Several weeks had passed since Cloudy Quartz and her two daughters moved into Ponyville. Pinkie Pie and Limestone were slowly but surely, adapting to their new life. Cloudy Quartz started the bakery business right away, and at first it was a slow start. Cloudy Quartz did most of the baking at first. Back when she lived in Manehatten as a young filly, she learned how to cook and bake, she was a natural. Her parents would always praise their daughter for her excellent cooking skills, and they hoped that she would go on to become a famous baker or chef one day, but all that changed when Cloudy Quartz decided to live a life with Igneous Rock on the rock farm. But that didn't matter anymore, to Cloudy Quartz, it was just a thing of the past, right now she was looking towards the future. The future for herself, and her daughters. Cloudy Quartz would strive to get her daughters to learn how to bake, so that they would go on to do the things she didn't. In fact, she also didn't want them to make the same mistake that she had made. She didn't want them to stray away from their dreams, just so they could go marry a good-for-nothing stallion. Cloudy Quartz didn't always feel this way. Back when she lived on the rock farm, she actually wanted all of her daughters to go find their own true loves, so that they could live happily ever after, the same way she did. Oh, but she didn't live happily ever after did she? Instead she ended up having her family torn apart, all because of that old stallion that she married, and how he refused to recognize the abuse that was going on between his two daughters! No, she didn't want that for Pinkie and Limestone. So she made a promise to herself that she would teach them how to bake, so that they could have successful careers, and not have to worry about stallions. Yes, that was exactly what she was going to do. And that is the reason why problems started to rise in the household.
Pinkie Pie found it very hard learning how to bake. Cloudy Quartz started teaching Pinkie and Limestone all there was to be known about baking, which of course they knew practically nothing about. First they had to learn how to prepare the dough. Limestone at first found this troubling, but with practice, she learned how to get the hang of it, but Pinkie on the other hand was a lost cause. She could never mix the ingredients right, the dough would always come out with a weird texture to it, and this was the number one source to Pinkie's problem, measuring and mixing. No matter how many times Pinkie tried, her dough would always have the same result. While Limestone went on to actually master dough making, and started baking rolls of bread, Pinkie was still stuck when it came to preparing the dough. It frustrated Pinkie to no end. Why did Limestone have to be so perfect? It wouldn't be as bad if her mother wasn't so negative about it. Pinkie noticed how her mother would praise Limestone for her new batch of newly baked rolls, then she would scold Pinkie about not getting the texture of the dough right. Her mother got so frustrated with Pinkie, that it was hard for Pinkie to actually learn anything, and she wasn't able to improve. And it was because of the fact that Cloudy Quartz wanted her daughters to become highly skilled bakers so badly, that she would get so riled up when Pinkie wouldn't improve.
This went on for weeks, no improvement, only scolding. While the exact opposite happened to Limestone, always improvement, always praising. One day, Pinkie got so angry with not being able to get the praise that Limestone was receiving, that she kicked the huge bag of flour that was on the kitchen counter and it spilled all over the floor and made a huge mess. At first it felt good to let all of that anger out, but that feeling went away quickly when she saw her mother walk into the kitchen to see the catastrophe on the floor.
"Pinkamena Diane Pie! What is the meaning of this mess!"
"Well, you see...I got so angry that I-" Pinkie was saying before being cut off by her mother.
"What were you thinking, making a huge mess like this!? How do you expect to be a perfect baker one day, if you don't start acting like one?" Pinkie had nothing to say, all she could think about was trying to hold back her own tears. Actually, why should she start crying? She never asked for this. She never asked to become a baker. Why should she have to follow her mother's dreams?
"What if I don't want to be a baker?" Pinkie said, at first hesitating.
"Excuse me?" Cloudy Quartz turned around to look at her.
"I never asked to be a baker. You forced me to do this. I don't want to live your dreams Mom! I want to live my own dreams!" Pinkie didn't want to cry, but she couldn't help it when the tears started flowing from her eyes. Cloudy Quartz was stunned for a second, and then finally spoke.
"I have to go to the market to get some supplies, Limestone is coming with me, so you'll be by yourself." Pinkie was confused.
"Have this place cleaned up by the time I get back here." And with that she was out the kitchen door. Pinkie sat down in the powdered whiteness around her, as she heard the front door to the store close.
Pinkie had to mop the floor to the kitchen to get the powdery flour out. She had been at it for about an hour or so. She had a chance to calm down and think about the things she said. Maybe she had overreacted, but it was so frustrating that Limestone got more of the attention than her. It was the exact same as it was when they lived on the farm, nothing had changed. Pinkie Pie couldn't understand it. No matter what she did, she would always do something wrong. She was neglected by her father, teased by her sister, and now she was being scolded by her mother just because she didn't know how to bake. It was because of Limestone that she was having all of these problems. If she wasn't so perfect, Pinkie could have been accepted for who she was, but instead her parents try to constantly compare her with her sister. They wanted her to be exactly like her sister. Well she wasn't her sister, she was Pinkie Pie, and that should have been enough for them. Besides, why would she want to be like Limestone? A pathetic bully who constantly has to downgrade her siblings just to make herself seem more superior.
Then Pinkie started to remember the mocking. She could hear her sister's degrading words, being pounded in her ears. It was almost as if Limestone was standing right next to her, filling her ears with insults. It sounded so real, it sounded as though Limestone was actually talking to her. But she couldn't be, she was with Mom at the market. But that didn't stop Pinkie from hearing her, she could hear the insults as clear as day.
"Well, well, Stinkie Pie, looks like you've really gotten yourself into a pickle this time. Can't say I'm surprised though."
Pinkie then became frightened. Where was her voice coming from? Was she imagining all of this? No, she couldn't be, she could hear her as clear as day. She had come back to taunt her, just like she always did.
"Just look at yourself, you've failed again. Looks like I wasn't the one to cause the mess this time. You can't blame it on me. You've got no one to blame but yourself."
Pinkie could now feel the anger growing inside of her. She wanted to shout out at her that she was wrong. But she couldn't, because she knew that Limestone was right. There really was no one to blame but herself. And she had to admit it. But hearing it from Limestone, made it worse.
"Why don't you just go away! Just leave me alone! What did I ever do to make you hate me so much? I never wanted to fight with you, I always wanted to be friends with you. But you always have to insult me and act as if I don't even matter to you!"
"Is that so? Well, did it ever occur to you that maybe it's because you actually DON'T matter to me?"
Pinkie was shocked. She never thought that Limestone actually meant it.
"I mean think about it. Ask yourself, why do I treat you the way I do? Do you want to know why? It's because you're weak. And you'll always be weak. Why, if I didn't downgrade you, you would constantly be trying to compete against me. But because my insults get under your skin, you are unable to fight back. And that's exactly what I want."
Pinkie Pie was terrified now, she had never heard anything like this from her own sister before. She didn't think that she could be this cruel.
"I'll admit, I've always wondered why you never tried to disprove me before. If you believe that what I say about you is false, then you should prove that I'm wrong. Oh, but wait, I know why you don't try to fight back. Because really, you know that deep down, what I say about you is true. You really are weak and pathetic. And you refuse to prove otherwise because you know that I am right."
It was almost as if her sister knew all along what Pinkie thought about herself. There were many times when she would tell herself that she was too weak to carry those rocks. Too pathetic to think that a party could solve family issues. Too weak to stand up for herself. Too pathetic to become a baker.
"Yes, I can tell now that you have finally excepted the truth. I was right about you all along. You can try as hard as you can to succeed, and you'll still be the same. Do you feel like crying now? Go ahead, bring forth those weak and pathetic tears, it will only prove my point."
Soon enough, Pinkie did start crying, she laid down on the floor sobbing. Her tears fell from her cheeks to the ground as they were absorbed by the remaining flour on the kitchen floor.
"I knew you couldn't hold it in any longer. You're so predictable. This is why you will never succeed, you will only falter and fail, again, and again, and again. This is why Mom thinks you're useless! This is why Dad never accepted you! This is why our family fell apart! This is why you'll never be a perfect baker."
"Shut up! Shut up! Shut up!!!" Pinkie Pie finally screamed at the top of her voice so loud that when she was finished, her throat felt sore. And with that outburst of hers, it was gone. The voice was gone. The voice of her sister had finally ceased. This puzzled Pinkie to a great length, what happened? Where did she go? Limestone had to be there somewhere, who else could have said such horrible things about her. However, now that the voice was gone, the feeling of emptiness and despair that Pinkie had felt, suddenly vanished. Instead, they were replaced with two new emotions, anger and rage.
Pinkie Pie wasn't going to be pushed around anymore, the next time she saw Limestone she would tell her exactly what she thought about her. She was going to show Limestone that she wasn't weak and pathetic. She was going to show her that she was, strong and independent. And she was going to show how strong and independent she was by cleaning up the mess that she had caused. Now that Pinkie thought about what she had done, she realized that it was childish. It was certainly no way for a baker to behave that is.
So after a few more hours, her work was finished. The entire kitchen looked as though there never was a catastrophe. In fact, Pinkie actually went out of her way to shine the counters and wash the dishes that were leftover in the sink. Mom would be proud. And Limestone would be jealous because she would realize that her little sister wasn't as weak and pathetic as she had thought. Yes, that is exactly how it would happen, and it gave Pinkie such delight to think about how Limestone would be so stunned to find out that she was wrong all this time. In reality, it was Limestone who was weak and pathetic, not her little sister. Pinkie knew it now. She was the strong one, while Limestone was the weak one. And it wouldn't be long before Limestone learned that she wasn't always perfect. She may think that she is a perfect baker, but that glory for herself wouldn't last very long. Pinkie would prove that not only was she a perfect baker. She was THE perfect baker.