Pure Imagination

by SYNTH4

Welcome To The Factory

Chapter 9: Welcome to the Factory

One word was able to describe the ponies of Ponyville the following morning: ecstatic.

Ponies from all over town had gathered outside the large iron gates to the factory. Reporters and radio broadcasters filled in where they could, trying to get a spot where they could spot the action.

But the event wasn’t just being attended by the residents. For a little distance away from the gates stood group of Canterlot guards encircling a large carriage. A large white pony with both wings and a horn, a magnificent mane, and a sun cutie mark sat patiently down on it.

Beside her sat another pony with both wings and a horn. She was as black as the night, with a mane that looked like the night sky. A moon was her cutie mark, and her demeanor seemed much more joyful than the one next to her.

A half circle of Canterlot guards also stood around the gates; keeping out anypony who wasn’t a ticket owner. Inside the circle, in a nice row, stood the five Golden Ticket winners.

Diamond Tiara stood at the far right end with her father Mr. Rich. She was angrily tapping her hoof, and giving her father a stern look. “Dad, I want to go in!”

Mr. Rich took out his pocket watch and checked the time. “It’s nine fifty nine honey. Just one more minute.”

“Make time go faster!” said Diamond Tiara angrily before turning to stare at the gates.

Next to the pair stood Apple Bloom and Granny Smith. The filly had a new bright red bow tied in her mane, and looked as clean as a freshly made bar of soap. Her legs were beginning to shake slight, which was noticed by Granny.

“Feeling a little nervous dearie?” she asked.

Apple Bloom swallowed, and took a moment to respond. “Yeah. I mean, I can’t believe I’m actually going to go inside Pinkie’s Chocolate Factory. This really is a dream come true.”

“Well sometimes dreams are only as real as you make them. And for all it’s worth, you sure did dream hard.” said Granny.

The two smiled at each other, before looking back towards the crowd. Applejack and Big Mac stood as close to the two as possible, only being held back by the guards. The two waved at them, and they promptly did the same.

In the middle of the line stood Truffle Shuffle and his mother. Truffle had a Pinkie Bar clutched in his hooves and was chowing it down as to enjoy all the flavor.

His mom looked down at him and gave him a warming smile. “Careful sweetheart. You’ll want to save some room for later.”

Next in line beside them were Scootaloo and Rainbow Dash. The filly was fluttering her wings eagerly, ready to go inside and win the grand prize promised to one of the winners. Rainbow Dash could tell she was excited, and was ready to encourage.

“Eyes on the prize Scoots, eyes on the prize,” she said determinedly. Scootaloo nodded her head in agreement.

Finally, at the other end of the line stood Button Mash and his mother Love Tap. Button was preoccupied playing a video game on one of his mobile systems. His mother looked rather nervous and embarrassed.

“Button, shouldn’t you put that game up now?” she asked.

Button nodded his head “yeah….in a minute.” His mother just sighed.

But her time for feeling embarrassed was soon over, as the time soon reached 10 AM. The large clock in the town’s center rang ten times, which caused everypony to look towards the gates eagerly.

But nopony could be seen coming out of one of the three doors. Apple Bloom looked up a Granny. “Think she’s running late to her own event?”

Granny shrugged. “Don’t know. Maybe she’s just finishing….”

The mare was interrupted by the gasps and shouts from the crowd behind them. The two look towards the factory, and saw that the middle door had fully opened. “Oh, here she comes!” said Apple Bloom eagerly.

But instead of a mare walking out of the door, a large red carpet was rolled out. It rolled in a perfectly straight line until it finally came to a stop in front of the gates.

“Fillies and Gentlecolts!”

The group of winners jumped at the sound of somepony shouting. Apple Bloom looked around, but couldn’t find anypony. But when she looked up towards the walls that surrounded the factory, she spotted sets of speakers lining it.

“You’ve waited a very long time for the mare herself to appear. Well fear no longer, because your wait is about to end.”

Soon the air was filled with the sound of dramatic drum music.

“It’s time to welcome the one, the only, the mare with the flare….PINKIE PIE!”

Just as the voice finished speaking, something exploded out of the doorway and rolled along the red carpet towards the gates. But just as it was about to hit them, it sprang up into the air, twirled, and landed on the group with the grace of a ballet dancer.

The thing in question was a very pink earth pony. She had a dark pink mane, a light pink pelt, and had a cutie mark that consisted of three party balloons. She wore a dark purple overcoat, and had a brownish orange top hat placed on her head.

The mare reached into her mane and pulled out a microphone. “That must be handy,” thought Apple Bloom. But she watched as the mare turned on the microphone and turned to the crowd beyond the gates.

“HHHEEELLLOOO PONYVILLE!” she screamed happily.

The crowd behind the winners exploded with cheers and whistles from ponies large and small. Some tried to push past the guards, but they were able to hold them back with magic.

The mare put the microphone back into her mane, and then as if she was weightless, leapt up into the air and somersaulted over the large gate. Ponies gasped in shock as she landed behind the winners and ran up to the crowd.

“Pipsqueak! Looking good for a pony your size,” she said to a small colt near the guards. The colt smiled and eagerly shaked the mares hoof.

Then she leapt over to where Applejack and Big Mac were standing. And when she saw them, her smile grew even bigger. “Applejack, Big Mac? It’s been so long, it’s good to see you two!” she said as she gave the two a big hug.

Applejack and Big Mac looked as shock as the rest of the ponies around them. “It’s, uh, good to see you too Pinkie. I see you haven’t been ordering your cider anymore. Gone cold?” asked Applejack.

“Oh no, I get someone else to get it for me.” said Pinkie.

Applejack looked confused, but before she could respond, Pinkie had jumped over the guards (as well as the crowd) and landed inside the Princess’ carriage circle.

The guards jumped in surprise and turned to face Pinkie, but were surprised to see her shaking hoofs with Princess Luna. “Luna, always good to see you. Your nights are a joy to behold,” said Pinkie.

Princess Luna smiled warmly. “And your dreams are always an….Adventure….Pinkie. I never know what I’m walking into.”

Pinkie smiled, but that smile soon faded when she turned to Celestia. The two stared at each other with the look of resentment so powerful, even those in Griffionstone could have sensed it.

“Celestia,” said Pinkie bitterly.

“Pinkie,” retorted Celestia.

The two remained staring at each other for another few seconds, but soon Pinkie flipped out of the circle towards a spot near the front of the crowd. She landed right in front of the two Cakes, giving them the biggest smile yet.

“MR. CAKE, MRS. CAKE! It’s SO good to see you,” said Pinkie, embracing the two in a big hug. The Cakes smiled and happily hugged her back.

“Oh, we’ve missed you so much Pinkie!” said Mrs. Cake, who had a few tears forming in her eyes.

“Hard to believe it’s been almost seven years since you stopped visiting,” said Mr. Cake.

Pinkie pulled back from the hug and gave them a half smile, half frown. “I know, but things have been really busy for me. And I’d love to talk to you all about it, but I have some guest to talk to.”

So with one final hug, Pinkie hopped over the crowd and guards before landing right in front of the factory gates. “And how could I forget the lucky ponies who won my Golden Tickets!”

The group of ponies looked at each other warley. In the five minutes Pinkie had been outside, she had managed to cause all of them to be lost for words.

Pinkie cleared her throat, making sure she had everponies’ attention. “Well let me be the first to say welcome; welcome to my chocolate factory. I’m so excited, this is going to such an amazing day. I hope you enjoy yourselves….but I’m pretty sure you will.”

Apple Bloom heard the click of a lock turning, and then watched as Pinkie put her back leg against the gate and gave it a slight push. The gate swung open enough for a pony to walk through.

“Now would you all come forward and present to me your Golden Tickets,” said Pinkie.

Diamond Tiara rushed forward with her Dad quickly following behind her. Scootaloo and Rainbow Dash ran after them, with Button Mash and Love Tap following behind them. Truffle Shuffle and his mother waddled as fast as they could to the group. And finally, with the help of worn joints, Apple Bloom and Granny brought up the rear.

“I’m Diamond Tiara,” said the filly as she showed Pinkie her ticket.

“Oh, that’s such a pretty name. Like the name of a princess,” said Pinkie with a smile. “And this must be Mr. Rich.”

Mr. Rich smiled and gently shook the mare’s hooves. “Pleasure to meet you Miss Pie. It’s always great to meet another pony of business.”

“I can say the exact same. Now would you and your filly kindly step inside the gate for now?”

The stallion nodded and ushered his daughter through the gates.

Scootaloo and Rainbow Dash rushed up after them, keeping their determined faces on. “My name’s Scootaloo. You can call me Scoots if you want; everypony does.”

Pinkie smiled down at the filly. “Well Scoots, welcome to Pinkie’s. I’m sure you’re going to have a great time.”

“And, I’m going to be the one to win that prize at the end!”

“Well you do seem confident, and confidence is key.” Pinkie looked at the blue pegasus behind her. “And this must be Rainbow Dash. A pleasure to meet you.”

Rainbow Dash reached over and shook the mare’s hooves. “Glad to meet you Pinkie. I remember eating your chocolate when I was little. Still tastes good today.”

Pinkie smiled warmly. “Well that’s good to hear. Now would you two please step inside.”

The two pegasus walked through the gate, and Button Mash walked up. He quickly saved his game and tucked it under his beanie. “My name’s Button Mash,” he said while holding up his ticket.

“Wonderful to meet you Button Mash. Got an interest in video games?” asked Pinkie.

Button smiled. “You bet, they’re the best thing that ponies have ever made. I couldn’t see my life without them.”

Pinkie giggled slightly before turning her attention to Love Tap. “And Miss Tap how do you do? You have quite the charming little stallion.”

Love Tap smiled nervously. “Thank you Miss Pie.”

The two walked through the gate, with Truffle Shuffle and his mom walking forward. “Truffle Shuffle,” said the little colt.

Pinkie smiled and gave the colt’s hoof a big shake. “Truffle Shuffle, so good to finally meet you. And you’re in such fine shape to.”

Pinkie turned to mare mare behind him. “And Mrs. Shuffle, so nice to meet you. Will you two please step right over there?”

The two walked through the gates, while the last two ponies walked up to mare.

Pinkie smiled at the sight of the old earth pony. “Granny Smith! I can’t believe you’re visiting my factory. Did you win my Golden Ticket?”

Granny smiled. “It’s good to see you too Pinkie. And no, I didn’t win the ticket. It was my Grandaughter Apple Bloom that won it.”

Pinkie looked down at the filly, who smiled warmly up at her. “It’s an honor to meet you Miss Pie,” said Apple Bloom.

“Oh, a new Apple! It’s a pleasure to meet you Apple Bloom. I hope you enjoy your visit,” said Pinkie. “Now would you two please step inside.”

The Apples walked through the gate, and Pinkie followed behind them. And with a kick of her leg, the gate swung closed once again. Pinkie hopped over to where the winners had gathered.

“Everypony set? Yes, good, off we go!”

Pinkie began hopping towards the open door to the factory. The winners followed closely behind her, with the crowd cheering behind them. When the group reached the door, Pinkie stopped hoping and waved them through.

Once they had all passed through, Pinkie turned to the crowd. “Thank you all for coming! You were all great!” she screamed. And with a wave of her hat, she walked through the door and out of sight.

Author's Note:

We're finally at the factory. Next up, the Chocolate Room.

Comments

[Ytak]

I like how Pinkie bounced around greeting the various ponies she knows. Very entertaining. Ooooo. I wonder what happened between Pinkie and Celestia?

[SYNTH4]

6932821 Read Chapter 5.

[Ytak]

6933558
I forgot about that. Still, unreliable narrator and all that. It's quite possible it was a lot worse than what Twilight knows. :p

[Alondro]

Poor Celestia, always picked on by writers, just because she banished the sister who was trying to murder her out of nothing but jealousy.

Frankly, Luna got off easy. I slaughtered the little prick who tried that with me!