Half-Baked

by Half-Baked

Rating: everyone
Tags: Derpy Hooves, Slice of Life, Romance, Original Character, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Other
Length: 13949

The story of Half-Baked, an earth pony who decides to follow his dream.

Half Baked, a renowned and celebrated baker, decides that he's fed up of having to live up to his family name and reputation of being one of the finest bakers in all of Equestria; he wants to live his life in peace and do what he wants to do for a change instead of having to cater for everyone else.

However, he soon finds that trying to follow your dream isn't as easy as it may seem..

Published 2012-07-01 20:24:02 UTC
Last updated 2012-11-23 15:53:51 UTC

Chapter 2

Half-Baked sat there in the carriage next to his parents full of anticipation, they were on their way to Ponyville to take a look at what could potentially be Half’s new home.
Having got the morning duties done at the bakery Half had asked his parents Brandy Snap and Short Crust to come with him to view this property, he thought that maybe they could help him make the final decision whether or not to buy the place. After all, he’d be spending his personal savings and more, if he made the wrong choice he’d have to live with the outcome for what may be the rest of his life.

Half looked up at his parents, his mother, Brandy Snap, looked up from her knitting and smiled at her son, her dark brown coat and chestnut coloured mane being blown about gently in the slight draft coming through the windows, Half smiled and turned to look at his father. Half had a light brown, almost biscuit coloured coat with a Blonde mane, almost the same colour as his father's’ coat. His father had a coat the colour of double cream with a mane the colour of milk chocolate.

Short Crust was staring blankly out the open window at the countryside as it went by, lost in thought perhaps. Half-Baked wondered silently what his father might be thinking about but gave up after a short while and laid his head back against the padded seat of the pegasi carriage. Day dreaming was a habit of his that he’d never been able to shake, his teachers weren’t best pleased of this habit of his, many a time he’d been caught day-dreaming in the middle of lessons.

“We’re here” said Short Crust looking out of the carriage window still; they were making the final descent towards Ponyville. The town was a sea of colours as they flew over houses and shops, Half knew that somewhere down there was what may well be his house.

The carriage touched down on the firm ground of Ponyville and the party stepped out, Brandy Snap thanked the Pegasi pulling the carriage and paid the fare before rejoining her son and husband.

“Well now, shall we go and see this potential house of yours Half or is my dear husband hungry?” Said Brandy with a wink towards her Mate.

“Oh give it up Brandy, you know I had breakfast before we left” retorted Short Crust giving his Wife a friendly smile, she knew how to tease him. On many occasions Brandy had taken her husband shopping and had him come out with “I’m hungry, can we find a café or somewhere to eat please?”

“Fine, don’t go complaining to me though if your stomach starts moaning at you” Brandy replied with a smirk before turning to her son “So Half, where did the advert say this house was?”

“Umm..” Half turned and stuck a hoof in his saddle bag, thankfully he’d brought the newspaper containing the advertisement with him, pulling out said newspaper, Half flicked through it until he came to the desired page.

“32 Whitetail Wood Road..” He mumbled, looking up from the newspaper he looked for something to tell him where they were currently.

Sadly he could see no signs or street names from their current position.
“Hm.. Perhaps we should ask someone if they know where abouts it is or if they know where the street is” Said Short Crust, he’d seen his son looking around for a sign or something that would tell him where he was.

“Yeah.. I guess that could work..” Half mumbled joining his parents, together they walked down the road a little, trying to find somepony that might know where they could find 32 Whitetail Wood Road.

Eventually after a while they managed to stumble into the local mail mare on her round.

“Hello. Um, excuse me ma’am but could you possibly give us a hand?” Brandy called out, hoping to gain the attention of her.

The grey mail mares’ ears picked up Brandys’ voice and she scanned about to find the source of it. Upon spotting them she flew over.

“Hello, you wanted something?” The mail mare said.

“Uhm, yes, you see, we’re trying to find Whitetail Wood Road but we’re not from around here so we’re kinda lost for its where abouts..” replied Brandy explaining their situation. “Any chance you might know where we could find it?”

“Oh yes, no problem at all, my next stop is on Whitetail Wood, I can show you where it is” Smiled the mail mare.

Half smiled back at the mail mare, ‘wow she’s cute’ thought Half.

“Oh that would be wonderful! Miss..?” Said Brandy with a smile.

“The name’s Ditzy Doo but Ditzy will do just fine” Ditzy said as she fastened her mailbag up “Follow me then”

“Aha, before we go let us introduce ourselves; I’m Brandy Snap, this is my husband; Short Crust” Short Crust nodded to Ditzy, “And this is my son, Half-Baked” Brandy gestured to Half who smiled and developed a slight blush.

“Hello..” Half said with a slight wave to Ditzy who tried to suppress a slight giggle a little at this almost foal-like action.

“He can be a little shy at times” Brandy whispered to Ditzy who giggled once more, “Anyhoo, Ditzy, let’s not forget why we’re here.”

“Of course” Ditzy spread her wings and started hovering a few feet off the ground “Just follow me and we’ll be there in no time”

Ditzy lead the group through several streets of houses and shops, stopping every so often to check that they were still following her.

“C’mon, it’s just round the corner you guys” Ditzy shouted, flying ahead a little and beckoning them to hurry up with one hoof.

“Alright dear, we’re in no rush” Replied Brandy, having to shout so Ditzy could hear her,

Shortly they joined Ditzy at the street corner where she was waiting for them.

“Here we are!” Said Ditzy with a smile on her face. “Whitetail Wood Road”

“Thank you Miss Ditzy, we’re ever so grateful for your help” said Brandy.

“It’s ok, like I said, my next delivery was on this road, I’ll only be a second” Ditzy reached into her mail-bag and pulled out a letter before flying off down the street.

“Well isn’t she a very polite mare” Short Crust said to his family who were standing there next to him.

“Cute too” Smirked Brandy winking at Half.

“Mother!!” Exclaimed Half, blushing brightly in shock at his mother's remark.

“What? I’ve seen how you look at her”

Half turned an even deeper shade of red. “I haven’t been staring at her that much have I?”

“Oh just admit It dear. She is a very pretty mare, you could do much worse than her” Said Brandy proudly, knowing she’d won this little debate.

“For once I’ll agree with your mother Half, she is rather pretty. Hell if I was a 20 years younger...” Short said, mumbling the last sentence so his mate wouldn’t hear. Unluckily for him she did and shot him a look that rivaled Fluttershys’ Stare.

“Fine, I’ll admit it, she IS kinda cute... but honestly Mother, I bet someone like her already has a colt friend so don’t even think about trying anything..” Half said, saying the last part with almost a hint of disappointment behind it. “But can we please get back to what we came here for?”

“Yes, yes. Let’s, I’m sure Ditzy will be able to find us no problem, the house cannot be far away” Brandy chirped.

Looking over to the nearest house, the number “14” was clearly adorned upon the door in big, brass numbers. The house just a bit further up the street having the same brass numbering but instead of “14” the number “15” was emblazoned on the door.

“It must be up that way” Half proclaimed to his parents who nodded in agreement.

Together they walked up the street, passing house after house, just as they were coming up to the house with “30” on the door a voice caught their attention.

“Look out belloooowwwww”

“Wha..?” Said Half, looking around him for the source of the voice, it seemed familiar.. Unluckily for him he didn’t think to look up.

CRASH!

A cloud of dust now hid the entwined and slightly bruised bodies of Half-Baked and Ditzy.

“Hello? is everyone ok?” Brandy called into the now settling cloud of dust with mild concern in her voice.

“Yes mum... I think so..” Half replied, “Boy will this hurt in the morning..”

“Hehe.. Sorry, my bad..” giggled Ditzy who was effectively lying, if you could call it that, on Half. “I just don’t know what went wrong”

“Don’t worry about it. Accidents happens.” Half said with a bit of a pained laugh.

The dust now settled around the “Crash site” Brandy and Short could now clearly see the outcome of Ditzys’ Crash Landing; Ditzy was sprawled out on the front of Half with her mane covering most of her face, Half completely flat on his back.

“I told you she’d find us Half... Oh my..” Giggled Brandy.

“What? What’s so funny Mu-oh.... Ditzy?” Half’s face turning a shade of red that was impossible to hide.

“Yes?” Ditzy replied turning her head to look at Half, her bright, yellow eyes looking into his...

“Could you possibly?...” Half started to speak but couldn’t muster up the courage to finish his sentence.

Ditzy tilted her head slightly in confusion before she suddenly realised what he was trying to say.

“Ohhhh, my bad, haha” Ditzy laughed and started to climb off of Halfs’ body with a light blush on her face. “So sorry, but hey, they don’t call me Ditzy for nothing!” at this she shrugged with her front two legs and immediately fell back onto Half who let out a pained “Oof”

Brandy couldn’t help but laugh at this scene and neither could Short. Half frowned at his parents but soon joined in, he couldn’t be angry at Ditzy, she was just too damn cute to be mad at in his opinion.

Ditzy rolled over, her end position placed her directly next to Half. Half didn’t realise this and turned his head towards Ditzy, his face now directly in front of Ditzys’.

“Can I smell Muffins?..” Thought Half.

Ditzy let out a slight giggle and blush and so did Half, Ditzy smiled and Half smiled Back, “Sweet Celestia those eyes are enchanting” thought Half, Ditzy and Half staring into each others eyes.

“Could you two lovebirds wrap things up so we can get going? I’m getting hungry..” Short Crust interjected.

Half and Ditzy broke eye contact and started to get up off the floor. It was an awkward moment if there ever was one. Whilst they were doing this Brandy started giving a good scolding to Short in the background; mainly for interrupting things between her son and Ditzy but also because he was hungry.
Ditzy and Half now back on their hooves they started to brush the dust off their coats, Ditzy brushing the dust off the bits Half couldn’t reach and Half doing the same for Ditzy.

“Thanks Ditzy” Half muttered politely to Ditzy, whilst he was brushing the dust off her back.

“No problem” She replied with a smile on her face whilst doing the same for him.

Once they’d finished brushing the dust off each other they exchanged friendly smiles and joined Half’s parents.

“Have you two stopped bickering? I’d really like to see this house. Before tomorrow if that’s okay” Half said, rolling his eyes at his parents child like antics.

“Ooo you’re moving to Ponyville? “ Ditzy chimed with excitement at the prospect.

“Well if everything seems ok with the house, then quite possibly” Smiled Half.

Ditzy’s face lit up at the mention of this.

“... And if you ever do that again so help me Short..” Brandy said, shaking her hoof at him menacingly before quickly turning to Half with a very calm smile on her face “Yes dear, we’ve finished”

“Okay then” Sighed Half.

With this they all continued towards the house they were heading for, Brandy occasionally giving Short Crust angry looks, with hanging his head a little and looking rather sheepish after getting a good scolding from her.

Eventually, a big “For Sale” sign hanging from a house came into view.

“This must be it” Half stated.

Upon reaching it they could already tell that it hadn’t been lived in for at least a year, maybe more.

“Well... they did say this was an Open House... guess we should have a look around” Half said, walking through the open doorway.

Looking around there was quite a fair bit of space to this property, it had a very basic layout but it suited what Half was looking for. The walls were faded from ageing and the floors were coated in a layer of dust but in Half’s mind all it needed was a lick of paint and a bit of work and he’d have it looking like a brand new house.

Upstairs was the same as the downstairs, the colour on the walls was fading and there was dust all around. The bathroom was still in good shape, it still had running water thankfully but Half decided that if he was to buy this place that he’d give it a revamp.

The basement was more than big enough for what he wanted to do with it according to Short Crust. This brought a smile to Halfs’ face, it was looking more and more appealing to him every minute he was in the property.

“Hello? Is anypony in here?”

The sound of an unfamiliar voice rang throughout the house.

“Better go check who it is” Said Brandy, this got a nod from everyone in the kitchen and thus they all started moving towards the front of the building.

“Ah, visitors!”

As they turned into the living room, a dark brown coated Unicorn stood in the doorway connecting the entrance hallway and the living room, his blond hair standing out in contrast to the faded colours of the house.

“And you are?..” Short Crust asked, raising his eyebrow at the Unicorn standing there.

“Forgive me, my name is Open House, I am the Real Estate Agent in charge of selling this house” Replied Open House, giving a short bow to all the Ponies standing in the living room.

“So are you all here to view this property?” Questioned Open House, moving forward out of the doorway and more towards his ‘Clients’.

“Oh no, our son is, we’re his parents, he asked us to ‘tag along’, Ditzy here...” Brandy gestured to Ditzy who was drawing shapes and other things in the dust on the floor with Half watching with mild interest. “Helped us find this house and tagged along with us”

“Oh wonderful, we haven’t had many ponies view this house in all honesty, you’re the first in quite a while” Chimed Open with enthusiasm in his voice. “I take it you’ve all had a look around?..”

“Yes, indeed we have.” Brandy replied with a small smile on her face.

“Ok. Well, is there anything you’d like to know about this property...? Sorry I don’t know your name” Open house said, his attention aimed at Half.

Half looked up from Ditzys’ dust drawings and turned to face Open.

“Just one thing. When can I move in?” Half asked.

“Are.. Are you serious? You’re actually going to buy this House?” Half’s response obviously flustering Open House.

“Yeah.. Don’t see why not, it’s a nice place, just needs a lick of paint and some TLC” Said Half proudly.

Ditzy looked up from her drawings, the conversation Half and this Unicorn standing there talking to him starting to gain her interest. Half’s parents standing there proudly.

“Well.. Okay then.. If you’re sure.” Open House said, rubbing the back of his head with his hoof, he hadn’t expected this at all. “Follow me then and we’ll go sign the necessary paperwork and such... Easiest sale I've ever made..” Muttering the last part under his breath.

With that Open House turned and walked back out of the house before standing outside, waiting patiently for them.

“You sure son?” Short asked his son.

“Absolutely” Was Half’s reply.

“Yay! You’re moving to Ponyville! I knew you would! I knew it! I knew it! I knew it!” Squealed Ditzy with delight, bouncing around the room like a foal on a sugar rush.

“Haha, come on Ditzy, I need to sign the paperwork first and that isn’t going to do itself” Laughed Half, grabbing Ditzys tail in his mouth and pulling the still bouncing mare with him as they left the house.

“Sorry Half but I gotta go pick up Dinky from school, she’ll be real mad if i’m late again” Ditzy said, her ears dropping a tad and head lowering a little.

“Aww, it’s ok Ditzy, we’ll see each other again” Half said, reaching over and giving Ditzy a comforting hug which she returned wholeheartedly.

“Thanks Halfy and yeah, i’m sure we will. Goodbye doesn’t have to be forever right?” Ditzy said, breaking away from Half and smiling from ear to ear. She then opened her wings and started hovering before turning to Halfs’ parents and Open House and started waving “Bye Brandy, Bye Short, Bye Mr-Real-Estate-Pony-Who-I’ve-Forgotten-What-His-Name-Is!”

With that she flew off to go meet Dinky, leaving Half to join his parents and Open House who were waving goodbye to Ditzy who was now quite a way down the street.

“So shall we go sign that paperwork?” Open House asked.

“Yup” Half smiled.

And with that Half, Brandy, Short and Open started the journey towards the Real Estate Agents where Half, after a rather lengthy time, eventually managed to sign all the necessary paperwork for the house and paid the deposit he had to pay.

During the Pegasi carriage ride back to Canterlot, Half practically daydreamed all the way from Ponyville to Canterlot.

His thoughts ranging from all the things he would like to do to his new house to Ditzy Doo.

“I only met her today... so why can’t I stop thinking about her?..” This thought bugging him for most of the journey back to his home in Canterlot.

Even when he got back to his home in Canterlot his mind was still plagued by that question.

Half lay there in his bed thinking that night. His thoughts still on that question. Eventually he grew tired of going over it in his mind and decided it was time to settle down. It was then that it came to him.

“Could it be?... No, surely not... I don’t have a Crush on Ditzy do I?”

Chapter 3

Half sat there in his room on the floor. Boxes sitting on the floor next to his bed filled with personal belongings like books, photos and a few items of clothing.

It had been two days since he’d been to Ponyville and had officially bought his own house.

In the short while since then he’d been in contact with almost all of the magazines and critics whom he had contact with on a regular basis; to inform them of his decision and had let all his friends know that he was moving to Ponyville, giving them his address in case they wanted to contact him. After all, they were his Foalhood friends. In his mind he hoped that they would keep in touch,

He had also begun the laborious task of packing his belongings into boxes, ready for moving to Ponyville. Sadly, It was taking him longer than expected. He had hoped to have had it done at least an hour ago but flicking through some of the old photo albums he had made over the last few years had brought back memories; Wedding Cakes, Birthday Cakes, Celebration Cakes and a whole manner of other photos lined the pages of them, each photo holding a precious memory.

“Half?” Brandy Snap knocked on the door of his room gently with one hoof before entering and sitting next to Half who was slowly flicking through one of the aforementioned albums.

“Just got caught up looking through these” Said Half, looking up from the photos to his Mother.

“Been a while since we had a look through any of these old albums... Oh, I remember that one.” Brandy said, pointing with one hoof at a picture of Half and his Father, Short Crust, next to a 5 tier Wedding Cake covered with light pink icing and white, edible flowers.

“The bride kept coming in to check how the cake was coming along, wanting to know the exact details and everything. Yeah that was a fun cake to make.” Laughed Half.

“What about that one? Wasn’t that the batch of Chilli and Chocolate Chip Muffins?” Asked Brandy, pointing to another photo.

“I think so, they came out alright.. except for the fact whenever you took a bite it was like someone had set fire to your mouth..” Half said with a bit of a sigh but laughed at it afterwards.

“Yeah, I don’t think that was one of your best experiments my dear” Laughed Brandy. “I will say though, sometimes you do come up with some simply marvelous flavour-combinations”

“Oh. You mean like this one?” Half asked his mother as he flicked back through the pages of the photo album until he found a picture of him next to a platter of cupcakes, each coated in rich, dark chocolate and topped with a slice of orange.

“Oohhh... Those were DIVINE” Brandy exclaimed, her mouth salivating as she reminisced the taste of those cupcakes.

“Orange, cherry and dark chocolate.. If I remember correctly you ate almost half of every batch of these I made” Half said with a grin on his face.

“I couldn’t help it...” Brandy replied hanging her head a little with mild shame and guilt at her actions.

Half leaned over to his mother and gave her a hug. He loved experimenting with flavours and techniques and his mother was always supportive of him; so her enjoying one of the more successful combinations he had come up with was more than alright with him.

“Think we’ve put off packing for long enough dear” Brandy said as she stood up, picking up the photo album in her mouth and placing it in one of the half-filled boxes.

Half reluctantly got off the floor and continued packing along with his mother. She was right, he had been putting off packing, he was a little scared to move out of the house he’d called Home for the last 18 years of his life. Ponyville was too far away from here to simply walk down the road if something went wrong or if he needed anything.

It was too late to turn back now though, he’d already handed over the deposit for the house plus there was a point in everyponys’ life where they would have to “leave the nest”and he knew that this was his time.

“That’s the last of it” Brandy triumphantly proclaimed, closing the box ready for it to be moved over to Ponyville. “How about going out for dinner tonight to celebrate you getting your own place?”

“Sure, nothing too fancy though” Half said with thoughts of all his favourite restaurants and the mouth-watering food that they served.

“Of course not, let’s go grab your father first, he wouldn’t forgive us if we left him here to starve” giggled Brandy, Short Crusts’ appetite was always a topic for a good laugh in their household.

With that Half and Brandy made their way out of his room but not before Half stopped in the doorway to take a quick look back into his room. The majority of his possessions were now packed into boxes ready for the move to Ponyville which left the room looking naked, the bed and a few items of furniture was all that was furnishing the room. His room.

“This’ll probably be the last night I spend in here for a long time, maybe forever”

With that last, painful thought Half turned and quickly rejoined his Mother. If this was going to be his last night here he was going to make sure to enjoy it.

Chapter 4

“Thanks guys, that should be the last of them” Half said as he placed the last of the boxes down onto the mildly dusty, wooden floor.

It was early afternoon in Equestria and Half Baked had finally moved all his worldly possessions into his new house, with the help of a few burly pegasi and earth stallions for help. Earlier that morning Half had a Pegasi-drawn moving truck arrive outside his house to pick up the boxes for the move to Ponyville, this was the last part of the move for Half, after this he would officially be living in Ponyville.

“No problem” one of the large stallions called out to him with a tip of his flat-cap as he exited the house.

Half sighed as he looked at the stack of boxes that sat there on the floor. “where to start?”
He turned away from the boxes and headed into the kitchen, it was an extremely simple and basic kitchen; a few cupboards lined the rather bland walls, the stove sat there next to an aged work surface and a rather bland but fairly large, wooden table lay there in the middle of the kitchen. Possibly designed to act as a secondary work surface. There were chairs that matched the tables basic and rather simplistic design that sat tucked under the table out of the way.

Dust coated almost every surface that it could reach in the kitchen, lack of use and cleaning had lead to a buildup of it over time. Half climbed the stairs to the next level of the house, the stairs creaking underhoof every few steps and his steps leaving faint prints in the thin layer of dust.

“This place needs a good clean..”

Once up on the landing Half walked up to the first door and opened it, the door creaking slightly as it did so. The room was fairly sizable with a window on one of the walls that looked out over the street behind the house which had a few Ponies walking around in it, the room had a bed in it but was barren of sheets and looked a bit musty from age and use.

“Will need to get a new bed..”

The bedroom also had a small oak dresser with a lamp that sat atop it, aside from that there wasn’t any other furnishing.

A bit further down the hall there was the second bedroom, it was similar to the other one in that it was sparsely furnished with a chest-of-drawers and a bed being the main furnishing, but it also had an old, oak chest against the wall under the window that overlooked the front of the house, Half presumed that this was for storage as not everything was going to fit into the drawers. Once again the bed looked old, musty and unappealing.

“Make that beds..”

Half knew that he’d have to spend money to get the house up to a standard where he’d be able to comfortably live in it.

The bathroom was, thankfully, still in good shape despite the neglect and aging, the water was still connected which Half was thankful for, it saved him the hassle of going to the Council to reconnect it, unfortunately for Half though, when he turned on the stove in the kitchen there was no gas; without it he would have no heating, no way to cook food and no hot water.

“Guess I’ll be eating out tonight”

Half let out another sigh, already he had a growing list of things to do in and around the house. He knew that moving in wouldn’t be a walk in the park and that there would be a significant amount of things he’d need to do.
Cleaning the house and getting new beds was his top priority for now.

Half picked up his saddlebags and wooly scarf from atop one of the boxes where he’d placed them earlier and wrapped the scarf around his neck before exiting the house, it was late August and there was a slight chill in the air outside despite it being sunny.

Half wandered through the streets of Ponyville taking in his surroundings, keeping an eye out for places to eat and any shops that might come in useful in the future. The buildings looked almost entirely different to those of Canterlot, those houses mostly being made of stone having wooden roofs whereas these houses were made of wood and having thatched roofs. Eventually he managed to stumble upon the town square.

The Town Hall dominating the center of the square with ponies going about their daily affairs, some talking to friends as they walked through the square, of course this wasn’t new to Half but it still surprised him a little. Everypony looked rather different to those that he would normally see in Canterlot; none of them looked as fancy or snobby, plus there was a greater variety of ponies here. Pegasi weren’t as common in Canterlot as they were here it seemed, it was primarily Unicorns or Earth ponies in Canterlot with the odd Pegasus.

Crossing the Town Square, Half wandered into the market section. He was used to visiting markets, his parents normally insisted that they would only have but the freshest of ingredients for anything they cooked, be it dinner or any orders that came into the bakery. However, this market was in a different league altogether. The ingredients on display at each stall, even from just looking, seemed fresher and more appetising than those he’d normally be purchasing.

Half looked up at the sky, it was about 3pm so he reckoned, it was then he realised he hadn’t eaten anything since this morning, his stomach giving a small moan, confirming that. Looking around at the stalls he approached one; hoping that the produce it was selling would satisfy his mild hunger.

The stall was manned by a large, well-built stallion with a vibrant red coat, a look of content of his face as he chewed on a strand of hay. Half approached the stall, casting an eye over the selection of apples that were available. He knew that there were quite a few varieties of apples but quite simply the amount of varieties that this stallion was selling was astounding.

“14” the red coated stallion said.

“Pardon?” Half said looking up from the apples to the source of the voice.

“14, th’ number of varieties we’re selling” Was his reply.

“Oh” Half wondered how the stallion could have guessed what he was thinking

“Don’t worry, everypony wonders how many types there are th’ first time they see th’ stall” Smiled the red stallion. “ah’ve not seen you round here before, new ta’ town are ya?”

“Yeah, just moved here today” Half replied returning the friendly smile.

“Th’ name’s Macintosh Apple, everypony jus’ calls me Big Mac though” Big mac said offering Half his hoof.

“Half Baked, nice to meet you Big Mac” Half said as he shook Big Macs’ hoof.

“Now what can ‘ah get ya Half?” Big Mac asked, returning to his position of salespony.

“Umm, I’m not after any type in particular, just looking for something for a late lunch” Half answered as he returned to looking at all the apples that lay before him in their labeled barrels.

“Hm, These Galas’ just came into season” Big Mac said, pointing to a barrel crammed full of bright, red apples, each apple looking enticing to Half. “Try one”

Half picked up one of the Gala apples and took a bite into it, the sweet taste of the juicy apple flesh filling his mouth, the flavour was indescribable, he never knew apples could taste THIS good.

“By Celestia’s mane.. I’ll take 2 dozen!!” Half exclaimed.

Big Mac let out a hearty laugh at Halfs reaction to tasting that apple.
“You obviously haven’t tried a Sweet Apple Acres Apple before have ya?”

“It seems not” Half said with a tinge of shame in his voice as he admitted that.

“Nought ta’ be ashamed of Half” Big Mac said giving half a reassuring pat on the back
“Tell ya what, take a half dozen Galas’, free o’ charge, think of it as a welcome gift”

Half was taken aback by Big Mac’s generosity, he’d only just met this stallion and was already treating him like a good friend, generosity like this was uncommon in Canterlot as most saleponys tried their best to gain as much profit as they could by any means possible.

“Are you sure? I’m more then willing to pay” Half said as he reached into his saddlebag to take out his coin bag.

“Ah’m sure, us Apples are known for our honesty” Big Mac said with a hint of pride in his voice and a smile on his face.

“That’s very kind of you Big Mac, remind me to return the favour in the future” Half said as he picked out 6 apples from the barrel marked with the word “Gala” in white paint across it.

“Heh, I’ll keep that in mind” Big Mac said with a grin and a light laugh.

“Did someone say they were new in town?!” With that a bright pink pony with curly pink hair burst out of one of the apple barrels with an unnaturally large smile plastered across her face.

“How did you? but that’s... I don’t even...” Half said, flabbergasted as to how this bright pink pony managed to fit into one of the barrels. Halfs’ mind was going a million miles an hour, rapidly trying to answer the questions that were flooding his mind in an attempt to comprehend how she had appeared out of thin air.

“Pinkie, this is Half Baked, Half, this is Pinkie Pie” Big Mac said, introducing them both to each other.

“OhMyGosh!! A new pony!!! there’s no time to lose!!” And with that Pinkie disappeared back into the barrel of apples.

Half just stood there speechless. Everything he thought he knew about the laws of the universe had evaporated into thin air thanks to a certain pink pony.

“You’ll get used to Pinkie after a while. She’s like that.” Big Mac said as he picked up the few displaced apples that Pinkies’ sudden appearance had caused.

“But how did she do that? IT’S NOT POSSIBLE!!” Half exclaimed, his brain frantically trying to work out how she’d managed to break the universe like that, his eyes scanning the barrel for a way that would allow Pinkie to fit into it, let alone sneak into it unnoticed by himself.

“The closest anypony’s come is that it’s Pinkie Pie, afraid I can’t offer any better explanation than that...” Big Mac explained to Half.

“But that doesn’t explain anything...” Half replied, sitting on his haunches, hanging his head slightly in confusion.

“You’ll get used to it after a while” Big Mac assured Half.

Half let out an audible sigh, still looking at the floor.

“I can only hope so Mac..”

“She’s an alright Pony once ya’ get ta’ know her” Big Mac insisted “Say, you’re a baker judging by your name right?”

“You’d be correct in thinking that Big Mac, why do you ask?” Half Inquired, curious as to why Big Mac asked that.

“If you’ve got time, you should check out Sugar Cube Corner, it’s the local bakery round here” Big Mac stated.

This piqued Half’s interest, “Ooo, I wonder what their food’s like?”, perhaps they’d be able to give him some advice on how to start up his own place if he was lucky.

“I might just do that now, thanks Mac” Half said, getting up off his haunches and dusting off himself.

“No problem at all, enjoy the apples” Chimed Big Mac as Half started walking away from the stall.

“Thanks again Mac, I will, see you again soon” Half called back with a wave and a smile. “Now to find that bakery...”

Half trotted cheerfully down the market pathway, passing stalls and ponies, trying to spot Sugar Cube Corner.

“Perhaps I should’ve asked for directions.. Nah, can’t be that hard to find.”

Chapter 5

“WHERE IS THIS BLASTED BAKERY?!!” Half Baked roared, falling back onto his haunches and shaking his front hooves in the air whilst looking into the afternoon sky, silently cursing to himself.

“Why oh why didn’t I ask for directions?” He asked himself, trying to think of a reason why he didn’t think of doing so.

Half hung his head and lightly swiped at the floor with a hoof to take out a little frustration.

“Uhmm.. Is everything ok?” A soft, feminine voice called out to Half.

“No.. Yes.. Oh I don’t even know, I just want to find …. Oh I’m USELESS!” Wailed Half throwing his legs up in the air before slumping down on the floor, hooves over his head in a foal-like attempt to block out the outside world.

“There there.. Surely it can’t be that bad.. What is it you’re looking for?” The voice said, the pony sat down beside Half and started rubbing the back of his head soothingly, like a mother would to a child who’d scraped their knee.

Half sniffled a little, the calming and motherly reassurance coming from the pony beside him working its magic. Half slowly removed his legs from above his head and came out of his protective shell. Turning his head slightly to look at the mare beside him he could see that they had a light, purple coat.

“*sniffle* I can’t remember the name of the place..” Said Half who was now sitting up, turning his head back so that the purple mare was out of his peripheral view.

“Oh.. Well do you know what sort of place it was?” The mare asked Half who had now stopped comforting Half.

“A bakery..” Half said without looking up.

“Oh! You must mean Sugar Cube Corner. It’s literally just a street or two away” The mare said cheerfully. Inside of Half a little part of him died upon hearing this, he’d spent a good three quarters of an hour roaming the streets of Ponyville looking for, how he’d put it, ‘That accursed bakery’ “I could take you there if you’d like?”

“That’d be lovely.. thanks” Half said. With that Half got up off the floor and wiped his eyes, before turning his head to see the kind mare who’d taken her time to help him.

The mare had deep, purple eyes and an even deeper purple hair that bore 2 stripes throughout the length of her mane and tail; She bore a look of concern and happiness on her face as she looked at Half.

“Ok, you good to go?” She asked Half who was quickly adjusting the position of his saddlebags.

“I think so” He replied giving his eyes one quick wipe before they both set off for Sugar Cube Corner.

For a minute or two they walked in silence, the purple mare occasionally glancing over to Half who was keeping pace with her and constantly looking left then right at the houses and shops along the sides of the streets.

“So.. I’ve never seen you around before..” She finally asked, breaking the silence.

“Mhm...” Half replied

“Ah..” The mare said dejectedly in response.

With that they continued walking in silence for the rest of the way up to Sugar Cube Corner.

“Here we are” The mare said to Half as they approached the building.

Half was mildly taken aback at the sight of it, he’d seen some rather unique buildings in his time but this took the biscuit. Everything about the building screamed “SUGAR”; from the roof that looked like it was made of gingerbread and icing to the windows that looked, and probably were, pink sugar glass. Half thought that whoever designed the building obviously took the original design and gave it to a foal with a box full of crayons and a love of candy and that this was the result.

“How in the name of Luna could I not find THIS?!” Half thought to himself, mentally kicking himself.

“Thanks... Um, sorry, I don’t even know your name” Half said to the Mare standing next to him who was also staring at the crazy building.

“Oh, sorry, I’m Twilight Sparkle but Twilight will do just fine” She said with a friendly smile to Half.

“Half Baked, but Half is just fine thanks” He replied “Um.. Thanks for that back there, I overreacted a little I suppose”

“Oh it’s no problem at all, I tend to do the same sometimes, it happens” Twilight said with a laugh as she rubbed the back of her head with one of her hooves; obviously mentally recounting those times.

“I guess.. How about I buy you a coffee or something.. you know.. as a bit of a thanks for that” Half asked Twilight, trying to be friendly towards her.

“Well... I HAVE got a few minutes I could spare... and I DO like their coffee... Oh go on then” Twilight said with a laugh.

With that they walked up to the door of the bakery and, being the gentlecolt that Half was, let Twilight in first. Unfortunately neither of them knew the chaos that lie within those walls...

“POUND CAKE!! YOU GET DOWN HERE RIGHT NOW!!” Mrs. Cake shouted at Pound who was proceeding to fly around the front of house laughing to himself.

Closing the door behind them, Twilight and Half stood there in the doorway of Sugar Cube Corner, both standing there in mild shock at the scene in front of them.

The room was coated in a very fine layer of white powder, either flour or sugar, neither of them could tell right away, almost every surface had a fair coating of it.

"Look out!" Twilight said, forcing Half duck down with her, both of them narrowly avoiding Pound Cake as he zoomed overhead.

Pound Cake was whizzing around the store, grasping a large bag of confectioners sugar in his little hooves, giggling and laughing at his mothers futile attempts to stop him. A small hole in the bag slowly spewing out the contents of the bag as Pound flew around.

“What in the name of Celestia is going on in here??” Twilight said out-loud, baffled by what was happening. Half too was thinking the same, he’d assumed it would be a nice, peaceful place where he’d be able to get a nice snack and a good cup of coffee. How wrong he was currently.

“PUMPKINNNNN!!” Mr Cake shouted as he pursued Pumpkin into the room, Pumpkin coated in sugar that Half and Twilight both assumed to be the same that Pound was holding.

Twilight carefully made her way across the room, avoiding the sugar trail on the floor and twice having to dodge Pumpkin and Pound along with their pursuers, meanwhile Half just stood by the door watching the commotion.

Mrs Cake stopped next to Half briefly to catch her breath. “Oh I’m terribly sorry hun, we’ll only be a few minutes. POUND CAKE SO HELP ME, IF YOU DON’T GET DOWN HERE THIS INSTANT!! It's probably safer for you in the kitchen then out here"

“Agreed” Half said, watching as Pound Cake started pouring sugar onto the floor, Mrs. Cake watched in horror as her son basically dumped a good third of the bag onto the floor before pointing to the door that Pumpkin had came through, with that she continued her semi-futile effort to catch her son.

Like Twilight had, he made his way carefully across the room to the kitchen, Twilight standing in the door frame observing the scene unfolding in the room before her.

“Is this a regular thing?” Half asked her, hoping for the answer to be a no.

“Depends if they’ve had sugar or not I think” Was her reply.

Half just nodded silently to Twilight, semi-expecting an answer like that. Walking into the kitchen itself he could see big patches of spilled sugar scattered around the kitchen and working away by one of the ovens was a sugar coated, pink mare.

"Oh no, please tell me that's not-"

“Halfy!” Pinkie exclaimed not even turning to look at him; She opened the oven she stood by and took out a tray bearing a piping hot batch of cookies, laying the tray on a cooling rack.

“It is.. Hello Pinkie..” Half said nervously, not knowing what the next move Pinkie would make.

Pinkie’s ear twitched a little.

“Twitchy ear... Halfy, can you get the brownies out?” Pinkie said pointing to the oven he was near to.

“Uh.. ok” he replied, trying to be polite. This was his first time experiencing Pinkies sixth sense.

Opening the oven Half was hit with a wave of heat and the saliva inducing smell of brownies. Picking up a cloth in his mouth Half pulled out the tray with his teeth and placed it rapidly on to the nearest cooling rack before closing the oven door.

“Thank you” Pinkie called over as she began transferring cookies onto a different cooling rack.

Looking at the tray Half had pulled out the brownies looked almost perfectly cooked, Half, being the baker that he was, was impressed a little. Getting brownies to the stage where they were cooked but still gooey in the center was something that took a lot of time to get perfect and he knew it. His parents had made certain that Half was taught how to get them just right whilst he was young and since then he’d never had a batch that wasn’t spot on.

“Mm. Something smells good” Twilight said walking over to Half.

“Twily! Oo you’ve met Half already?” Pinke said, bouncing over to them both.

“Yup. No surprise you have already” Twilight laughed and Half forced a small laugh.

“That reminds me” Pinkie said, and seemingly out of thin air she produced two pink envelopes which she handed to Half and Twilight who put them in their saddlebags. “Be here for around... 8 tonight”

Scratchy nose..

“Half could you stand.. right there?” Pinkie said pointing to the doorway.

“Sure but wh-” Half tried to say as he stood in the exact spot Pinkie had said. before he even had a chance to finish his sentence Pumpkin and Pound had ran/flew straight into him, producing a big cloud of fine sugar.

“Oh my, are you ok dear?” Mrs. Cake asked trying to spot Half and her kids in the cloud of sugar.

“Mhm” Spluttered Half, producing a puff of flour when he opened his mouth.

Pumpkin and Pound sat there on top of Half, coated from head to hoof in sugar. They looked at each other and then to Half, then back to each other before spontaneously both bursting into tears. Half's face drained of colour, now he had 2 crying foals on top of him, luckily for Half he'd had to babysit a few foals before.

"I hope this works" Half mentally said to himself.

“Shh, it’s ok” Half said, sitting up a little before picking up a foal in each foreleg and bouncing them up and down in an attempt to comfort them.

Mrs. Cake stood there in front of Half, a little nervous seeing a pony she hardly knew with her kids, watching him like a hawk.

Pound and Pumpkin, bouncing up and down in Half's arms, slowly stopped crying after a couple of seconds. Pumpkin sniffled and looked at her brother who began to start giggling a little before she joined in and started laughing.

“Aaww they like you” Twilight cooed.

“Or it might be that they’re all covered in sugar..” Pinkie side commented and Twilight let out a very un-lady like snort/laugh.

“Oh ha ha..” Half said looking at Pinkie and Twilight, passing the laughing twins over to a rather exhausted and slightly relieved Mrs. Cake.

“Thanks dear, say I’ve never seen you around” Mrs. Cake said as she took a sugar coated Pound from Half.

“No problem, it’s nice to be back in a kitchen like this, moved here from Canterlot today actually” Half said, taking a cloth Twilight passed him.

“Don’t get too many Ponies moving here from Canterlot do we dear?” Mrs. Cake said to her husband who’d just walked into the kitchen.

“Nope, not really. What do you mean a kitchen like this by the way?” Mr. Cake asked Half who was now wiping off some of the sugar coating.

“Well back in Canterlot I used to live with my parents in their bakery, I used to help in the kitchen from time to time and eventually started working in there full time” Half answered.

“Oh lovely, nice to meet a fellow baker for once” Mr. Cake proclaimed.

“Heh, same to you. Anyhow, it’s getting on a bit and I’ve got a few things I need to take care of plus I’ll need a bath after this” Half said, giving his saddlebags a quick wipe down.

“Oh ok, that’s fair enough. Have a cookie or something from behind the counter, free of charge” Mrs. Cake cheerfully said as they all walked into the front of house.

“A cookie sounds nice, oh and I owe Twilight a coffee” Half said as Mrs. Cake picked out a cookie from behind the glass counter and passed it to Half.

“Don’t worry about paying for the coffee dear, it’s on the house” Mrs. Cake added as she prepared Twilights’ coffee.

“Is everybody this nice in Ponyville?” Chortled Half, placing the cookie into his saddlebag that now smelled of sugar.

“Most of the time” Twilight laughed.

“I could get used to that then” Half added as he walked to the door, “See you later everypony”

“Bye” Everypony called back.

“Bah bai” Pumpkin called out.

“Bai Hafy” Pound called out too.

Everypony in the room let out a "D'aww" at the twins goodbye.

And as Half left Sugar Cube Corner he felt his heart warm and rise up in his chest.

“I’m going to like it here”

Chapter 6

Half sat there in his shower, letting the warm water wash over him. For once today he felt relaxed. The water washing away the stress and cleansing his body of impurities.

He’d gotten almost everything he’d needed to do for the day finished and now he could unwind and just chill. He’d managed to get the beds that he’d needed to replace and had the the gas re-connected to the house on the way back to his house, he’d got a few funny looks in the process what with the incident back at Sugar Cube Corner, but he ability to be able to have a warm shower and a bed to sleep in was surely worth it in the long run. He’d explored the town a little and had already met a few local ponies, all of which seemed to be very welcoming and friendly.

But there was something bugging him... Something that he’d put to the back of his mind in the last few days... Half couldn’t quite remember what it was though.

Running one of his front hooves through his hair he tried to grab the thought from the back of his mind.

“C’mon Half.. Think..” He said to himself, closing his eyes in an attempt to focus even more in order to remember what it was that was bugging him.

After a few minutes of Half sitting there in his shower, the only sound being that of the water hitting the floor and his fur, he gave up.

“Ah well... It’ll come to me soon enough” Half said to himself once more, getting up onto his hooves and turning off the water.

“But tonight I have a party to go to” He said with a grin on his face as he grabbed a towel from the no longer dusty bathroom counter and wrapped it around his body and started the process of getting ready.

Walking down the road to Sugar Cube Corner, his cream coloured mane styled a little less scruffy than usual, a few squirts of an aftershave that smelled like blueberries and a snappy looking bow tie around his neck, Half trotted down the road with a bounce in his step.

This was the first party he’d been invited to in quite a while, normally for him he’d be catering for them, not attending them. To say he was excited would be a little bit of an understatement.

Walking up to the door he could already hear voices coming from inside and music playing in the background, quickly presuming that the party was underway already, lifting his hoof to knock on the door it shot open.

“HIYA HALFY!” Pinkie exclaimed in her usual bubbly tone.

“Ok, that was freaky..”

“Come in, a party’s not a party without the guest of honor” Pinkie said, grabbing Half by the hoof and almost dragging him in before she quickly disappeared into the kitchen.

Inside Sugar Cube Corner there was a distinct lack of a sugar coating and instead there were dozens of ponies, almost all of them he’d never seen before, some he recognised like Big Mac who was talking to an orange coated mare with long blond hair and Twilight, who looked like she was in a very deep discussion with a pink earth pony mare who seemed to be slightly bored but was still paying attention to her. But what really caught Half’s attention was a vibrant white mare with purple shades, crazy blue hair and a pair of mysterious purple shades manning a DJ mixer in one corner of the room, ponies talking and dancing to the music she was putting out.

A banner stretched across the room emblazoned with “Welcome to Ponyville!” which Half noticed and smiled at, it was nice to feel welcomed by the community and not simply ignored, although in his mind he was nothing special.

Streamers and balloons were hanging or floating around the room and sitting next to a wall were a few tables next to each other, ladened with food. Sandwiches, salad, crisps and a whole range of dips just sat there waiting to be devoured. Brownies, cupcakes and a elaborately iced chocolate cake also sat on the table, the brownies in particular enticing Half.

“Alright everypony! Now the guest of honor is here let’s get the party started!” Pinkie called out over the music, producing a bright pink cannon out of seemingly nowhere and pushing the scarily large red button on top of it.

Those nearest to Pinkie quickly ducked as a tidal wave of streamers and confetti blasted out the end of the cannon, covering the entire room and everypony in it. This was the que the DJ was looking for apparently and she transitioned into a new song, this one aimed to get the crowd worked up and partying.

Ponies cheered and hollered as the song started playing, hoofs being thrown up in the air, ponies jumping up and down to the beat.

Half started bobbing his head to the beat, enjoying the music this DJ was playing as he walked over to the food, looking for the brownies that had caught his eye earlier, determined to find them and gorge himself on a few, if not more.

Half, when it came to all things sweet and baked, was a nightmare or so his parents claimed. When he was younger Half would devour pretty much everything that was in front of him that his parents or friends baked; even if it seemed absurd. At one point Half had consumed an entire 5-tier wedding cake all to himself when the bride didn’t like it. Though admittedly he’d suffered the repercussions later on that evening.

Scanning the table he quickly found the brownies, his eyes widening and his mouth watering as he made his way over to them, the rich and deep chocolate flavour already filling his mouth, he simply couldn’t wait any longer, he HAD to have those brownies!

Half stopped dead in his tracks.

Less than a few feet from his target. Looking just past the plate of brownies, lay a plate of muffins. Muffins that sat there enticingly, calling out to Half for him to eat them, Half’s mind making little voices calling out to him, crying “Eat me”. Half had acquired a new target, a new target that was far more appealing than those plain old brownies.

Looking left then right, making sure nopony was watching him Half made his move.
Quickly grabbing the plate in his mouth and scampering off with it like he was a jewel thief stealing a precious and valuable necklace.

Half scanned the room for a place he could eat his loot. A window seat caught his eye and he quickly made his way over to it. Placing the plate down gently, being careful not to drop any of its’ precious cargo, Half cast an eye over his prize.

22 muffins. Each as enticing and as scrumptious as its neighbour. Picking up one with a hoof he examined the muffin before him closely; Visually the texture looked excellent, the colour and form impeccable, obviously the chef knew their stuff. Pulling the wrapper off Half noticed it came off cleanly, a sign that it was indeed cooked through. Biting off a small segment of the muffin Half immediately knew that this was something special.

Although he’d tasted better muffins in the past Half always appreciated anything of quality; anything baked, be it good or bad, was treated with respect and an impartial judgement until it was eaten. Somepony had put effort, be it little or lots, into creating something and that had to be respected.

The flavours mixing in his mouth, Half tried his best to discern each individual flavour; He could taste the sweetness of the sugar and vanilla in the muffin, the richness of it too. “Oh my, is that peaches I can taste?” Looking closely he could make out tiny chunks of fruit hidden inside the sweet treat.

Stuffing the rest of the muffin in his mouth Half sat there content. Good music and good food were always enjoyable.

“Could this night get any better?” He thought to himself as he popped another muffin into his mouth. Right now he could’ve been in his own little world and due to this he didn’t notice as a grey mare with rich, blond hair walked up to him, tilting her head to the side as she watched Half go through the plate of muffins slowly. She giggled a little as she realised that Half had no idea she was even there, leaning in close to Half she prepared her move.

“Can I smell muffins? Oh wait haha” Half thought as he popped another muffin into his mouth.
“That reminds me, I wonder if I’ll see Ditzy here..”

“BOO” Ditzy shouted right next to Halfs’ head.

The sudden shock caused Half to almost jump out of his skin, frightening the living daylights out of him and lodging a half eaten muffin in his throat.

“Haha, Gotcha Half!” Ditzy squeed in delight, laughing at her success in frightening Half before realising Half was choking, him clutching at his throat and gasping for air. Ditzy gave Half a good thump on his back which dislodged the muffin that was stuck in his throat.

“Oops, My bad” Ditzy said with a light laugh and a guilty look on her face.

“It’s ok, nice to see you again Ditzy” Half said, rubbing his poor throat.

“Yep, I knew it had to be you who this party was for and I was right wasn’t I!” Ditzy said, jumping up and down in delight.

Half laughed, he loved how despite her age Ditzy still had a childlike attitude and a boundless amount of energy.

“Yup, you were right” Half replied to Ditzy.

“So how’re you finding Ponyville?” Ditzy asked as she stopped jumping up and down and sat there next to Half and his plate of muffins. “I can see you like my muffins too” She added with a grin.

“It’s nice, the ponies here are friendly and I’ve already made a few new friends which is good. Plus i’ve met you again which can’t be a bad thing!” Half said, genuinely happy to see Ditzy again; He’d finally remembered what he had put to the back of his mind for the last few days upon seeing Ditzy again.

“It’s nice to see you again too Halfy” Ditzy said returning the smile.

Half blushed a little. Ditzy was staring at him with her beautiful blond eyes, her hair covering one of her eyes partially making her look even cuter to Half.

“Umm.. So how have things been for you?” Half said, trying to break the awkwardness.

“Oh, things have been good, same old same old ya know?” Ditzy replied, her cheeks flushing a little too.

“Yeah..” Half replied, looking around the room.

“Come on Half.. You like this mare.. Grow some balls.”

“Ditzy.. would you.. you know.. like to go out sometime..” Half blurted out, looking at Ditzy before going bright red and immediately regretting it.

Ditzy sat there in a bit of shock looking at Half with her slightly wonky eyes before saying
“Sure”

Half looked at Ditzy with relative shock. She’d said yes? This was unexpected. Completely unexpected. he’d only ever asked one other mare out on a date and she’d point blank shot him down.

“Ok, umm.. Tomorrow for lunch?” Half asked Ditzy who just sat there politely looking at Half with a small smile on her lips.

“Sounds good, I'm sorry Halfly to do this again but i’ve got to dash. I promised Dinky I’d be back before 9. Was lovely to see you again though” Ditzy said as she rose from her seat and ruffled her wings.

“Same, take care Ditzy” Half said as he too go up.

Ditzy leaned across and gave Half a farewell hug, her legs wrapping themselves around Half with his doing the same.

“Yup, her mane definitely smells of muffins” Half thought, his head resting against her soft mane.

“Bye Half, I’ll be at yours at about 1” Ditzy said with a wave as she started walking to the door.

“Bye Ditzy” Half called out to her, before turning back to his seat and closing his eyes.

“Wow. I can’t believe that actually happened..”

“Oh, I almost forgot” Half opened his eyes, Ditzy quickly flew over to him and gave him a quick kiss on the cheek. “Bye”

Half just sat there, his mind unable to comprehend what had happened, as he watched Ditzy leave Sugar Cube Corner.

“What the hay just happened?” Was all Half brain could muster.

Outside, Ditzy stood there in the street, her face bright red, her heart racing and her breathing heavy.

“Wait ‘till Dinky hears about this” Ditzy said to herself before opening her wings and setting off for home, giggling as she flew.

Authors note; http://www.youtube.com/user/ArchieVMusic - One More Cupcake and other awesome songs on his channel.
http://www.youtube.com/user/OfficialDJPON3 - Loads of awesome mixes on her channel.

Chapter 7

Half sat there quietly, his brain going ten to the dozen in a feeble attempt to understand what Ditzy had done and why she had done it.

“Does she like me?”
“What does this mean?”
“What do I do now?”
“Why did she kiss me?”

There were so many questions going through his mind.

“Evenin’”

Half looked up, Big Mac stood there holding two glasses of bright pink punch, the punch smelling extremely sweet and fruity, it reminded Half of Pinkie in a weird and strange sort of way.

“Hey Mac” Half mumbled to Big Mac.

“Somethin’ on your mind?” Big Mac questioned Half, sitting down next to him and handing him one of the glasses of punch.

Half took a sip of the pink liquid, it was extremely sweet, a bit too sweet for his liking despite his love of all things sweet, then came the hit of alcohol, not being a big drinker; the punch was like somepony had slapped him once across the muzzle quite hard.

“Blimey..” Half croaked, his throat torn between burning from the alcohol and doing cartwheels from all the sugar.

“Not a drinker eh?”

“Not really” Half managed to say as the Vodka seared his throat.

Mac gave Half a smirk before taking a swig of his drink, his facial expression unchanging as always, the large percentage of alcohol not fazing him one bit. Half had experienced alcohol in the past; champagne at parties and social gatherings, wine once or twice at dinner parties his parents had thrown in the past, even vodka on one or two occasions though he detested and regretted it soon after, the harsh taste burning his mouth.

“It’s a bit.. Strong” Half managed to choke out, his eyes watering a little as the burning sensation remained in his throat.

“‘tisn’t that strong, at least, not compared to some of th’ stuff am’ used to” Big Mac said, shrugging as he took another swig of the fruity concoction.
“Anyway, noticed you looked a little sad, what’s got ya down Half?”

Half swirled his drink a few times before answering Big Mac,
“Just.. a mare..”

“Aah” Mac downed the rest of his drink in one “Just tell ‘er how ya feel, what’s th’ worst tha’ can happen?”

“Hm..” Half took a sip of his drink, the burn not hurting as much now, probably from where it had already numbed all feeling in his throat he thought.

“Give it some thought Half, anyway, I’ll catch ya around sometime” Mac got up and gave Half a pat on the back before wandering off into the myriad of ponies in the room.

Half sat there staring into his glass, having the occasional swig and muffin, the odd glance at the crowd from time to time. Eventually Half decided that he had better get back home before it was too late, the Dj now drawing her set to a close signalling the near-end of the party.

Half downed the rest of his drink and placed the glass down on the nearest table before he made his way over to the door where Pinkie stood, thanking everypony for coming to the party. Pinkie still looked looked like she had a mountain of energy remaining despite partying and dancing for most of the party, once or twice Half was sure Pinkie was crowd surfing.

“Leaving Halfy?” Pinkie asked as Half approached the door.

“Yeah, it’s getting late and I’ve got plans for tomorrow” He replied, loosening his bowtie a little. “Oh, by the way, are there any places to eat out in Ponyville, you know, like cafes and such?”

“Ooooo, who’s the lucky mare? nono lemme guess, is it.. Uh.. Fluttershy? Nowait, Lyra! or.. Bonbon! Wait they’re dating aren’t they? Silly me”

“Pinkie, it’s just a lunch date, well.. I wouldn’t call it a date as such, more like two friends meeting up for something to eat, that’s all” Half explained to Pinkie, lying to himself a little.

“But you like her, rightttttt?” Pinkie said, teasing Half a little, knowing that Half was lying a little thanks to her Pinkie-sense.

“Well, yeah.. But only as a friend! it’s not like I fancy her or anything” Half blurted out, trying his best to hide what was an obvious lie.

Pinkie just stared at Half with a look that just said “I know you’re lying”, Half tried his best to not look straight at Pinkie, to avoid her soul-piercing gaze but it wasn’t working, wherever he looked Pinkie moved to follow his eyes.

“Fine.. Yeah, I like her..” Half finally admitted, knowing that the game was up and that Pinke had bested him.

“Aaw, don’t worry, we all get crushes from time to time” Pinkie said, giving Half a little hug which he returned.

“I don’t want to screw things up though Pinkie” Nervously admitted Half.

“You wont, trust me” Pinkie assured him with a pat on the back and a friendly smile.

This lifted Halfs’ spirit a little and made him feel slightly at ease, Pinkie had faith in him, someone believed that he wasn’t going to make a right fool of himself and that gave him all the confidence he needed.

“Thanks Pinkie” Half said, returning the smile “I best be off, thanks for the party, really appreciate it”

“No problemo, cya soon!” Pinkie chirped, waving as she watched Half leave Sugarcube Corner.

Half waved back as he left the dying party and headed off into the dark streets of Ponyville, the stars and moon dimly lighting the way for him. The silence of the night put Half slightly on edge but also at ease, knowing that he’d easily here the movement of any would be assailants.

Tonight had been a weird but enjoyable night for Half, the day had also been rather weird too but then again, when was anything normal in Equestria?. As Half made his way back to his new home his mind wandered, thoughts of his new and hopefully warm and comfy bed swam through his mind, along with thoughts of things to come, Ditzy and their “date” also entering his mind. Tomorrow was a new day and full of promise for Half and he couldn’t wait for it to come.

With that thought, he upped his pace slightly to a silent yet brisk trot, his bed and a nice cup of Cocoa calling to him.

Dear Diary,

Today I saw Half again! I was right, he’s moved here! to Ponyville that is, not into this house of course, not that I wouldn’t mind of course, he seems a nice enough pony to be honest and oh my Luna I’m rambling on again aren’t I. Silly me.

Anyway. Half looked really nice tonight, he had this dashing little bow tie on, it was so cute. Pinkie threw him this really cool party today to welcome him, she’s such a nice pony, but yeah, I went to it to go see who it was who had just moved here and like I said, It was Half!.

I kinda scared him a little when I saw him and he started choking but he’s ok now, he smelt of Blueberries Diary, you know how much I LOVE Blueberries. He’d gone and taken the tray of Muffins (<3) for himself and had sat in the corner all on his lonesome. (aaaaw)

We chatted for a bit and caught up, shared a muffin or two, then guess what Diary! He asked ME on a date!! Nopony’s asked me out on a date in agesss, well, not since Dinkys’ father but I don’t like to think about that anymore...

But yeah, I’m SO excited!!

Dinky got her homework back today, she got an A! my little Muffin is so clever, much more than I am, I was never a smart foal, except for baking, mum always said I had a knack for that. Mum did always know best. I miss her.

I promised Dinky that I’d take her out tomorrow for ice cream to celebrate her A, I wonder if Half would mind if I brought Dinky along on our date...

Talk to ya soon Diary,

Ditzy xx

Half stirred in his bed, the light shining through the window from Celestias’ sun hurting his unadjusted morning eyes. Pulling his pillow over his head Half tried to fall back to sleep but sadly, it was of no use, he was already awake now.

Half rolled out of bed slowly, taking his bed cover with him, his morning hair all matted and bedraggled from his night of deep slumber and dreaming. Pulling open his door with one weary hoof, he shuffled his way out of the bedroom and over to the bathroom, before entering he dropped his cover in a heap and stepped into the cold, dark bathroom.

Half fumbled around for the light-switch in his half awake state, eventually finding it and illuminating the room. The light momentarily blinding him and making him recoil. Once his eyes adjusted to the light level, Half turned his attention to the shower itself; Half turned the water on and slowly adjusted it to a suitable temperature for himself.

Entering it, Half immediately felt at ease. His worries and tiredness flowed down the plughole along with any dust, dirt and overlooked sugar from yesterday.

“Ahhhh.... Buck me that feels good..”

Half plopped down onto his rump and looked up with his eyes shut, letting the water run down his face and through his mane. Half sat like that for a good 5 minutes, the warm water flowing over his body, wetting his coat as it traveled over it.

Lowering his head and opening his eyes, Half got to his hooves and stepped out of the shower, turning the water off as he did so. Grabbing a towel that he’d placed by the sink the day before he started drying himself.

In just a few hours he’d be having lunch with Ditzy. That thought alone scared the heck out of him, he’d never been on a date.
“Stay calm man, you’ve just got to stay calm”

Walking from the bathroom back into his room, towel wrapped round his body, dragging his cover with him, Half threw it back onto his bed. Looking at the little alarm clock on the clock he’d unpacked and placed on the bedside table yesterday, it read 11:35am. Ditzy was meeting him at One. He had more than enough time to have a light breakfast and get ready before she arrived at his.

“I wonder what she’s up to right now?” Half thought as he proceeded to dry his wet mane. “I wonder if she’s as nervous as I am?... Ah who knows..”

“Dinky! it’s quarter to one, we don’t want to be late now do we?” Ditzy called up the stairs of her house. Ditzy had made sure that her daughter had gotten up with more than enough time to get ready, Dinky had the habit of taking far longer than she should when doing anything. Ditzy on the other hoof, had made sure she was ready an hour in advance; A simple silver locket adorned her neck and a small white bow in her mane.

“Coming mummy!” Dinky replied, bounding down the stairs, nearly tripping down the last few but thankfully Ditzy was there to catch her.

“Careful Muffin, now, are you ready?” Ditzy asked her daughter, her most loved and cherished ‘possession’.

“Mhm. Brushed my teeth and mane like you said.” The little purple unicorn replied to her mother.

“Good girl, now Dinky, remember to be on your best behaviour today.” Ditzy reminded her daughter who sometimes, like most foals her age, got herself into trouble whenever they went out, even if it was round a friends house. Like Half, Ditzy was a tad bit nervous, she hadn’t been on a date herself in a long time, not since she’d had her daughter.

“I promise.” Dinky chirped, knowing that if she wasn’t she wouldn’t get her ice cream later.

Ditzy grinned at her daughters response and ruffled her hair. She was so precious, Dinky was only 5 years old but for her age she was very grown up, soon she’d be going to school and, eventually, getting her cutie mark.

Ditzy opened the front door of her house and let her daughter out first before exiting and closing the door behind her. Today there wasn’t a cloud in the sky and the sun was shining down on Equestria, providing a gloriously warm, late summers day.

“Who’re we going to see mummy? We going to see Carrot Top?” Dinky asked innocently, Dinky loved going to Carrot Tops, she was like an aunt to Dinky and Ditzy was grateful to her for that. Carrot Top offered to help Ditzy wherever and whenever she could and that was a great help to Ditzy, after all, she was only a single mum.

“Not today Muffin, we’re going to go to a new friend of Mummies.” Ditzy replied, picking up her daughter and placing her on her back.

“Oh. Are they nice?” Dinky asked, holding on to her mum’s neck tightly, she liked meeting new ponies even though it was a bit scary.

“Mhm.” Ditzy said, blushing a little, hoping that Dinky wouldn’t notice as she opened her wings and took off, with Dinky on her back she didn’t want to fly too high or too fast, Dinky wasn’t used to that sort of flying, so she remained fairly close to the ground.

“Are they the same pony that you talked about last night mummy?”

“You’re full of questions today Dinky, yes, they’re the same pony” Ditzy laughed as she flew on towards Halfs’ house, flying over the heads of a few ponies as she worked her way through the maze that was Ponyvilles’ streets.

A few minutes later and Ditzy was nearly at Halfs’ house, it was just before one and they were just turning into Whitetail Wood Road.

“Mummy?” Dinky said, trying to get her mums’ attention.

“Yes Muffin?” Ditzy responded as she slowed down, preparing to land.

“Do you like him? as in like like him?” Dinky asked.

Her question knocking Ditzy back mentally, she didn’t know how to answer that, she hadn’t given it much thought really. Yes, Half seemed nice, he was cute, funny and he liked muffins but truth be told, she didn’t know how she felt about Half right now. She didn’t know him that well but it wasn’t like she wouldn’t want to get to know him better.

“I..I don’t know Dinky.. Sorry” Ditzy said as she landed on Whitetail Wood Road, a few doors down from Halfs’ house. She lifted Dinky off her back and gently placed her down onto the cobbled street.

“It’s ok Mummy” Dinky said, hugging her mums’ leg.

“Aaw” Ditzy thought, her daughter had a heart of gold sometimes.

Ditzy stroked her daughter's head and ushered Dinky on towards Halfs’ house.

“We’ll just have to wait and see how today goes Dinky..” Ditzy thought as they approached the front door of number 32.

Chapter 1

Half-Baked admired the fruits of his labour; 16 freshly baked muffins that sat atop the worktop waiting to be tasted. They had taken him the best part of the afternoon to make but he had no doubt that all the effort he had put into making them it would be worth it once he’d sampled the end result.

Half picked up one of the muffins and took a bite; the warmth and flavour of the muffin filling his mouth. This batch was surely the best so far, the flavours complimented each other perfectly without clashing in any way, the smooth and fluffy texture meant that each mouthful was sheer delight. Once again, he had outdone himself.

Though it was no surprise to him that he had made yet another batch of near-perfect muffins; he looked down to his flank, the cutie mark muffin that adorned it sat there proudly like it had ever since he had earned it all those years ago. Ever since he had found his special talent he had been creating and crafting many baked masterpieces, gaining a reputation in the process and becoming a name that people recognized and celebrated.

His parents had given him the perfect foal-hood in which to practise and hone his craft, they too were celebrated Bakers, having their own bakery that for years had been a name that commanded respect and had proved to be on a number of occasions; one of the best in Equestria. Half-Baked had therefore grown up in an environment where he’d had the chance to gain all the skills and knowledge to grow up to be one of the most skilled Bakers of his generation and that’s exactly what he’d done.

Half-Baked trotted over to the living room and plonked himself down onto the sofa, he was beginning to tire of this life- wake up at 4am, help his parents with the morning duties, Bake all morning, nothing to do during the day except for maybe one or two photo shoots if they were scheduled, go out for a while if he felt compelled too then come back, cook dinner then either finish the day watching T.V or reading a few cookbooks. It wasn’t his idea of heaven.

He’d had this dream for a few years now that one day he’d have his own little bakery where he could live the rest of his days in peace, maybe find someone special and settle down, maybe have foals. Yeah, that’d be the life. Perhaps it was high time he started trying to make this little dream of his a reality?

He was 18 after all; he was at the age where he could indeed start making steps towards his dream. Yeah. Starting tomorrow he would take steps towards owning his own little Bakery and making his dream come true.

Picking up one of the local newspapers he flicked through the pages; skim reading a few stories, reading the full article of others, he was about to put it down when a section caught his eye. Near the back of the newspaper was a section, only one or two pages big, of adverts for places that were up for rent or for sale. Normally this wouldn’t be of much interest but Half-Baked thought that perhaps he might be able to find somewhere that might take his interest in one of the adverts. He had to start looking somewhere; this was as good as anything.

Skimming the ads, he quickly eliminated half or more; either they were far too expensive or there was something wrong with the property. At the bottom of one of the pages one property did fit the bill.

A small two story house with a basement in a small town called Ponyville, two bedrooms, kitchen and living room. This was what he wanted; he could convert the first floor for the bakery and live on the second floor with the basement for the large bakery ovens he would have to have installed. It was within the price bracket he’d set himself too, he had savings but he’d still have to take out a loan to be able to afford the property but that wouldn’t be a problem.

It was sorted then. He’d go and have a look at this place tomorrow and if he liked it then he’d get it. Half-Baked smiled a little. By this time tomorrow he might have his own place. During his Foalhood he’d never in his wildest dreams thought he might one day own his own place and here he was, planning to do just that.

He looked at the clock on the wall, it was ten past nine, he eased himself off the sofa and into his bedroom before climbing into bed. Another early day tomorrow to help his parents but at least he’d have something to look forward to later in the day.

Thoughts of what it might look like and of things that he could do once he had his own place filled his mind as sleep slowly enveloped him.