Pinkie's Promise

by RCharge

3 - Business as usual

The next morning came quicker then I thought it would. I hopped out of bed and bounced into the bathroom to take my cotton candy bath. Bouncing downstairs, I almost made it out the front door when Mrs. Cake stopped me.

“Remember our little discussion from last night, Pinkie dear?” Mrs. Cake asked as she held out a broom for me.

“Okie dokie! Let’s get cleaning!” I announced cheerfully as I danced across the floor. I mopped the floor, dusted and wiped the tables, and polished the counter all in one fell swoop. Even with my experience in multitasking, it took nearly the entire morning to finish cleaning Sugarcube Corner.

“Okie dokie Mrs. Cake! All finished!” I said as I swooped by and gave Mrs. Cake a hug. “I'll be back later!” I exclaimed as I bounced out of the front door, humming a merry tune to myself. Mrs. Cake waved as I left, closing the door behind me.

“Alrighty tightie! Time to start advertising!” I said as I bounced into Ponyville square. Being late morning, right before lunch to be precise, I knew precisely where my destination was; the Ponyville Post Office to make some copies. As I entered, Derpy was sitting behind the counter and waved to me. As I got closer, she reared up onto her hind legs and rested her forehooves on the counter.

“Hiya Derps! I’m here to make some flyers for my new business!” I said cheerfully as I bounced in place. “They need to be super-duper flashy, pink, and ooh, ooh, ooh! Filled with confetti and lots and lots of balloons!” I announced in my normally cheerful demeanor. Derpy’s eyebrows scrunched together tightly as the mare’s eyes drifted along the outlines of her eye-sockets of their own volition.

“Uhm, well, when would you need them done by, Pinkie? I’m the only one working in the office this morning and there’s a lot of backorder mail I need delivered. Besides, I-”

“Alrighty tightie! Maybe late afternoon, friend?” I asked as I reached over and squashed Derpy’s cheeks between my hooves.

“Awight, Pwinkie. I should have them weady by then,” Derpy said as she tried, yet only half-succeeded, to make actual words between the tight hold I had on her cheeks. Hearing this, I squeed and released Derpy’s cheeks as I happily bounced around the interior of the post office.

“Yay! Thank you, thank you, thank you!” I said cheerfully as Derpy reached below the counter to grab something with her mouth. She lifted it up onto the counter and slid it across with a hoof.

“Since you’re here, I have a letter for you Pinkie,” Derpy said as I skidded to a halt in front of the counter and looked down at it before looking up at Derpy.

“Oh, you’re good!” I said in a slightly distant tone as I gazed off into the distance with wide eyes. Before Derpy could say anything, I snatched the letter up and opened the envelope. Seeing the contents, I gasped loudly and started bouncing around the room again.

“Mail order, mail order, mail order, mail order!” I chanted ecstatically as I bounded from corner to corner, coming to a stop to actually read the letter:

“ Hi Pinkie!
So ah hear that y’all opened a bakery in town? Good on ya! Now, forgive me for being so nosy-like, but could I place an order with ya? Ah’d like six dozen of your special apple butter cupcakes. Got the Apple family comin’ over for a visit and we don’t have time ta make anything ourselves. I’ll pay ya top bits for ‘em like usual!

Thank ya kindly,
Applejack.”

“Woo! She wants my special apple butter cupcakes? Hmm… I don’t know if I have any apple butter for the recipe. Oooh! I know! I’ll just go and pay Applejack a visit! I’ll quickly go in there, ask her for some apple butter, and be on my way! What could go wrong?” I asked to nopony in particular as Derpy glanced from side to side awkwardly. “Later Derps! I gots a pony to visit!” I announced in sing song as I bounced out the front door leaving a very confused mailmare behind.

---

“Phew. Is that the last tree in this here field, Big Mac?” Applejack asked as growing sweat was wiped from her brow.

“Eeyup…”

Applejack and Big Mac stood on top of a hill next to a wagon overlooking a field of apple trees. The wagon next to them was filled to the brim with barrels containing apples. Big Mac stuck his head inside of the stirrup and proceeded to tow the wagon back to the farmstead, albeit with a little difficulty.

“Wagon’s pretty heavy today, ain’t it Big Mac?”

“Ee… yup!” Big Mac said in a strained tone of voice as he pulled the wagon along. Eventually the wagon returned to the farm as Big Mac stepped out of the stirrup and reared up to grab a basket. What he wasn’t prepared for was a certain pink mare bursting forth from one of the buckets and disrupting the pile of apples inside.

“Eey-y-yup!” Big Mac exclaimed as he jumped backwards, flailed his hooves, and landed on his back. Quick to recover, Big Mac scrambled back up and dusted himself off as he plucked the stalk of wheat from the ground with his mouth. Applejack quickly galloped over when she heard Big Mac yell.

“Tarnation, Big Mac! What’s with all of this screaming and hollering?” Applejack asked before she noticed Pinkie. “Ah, that would explain a few things. Hi there, Pinkie, what brings ya to the Apple Family Farm?”

“Hiya AJ! I’m here to pick up some of your world famous apple butter! I’m not sure if I have any back at the bakery, since the Cakes gave me whatever inventory they had left to spare.”

“Well, shoot… now why did they do that Pinkie? You and I both know that the Corner is one of the busiest places in town, right?” Applejack asked as she paused before continuing, “Now why in the world would they go and do that for?”

“It’s a long story AJ, and I’ll tell you the details another time…” I said as I gently booped Applejack’s nose. “... however, what I can tell you now is that I’m helping them through a tough time in their lives. Now, where’s your apple butter, friend?” I asked as Applejack’s forehead tightly knitted together.

“Now Pinkie, ah’m not one to go snooping around in other ponies’ business and what not, but, ah’d like it a hell of a lot if you could tell me what was going on here,” Applejack stated as she paused for a moment before she started to continue. That was, until I thrust my hoof onto her mouth to prevent that.

“Uh, uh, uh! I said another time, friend! I’m just here for your apple butter. If you understand, blink once for yes and twice for no,” I shot back as Applejack blinked her eyes once. When I saw this, I removed my hoof as Applejack sighed deeply.

“Fine, ah’m not going to ask you right now. But, Pinkie?” Applejack asked as I gave an innocent smile.

“Yes, Applejack?” I asked sweetly.

“Promise me ya’ll tell me the next time ah ask?” Applejack asked as I nodded my head rapidly, which caused it to become nothing but a pink blur for several seconds before my head snapped back to attention.

“I Pinkie Promise, Applejack! Cross my heart, hope to f-mmph,” I started to recite the learned verse of the Pinkie Promise before it was Applejack’s turn to shove a hoof onto my mouth.

“Save it, Pinkie. You an’ I both know that I know the words to the Pinkie Promise. After all, ah’ve done my fair share of breaking ‘em, if you recall,” Applejack said as I slowly nodded my head. Applejack removed her hoof as she waved me onward into the farmstead. “Alright, come on in and ah’ll get you that apple butter you’re wanting so badly.”

---

After I made the trek back from Apple Family Farms, I returned to the post office. Inside, Derpy recently finished up a stack of about one hundred fliers. She handed me one to inspect, which I did closely.

“Yupparoonie! These looks great Derps, thank you so much!” I said as I chucked the pile over my left wither. Derpy looked at me with that familiar goofy smile as I turned to leave.

“Um, Pinkie, there’s just one more thing. About the cost of the flyers…” Derpy began, which made me freeze in my tracks. “It’s going to come out to a hundred and fifty bits,” Derpy said as I turned around and hopped back into the post office. I took out my bit bag and looked inside and turned it over to allow a puff of smoke to filter out.

“Whoopsie! I forgot the bits back at the bakery! Give me just one moment, okay Derps?” I asked as I swooshed out of the post office and arrived at my bakery. After I unlocked the door, I bounced inside and emptied the jar of bits from under the counter. I arrived back at the post office about as quickly as I left and set the one hundred and fifty bits on the counter. Derpy simply blinked as she took the bits.

“Um, alright, that’ll cover it. Thanks Pinkie… have a good day,” Derpy said as I smiled and bounced out. Derpy fixed her mane and turned to the next pony in line.

“Well, break time!” Derpy said as she slowly disappeared behind the counter, leaving a ‘Be back soon’ sign hung on the counter much to the dismay of the other ponies standing in line.

Meanwhile, I hopped around town handing out fliers. Every time I appeared from behind a pony or came across one, I produced a few fliers and started handing them out, “One for you! Oh, and one for you! Can’t forget you!” I said as I bounced all over town. “Tell all your friends! Open now! Come on over!” I exclaimed as I launched confetti into the air for emphasis.

After I made my rounds and handed out as many of the fliers as I could, I arrived back at my bakery and started working on Applejack’s order. A few ponies came and left during that time, with a big rush nearing late afternoon. Unbeknownst to me, a pair of ponies across the way in the now-closed Sugarcube Corner looked over at my bakery and exchanged worried glances.

“Well… looks like her business is doing good,” Mrs. Cake said as she rested a hoof on the window pane and softly sighed as she slowly turned away.

“Honey? You know that Pinkie is doing this for our benefit, right?” Mr. Cake asked as he trotted after his wife. “You know she’ll come right back and everything will be right as rain, right? She always does.”

“... That’s not what I’m worried about honey,” Mrs. Cake said glumly. “I’m just worried that the success will start going to her head. Look at how successful she is,” she said as the line of ponies attempting to get in stretched out of the bakery and onto the sidewalk. “That used to be us, you know? What if…” Mrs. Cake started to say as Mr. Cake rested a foreleg on her shoulder.

“That’s preposterous, honey! You know as well as I do that Pinkie loves working for us! If it makes you feel any better, we’ll wait up tonight and talk to her about it okay?”

“... Alright honey. I just hope you’re right,” Mrs. Cake said as she sat down at a table in the sitting area.

---

Meanwhile, back in Pinkie’s bakery…

“Hmm..business is starting to pick up, but… I need to start doing more!” I exclaimed tersely as I set up a few party cannons around the bakery. The next ponies to enter the bakery got a face full of confetti as I bounced up to them. “Surprise!” I said cheerfully as the mares giggled and trotted into the bakery.

“You’re always so much fun to be around Pinkie... that’s why we love coming here,” one of the mares said as she sat down at the counter. “So, how’s the business?”

“Yeah… and why aren’t you working over at the Corner? Aren’t you the Cakes’ best baker?” the other mare asked as she glanced over at Pinkie.

That last sentence hit hard, and I knew she was right. However, that didn’t deter me from the promise I made. “Yupparoonie! I’m here trying to help them through a rough spot in their lives! I gotta raise money to help them reopen the Corner!” I stated as the mares tilted their heads.

“Reopen the Corner? Why? Did they close down?” one asked as the other turned to her friend and prodded her with a hoof.

“You living under a rock or something? They’re being threatened with foreclosure. Equestrian law strictly forbids the operation of a business with outstanding violations,” she said as the other simply nodded.

“Alrighty! What’ll you have?” I ask as the two glanced at each other.

“Surprise us,” one of them said. I nodded and swooshed into the back to check on the cupcakes. I came back out with a box containing a cake inside and set it upon the counter.

“Okie dokie loki! One Pinkie Surprise cake!” I announced mirthfully as the two looked inside to see a double layer rainbow iced cake. The two appeared to be amused as they paid me and left for the evening. As the rush died down, I cleaned up the lobby area as I waited for the cupcakes to finish. Right before closing time, Applejack and Big Mac trotted into the bakery just as I finished up cleaning.

“Howdy there, Pinkie! Is our order ready?” Applejack asked, “Figured we’d swoop by at the end of yer day to give ya as much time as you needed to finish ‘em!”

“Yupparoonie! Just made the last batch now!” I exclaimed in response as I darted into the back, coming out with six boxes of apple butter cupcakes. Applejack balanced three on the bridge of her nose as Big Mac did the same. Setting a bag with five hundred bits in it upon the counter, Big Mac and Applejack left the bakery with their treasures. Growing sweat was wiped from my brow as I double counted the bits and deposited them into the jar before it was placed in a safe place.

With that out of the way, I finally closed the bakery and made my way back to Sugarcube Corner.

---

“Mr. and Mrs. Cake! I’m back!” I said in sing-song as I bounced into the Corner. Mr. and Mrs. Cake looked up at me and patted a chair that sat beside them. I raised an eyebrow but obliged as I bounced over and plopped into the chair.

“Pinkie, honey… I’m glad that your business is doing well now,” Mrs. Cake said. “How many bits have you made so far?” she asked as Mr. Cake manages to smile. However, I knew something was wrong; the Cakes were so supportive up until this point, yet I couldn’t quite put my hoof on it.

“Just about a thousand bits. Why? What’s wrong Mrs. Cake?” I asked as she looked up at me and rubbed her forelegs together.

“Well, Pinkie, it’s just… seeing how successful you are now, we’re - well, mostly I’m - concerned if you’ll ever want to come back to work with us now,” Mrs. Cake said in a downtrodden tone of voice.

I wanted to say something to reassure them, but I knew that just words weren’t going to cut it. It was just then that I decided to convey my point in song as I rose from my seat:

“You don’t have to worry,

so please don’t keep that frown.

Everything will be fine

as long as Pinkie is arou~nd!

I may not be with you now,

but I will never leave.

These words are just a promise that

you’ll simply have to belie~ve!

Because I'll only be gone a while, while, while,

yes I will, yes I will!

And I am thinking about you all the while,

yes I am!

Soon you’ll be nothing but smiles, smiles, smiles

from this helpful deed of mine!

I take a moment to bounce around the room while I hummed to hold my place in the song, giving Mr. and Mrs. Cake a hug before I continue, which seems to ease a bit of their nervous tension.

I know you are concerned,

but I am here to say.

I only want to save the Corner,

and brighten up your da~y!

If it matters that much to you,

you can come over one day.

I won’t mind the company,

and you’ll see everything is oka~y!

Because I'll only be gone a while, while, while,

yes I will, yes I will!

And I am thinking about you all the while,

yes I am!

Soon you’ll be nothing but smiles, smiles, smiles

from this helpful deed of mine!

From this helpful deed of mine!

From this helpful deed of mine…”

As I finished my song I could tell that I helped put their minds at ease, at least a little bit anyway. Mrs. Cake rose to her hooves and wrapped her forelegs around my neck in a hug. Mr. Cake followed suit as the two smiled at me.

“Thank you, dear, I needed to hear that,” Mrs. Cake said as she turned to her husband who was already moving to do the same.

“I’m glad to hear that you still think of us, Pinkie. It really comforts us to know that you still care,” Mr. Cake said as he attempted to stifle a yawn but failed. “But for right now, I think I should be heading to bed. It’s way past my bedtime,” he said as Mrs. Cake stood up to follow her husband.

“Yeah, I should be heading off to bed as well. Goodnight, dear,” Mrs. Cake said as she trotted to the stairs and started to climb up them.

“Alrightie! Nighty night!” I exclaimed exuberantly as I bounced to the stairs and ascended them as well. When I got to the top of the stairs, I took a bath and bounced right into the bed as I yawned and closed my eyes.

For awhile, I tried my hardest to sleep, but sleep did not come. My mind still raced from what Mrs. Cake said earlier, keeping me from sleeping. I tossed, turned, flopped onto my tummy, flopped onto my back, and I even tried laying on my sides.

“Nupe! It’s no use! I’m just not able to sleep!” I said exasperatedly as I sprawled out on my back and thought about what Mrs. Cake said to me. Eventually, I felt sleep tug at my mind to which I relented with a huge yawn. “Eh, I’ll figure it out in the morning…” I decided as I snuggled under the covers again. “I just hope that Mr. and Mrs. Cake realize that I’m doing this for their benefit…” I mumbled as sleep finally overtook me.