A Tale of TwiPie

by AuthorQuill

Step 2: Add Wet Ingredients

When a half-hour had passed, Pinkie finally dumped the butter, eggs and vanilla extract into the original mixture, pouring in the boiling water and whisking it all together until it became one homogenous lump of dough. Wiping away some sweat from her forehead, she placed the bowl back down on the counter, before turning the page of the cookbook.

Once the dry and wet ingredients have been introduced together, the batter must be poured into the pans and placed in the oven for 30-35 minutes, no more than 40.

Helpful tip: Before the pans are put in the oven, it would be a better idea to prepare the fondant instead of after.

"They're not wrong," Pinkie said to herself, grabbing the marshmallows, shortening and powdered sugar, and placing them each in individual bowls. "Okay, what do they advise about the fondant?"

The comet stream must be introduced into the fondant batter after everything has been whisked together, while the Cotton Candy Cloud puffs must be introduced BEFORE the batter is whisked together. It cannot be stressed enough, the stream from the Palomino comet must be introduced AFTER the Cotton Candy Cloud puffs.

"Okay, comet stream after cloud puffs, got it," Pinkie nodded, sitting on her haunches. Now had come the moment for the two more eclectic ingredients. The Cotton Candy Clouds wouldn't be an issue, she remembered those well from when Discord tried to make Ponyville Chaos Capitol of Equestria. Sometimes she missed those chocolate rain clouds. The Palomino comet was another matter. She'd never seen the Palomino comet, and she doubted she ever would in her lifetime, as it only came around every 1000 years.

Huh, thinking about it, the comet must have gone by while she and the girls were dealing with Nightmare Moon. With that thought in mind, she knew that some kind of encyclopedia or historic manuscript would probably have a picture and description of the comet that would aid her in her magic. She had to shake her head and smile at that. It still felt...odd calling what she had magic, given that she wasn't a unicorn, but really, there was no other word for it, Discord had even called it as such.

Straightening up, Pinkie gulped. Encyclopedia's were books, and there was only ONE place in Ponyville that had books like that. The one place she hadn't wanted to visit with the one pony she didn't want to see until the cake was done. She could feel the tears coming on again from her conjured rejection fantasy, before shaking her head fast.

No. No. Twilight wasn't like that. She had to keep repeating that to herself, as she removed her apron and hung it on one of the hooks on the wall. She had to keep repeating it as she covered the batter and the ingredients for the fondant to keep them all from spoiling. She had to keep repeating it as she exited Sugar Cube Corner and slowly walked to the Golden Oaks Library.

Twilight wasn't like that. Twilight wasn't like that.

The mantra repeated in her head again, as she knocked on the door of the library. As she was halfway through an additional repeat, making it to 'Twilight wasn't' the door to the library opened as Spike stood behind it.

"Pinkie, hey! What's up?" the baby dragon asked.

"Oh, hi, Spike. Is...um...Is Twilight home?" Pinkie asked, rubbing the back of her mane. She hadn't been expecting Spike to be there. She wasn't sure WHY she hadn't expected him to be there, after all, he lived in the library too.

"Yeah, come on in. I'll go get her," Spike said, closing the door behind the pink mare as she entered into the library, her heart pounding. "Wait right here." Turning on his heel, Spike headed for the set of stairs in the doorway under Twilight's bed and descended down them. Pinkie could faintly hear the sounds of Twilight's science gadgets. She must have been in her lab.
Taking a look at one of the shelves of books to her left, Pinkie's eyes glided past book spine after book spine, her face becoming redder and redder as she realized she was looking at the romance section. Why in the name of Celestia did Twilight NOT label these sections? A large red leather volume seemed to catch her eye. It had gold filigree at the top and bottom edges and the dark blue image of a heart printed in the middle of the spine. With a shaking forehoof, Pinkie pulled the book from the shelf to glimpse the cover. It was a beautifully painted image of two smiling ponies, two mares in fact, their heads pressed together in a romantic pose. Under the image of the ponies was a title scrawled in calligraphic script 'Crimson Heart and Slipstream: A Love Across Time.' Pinkie gave a dry gulp, turning the book around to look at the blurb (that's what Twilight said the words on the back of the book were called) on the back.

'Crimson Heart, a normal pony with a normal job, never believed she would fall in love. The Earth Pony was too career-focused to take the time for that. Until one stormy night when a horrific lightning bolt hit Crimson while she was scaling a Manehattan building for her job. But, instead of destroying her as would be the norm, Crimson was thrown back to almost 30 years in the past. It was there she met Slipstream, a unicorn who would change her life for the better.'

"Oh...wow," Pinkie whispered, biting her lip.

"I cried at the end of that, you know," Twilight's voice came from behind the pink pony. Pinkie gasped, the book slipping out of her foreleg.

"Ah! Twilight!" Pinkie squeaked, scrambling to pick up the book. "I...I was just looking at it. I wasn't planning on borrowing it. The spine just looked pretty and I got curious," she said, placing the book back on the shelf.

"There's nothing to be nervous about, Pinkie. This is a library after all, looking at books is kind of what the purpose is," Twilight said with a smile, standing at the top of the stairs leading to her basement lab. Pinkie gulped. Oh, sweet Celestia, she looked even more beautiful than she had in a while. It must have been the fumes from that book blurb. The party pony's blue eyes traced around Twilight's lilac forelegs, up past her barrel, then to the muzzle finally ending at those sparkling purple orbs that Pinkie couldn't get enough of. "So, what's up? Spike said you were looking for me."

"Oh, right," Pinkie said, shaking herself out of her stupor, stopping herself from drooling. "Um...I was wondering if you had any encyclopedia's that included information about the Palomino comet. I...wanna put on a play for the Cake Twins, and I wanna have the Palomino comet as part of it." She hated lying to the Pony she loved, but she had to keep the cake a secret, at least until it was finished. Once it was, she'd tell her everything.

"Wow! I'm impressed that not only are you looking for information about the comet, but that you used the word 'encyclopedia'!" Twilight said with a beaming smile that sent a pang to Pinkie's heart. "I should have an encyclopedia that has the comet included in the 'Reference' section. Over here," she said, motioning for Pinkie to follow her.

"Say, how do you know which section's which? None of them are labeled," the pink mare said, coming to Twilight's side and trying desperately to NOT look at her flank.

"Most of the time, I'm there to direct anypony who wants to take a book to the correct section, but on the off-chance that it has to be Spike, he has a catalogue that lists the shelf each book is on, separated by section," Twilight replied, ascending the ladder against the wall to the right. She scanned the book spines with a hum, before pulling one out with her magic. "Here we go! The 32nd Edition of the Encyclopedia of Equestria, printed by the Royal Postmaster of Canterlot. He's a really nice stallion, by the way." Opening the book, Twilight flipped through the pages with her magic, before stopping abruptly. "Right here! I knew this was the one! The Palomino Comet!" Snapping the book closed, Twilight descended the ladder with the book suspended in her magic and floated it to Pinkie. "Hope this helps, Pinkie," the purple unicorn said sweetly.

"T...Thanks, Twilight," Pinkie said shakily, taking the book and moving to leave, before Twilight cleared her throat.

"Hold on, I think you're forgetting something," she called, as Pinkie felt another book-like object be placed on top of the encyclopedia. "You can never go wrong with a good story."

"R...Right. Thanks again, Twilight," Pinkie replied, before heading for the door and leaving the library. She didn't stop or glance at the two books held in her tail until she was back within the safety of Sugar Cube Corner. Once the door was closed, she finally glanced at the book on top of the encyclopedia and gave a sharp gasp at the sight of the two smiling ponies in a loving embrace. Crimson and Slipstream. She couldn't stop the tears this time.

By Luna, she was a mess.

What was she doing? Really? What chance did she think she had with a pony like Twilight? She was Princess Celestia's student, for Faust's sake! She could even be in line for the throne! Ponies like that didn't fall in love with simple baker's like her. And did she really think that some cookbook from the Chaos Realm was going to help? Discord was wrong. She didn't have magic. She hated to admit it, even her Granny Pie might have been wrong. Her 'Pinkie Sense' wasn't magic, it could barely be qualified as an ability. The more these thoughts ran through her mind, the more her mane deflated, returning to it's natural straight shape. Should she really delude herself because of the possibility that she inherited an ability from a relative that she never met?

"Pinkamena Diane Pie! I am ashamed of you!" a voice rang out. Pinkie lifted her tear filled eyes up, but could see no one in the corner.

"H-Hello? Who's there?"

"Pinkamena. You know who I am," the voice said, gentler. Familiar. Pinkie's eyes widened.

"G-Granny?!"

Granny Pie's voice giggled. "That's right, honey. It's me. Now, what's all this nonsense about you not being magic? You know that's not true. You've known that since you were a little foal, and I've known that too."

"But I'm not, Granny! Not like Twilight. She's a unicorn and was taught under the wing of Princess Celestia! She was born in Canterlot! Her parents are rich! I was born on a Rock Farm! What chance do I POSSIBLY have with her?!" Pinkie cried. Granny Pie was silent for a moment, before she sighed.

"Pinkie, just because you're not a unicorn, doesn't mean you aren't as magical as Twilight. You know the history of Equestria, how the founders came together to form it. And you know the power that the Earth Ponies had. I mean, look at your friend Applejack, sweetheart, she's almost living proof. So are you and your siblings," the elderly pony's voice rang out.

Pinkie giggled. "I did play Chancellor Pudding Head at one point," she said.

"I know, sweetie. I saw," Granny Pie chuckled.

"Do you really think I can do this, Granny? That...That I have a chance with Twilight?" Pinkie asked, finally lifting her head. Granny Pie's essence warmed Pinkie's face, wiping away her tears.

"Of course, honey. You're not on the Rock Farm anymore, and even if they didn't say it much, your parents knew that you had more to offer the world than just staying on the farm. You're the Faust damned Element of Laughter, Pinkie Pie! One of the Elements of Harmony! You were thinking about Twilight possibly being in line for throne, you're practically royalty yourself! And, honestly, I think that you and Twilight could be one of those relationships that they write stories about. Kind of like that book she loaned you," Granny Pie said.

Pinkie smiled, as her mane slowly began to inflate again. "I really missed you, Granny. You always knew what to say."

"I still do, honey. Now, don't you have a cake to finish for your special somepony?"

"Absolutely, and I am gonna put EVERYTHING I have into it. For Twilight. And for you."

"That's my girl. I love you, Pinkamena," Granny Pie said, her voice finally fading away.

"I love you too, Granny," Pinkie's voice wobbled, before she rose back to her hooves. "Okay, Pinkie. Game face on! We're in crunch time!"

Step 2 complete. Begin Step 3.

Comments

[ArtyChameleon]

Eee I'll be looking forward for the next part, this is great so far!

[Hyper Star]

The mantra repeated in her head again, as she knocked on the door of the library. As she was halfway through an additional repeat, making it to 'Twilight wasn't' the door to the library opened as Spike stood behind it.

Strange detail towards the end...

"[...] those sparkling purple orbs that Pinkie couldn't get enough of. "So, what's up? Spike said you were looking for me."

Orbs?! Oh God, oh sweet Celestia, oh dear Luna NOT ORBS! Eyes, pupils, why must it be orbs, what is an orb? It’s an eye! Sorry, not a big fan of the trope.

"T...Thanks, Twilight," Pinkie said shakily, taking the book and moving to leave, before Twilight cleared her throat.

An incompleted word should end with an em dash, "T–... Thanks, Twilight,"

---

The ending was... strange, is it a hallucination? Imagination? Or was that actually her Grannie Pie?