismissive wave of her hoof. "You're the best baker I know. You know this stuff. There's really no question that you're gonna ace it."

Pinkie blushed slightly at her friend's encouragement and turned to Puff, who gave her a nod in agreement.

"You certainly are a good baker," Puff complimented. "Maybe a little... eccentric, but good. Und at least a written test von't explode in a mess of batter und icing."

"Don't be so sure, this is Pinkie Pie we're talking about. When you've been friend's with her as long as I have, you learn to expect the unexpected, and even then you still get caught off guard most of the time," Dash laughed. "But she's right. You probably don't even need to study. All of that stuff you've learned probably stuck to your brain like caramel."

"I have eaten a lot of caramel over the years," Pinkie giggled. "I wouldn't be surprised if some of it made it to my brain."

"Exactly," Rainbow Dash said with an enthusiastic grin. "Why strain yourself with this stuff that you've already got down pat when you could be out enjoying yourself and unwinding? Don't a lot of people do bad on tests because they burn themselves out studying the night before? You don't want that to happen, do you?"

A look of worry, yet slight eagerness, suddenly overcame Pinkie. "No, of course not."

Rainbow Dash grabbed Pinkie by the hoof and coaxed her off the bed. "Then let's go out and have some fun, get you loosened up for that test."

Pinkie Pie hesitated for a moment. She turned to get Puff's opinion on the matter. The look that the pig-tailed mare gave her suggested that she didn't quite agree with the pegasus's logic, but when Pinkie looked back at Rainbow Dash's smiling face, her decision became a little more clear. This was a mare she had spent the best years of her life with. There was no question that whatever time they spent together would be enjoyable. Besides, she'd been studying for this test for the past few days. What difference would one book-free day make?

Pinkie put on her signature smile. "Okay, what the hay? Let's go find something fun to do!"

Rainbow Dash pumped her hoof in triumph. "Great! Come on, I want to see more of this city. Wanna come with us, Puff?"

Puff waved farewell to the pair as they headed out. When she heard the door close, the apartment's previous air of silence returned, but now that she was alone, Puff found the quiet atmosphere oddly distracting. She groaned and picked up her books, climbing off the bed and heading for the door herself. "Maybe Candy could use a study partner."

The spring months were fast approaching, the warmer temperatures of the past few weeks were a testament to that. Pinkie Pie was a tad disappointed about that. Winter had always been a beautiful season no matter where you were, but Steeden was unique. Pinkie and Rainbow Dash weren't used to the longer nights, and even Dash's natural tolerance to cold wasn't too much help in the noticeably chillier atmosphere. But even if winter was a touch more extreme than they were used to, they couldn't deny just how beautiful this country looked under a blanket of pure, white crystal snow. Even today, although the bright, beaming sun had began gradually melting the powder, the rays still reflected off of its surface, making the ground sparkle like thousands of flickering lights.

The mountains on the horizon looked like giant snow cones in the distance, covered foot to summit with whiteness. They looked simply majestic sitting at the edge of this country's great lakes of fresh water. Those lakes were mostly clear and pristine, just as they were when Pinkie had first arrived at the beginning of autumn. The only difference was the presence of slabs of ice floating about. The slowly rising temperatures had recently melted their frozen surfaces, leaving few remnants of its previously solid state.

The rivers that ran through Trotholm were much the same. The crisp, clear water ran gently beneath the city's many connecting bridges. Despite their ever-flowing nature, there was nary a ripple to be seen upon their surfaces. Unfortunately, there was not much to look at beneath the water. No fish could be seen swimming about. The only things visible within the aqueous mirror was the reflection of the sun and sky, and the faces of the two mares staring down into it.

Pinkie Pie and Rainbow Dash leaned against the railing of the stone bridge, gazing thoughtfully into the water. Neither one of them knew exactly why they had come to this spot specifically, but it was within sight of the air dock where Pinkie had taken her first step into this foreign land. Perhaps their presence here was a subconscious decision.

Rainbow turned away from the shimmering river and watched as a large, commercial airship took off from the dock, taking to the sky and making for the horizon. She turned back to Pinkie Pie. Her best friend was still staring down at the water, wearing a chipper smile and humming a cheery tune to herself as she kept her peepers peeled for any fish that might swim by. Even seeing the grin on her optimistic face, Rainbow Dash couldn't help but feel a little melancholy.

The pink pony lifted her head, her smile vanishing when she was caught off guard by the sudden question. "Home? I think about home all the time. Like, every day."

Rainbow Dash shook her head. "I said, do you ever think about going home? Like, has there been a point since you've been here that you just... wished you were back in your own town, in your own house, and with your friends again?" There was another moment when Rainbow Dash had thought that Pinkie would take her question as just another selfish comment about how she wished Pinkie would come home, but in reality, she was just asking a simple question, and all she wanted was to hear Pinkie's thoughts.

Rainbow Dash looked Pinkie in the eye. She hadn't quite expected that answer. The pegasus had anticipated a response reiterating her desire for higher education and improvement of her skills, or an accusation that Rainbow was thinking only of herself. But to hear Pinkie admit that she wanted to go home was surprising. Her bright, blue eyes and the straight expression on her face relayed the seriousness of her answer. This wasn't just a simple 'Sure, sometimes' answer.

"I always want to go home. I miss you guys a ton. I miss Mr. and Mrs. Cake and the twins. I miss Mom, and Dad, and my sisters. I never knew it would be this tough being away from everypony I love for so long." Pinkie slumped against the railing of the bridge, her eyes wandering down to the clear water once more. She didn't even blink when a small fish leapt from the river with a quiet splash. "At least if I was home I could visit my family whenever I wanted. If I wanna see anypony now, I have to get an airship ticket and take a nine hour flight, then do the same to come back. It's not practical, and I hate that. I wish I had more free time so I could do that sort of stuff, but two days off a week isn't enough to justify a trip like that."

Rainbow Dash stayed silent. It was rare to hear Pinkie Pie pour her heart out like this without some modicum of whimsy or an enthusiastic smile. Rainbow was beginning to feel a little guilty. Had she inadvertently made Pinkie contemplate actually going home? Was she willing to quit right now to go back to Ponyville, abandoning her dream based solely on Rainbow Dash's selfish feelings?

"But that's the best thing about having friends here," she continued, her smile returning as she looked Rainbow Dash in the eyes. "Candy, Puff, and even Gwenivere have made my stay here so much more tolerable. They take my mind off of the things I miss—not that I don't want to think about you guys, I just don't want those thoughts to get me down, you know? I know that, no matter how this ends up, I'll always come back home."

Pinkie sidled up next to Rainbow Dash, nuzzling her friend with a soft smile. The pegasus let out a breath through her nose and wore a similar smile. She was just glad that her presence here wasn't having a negative effect on Pinkie. Having to keep a low profile most of the time was dull as all heck, but any time she got to spend with her best friend was well worth the price. As much as Pinkie Pie had dedicated herself to making others smile, Rainbow felt an obligation to do the same for Pinkie.

"Soooooo... Reminiscing is nice and all, but I was kinda hoping that when Rainbow Dash invited me to hang out we'd be doing something a little more exciting." Pinkie batted her eyelashes at the pegasus, hoping to coax her into picking a fun activity for them to do together.

Rainbow Dash stroked her chin for a moment. "Um, I think I saw a laser tag place on the way over here."

"Laser tag?! Why didn't you say so sooner?! What, were you waiting for the apocalypse or something?! Let's go!"

Pinkie grabbed Rainbow Dash by the hoof and began dragging her back into the city proper, excited by the prospect of living out scenes from her favorite action movies with lasers and flashing lights.

There was a tense air within the classroom today. All of the students sat at their desks quietly, fidgeting nervously like kids who had been dragged to the dentist, awaiting the dreadful moment when the doctor pulled out the excessively large drill that no dentist actually had.

Most of the students had grown comfortable over the six months they'd been enrolled at The Steeden University of Culinary Arts. Gustave, although he is quite an intimidating individual upon one's first impression, was a very accommodating teacher. He was always willing to provide advice to those that sought it. Many of the students saw him as somewhat of a mentor rather than a teacher.

However, the intimidation he put forward when meeting him had a purpose. He did not wish his students or colleagues to think him a softy, letting large mistakes or negligence go unnoticed and unpunished. Gustave was a difficult man to please; it was fortuitous that his students happened to be gifted bakers. But when it came to tests, that's were his scrutiny reached its peak. Any sort of fault or imperfection was subject to his critical judgment.

And that was the reason for the current atmosphere of tension. The class had taken a written test the day prior, and today they would learn how well they did. There had been days over the past six months where Gustave had given them all heated lectures about their sub-par performance, though those days were few and far between thankfully. Still, that didn't alleviate the tension. It also didn't help that they were forced to sit through a whole day of classes before they learned how they did. But as Gustave patrolled the room, walking by each desk and returning to the students their graded tests, there was a sequence of relieved sighs as each student's mind was put at ease by the satisfactory marks on their papers.

Candy Cane tapped her desk nervously as she waited for Gustave to make his way to her. Thankfully, she wasn't alone in her worry. Puff, too, was visibly wound, a few beads of sweat noticeable upon her forehead. However, in stark contrast to the two of them, Pinkie Pie sat up straight, her hooves placed neatly on her desk as she waited patiently with a carefree smile. It made sense that Gwenivere would be confident about her results, her posture much the same as the pink mare in front of her, save for the smug grin as opposed to the happy smile, but Candy expected Pinkie to at least be a little fidgety about this.

Pinkie shrugged, but continued smiling. "I dunno. I just feel... good, that's all."

"Are you kidding? That test was brutal. I wasn't one hundred percent sure about any of my answers."

"Huh. I thought it was kinda easy. I just looked at the question, wrote down an answer, and moved on to the next one. It wasn't so bad."

Candy stared at Pinkie incredulously. "You are one wacky mare. I don't think I've ever been more sure of that."

Their short conversation was cut off when a stack of papers hit Candy's desk with a fwap, startling the mare. Gustave was staring at her with a stern eye, visually expressing his displeasure that his students were chitchatting during class, something that they'd been scolded for before. Candy offered an apologetic grin, which Gustave reluctantly accepted and continued making his rounds, passing Pinkie and Puff their tests as well.

With great trepidation, Candy took a deep breath and glanced down at her graded test. The breath passed back through her lips and she relaxed against her seat when she spotted the bold, red "A" at the top of the paper. She felt as though the bubbling feeling in her gut had finally settled down to a steady simmer. In light of how nervous she was, an "A" was surprising. Even if she felt she was going to pass, the most she had been expecting was a "B."

Candy heard a similar sigh of relief next to her. Puff reacted much as she had; leaning back in her chair and gazing up at the ceiling as if to thank some higher power for her grade. She wiped the sweat that had formed on her brow and gave Candy a smile that relayed relief, pride, as well as congratulations when she noticed the similar expression on Candy's face.

"Tell me about it. I would have been kicking myself pretty hard if I had failed this test."

"I don't think you vould have failed at all. You're smart. You know this stuff back to front."

Candy scratched her head. "If that were true, I wouldn't have been so nervous about it."

Candy shrugged. She probably was just being modest. She hadn't failed any of her tests so far. In fact, she hadn't gotten anything below a "B" yet. Being modest was fine and dandy, but maybe it was time to start having a little more self-confidence. Not Gwenivere-level self-confidence—see also: arrogance—but some degree of certainty towards her own aptitude. Kind of like Pinkie Pie. Speaking of whom...

Pinkie didn't respond. She simply sat in silence, staring blankly at her paper, as if there were something about it that she couldn't comprehend.

Pinkie Pie opened her mouth, but it took a moment for the words to form. "I... failed..."

"What?!" Candy couldn't believe what she was hearing. As eccentric and air-headed as Pinkie Pie could be sometimes, she was a genius when it came to baking. It never occurred to her for a minute that Pinkie would fail a test, even a written one.

Gustave, having given back all of the tests, returned to his desk at the front of the class. "I 'ope you are all satisfied wiz your grades. I must admit, I was agréablement surpris wiz most of your work."

Pinkie glanced up from her paper. The word "most" was less like a word to her and more like a knife being plunged into her stomach.

Having heard that phrase many times over the months, the students knew they were free to leave and return to their dorms. Candy and Puff were ready to stay behind, expecting Pinkie to remain seated as she attempted to wrap her head around what had just happened to her. But they were a little relieved to see her lift her saddlebags onto her back and stand up, although looking quite disheartened. That was a very alien expression to see on her face. The three mares were about to follow the other students out of the room, but were stopped by the voice of their teacher.

A strong chill ran down Pinkie's spine. Her friends waited at the door looking concerned for her. Pinkie gestured for them to go on without her, and they listened, closing the door to give the two remaining individuals some privacy. With a defeated groan, Pinkie sauntered over to Gustave's desk with her head hung low.

Gustave looked Pinkie dead in the eye. His expression reeked of disappointment, but with a hint of concern. "I trust you know what zis is about."

Pinkie simply lifted the paper she was still holding, the bold, red "F" mocking her. Perhaps this is how Twilight felt whenever she made even a single mistake on a test, if such a thing could happen.

"I must say, I am sorely disappointed in you, Pinkie Pie. I 'ave come to expect more from you."

"I don't know how this happened," Pinkie said quietly, almost to herself more than Gustave.

"Nor do I. I 'ave seen zat you know zis material. You 'ave demonstrated zat many times. You are a skilled baker, Mademoiselle Pie, but if you lack zis sort of knowledge, zen zat puts a limit on where you can take zose skills."

"But..." Pinkie glanced at her paper once more. "I had such an easy time with it. I didn't have to think twice on any of the questions."

"Per'aps zat is zee problem," Gustave suggested. "You did not put enough zought into your answers, and you did not properly proof your work. Zis is a common issue for students zat do not comprendre zee material. But, as I said, I know you do comprendre zee material."

Pinkie was starting to feel worse and worse about herself as the seconds passed. But she was also confused. If she really knew this stuff like Gustave believed she did, why did she fail her test? Lost in her own thoughts, Pinkie hadn't noticed that Gustave was eyeing her rather strongly, as if he were contemplating something.

"In most cases such as zis, zee problem stems not from zee student's intelligence, but from zeir environment."

"Oui," Gustave affirmed with a nod. "Per'aps you did not give your exam proper attention because zere was somezing else on your mind, somezing you would razer be doing. Like somezing was distracting you from your studies per'aps, affecting your concentration. Is zere anyzing zat would meet zat description? Somezing zat could be distracting you?"

Pinkie thought for a moment. Was she being distracted by something? "No, I don't think so."

Gustave stared at her in silence for a moment, narrowing his eyes skeptically. "I see. Zen I suppose we cannot truly get to zee root of zis problem until we can figure out from where it stems."

Pinkie stared down at the floor dejectedly. She wished she knew what the problem was. If she did, she'd address it right away.

"'Owever, because I 'ave faith in your potential, and I want to see you succeed in your endeavors, I will allow you to fix zis mistake."

"Oui. I will prepare a make-up test for you to take. 'Opefully zis will prove zat zis one time was simply malchance. Meet me 'ere Saturday morning at nine o' clock and I will 'ave a new test for you to take." He looked into Pinkie's eyes, the compassion in his own eyes showing that he cared very much about her, more than he was willing to let on. "I do not want to see your talent go to waste, Pinkie Pie."

Pinkie finally managed a grateful smile, elated that she was getting this second chance. "Thank you, Chef! I won't disappoint you this time!"

Gustave watched as Pinkie hurried out of the classroom, no doubt eager to share the good news with her friends. The door closed behind her, leaving Gustave alone, with the exception of his own thoughts. His beak curled into a disappointed frown and he shook his head.

Candy nodded to reconfirm what she had just told Rainbow Dash. The pegasus was thoroughly surprised to hear from Candy and Puff when they had returned to the apartment that Pinkie had failed the test. She had seen how dedicated Pinkie was to her studies at this school. Even after she had assured her best friend that she knew this stuff like the back of her hoof, she still somehow failed her test. That thought had never even occurred to Rainbow Dash.

"She's pretty broken up about it, too," Candy added. "I've never seen her like that before."

Dash's eyes were filled with concern for her friend. "Really? Geez, that's not like her. She usually likes to see the good in everything, even bad stuff. Maybe she cares about this more than I thought."

"Of course she cares about it," Puff said. "She came all the vay here to learn from the best of the best. It's probably heartbreaking for her to get any sort of hint that she might not succeed."

As concerned as she was about how this was going to affect Pinkie's mood, Dash was confident that she'd buck up eventually. She's seen her friend bounce back from worse. "Look, she's not gonna flunk out, if that's what you're worried about. It's just one test. It's not that big a deal anyway."

"It's a bigger deal than you think, Rainbow Dash," Candy corrected with a stern tone. "This school is meant to determine who's the cream of the crop. Every grade we get is going to be taken into account when graduation approaches. One bad mark could be the difference between getting a diploma or not."

"Says the mare who flew across the ocean because she was afraid her friend was replacing her."

Rainbow Dash opened her mouth to retort, but was interrupted when the door opened, revealing the mare around which their conversation was centered. The three mares already present turned to Pinkie Pie, concern upon all of their faces. They suspected she would be in need of consoling after her no doubt disheartening chat with Gustave. However, they had not expected her to be smiling upon arrival.

They were all troubled about what Gustave had said to her, but seeing her return with a smile made them even more curious. Candy took a few steps toward her, ready to offer a sympathetic hoof if she needed it. "What did Chef le Grand say?"

"It's amazing is what it is," Candy added. "And I know you deserve this second chance more than anypony."

"Yeah, it was a huuuuge relief to hear him say that," Pinkie said with a relieved sigh. "I just have to meet him on Saturday morning and I can take a new test."

Candy couldn't suppress a lighthearted chuckle. "You really are one lucky loony, you know that? I'm not sure Chef le Grand would give even Gwenivere a chance like this."

Rainbow Dash furrowed her brow. "The big deal is that that's on the weekend. That's your free time."

Candy stepped in to speak for Pinkie, astounded by Rainbow Dash's ignorance. "What are you talking about? He's giving Pinkie an opportunity to turn an 'F' into an 'A.'"

"So, what, she's just expected to give up a perfectly good Saturday just to take another test? Not only that, but now she's got to do even more studying? He's completely eating away her free time. How is that fair?"

Now it was Candy's turn to be vexed. She glared at Rainbow Dash with mouth agape. "Do you even hear yourself? Pinkie should be nothing but grateful for this opportunity. If you failed a test and the teacher gave you a chance to fix that, wouldn't you take it?"

"And waste my time with another test? Are you kidding? I've got better things to do."

Candy couldn't believe what she was hearing. "How can you possibly say something like that?"

"Hey, I'm just saying that if he's going to make Pinkie take another test, it should be on his time, not hers. That's time she could be spending with her best friend."

Candy grit her teeth, anger boiling at the pegasus's words. "I can't believe how selfish you're being! And you know what? I think that you're the reason she failed that test in the first place!"

A tense silence fell over the apartment, with Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie, and Puff Pastry gawking at Candy's harsh accusation.

Dash narrowed her eyes, stepping defiantly into Candy's pointing hoof. She responded in a low, threatening tone. "You wanna say that again?"

Candy didn't back down. She didn't doubt that, in a fight, Rainbow Dash would overpower her, but like hell she was going to stand by and let the pegasus's blind, selfish ignorance go unrebuked. "You heard me. Puff told me that you pulled Pinkie away from her studies the night before the test. I wasn't going to say anything because I thought Pinkie was smart enough to do well regardless of your interference, but apparently I was wrong. Not about Pinkie being smart, but about just how much of an impact you'd have on her."

"That's exactly what I'm saying! Even Pinkie is smart enough to know that not every second of her free time has to be dedicated to goofing off!"

"Girls, stop!" Pinkie shouted, visibly distraught from watching her friends argue.

Instead of listening to Pinkie's plea, Rainbow Dash decided to use her interjection as an opportunity. She looked at Pinkie with a friendly smile, belying the frustration welling within her. "Pinkie, you're on my side, right? Tell her I'm not just a distraction."

Pinkie flinched at the request. She wasn't expecting Rainbow Dash to try and make her choose sides. Pinkie's eyes shifted between her two fighting friends, unsure how to respond now that she was being dragged into the argument.

For each second that ticked by without an answer, Dash's smile faded further and further. "Come on, tell her." Her tone was starting to sound worried. That silence wasn't too encouraging. She stared at Pinkie Pie with pleading eyes. "Pinkie?"

Pinkie looked away, afraid to look her best friend in the eye with what thoughts were currently occupying her mind. Was Gustave right? Was Rainbow Dash just a distraction? She couldn't just accept that. This was her best friend they were talking about. She finally managed to find some words, though perhaps not the ones she wanted to say, but the best she could come up with at the moment to avoid hurting Dash's feelings. "It's... It's not your fault, Rainbow Dash. It's mine."

"It was my choice to hang out with you instead of study. I failed because I was irresponsible."

Rainbow Dash's gaze fell to the floor. The dejected look in her eyes was heartbreaking for Pinkie. "Oh. So that's how it is. I'm an irresponsible choice, am I?"

"I know what you meant," Dash interrupted, her frustration returning in force. "It's what you've been telling me since I got here: I wasted my time coming here."

"You didn't have to. I get that me being here is kinda inconvenient and might wind up getting you guys in trouble, but I thought it would be worth it if we could just spend this important time of your life together. Apparently, I was wrong."

Rainbow Dash started heading for the door. Pinkie reached out to her, afraid of what she was planning to do. "Wait! Where are you going?"

Dash stopped at the threshold, turning back briefly to answer the question. "To hang out with someone who doesn't mind me being here." With that, she slammed the door shut behind her.

Pinkie let her ears fall back. She wanted to go after Rainbow Dash, but seeing how upset she was, she figured maybe it wouldn't be such a good idea.

"That vas... unpleasant," commented Puff, specifically noting the fuming expression on Candy's face.

"I don't care if she saved my life or not, there's no excuse for being that self-centered. Does she ever think of anypony but herself?" Candy asked in disbelief of Rainbow Dash's attitude.

Pinkie let out a deep, sullen sigh and sauntered over to the couch, flopping limply into its cushions. "I... I know she can be stubborn, but she does care about her friends. A lot. I mean, she came all this way just to see me after all."

"She came to see you because she felt insecure. It wasn't about surprising you, or making you happy. It was for her own peace of mind, that's it."

Pinkie frowned at Candy's theory. It hurt her to hear one of her friends talk that way about another one of her friends, especially her best friend. "I can't believe that. She's my best friend."

Candy stepped toward Pinkie, pointing at her commandingly. "Then maybe its high time for you to reevaluate who should be your friends."

In that second, Pinkie's depression transitioned to uncharacteristic anger. She furrowed her brow and leaned toward Candy. "I know she's not perfect, but that's no reason to stop being her friend. If anything it gives me more reason to be her friend! I don't expect my friends to be perfect. Friendship is all about bringing out the good in people, and I like bringing out the good in Rainbow Dash. And she's got a lot of good, I'll have you know!"

Candy was skeptical of her reasoning. To her, it sounded like she was grasping at straws. Just like Rainbow Dash had done with her old griffon friend she told them about, Pinkie appeared to be in denial about her close friend. It wasn't like Candy wanted Pinkie to break things off with somepony she clearly cared so much about, but something had to be done. Before Candy could continue her argument, Pinkie hopped off of the couch and made for the door, a determined look in her normally-sparkling eyes.

Pinkie didn't even bother to look back, just answering as she walked through the door. "To prove how strong true friendship can be."

Rainbow Dash grabbed another biscuit and tore into it like an vicious badger, spraying crumbs all over the table in the process. "And she says I'm being a distraction now! Seriously, is that any way to talk about your best friend, who risked her life to see her, might I add?"

Gwenivere simply watched with a displeased grimace as her unexpected guest made a crumby mess of her kitchen. She was certainly surprised to see the pegasus show up out of nowhere, barging into her dorm in a tiff and slamming the door loudly behind her. Out of all of the ponies that would normally come over, she had the least objections about Rainbow Dash. However, she'd prefer it if her guests didn't simply invite themselves in as one particular pink pony possessed a propensity for. Still, the pegasus's reason for being here was to complain about said pony, so who was she to turn her away? It might make for a nice bonding moment.

"It sounds like you are beginning to see zings from my point of view," Gwenivere commented, wiping up some of Dash's crumbs with a napkin.

"I just can't believe she'd be so ungrateful!" Dash stuffed another biscuit into her mouth. "An' can you belief dat Candy shaid she failed dat tesht becaushe of me?" She gulped down the cookie. "Did it ever occur to her that the test was, you know, hard? I remember that she herself was on edge about it, but she has the gall to blame me for Pinkie failing it!"

Gwenivere took a biscuit for herself, taking only a small bite. She shrugged at Rainbow's assumption about the test. "I, for one, 'ad no trouble wiz it. Mais, I suppose I am zee exception in zis case. Zis is moi we are speaking of," she said with a smug grin. The griffon started to notice that Rainbow Dash didn't really seem to be paying much attention to what she was saying, just staring off at the wall as she demolished biscuit after biscuit in her frustration. It was becoming evident that she only came over to vent her anger rather than engage in a reasonable conversation that would ultimately lead to some sort of moral epiphany.

Rainbow Dash finally turned her eyes up higher than the plate of cookies on the table, meeting Gwenivere's gaze for the first time since she arrived unannounced. "Do you know how it feels to go to the kind of lengths I have to see your friends, only to have 'em tell you that you're in the way?"

Gwenivere assumed that to be a rhetorical question, but Dash's silent stare seemed to indicate otherwise. The griffon shook her head. "I cannot say zat I do."

Dash opened her mouth in preparation to say something scathing, but her words faltered, instead finding nothing of that sort. "I... I don't know. I could fly home I guess, but, admittedly, that is pretty dangerous. And I don't have any money for a ship back home."

"So you will sit 'ere in Steeden and stew in your anger, avoiding contact wiz your friends?"

Rainbow Dash let out an exasperated sigh. "Well, no. I don't know. If I'm gonna keep staying here, then it'll be hard to avoid them, not to mention I'd be out a place to sleep." She gave a hopeful look to Gwenivere, but the griffon quickly shot down her wordless request with a stern shake of her head. Dash groaned and leaned against her hoof, unsure where she was supposed to go from here.

She wasn't thinking long before she heard the door of Gwenivere's dorm open. Out of simple, morbid curiosity, Rainbow Dash turned her head to see who was there. She scowled when she saw the poofy, pink mane of Pinkie Pie poke inside, the mare's face expressing caution, and for good reason. As soon as Dash saw who it was, she turned away with a low grunt, giving Pinkie the cold shoulder.

Under normal circumstances, Gwenivere would have been ecstatic that Pinkie had even bothered to ask the question, giving her a welcomed opportunity to give the party pony a resounding "No." Instead, however, the griffon took a moment to mull over Pinkie's request, her hesitation surprising even herself. Of course, it only took one look across the table at the grumpy pegasus seated with her to determine why she was hesitant. As little as she actually cared about the problems of others, including Rainbow Dash, and especially Pinkie Pie, considering the pegasus had chosen her ear as the outlet for her frustration, it had inadvertently become her problem as well.

With some reluctance, Gwenivere gestured for Pinkie to enter. "Fine. Just make it quick."

Having gained admittance, Pinkie slowly walked to the kitchen. She stopped a few feet away from Rainbow Dash, wanting to keep a respectful distance knowing that her friend wasn't in a good mood right now. She fished around for the words she wanted to start with, but, unfortunately, hadn't exactly thought of anything on the way over like she was hoping she would. Might as well wing it.

Pinkie bit her lip. Dash's tone hurt. They've had arguments before, but this time Pinkie really felt like she was the bad guy. "Well, I don't know how much it's worth, but I'm sorry."

Rainbow Dash finally looked at Pinkie out of the corner of her eye. When she took notice of the hurt look on Pinkie's face, she turned to face her fully. Contrary to most arguments she wound up in, Dash felt she was the victim in this situation, yet Pinkie's expression said the opposite. But that didn't change how upset she was. "After all the trouble I went to, you guys go and make me feel like I'm being a burden. I know I'm a pretty tough pony, but that doesn't mean your words don't still sting a little."

Rainbow Dash's expression became more somber. "I came all this way to hang out with you, and you and Candy talk like I shouldn't be here."

"Zat's because you're not," Gwenivere chimed in as she bit into another biscuit.

"But I never said that," Pinkie reiterated. "I love that you're here, Rainbow Dash. Having my best friend by my side during this important time in my life makes me so happy. But..."

Rainbow Dash waited for Pinkie to continue her thought, reestablishing that she was just a distraction like Candy said.

Rainbow Dash felt her heart sink a little. "Yeah... But I came so we could hang out, because I missed you."

Gwenivere interjected once more. "If you truly cared about 'er, zen you would step aside when she 'as more important zings to do, like study."

"We can still hang out," Pinkie said. "Even when I'm studying. You can even help if you want, like asking me some questions to test me or something."

Dash's ears folded back, and she turned away from Pinkie. "So I am just a distraction then."

"Maybe," Pinkie admitted. "But that doesn't mean I want you to leave. I want you here, whether you're supposed to be here or not. And I don't want us to stop being friends because of a stupid argument."

Rainbow Dash sighed and hopped off of her chair. "We're not going to stop being friends, Pinkie. We're best friends."

Rainbow Dash matched Pinkie's grin, leaning in to give her a hug. "Forever." Dash pulled back, looking at Pinkie in hopes of finding some justification for her actions. "But is it really so wrong to want to hang out with you as much as possible?"

The pegasus scratched her head, regretful and somewhat embarrassed. "Yeah, guess you're right. Look, you have nothing to apologize for. I acted like a bit of a jackass back there. And I suppose Candy was right: I was being selfish. Think you can find it in your heart to forgive me?"

Pinkie gave her a heartwarming smile and went in for another hug. "I'm sure I can manage that."

Gwenivere gave a roll of her eyes at the disgusting display of affection. "If you do not mind, would you kindly take zis to your own apartment, s'il vous plait? I 'ave better zings to do zan be zee mediator in your quarrels."

"Sure thing, Gwen," Pinkie chirped with a smile. "Besides, Rainbow Dash needs to apologize to Candy too."

"What?! I know I said she was right about me being selfish 'n' all, but is that any excuse for tearing into me the way she did? If anything, she should be the one apologizing!"

Pinkie lifted her nose up at Rainbow Dash. "Well then, maybe apologies are due all around."

Pinkie scolded Rainbow Dash with a stern tone, pointing her toward the door. "No buts. Move, missy."

Dash threw her head back in protest, but obeyed. "Ugh, fine. But we're going out for ice cream after this."

The Steeden University of Culinary Arts

by Dee Pad

Chapter 9 - Dough-crastination