A loud knock at the door startled Pinkie Pie awake. She let out a squeak of shock as she bounced out of bed and hit the ceiling. After landing on the ground on her feet, and calming herself, she raced downstairs to the main store of Sugarcube Corner.
"Hang on! I'm coming!" She called out as she heard another knock. Opening the door, she saw Ditzy Doo standing with her mail sack and uniform with a large cardboard box at her side. She looked at Pinkie with her usual happy smile, but also showed a hint of either confusion or concern.
"Hey, Ditzy!" Pinkie cheered.
"I'm sorry if I startled you," Ditzy apologized, "I couldn't help but hear the commotion in your house. Are you okay?"
"Oh, it's fine," Pinkie replied, letting a yawn slip, "It was about time for me to wake up anyway."
Ditzy let out a small laugh before nudging the box towards Pinkie.
"Anyway, I have a package with your name on it," she said.
"Really!" Pinkie exclaimed, "From who?!"
"I don't know," Ditzy answered, "There's no return address on it and the only name on it is yours."
"Oooh," Pinkie said, bending over and wagging her tail like a puppy, "A surprise gift! Maybe it's from a secret admirer, or from one of my friends as a surprise gift! Oh the possibilities!" She sprang into the air and gently floated down as she calmed herself.
"Anyway," Ditzy said, "I hate to be so sudden, but I should get going. These letters aren't going to deliver themselves."
"Okey dokey Loki!" Pinkie cheered, waving goodbye at Ditzy as she flew off.
.................................
Inside, Pinkie got a good look at the box. It was covered in thin, tan string twined around it in every which way. It also had a hole in it with a paper saying "Feed with candy." As she read it, two big eyes briefly appeared in the hole.
"Oh," Pinkie said, "So it's some sort of animal. Awww, I wonder what it is..." She peeked into the hole, hoping for a glimpse of the creature, but she just heard a little cry of fright and felt a jolt of the box as it ran to a corner.
Pinkie backed away from the box, pondering what just happened.
'I must have scared it,' she thought, 'How do I get it unscared?' She looked back at the paper that said "Feed with candy," and she sprang up in an epiphany.
"Bingo!" She cheered, causing the box to jolt again, though she didn't notice. She just ran to the kitchen to get the perfect candy she knew of.
..............................
Just a split second later, Pinkie was back with the latest candy the Cakes had whipped up: Ambrosia Amber Swirl. It was a golden orange color with four thick lines of dark red swirling towards the center. It was like the candy version of the Marzipan Mascarpone Meringue Madness. The main ingredient was honey to give it sweetness, there was a hint of mint in the stripes to give it a kick of freshness, and the whole candy was laced with traces of caramel for an overall rich taste. There was no way this creature should be able to resist! And surely the Cakes wouldn't mind if she snagged a few. After all, they were visiting an old friend who ran a successful bakery in Manehattan with their kids.
Cautiously, Pinkie placed a few candies in front of the hole and lied down. It wasn't long before the two eyes reappeared and switched gazes from the candy to Pinkie and back. Pinkie gently nudged the candy towards the hole, hoping to coax it out. She could barely contain her anticipation, so she closed her eyes and held her breath. Not a second later, she heard crunching. She opened her eyes to see a.... monster, or something like that.
The whatever-it-was was yellowish green with short, stubby legs and four large teeth. There was an antenna of some sort on his head and huge eyes. His cheeks also completely filled, like a squirrel storing nuts, when he chewed.
"Awwwwwwww, you're so cute!" Pinkie squeaked. The monster looked at her with a somewhat puzzled look, before noticing the pile of candies she had put beside her. Without warning, he leaped up and ran to it before digging in. Pinkie watched in surprise as the monster went through the pile in less than a minute (it was a small pile, but still...).
He then looked around, and saw pure heaven. Cakes, pies, muffins, cookies and candy were everywhere. The pupils of his eyes grew almost as big as the whites. Pinkie's own eyes contracted as his dilated. As she saw him look, her Pinkie sense told her what he was about to do. Just as he began to run, she grabbed him.
The monster gave a little squeak in confusion, but fell silent when he realized what was going on.
"Now, now," Pinkie said, gently stroking him, eventually making him purr, "You can't go and eat every sweet in Sugarcube Corner. Otherwise, no other ponies will be able to have any cake. Do you understand?" The monster nodded, before falling asleep, snoring.
'Thank Celestia Mr. and Mrs. Cake are on vacation with Pound and Pumpkin,' Pinkie thought, 'They would probably kick you out if they saw you right now. No, what am I saying? Of course they wouldn't! They would faint, though.' Still thinking, Pinkie placed a blanket in the box and tucked the monster in.
"I'll need to plan a party for you," Pinkie said to the sleeping monster, "You'll get to meet all my friends and eat all the sweets you want. It'll be a welcome party for you..." She stopped, thinking of a name for the monster,
"..... Om Nom."
