Trouble Brewing
Techorse series: #5
By Spirals95
Folks thought that Techorse was the luckiest pony alive, having owned a castle and a very valuable business. But because he had to make and sell each machine he made as orders came in, his work was sometimes very long and difficult for him. If only a few orders came in that day, he'd work a couple of hours and be done. But if a large number of orders for his machines showed up, sometimes Techorse would be up all night filling out forms. Each form requested a single machine Techorse invented, usually one of his more well-known devices like his cooking appliances. The reason the inventions sold so well is because they were geared to make tasks humans can do with their hands easily, just as easily done with the digit-less hooves Equestrians have. "Designed with hooves in mind." was Techorse's official small business slogan, in fact. Although there were a few factories that could mass-produce Techorse's machines in existence, he chose to make them all from his much greener facilities in his own castle. During the day, a group of mining probes, 20 foot long robots that resembled the tunnelers used to dig subways and the like, went into the mountains around Ponyville to retrieve raw materials, namely metals. They would return with the iron and give it to a processing facility, where the ore was melted and combined with various other elements to make useable steel.
From there, a molding and production machine would form any parts Techorse needed to work on new inventions, or make copies of the old ones. In order to speed up his business, he had to also make a production machine on the line to avoid having to tediously make each ordered machine. As long as these three sets of machines were given orders, they would churn out a single widget a minute. After this, the devices to be sold were packaged by hoof, labeled using information in the order form for shipping, and left on the rooftop of the castle for pickup. Techorse struck a deal with Derpy Hooves to mass-ship his products, and it brought a good amount of cash for Derpy, so she happily delivered the machines. And that's what happened day in and day out at the castle. If there was any free time, Techorse would either work on a new invention or go out and find a friend to talk to. But this week, he received a large number of order forms for nothing but spare parts and extra solar panels to increase the power of the machines they had already bought.
"Master!" called PAL, "Master, take a break already! Leave the mindless repetitive tasks to me, the robot!" Techorse, wearing his robotic saddle, was filling out paperwork with the mechanical arms.
"Look at you!" said the robot as he got closer to his inventor, "You have dark circles under your eyes, you're obviously cramping, and you need a bath!" Techorse grunted and continued to fill out the paperwork. "Listen!" urged the humanoid machine, "just let me handle the papers, please."
Techorse dropped the pen and sighed, "All right PAL, I'll take a break for a while." The robot grabbed the pen and began to go through the papers systematically. Techorse told him, "I'm going to go take a bath and relax. I haven't cleaned myself for days since all these new part orders, and I'm starting to think my smell is killing the bugs."
PAL said, "Just go, I'll handle your business for the day."
"Do I pay you enough for all these kind things you do?" asked Techorse.
The robot replied, "You give me a generous allowance master, but I'm a robot, so I never really find anything to spend it on." Techorse smiled and went upstairs to go take his bath.
Entering the double bathroom, the pony walked over to his large bathtub and turned on the hot tap. Water heated by solar panels on the roof of the castle flowed in large volume into the white bathtub. While the tub filled up with steaming water, Techorse went over to the mirror and looked at himself. The robot had been right; he showed great signs of fatigue due to not sleeping for two days straight. Techorse stepped away from the mirror above the sink and unstrapped his battle saddle. He let the piece of machinery hit the floor with a thud and spun around to go turn off the tap water. Because he just let go of his robot arms, he twisted the knob on the faucet with a hoof and breathed in the steam from the hot water. Techorse dipped a leg into the liquid and yelped from the heat. A short burst from the cold tap solved the scalding water problem, and then the green pony with the brown mane slipped into the large bathtub.
The hot water felt great on his skin, and he relaxed quickly as he sank up to his head into the bath. Reaching over to the side of the tub built into the floor, Techorse picked up a tablet he made and dropped it into the water. The bathtub filled with a thin layer of bubbles to soothe his tired mind and body. After cleaning himself with a washcloth, Techorse continued to soak in the warm water and relax gently. A few minutes of silence passed before a large air bubble escaped on the other side of the tub 5 feet away from Techorse. He observed it and wondered if the drain's seal was leaking, causing the air from the pipes to escape. Ignoring it, he continued to relax until something nudged his leg. This caused him to become fully alert, and Techorse opened his blue eyes and moved his head upwards.
"Something's up." He thought as he scanned the water. Suddenly, a thin and hollow blue plastic tube emerged from the water. Freaking out, Techorse backed up against the edge of the tub as the tube rose out of the water. It was a blue snorkel and mask, and it was being worn by a pink pony.
"PINKIE PIE!" shouted Techorse in shock as he jumped out of the tub. He quickly wrapped a towel around the end of his body as his mane and tail dripped with water. Pinkie Pie took the snorkel out of her mouth and removed the mask from her smiling face.
"Techorse!" she said with excitement, "you have to come see this!"
Techorse interrogated her, "Pinkie, what are you doing in my bathtub? How did you even get in there, did you swim up the drain?"
"Why are you so angry?" asked Pinkie, still in the bathtub.
"I'm naked!" complained Techorse, "and you just barged in on me!"
Pinkie giggled and said, "Techie, most of the time we are naked, so what's the problem?"
He yelled back, "When I'm bathing it's a special kind of naked! Besides, you shouldn't be in a bathtub with me anyways!" Pinkie jumped out of the bathtub and shook like a dog, getting more water all over Techorse.
"Sorry!" she said bubbly, "just wanted to show you the new shop in town!"
"Couldn't it have waited?" asked Techorse in disgust as he finished drying himself off with another towel.
"Of course not! New stores are too much fun to pass up!" replied Pinkie, "now come with me already!" Techorse went over to a mane combing machine he invented and stood up on his hind legs to let the machine work.
"Well, what is the store anyway?" he asked.
"A coffee shop!" cheered Pinkie, "tasty coffee too, I hear!"
Techorse scratched his chin and said, "Well, I did just miss two nights of sleep. Caffeine might be a good thing right now." He caved in, "All right, let's go."
"Yay!" squealed Pinkie, jumping once in the air. Just then, the combing machine accidentally pulled down the towel around Techorse's waist. He immediately crossed his front legs over himself and blushed in embarrassment. Despite not seeing anything, Pinkie Pie looked away and laughed again.
Techorse and Pinkie left the castle to go see the new coffee shop after he put his saddle back on. Arriving at the building, Techorse took a look at the place. It was a simple square building with a sculpture of a cup of coffee on the top. A couple of green metal tables with umbrellas out front made it a complete café.
"There's already a couple of cafes like this in town." said Techorse, "what makes this one so much better?"
"So you haven't heard?" asked a nearby Pegasus, "they have 100 different coffee types!"
"Really?"
"Yeah" continued the passerby, "because the shop sells so many varieties, they've already sold their 1000th cup!"
Techorse looked at the title of the store, "Grinder's coffee: 100 varieties and counting!"
"It's going to take me all day just to pick the one I want!" commented Pinkie.
Noticing the line of ponies waiting to get inside, Techorse added, "It might take all day just to get to the register!" They got in line to buy their drinks, and as they waited, they were joined by Applejack and Rainbow Dash.
"Hi ladies!" said Techorse, "come to try the coffee shop with us?"
"You bet!" said Applejack with a big smile, "we heard from Pinkie here this place has 100 different coffees. Shoot, I bet it'd take a couple months to try 'em all."
"Yeah!" said Rainbow Dash, flapping her wings in excitement, "I'm going to get so much caffeine I'll be able to do a lap around the entire planet!"
"Be careful, too much caffeine's dangerous!" warned Applejack.
Rainbow smacked her tongue against the roof of her mouth and said, "oh sure it is."
15 minutes passed after the conversation, but at last the friends reached the front of the line. The inside of the café was decorated with red and blue striped wallpaper, although the colors were soft, they were contrasted by the light yellow wooden tables. All the tables were full, and the customers were enjoying their fresh brewed coffee.
Techorse stepped up to the counter to order his drink. His mind went blank at the sheer number of coffees available. Deciding on one variety, he ordered some drink called a double strength purple burst coffee with cream and sugar. After paying for the beverage, he moved down the counter to wait for his concoction. He was given a mug shortly with his drink, and its aroma was absolutely great, being rich and deep. Techorse extended a robotic arm from his saddle, laughed at the reaction he got from the employees who had never seen the device, and then grabbed his mug and went to wait for a table to save for his friends.
Pinkie Pie ordered, "the best and strongest coffee you have, with a caffeine booster!" which of course wasn't specific enough for the workers, so they simply decided to pick the strongest drink they had for Pinkie Pie. As they worked, one of them placed her mug under a different machine, and instead of coffee, Pinkie's large mug was filled to the brim with espresso. Unfortunately, most of the other workers didn't notice this besides the two filling the mug, and the vanilla flavored caffeine boost was added to the drink. The mug was given to Pinkie Pie, and she went over to the table to join Techorse. They waited for Applejack and Rainbow Dash to join them at the wooden table.
"I want to take a sip now!" said Pinkie, "it smells so good!"
"I know" said Techorse, "but we should wait for them, it's only polite."
"You sound like Rarity." teased Pinkie Pie. Eventually, they were joined by their friends, who carried the mugs over with their teeth.
"This drink looks so great!" said Applejack, "apple spiced decaf coffee." Taking a large swig, Applejack burned her tongue as she imbibed too much of the drink at once.
"Ouch!" she said in pain, "burned my tongue."
"Slow down then." said Rainbow Dash ironically as she cautiously took a sip of her drink.
Techorse looked at his coffee and read on the bottom of the cup "warning, contents may be hot. Wait for this to cool before spilling into lap." He snickered at the stupid joke and took a short drink from the mug. The rich flavorful coffee poured over his tongue and down his throat.
"That is good coffee." He said, taking another swallow from the porcelain container. Pinkie Pie finally arrived at this point with her drink, a very innocent looking cup of liquid. Steam rose from it into her face, and she couldn't help but drool just a tiny bit at the smell.
"What did you get Pinkie?" asked Rainbow, noting the different color of the drink. Pinkie shrugged and responded, "I dunno, I asked for the best, strongest one they had!"
"Well careful, it's hot." said Applejack, sounding a little funny due to her burned mouth. To their interest, Pinkie Pie somehow managed to take a large gulp from the mug without suffering any ill effects such as burns.
"That's good stuff!" she said while smacking her lips. She finished off the cup in no time at all, and sat around to wait for her friends to finish. As she sat, the caffeine from the espresso worked its way from her intestines into her blood. It wasn't long before the massive amounts of the chemical reached her brain.
Techorse finished the last of his drink and breathed a sigh of relief.
"Much better. After staying up all night managing my business, I needed that coffee." He said.
"Yeah, I usually don't drink this stuff at all, it's bitter. But sometimes I need it for my work too." commented Applejack.
"So what do you think of the coffee, Pinkie Pie?" asked Rainbow Dash.
No response.
"Pinkie Pie?" asked Rainbow again in confusion. The pink pony was staring off into space, and her pupils were dilated to very large proportions.
"Very funny, now knock it off Pinkie." said Techorse. All of a sudden, Pinkie bolted from her chair and instantly disappeared in a blur from the café, the force and air pressure change sent flyers for the café around and about the shop.
When the dust settled, Rainbow Dash said quietly, "Uh-oh."
Techorse regained composure from the sudden departure of his friend, approached the counter and said loudly to the employees, "Ok, what did you give her?"
"Who?" asked the first employee.
"Don't play stupid, the pink pony who just ran out your door at light speed!" replied Techorse with annoyance.
"Oh yeah, her." Said the employee nervously, "you see, she said she wanted the best and strongest coffee we had, so we gave her espresso instead."
"With a vanilla caffeine boost!" added another employee. Rainbow Dash flew over to the employees and grabbed one by the neck and held him up to her face.
"You mean you gave the most hyper pony in Equestria a full cup of espresso?" she asked with shock.
"Sorry, it's what she wanted!" said the scared employee.
Applejack shouted at them, "Do you have any idea what you two have done?"
"Do either you or Rainbow Dash have any idea what's going to happen to Pinkie?" asked Techorse, steering the anger away from the staff.
"No." said Rainbow, letting go of the colt she had by the neck, "what's going to happen?"
Techorse explained calmly, "If Pinkie drank a full cup of espresso and there was a caffeine booster in the drink, she's had about 100 times the amount of caffeine in a single cup of regular coffee."
"So we just have to wait for her to run out and fall asleep!" said Applejack, "no worry."
"Yeah worry!" warned Techorse, "that's too much caffeine to come down off of at once. If we don't slowly give Pinkie Pie doses of caffeine towards the end of her rush, she'll fall into a coma from the withdrawal!"
"What?" said Applejack worriedly, "we gotta do somethin'!"
"We'll need to catch Pinkie Pie while she's running around and tie her down. Then, I can slowly feed her doses of caffeine so she comes off of the rush gradually. We probably have until this afternoon to do so."
"I'll catch her!" said Rainbow Dash, volunteering bravely. She then exited the café and flew off after Pinkie Pie in a burst of rainbow color.
"Applejack, do you have any first aid kits?" asked Techorse as he turned to Applejack.
"Why?" she asked.
"We're going to need them." he replied with a frown.
Pinkie Pie was running around at ground speeds unprecedented, knocking over everything in her way, ponies, objects, and plants. She even managed to saw a tree in half just by running straight through it. This sheer rush of energy made her feel invincible, and it also made her thoughts very quick. Pinkie remembered that she was expected back at the bakery to help her boss. So, she turned quickly in the town square without slowing down even the smallest amount, and made for the bakery in a straight line. The door of the building was blown open, and Pinkie Pie stood there, eyes wide and shivering in energy.
Her boss, Mr. Cake, looked back at her and said, "Oh, you're back from your coffee break Pinkie. Now, I need you to prepare 25 batches of chocolate chip cookie dough for tomorrow."
"Got it!" shouted Pinkie, and she rushed into the kitchen. Within seconds, she returned with 25 bowls filled with cookie dough.
"Donewhatnext!" she said without pause or breath.
"Um, there's ten cakes that need icing." He said slowly, not sure how she did the task that quickly. Pinkie disappeared again and returned with the ten iced cakes. Mr. Cake had no idea what had gotten into his apprentice, but decided that since her day's work was done already, there was no sense in keeping her around for the day.
"That'll be all." He said with great caution, "take the day off."
Pinkie Pie squealed and ran at the door at lightning speed again, leaving her boss and his wife looking at the completed goods in awe. Pinkie continued her mad dash around the town, wrecking things and knocking over more ponies that got in her way. To keep feeding her rush, she kept eating food right out of the hands of the citizens, one second a pony would be about to bite into a treat, and the next second it was gone.
"I feel greeeeaaaaaat!" said Pinkie, mentally destroyed by the amount of caffeine. But the espresso was beginning to drain from her stomach, and the caffeine rush would not last forever.
Rainbow Dash flew overhead and spotted the pink blur from the skies.
"All right, I'll just nab her and drag her back to Tech!" she said. Diving down, Rainbow accelerated and pulled alongside her friend. "Pinkie, come with me, you're sick!" she said as she tried to grab her friend.
"let'spaintheentiretown!" droned Pinkie Pie as she looked to the side.
Rainbow warned her friend, "I'm going to grab you and make you stop if you don't slow down and talk to me calmly!"
"NO! I'm fine!" replied Pinkie, and she gained speed to outrun Rainbow.
Rainbow groaned and said to herself, "Looks like we have to do this the hard way!" She flapped faster and picked up the pace to continue pursuit. They chased each other around the small town, through alleyways and around the buildings. Eventually, Rainbow got within grabbing distance of Pinkie's fluffy tail, and tried to nab her. After missing twice, Rainbow Dash flapped her wings furiously to make a final push at the tail. She tried again, and her hooves clasped around the dark pink bundle of hair.
"Gotcha!" said Rainbow. All of a sudden though, Pinkie turned 90 degrees to the left to avoid a brick wall, which threw Rainbow Dash off. She screamed and impacted the brick wall hard after crashing through a cart of fertilizer, sending up a cloud of blue dirt into the air with bits of rainbow jet trail. Techorse and Applejack viewed the explosion from a distance.
"Well, Rainbow's down." Said Techorse with disappointment as the wind from the shockwave hit his face, "I'd say 3, maybe 4 bones broken."
Applejack punched him gently on the shoulder and said, "That could have been anypony's rainbow-colored blast." She knew of course that wasn't true, but wanted to keep Techorse's spirit up.
"We need a new plan." said Techorse, looking down at the ground. Techorse thought about how they were going to catch Pinkie Pie. But Applejack came up with an idea first.
"I've got it!" she said, "follow me!"
Applejack's plan was simple, after luring Pinkie Pie using a cookie dangled on a string, she would throw a lasso around Pinkie Pie and tie her up. The plan was so easy, and yet somehow Techorse knew it was not going to turn out the way Applejack thought it would.
"Are you sure this crazy plan will work?" he asked her as they waited for Pinkie's arrival to take the bait.
"I know this crazy plan will work!" replied Applejack. She began to spin the rope tied to her tail and made a perfect lasso. Techorse scanned the surrounding area to make sure the plan wouldn't backfire, including boulders that could fall on them if roped instead of Pinkie Pie.
"Well, there's nothing to hit us if you miss." said Techorse.
"I don't miss." replied Applejack with confidence. A blur with dust in front of it began to run for the cookie suspended on a string.
"Here she comes." said Techorse. Applejack started to lead her target and prepared to make the toss. As Pinkie got closer, she locked her eyes onto the cookie and went to take the bait.
Applejack threw the lasso with a flick of her tail, and quickly switched control of the rope to her front hooves. The ring of rope caught around Pinkie Pie's middle, but she kept running even after eating the cookie off the string in one bite.
"Oh shoot." said Applejack. Techorse felt a burst of air as Applejack was yanked away from him, leaving a Stetson hat beside him. With a click of metal, Techorse extended the turbofans out of his saddle and started flying in the direction of the pink blur.
"With any luck", he thought, "something might be left of Applejack to take to the hospital." As he followed the pair, Applejack hung on to the rope for dear life, bouncing on the hard cobblestone of the city streets. Because Pinkie was running at several miles an hour, this was extremely painful, and eventually, Applejack's rope came off from the shocks, and she was tossed onto the ground, where she rolled several times before coming to a halt.
Techorse was tired of plans that didn't involve a ridiculous invention of his, so he went back to his castle and grabbed the most ridiculous invention he could find. Returning to the city streets with it, he laid down a specially coated large yellow mat and laid a plate full of cupcakes on it. A stack of wooden crates loomed above the pad, and Techorse used the crates to conceal the mat, making only the plate of cupcakes clearly visible from that angle. As he set up the strange mat, Rainbow Dash and Applejack returned to him. Rainbow was covered in bandages and gauze, and Applejack had a cast on her back leg.
Techorse got worried for her and asked, "Oh shoot, did you break your leg Applejack?" as he returned her hat to her.
"No it's just sprained." She replied, placing the hat back on her head.
Rainbow Dash moaned, "Can't we just let Pinkie Pie run out of juice? A coma's not so bad, right?"
"Wrong!" yelled Techorse, "she might never wake up. We have to bring her off the caffeine rush slowly."
"But we keep gettin' ourselves hurt, there's no point!" protested Applejack.
Techorse nodded and said, "Usually, when the plan is simply 'nab her', you get hurt. My plan's a little safer."
"How so?" asked Rainbow Dash as she reached for the pad.
"Don't touch it." warned Techorse, "It's got lots of special super adhesive glue on it. When Pinkie touches the mat to get these cupcakes, she'll be stuck."
"Like flypaper!" figured Applejack.
"Exactly, and once she gets stuck, I can feed her the caffeine soaked sugar cubes stored in my battle saddle."
The friends went behind a bush growing along the street to wait for Pinkie Pie.
"Eventually her need for sugar will catch her!" said Techorse quietly to his friends. Pinkie Pie indeed was getting hungry from her fast running, and she smelled the fresh baked cupcakes on the plate. Techorse stepped out of the bush and hid behind the crates.
"I have to be here to give her the sugar cubes." He said, "stay there."
"got it!" replied Rainbow with a quick nod. Pinkie Pie turned for the plate and ran straight for it, at the angle with the crates, she could not see the pad coming.
"We got her!" thought Techorse. He watched as Pinkie dashed by him and ate the cupcakes in one bite. However, she actually jumped at the start of the pad, flipped around and took the food, and then landed on the other side of the pad without touching it. She then made a weird beeping noise at Techorse and sped off at full speed again. The force knocked over the heavy wooden crates. Sensing the threat, Techorse ran the wrong way onto the sticky pad and tripped, getting stuck. Applejack and Rainbow shut their eyes as the crates smashed Techorse on the ground. The male pony moved the crates out of the way with the robot arms from his saddle and looked at Applejack.
"I'm alive." He said weakly. Applejack limped over to him and checked over his body, there were lots of scrapes and bruises across his middle. One of his eyes was shut in pain.
"Now we're all hurt." she said, "and you're glued to that mat." Techorse took the robotic arms from his saddle and held up a blue vial. Emptying the contents onto the pad caused it to fizzle, and he freed himself from the sticky mattress.
"Luckily I brought the solvent for the glue with me." He said.
"Aw man, your eye!" said an upset Rainbow Dash as she pointed at Techorse's injured eye.
"Poked by a crate fragment." groaned Techorse, "hopefully it won't blacken."
"Guess we're back to square one." said Applejack sadly, "we're never gonna save Pinkie. What, with being all out of plans and luck."
"...and medical supplies." added Techorse as he patched himself up with cloth bandages.
So they gave up, simply letting nurse Redheart know she'd need a coma bed for Pinkie Pie soon.
"That's the truth, nurse. Pinkie will fall into a coma when she comes down off the drink. We've gotten hurt trying to bring her in, but now we give up." explained Applejack.
The nurse said to them sadly, "I see. I'll get you the papers needed. Once she falls unconscious, bring her to me and she'll be transferred to a better hospital." She left and brought back a paper in her mouth that bore horrible news.
Techorse grabbed a quill with his robotic arms and said, "All right, just have to fill this transfer paper out and we can go home."
"These papers aren't for the transfer." said the nurse.
"What?" asked Applejack with worry.
Techorse read the top, "Organ donation. Nurse Redheart, what is this?"
The nurse explained with a frown, "I'm sorry, but if Pinkie Pie will never wake up, there are ponies out there that need her organs."
"I'm not her parent, I can't sign this!" complained Techorse.
"You have to take them to her parents." said the nurse plainly, "If they sign them, Pinkie Pie will stay on life support until she wakes up. If not, I'm afraid anything we can use will be donated from her body."
Applejack looked sadly at Rainbow Dash, and back to Techorse.
"Let's try again to stop her." said Rainbow with determination in her heart, "I'm not letting my friend go this way!" The nurse took away the papers and put them in a drawer.
"Before you go, let me heal you a bit. You three look terrible." She said to them. After fixing the friend's wounds, they left to go try their luck again saving their friend.
Nurse Redheart smiled and heard her assistant ask her, "Were you really going to let that pony get her organs taken out?"
"Not really." replied the nurse, "the waiting list for organs is very short, thankfully. I just wanted to make sure they give another try at preventing their friend's coma."
"We have to give this another shot." said Techorse.
"But what can we try?" asked Rainbow Dash, "We've tried traps, asking her to stop, and grabbing her. Nothing works!"
"I think I have one more idea." Said Applejack, "but it's pretty silly."
"It's probably better than being crushed by several metric tons of crates." replied Techorse.
Applejack led them back to her farm and began to set up streamers on the barn door. After decorating the storage building, Applejack took out a bag and threw it to Rainbow.
"Blow up these balloons." She commanded of Rainbow Dash.
"Now's not the time for this!" whined Rainbow Dash, "we're wasting time and we probably only have an hour or so before Pinkie goes to bed forever!"
"Trust me!" urged Applejack. Rainbow groaned in frustration and began to work with the balloons.
"Techorse, use those lasers of yours and start a bonfire now in that pit over there." Techorse said, "I left them at home, but I have a magnifying glass in my saddle. It will have to do."
Taking out the magnifying glass, he walked over to the pit and started to build a fire. Soon, after a few attempts, a fire was roaring, balloons were scattered outside, and streamers hung from the barn door.
Applejack gave Rainbow Dash some money and said, "Rainbow, go into town and buy a cake from the bakery." Techorse nudged Applejack aside and insisted that he be a gentleman and pay for the cake, which Applejack thanked him for with a slight blush. Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes at the chivalry and took off at full speed to buy the cake.
"While she's gone, set up this game of horseshoes over here." said Applejack, pointing to a pair of metal rods in the ground.
Techorse said, "You got it.." and worked on the game.
Rainbow Dash returned with the cake.
"Cut it up into slices." said Applejack.
"So many orders." complained Rainbow as she grabbed a knife.
After the cake was cut up into many pieces, Applejack instructed, "Tech, put a caffeinated sugar cube on each piece."
Techorse caught on to the plan and laced each slice of vanilla cake with a sugar cube, pushing it into the purple icing to make sure it wasn't visible.
"Great, it's all set up!" cheered Applejack, "now we just wait for…" Pinkie Pie rushed up to the friends. Her pupils were starting to narrow again, the caffeine crash was imminent.
"Hey girls, nice party!" she cheered, "can I come?"
"Of course you can Pinkie!" said Applejack, "help yourself to some cake!" Pinkie turned to the pieces. Techorse had put each piece strategically apart from each other so Pinkie could only eat 1 at a time. The pony bounded over to the cake pieces and shoved one into her mouth, eating it quickly. She plowed through the next slice, and the next one, slowing down a bit each time between pieces. When Pinkie Pie got to the last piece, she was taking small bites out of it. After finishing the entire cake, Pinkie Pie half shut her eyelids, her pupils had returned to normal. The caffeine cubes had stopped her rush and balanced out the chemical, now there was no threat of her collapsing.
Pinkie Pie sighed heavily and said in a normal speed, "Thanks for the cake. Let's party!" She took one step, turned around, and fell over with a mighty thud.
"Oh no!" shouted Rainbow, "It didn't work!"
Techorse knelt before Pinkie Pie and put his hoof under her mouth and nose. Soft and warm breath came from her.
"She's breathing!" said Techorse softly, "And she's not in a coma."
"Let's get her back home., Whispered Applejack, "and put her to bed. She's gonna be awful hung over when she wakes up." They carried the sleeping Pinkie back to her apartment on top of the bakery and tucked her into bed. After telling Mr. and Mrs. Cake about what had happened, they were relieved to find that Pinkie hadn't missed much work.
It was now mid afternoon, and the three stepped outside of the bakery and into the town square. The place was a mess now, carts were tipped over, crates destroyed, and ponies hiding in their homes to avoid the speeding pony who was now sleeping peacefully in her bed.
"Crisis averted." said Techorse, "not bad for not sleeping for two days straight."
"You haven't slept in two days?" panicked Rainbow.
Techorse yawned and answered, "Nope, that's why I needed the coffee in the first place."
"Oh we're never going back to that coffee shop again." Said Applejack, "in fact, based on all the mess and how fast word spreads 'round here, nopony's going back there again. They'll be out of business in a week."
"Good riddance." said Rainbow, "their employees are not careful, and their coffee's too dangerous!"
Techorse agreed and said, "Well, I'm off to the library now. Thanks for helping me today, ladies."
"Shouldn't you go to bed at your castle?" asked Applejack, "You seem awfully tired."
Techorse said happily, "If I did, I'd miss helping Twilight prepare a new friendship report. We learned something from you today, Applejack."
"What's that?" she asked.
"Today, we tried catching Pinkie by grabbing her, demanding she stopped, and trying to lure her into traps. As it turned out, those brute-force methods didn't work so well, and we all got hurt. But when you suggested we persuade Pinkie to stop with her favorite thing, a party, it worked almost right away! Kindness and persuasion is much more powerful than brute force."
Applejack laughed and said, "I guess we did learn something. See you later Tech!" He waved goodbye as he galloped off to the library.
Meanwhile, back at his castle, PAL was still filling out order forms for the spare parts. He finished the stack of papers and brought the documents over to a filing cabinet to stash them away for later. As he put the forms in the drawer, he spotted a scrap of paper on top of the cabinet. After putting the papers away, he looked at the odd item. It was a coupon for a free coffee at Grinder's café.
"Well, I don't drink coffee." thought the robot.
Then he smiled and said, "But I bet miss Pinkie Pie would like one! I'll bring it to her as a gift!"
The end
