Pantheon waited with bated breath for Flash's opinion of his newest creation. He had taken the advice of Baking for Beginners into account and hoped that the simple loaf of bread he'd baked would turn out better than the croissant debacle of yesterday. The fact that the pony hadn't immediately ran for the bathroom was a good sign. "Well...?" Pantheon began to ask, but Flash held up a hoof to cut him off, indicating that he hadn't yet finished chewing.
Several deliberate chews later and Flash swallowed the bread with an audible gulp.
Pantheon leaned closer to the pony, eager to hear what he thought. Finally, after several tense seconds, Flash delivered his verdict. "Not bad."
Tension flooded out of Pantheon's posture and he heaved a massive sigh of relief. When Flash took a second bite of his bread Pantheon nearly shed a single tear of joy. Nearly. He hadn't been so proud of an accomplishment since he'd made his first kill as a lad.
A sudden and insistent pounding on the front door broke Pantheon out of his reverie. The door burst open before either of them could react to reveal an excited Pinkie Pie. She bounced inside and exclaimed, "I just got some super-duper terrific-uper news you guys, and I just had to come over and tell you right away! I heard that there's gonna-"
She froze mid-bounce, somehow managing to stop herself cold a few feet off of the ground. Her eyes were locked on the half-eaten loaf of bread in Flash's hoof. She floated down to the ground as softly as a feather. In a very small voice she asked, "Where did you get that bread, Flash?"
Flash's gaze slowly panned from Pinkie over to Pantheon. Pinkie followed his gaze. "Pantheon, did you make that bread?"
Her tone was unreadable, Pantheon didn't know what answer she wanted to hear. After a second of hesitation he tentatively offered, "Yes?"
Less than an instant passed before Pantheon found himself subjected to a bone-crushing hug. "Oh, I'm so happy for you, Panthy!" Pinkie squealed. "Your baking's come so far already! I just know you'll become a master baker in no time at all!"
The incredible pressure of Pinkie's hug around Pantheon's middle suddenly vanished and he staggered back a step before regaining his balance. The pink mare instead latched herself around Flash Sentry. The unexpected hug forced the breath from Flash's lungs and he dropped the bread. Before the half-eaten loaf could hit the ground one of Pinkie's hind hooves shot out and snagged it. With unnerving dexterity she placed the bread onto a nearby table.
"And don't think I've forgotten about you, Flashy. I know that Panthy wouldn't have made it this far along the path to become a master baker without your unwavering support."
"Unwavering support?" Pantheon mouthed incredulously. Luckily, his ever-present helmet prevented Pinkie from seeing. Out loud he said, "You had something you wished to tell us, Pinkie?"
Pinkie released Flash from her death hug, the stallion flopped to the ground where he immediately started gasping and sputtering for air. "Oh yeah! I almost forgot because I was so happy for you." Somehow, the smile she wore grew even wider. "Princess Cadance announced that there's gonna be a baking contest held in the Crystal Empire. All the greatest bakers from all over Equestria are gonna be there and Cadance asked me to be one of the judges!"
"Good for you, Pinkie," Flash gasped from the ground.
Pinkie thanked the prone pony then looked at Pantheon and, with no warning, her eyes figuratively popped right out of her head. "Ooh, I just had a brilliant idea! Why don't you enter the baking contest, Panth?"
Pantheon looked pointedly at the half-eaten loaf of bread. It was his greatest creation to date and the highest praise it had received was "not bad." He looked back to Pinkie and raised a single eyebrow. He knew that she couldn't see his eyebrow, but it was the thought that counted. "Do you honestly think I would stand a chance?"
She hummed and tapped a hoof to her chin thoughtfully for all of two seconds. "Nope!" she chirped. "But that wouldn't stop it from being both super-duper fun and a fantastic experience! And besides, if you practice a whole bunch over the next two weeks you'll be even better than you are now for the contest."
Pantheon crossed his arms over his breastplate, his eyebrow still raised. "You're not giving me much incentive to enter into a contest which I won't have any chance of winning."
"Please?" Pinkie asked with the biggest, cutest, pleadingest pair of puppy eyes Pantheon had ever seen.
Pantheon was unfazed. If his eyebrow wasn't already raised he would have raised it then.
Pinkie, realizing her normal tactics weren't working, turned her gaze up to eleven complete with lip quiver and crocodile tears forming in the corner of her eyes.
"When have I ever given off the impression that this would work on me?" Pantheon asked Flash rhetorically. Flash didn't respond, since he had been reduced to a twitching, gibbering pile of a stallion mere moments after being caught on the outer fringe of Pinkie's pleading power.
Taking the hint, Pinkie's face immediately returned to normal. Flash breathed a sigh of relief and finally picked himself up off of the ground. "Will you at least come with me to the Crystal Empire to watch the competition? You might learn something from watching the greatest bakers in the land."
Pantheon relented, uncrossing his arms and lowering his eyebrow. "Sure, Pinkie. I'll go to the Crystal Empire with you."