ACT ONE: CUPCAKES & CELESTIAS EMBRACE
Granny Pie, an old mare with an eternally youthful smile is teaching her cupcake recipe to her grand daughter Pinkie Pie, a young pink filly with a cotton candy mane who blends in so well with her grandmothers legendary kitchen of delectable confectionery that she would be hard to find if it weren't for her explosive personality.
Pinkie watches cake batter spin around with curiosity and desire, Her head rotates in synchronization with the large wooden spoon as her mind drifts off into thoughts of perfectly crafted cupcakes, and stuffing her face into bowls of left over cupcake batter.
"Pinkie, you are paying attention aren't you? You have cupcakes of your own to make remember."
To the young fillys dismay she looked away from the cupcaky goodness to her own batch of ingredients and sulked. "But I could never make cupcakes as scrumptatious as yours."
"Scrumptatious?"
"Scrumptious and tasty combined, duh." Pinkie said as if it was the simplest thing in the world.
"Well eating 'scrumptatious' cupcakes may be fun but they always taste better when you put all your heart and effort into making them."
Pinkie was intrigued by this but she still couldn't get the thought of Granny Pies cupcakes out of her mind. "Still there's no way I could make cupcakes even half as good as yours."
"Pinkie Pie what did I say was the most important thing for you to remember."
Pinkie returned to her usual bouncy self with a audible spring "That no matter what I face as long as I face it smiling and laughing it can't hurt me, and if there's ever a pony in need I'll do all I can to make them smile. What does that have to do with cupcakes."
"What doesn't it have to do with cupcakes." Granny Pie said with a mischievous grin.
"Granny Pie." Pinkie whined.
"Fine I'll tell you. When I was a filly my..."
"Were you called Granny Pie when you were a filly."
"Do you want to hear the story or not?"
"Sorry."
"As I was saying, When I was a filly my family were struggling for money and were having a hard time finding jobs, my mother saw how depressed the family was and felt fixing this was her priority, So she gathered the last of the families bits and spent them on cupcake ingredients. At first our family thought this was a waste of money but once she calmed them down and got them eating the cupcakes they were so overwhelmed by the delicious taste they forgot all about their problems and every one of them had a huge grin that reflected a bright light off the dim walls. Everypony agreed that the cupcakes were so great that they were bound to be a success. So the next day we set up a stall called cupcake corner and went all around town giving out free samples. the very next day we had more customers than we could bake cupcakes for, and just like that the Pie family found themselves more cheery than they had ever been."
Pinkie Pie had been unusually quite through this story but when it finished she seemed more lively then she had ever been. "So cupcakes are a mega make any pony smile with scrumptious tasty deliciousness cake."
"Exactly."
Pinkie Pie paused for a moment as she ran through a land made of cupcakes in her mind and Granny Pie thought she had finally got Pinkie to settle down.
"So were you called Granny as a filly."
"Granny Pie is my name so yes I have always been called Granny."
Pinkie Pie was giggling uncontrollably to herself "So your Granny would call you Granny."
"Yes Pinkie."
"Whenever your friends would call to you their Grannies must have shown up."
Granny sighed "It was worse when ponies were calling there granny and I showed up." Granny Pie left that thought and lifted her self into a bouncy mood. "Cupcakes are waiting Pinkie."
Pinkie Pie looked over her ingredients, she wasn't prepared to disappoint Granny Pie or her proud family of confectionery bakers, and she had really got the idea of tasty cupcakes hammered into her head.
She looked to Granny Pie, whimsically mixing cake batter with only 20 percent of her attention needed, and with the rest she was giving Pinkie a smile as bright and comforting as Celestias sun.
And with that...
She was ready...
To...
Make cupcakes.
Pinkie had watched Granny Pie make cupcakes plenty of times so she felt confidant and prepared. she grabbed a wooden spoon and tore into the cake batter using all her determination to viciously spin it till it was ready to be made in to delicious cupcakes, and pour in a little bit of water, and viciously mix the cake batter! and, and...
Panic spreads through Pinkie as she realizes she wasn't as prepared as she thought she was. "How much vanilla do I need, am I supposed to add salt, what am I doing!"
Granny Pie finished her mixing and cleared her throat. Music seemed to appear from thin air and Pinkies thoughts were gone, and for a glorious moment she was stunned into a very brief state of nothing. Which was very rare for Pinkie, but it would last for no longer than three seconds and Pinkie would be back to her fast and nonsensical way of thinking, like her mind was on a constant sugar high while riding a roller coaster made of cupcakes.
"All you have to do is take a cup of flour add it to the mix, now just take a little something sweet not sour a bit of salt just a pinch, baking these treats is such a cinch add a teaspoon of vanilla add a little more and you count to four and you never get your fill aaaaaa, cupcakes so sweet and tasty cupcakes don't be to hasty cupcakes, cupcakes cupcakes cupcaaaakes."
Granny Pies sweet voice flowed through the kitchen like a trodden on bottle of chocolate sauce evoking the room in a fountain of chocolaty delight. You don't question this, you merely stick your face in its direction.
"That song, whenever you make cupcakes we would sing together, I always thought it was just for fun, but I see now, its all so clear."
Pinkie Pie then sang her own version of the song which was more like a whole party (along with the spirit and vigor of partying ponies) spontaneously erupting from one single pony. You now decide to question nothing.
Granny Pie was so proud of her Pinkie.
The two mares baked their cupcakes and Pinkie Pie was extra bouncy in anticipation of trying her very first cupcakes.
"Pinkie, your only gonna make it seem longer if you can't be patient."
Pinkie glanced over to Granny Pie but just wouldn't listen.
But Granny Pie had her ways. "Knock Knock."
Pinkie wanted to ignore Granny Pie but it was no use, she just couldn't resist a joke. "Who's there".
"Rose."
"Rose who."
"Rose you. So listen to what I say."
They both had a little giggle.
"As funny as that was, nothing can take my mind off those cupcakes. Just picturing them, how warm and toasty there gonna be when there fresh out of the oven, and the even warmer gooey chocolate center, I can't hold on any... Granny pie?."
Granny Pie was now drooling in front of the oven and was shortly followed by Pinkie.
"This is torture Granny."
"Hang in there Pinkie its only a few more minutes now."
They watched their beloved cupcakes taking in that last little bit of heat and counted down the seconds, Granny Pie took a moment to look at Pinkie Pie and wonder what this would mean for her. All those years ago she watched her mother turn her families luck around with cupcakes, and she very much loved her son but he was always to busy with his adventures, and when he wasn't on an adventure he was preparing for one. But now she had taught her mother's techniques to her grand daughter, and maybe it was a bit much to assume that cupcakes could once again have such a great impact on the Pie family, but Granny Pie felt she would be tasting something special in Pinkies cupcakes.
Ding.
"Huh!"
"Hmm."
"There ready Granny!"
"Right."
Granny Pie swiftly took the cupcakes from the steaming oven and set them on the table.
Pinkie knowing full well that Granny Pies cupcakes would be scrumptatious, took one of hers.
And Granny Pie wanted to see if Pinkie could recreate her great grand mothers inspirational cupcakes, it was a lot to ask of her especially as she was so young, but Granny Pie couldn't help but wonder.
Granny Pies cupcake was like a sweet song crafted into beauty through practice, tradition and expertise. The song tells a story of ponies skipping along a broken down road so long you can only see emptiness in any direction you look, but the ponies are having so much fun in each others presence they haven't even noticed their surroundings.
Pinkie Pies cupcake tasted like everything sweet she could find jammed into a blender that clearly can't support anything near the amount in there, but she impossibly forces it all in anyway and manages to get it to work, and then the inevitable happens as the lid pops off and everything in sight is victim to an onslaught of a doughnut/eclair/mousse/cake hybrid that tastes impossibly scrumptatious.
Pinkamina is a member of the Diane family, who lived with the Pie family, but one day they inexplicably split from the Pies and went to find their own way in the world. But knowing the Pies it could have been something as trivial as a disagreement over the proper way to bake cupcakes, although if I narrate any more of Pinkies story that might not seem trivial anymore.
Currently Pinkamina is sleeping in a field under a starry night wrapped in a luxurious blanket allowing her to escape most of the cold, her parents may be morons but at least their rich morons.
But why exactly is she out here? We'll have to go a little back in her story to see.
She lived in a very ordered and traditional household which for Pinkamina was like having your family being haunted by a ghost that tells you 'whatever you do make sure it ain't new.' She wouldn't be surprised if that was her families slogan.
She had a younger brother called Lagoon who always followed her parents rules like a lemming jumping to its grave because the thought to do so has been hammered so deep in its mind. She always would find ways to throw dirt on her parents ways and to generally be a pain to them, but she would act more calm and restraint around her brother so her parents would encourage the two to spend time with each other, Pinkamina did this so she could project ideas into her brother's mind without her parents shooting them down.
Pinkamina and Lagoon watch Samurai Pony, a show about a lone samurai searching for his sis so they can team up and destroy the evil tyrant Shiki Pizzaku, who makes ponies work unreasonable hours and doesn't even say thank you, he takes ponies things without asking, and he made smiling illegal. But this quest is much longer than necessary as the Samurai's honor and general heroics force him to rescue or assist someone in distress which just so happens to be everypony he meets, and he always does so with a smile.
This show was very popular with colts of Lagoon's age so all Pinkamina had to do to get Lagoon fanatical was to get him to watch it with her. Whenever Pinkamina would act against her parents and she was punished, Lagoon would tell Pinkamina to listen to their parents because he hated seeing her sad, and one day Pinkamina said to Lagoon.
"You know How Samurai Pony has to live by his own rules to protect the honor of his people and to create peace."
"Y-yeah." Lagoon said in a teary state similar to his sisters.
"Well that's what its like for us."
Lagoon was suddenly very confused. "Our parents aren't evil tyrants."
"No, but they're forcing us to blindly follow their orders without leaving any room for independent thought."
"But they're only taking care of us."
"Does this look like care." Pinkamina pointed a hoof at her black eye.
Lagoon was unable to hold back his tears, he loved his sister and he loved his parents, he tried to think clear but it was hopeless.
Pinkamina hugged Lagoon and with a smile said "Its okay, I can't expect you to understand. You just keep smiling and I'll take care of everything else."
"R-really."
"I promise."
Lagoons tears dried up and he began to smile.
Pinkamina smiled back and said in a more joyous tone "Wanna hear a funny story."
"Sure."
"It's the story of why there's masking tape sticking the T.V plug into the wall."
Lagoon lies against Pinkamina creating a odd contrast of dark pink and ocean blue as Pinkamina begins her story, she briefly looks across at the T.V with a smile and a small chuckle.
"Our Parents would have never allowed us to have a T.V even though there common in most households now, so I had to go and uh, borrow some of our parents money and get one myself. I set it up with out them noticing but obviously it was not long till they caught on to its presence. I tried to reason with them and explain how television was becoming common place in all of Equestria and if they didn't have one they would be even more of living fossils then they already are."
"Your not very good at negotiating."
"Their the ones who aren't good at negotiating." Pinkamina sulked. "As I was saying, they weren't at all happy with the T.V and were about to remove it but before they got to the plug I picked up the remote and pointed it at the T.V and pushed a button whilst whistling a strange sound. I then said to our confused parents 'I would be careful with that If I were you I just increased the power consumption by 20 percent, If that plug comes out that T.V it will explode taking this whole room with it'. My parents didn't believe me at first but when I started collecting my things and mentioning all the things I would do with the families money once they were gone they decided that having a T.V wouldn't be such a bad thing and swiftly used up a whole roll of masking tape sticking the plug to the wall to insure their children don't accidentally blow themselves up."
As the days went by Lagoons love for Samurai pony grew and he found himself much more cheerful and energetic, this was what Pinkamina was aiming for and she herself was caught up in his enthusiasm also she had become a bit of a fan herself. But this made her encourage Lagoon more than she meant to, and much more than she should have.
"I've got some things I gotta do Lagoon I'll see you soon."
"Can't I come." Lagoon said in the most pleading way he could.
"Sorry bro, your to young."
from pleading to sulking in ten seconds flat. "Your a filly yourself."
"what makes a filly and what makes a mare, is it really just a number?"
"I take it back your a crazy filly."
"I'm only going to be gone for an hour, and besides, there going to be showing the Samurai pony movie again in a few minutes."
"Well, I have only seen it three times so far."
"I'll be back for the end scene."
"Promise?"
"I promise."
Pinkamina trotted through the open fields, the wind brushes through her coat and turns her dead straight mane into a gentle cloud. She has only just left her house and can see her destination, the huge hill that she has always viewed as an unbreakable barrier from her and the rest of Equestria. She gets to the base of the hill and looks up, she thinks back to the first time she looked upon this hill.
It was when she was a very young filly and before Lagoon was born. Seeing the gigantic hill towering over everything in sight made her uncontrollably curious. She galloped up the hill with her tiny legs and fell over several times, but she managed to reach the top of what was like a mountain to her young filly mind. She was so enraptured by the sight, in all directions she could see ponies working on farms, each of them embraced by Celestias sunlight, with the exception of one grey looking farm that seemed to be tucked away from most of Celestias rays. Young Pinkamina could feel that wondrous embrace, like the princess was watching directly over her, But it was a bitter sweet moment as she thought how her parents never worked in Celestias embrace, or seemed to have any interest in it at all, they were more interested in wearing strange 'hat' things on there heads and meeting in doors with other ponies in 'hat' things. But before her thoughts could dampen her joy she was calmed by a tranquil sea in the very far distance.
Pinkamina Looks out at the view like she would at an age old friend. She pays what little respect she can to the ponies providing food for families across Equestria, and tries to make out what she can from the grey farm but there is never enough light there for her to see from this distance. After settling her legs into the soft grass she looks to the sea acting as a mirror to Celestias embrace.
After a soothing gaze into Equestria, Pinkamina gets on her sluggish legs which are trying to force her into staying longer, she fights against them and makes her way home.
She thinks to herself, maybe she should take Lagoon with her next time, see if there's any relevance to that name of his.
Pinkamina is approaching home at a brisk pace to catch the end of the Samurai pony movie, she sees a carriage in the distance heading away from her home, must have been friends of her parents, poor Lagoon probably had to sit through his parents at their most demanding and wait through conversations of hats and cutlery. Pinkamina was starting to feel a little guilty for not taking him.
She went inside to see her parents sad, but strangely not doing there normal routine of hiding there emotions like a robopony.
"What is it." Pinkamina said as casually as possible.
Her parents changed to a expression of distaste at the sight of their daughter.
"We had hoped that all the time you spent with your brother was changing you for the better, but it seems you were changing him for the worst. We couldn't allow him to develop like you did, so to protect him from your influence we sent him away, so if you wan't to blame anypony blame yourself!"
"No, Lagoon No!"
Pinkamina rushed to her room in disbelieve, she only met the end credits of the Samurai Pony movie.
She tore into everything she could find in a fit of blind rage, she smashed her hooves into things she couldn't see, she had bruises she couldn't feel, and tears with no Lagoon to settle on.
She wanted to collapse, but she couldn't. Not here. She ripped the T.V Plug out of the wall and tossed the T.V onto her numb back and tied it to herself with a luxurious blanket. She stepped out of her home and she walked towards the hill, where she planned to take what she had left of her brother.
The sun sets below the hill and Pinkamina pushes her legs to go as fast as they can in her disheveled state, she felt like the very air would be ripped from her lungs if she didn't have Celestias embrace right now. She thinks back to what her parents said and started to painfully mumble to the air wishing it would carry her concerns to the sun and the princess behind it.
"They were just shifting the blame to me so they could feel better about themselves, but it was my fault. I should have seen this coming, seeing Lagoon without the restraint of my parents on him gave me a genuine smile, something I thought I had traded a long time ago."
Pinkamina reached the base of the hill but didn't stop moving or change thought, she simply kept walking.
"Lagoons independence made him smile, and it made me smile to, but that smile blinded me. I use to see my parents through a face of fury and despise, but I was just so damn happy I couldn't even see my parents. While I was smiling and laughing, they were in the corner of my eye preparing to throw Lagoon away because they didn't understand him."
Pinkamina wanted to scream but her weakened body wouldn't allow her.
"Lagoon was right in the middle of a drastic change of personality and world view, and his life has been taken away from him because I smiled."
Pinkamina reached the top of the hill and took one look at the setting sun before shifting the television of her back and collapsing.
"Celestia, Lagoon, I'm so sorry."
Pinkie Pie and Granny Pie are lying on the floor in a cupcake induced paralysis due to eating a dozen cupcakes without a break, but neither of them has an ounce of regret.
Granny Pie got up and rushed over to Pinkie and launched herself at her.
"Granny no!" Pinkie said to no avail as Granny Pie crushed her in a hug.
"Your going to be a very special pony Pinkie."
"You can tell that, from a cupcake?"
"Of course Pinkie, of course."
Two months have passed since Pinkie made her first batch of cupcakes, the time was filled with the two creating new cupcake recipes and perfecting classics, Pinkie has learn't almost all of Granny Pies seemingly endless plethora of songs and even made a few of her own.
Pinkie pokes her head around a tree only to see nothing. She cautiously shifts round to the other side of the tree but again she only sees nothing. Where is she hiding...
Twitchy tail! twitchy tail! Pinkie jumps forward as she narrowly avoids a fate of being trapped in a sticky cake batter tomb, and she instantly retaliates by throwing two jam buns up at the tree.
Granny Pie climbs down from the tree while eating as much jam as she can off her coat.
"Sorry Granny but the Pinkie sense never lies."
Oh right I forgot to mention, Pinkie was such a quick learner that Granny Pie showed her the C.C.S (cupcake survival) a work in progress book started by Granny Pie and her mother that details how to survive with cupcakes in three stages.
- Ingredients
This section details how to make various kinds of pockets for storing all ingredients necessary for making cupcakes. This is more useful than always carrying around saddle bags with you because it enables you to be much more agile and if you have made the pockets the same colour as your coat (which is greatly suggested) then it will appear as if your wearing nothing and are pulling things out of thin air which is obviously very cool.
- Storage
As there is a limit to a comfortable amount of baking ingredients you can carry on your body, you'll need to find some place to drop things off, places like trees and bushes can be easily accessible and are fairly hidden spots, but you could always just dig a small hole to be extra safe.
- Baking
This Is the main section of C.C.S, it makes the least sense and if I had never witnessed the pie family I would have believed it all to be nonsense. Essentially it tells you how to make cupcakes no matter what situation your in. It talks about things like how to start fires with sticks and stones, where your closest water supply is, how to create kitchen environments through rainstorms, blizzards, and all other drastic situations you couldn't even imagine happening.
- Assault
Pinkie created a section on how to assault things with bake goods. Currently the entire section is just a drawing of Pinkie chucking cakes at a pony with a cape, an overly large top hat and a long curly mustache. Granny was interested with this idea so the two have began practicing the C.C.Ss new section together.
Pinkie has also gained what she calls, 'Pinkie sense', a itch or sensation of some sort which appears to warn her of specific things. Neither Pinkie or Granny have any idea how this is possible but Granny thinks it has something to do with how Pinkie has been much more hyper than any other member of the Pie family, which is no small achievement.
Pinkie and Granny wolf down any spare treat/weapons after another eventful day of singing, baking and playing, but Granny Pie wasn't in her usual cheery mood, even though she kept her smile on for Pinkie.
"Wanna hear a story Pinkie, Its another one about your great grand mother."
"Yay!" Pinkie said flinging jam everywhere in excitement.
"My family had experience in traveling and they would always have a fun time with whoever they met. But where they set up cupcake corner was only a newly formed town with a few families, and although they were able to get by on the trade they got for the cupcakes, my mother wanted to make as many ponies as she could smile, so she left to explore Equestria although everypony else was content on staying with the village, I was right by her side. So we ventured into the unknown, just two ponies and their cupcakes, we had some really crazy times which I promise to tell you all about someday."
Granny Pie moved closer to Pinkie and wrapped her in a tight hug which didn't phase Pinkie at all, if Granny Pie's anything she's spontaneous. "The point is I loved spending time with my mum but we were often surrounded by other ponies. But nopony else has lived near you for years."
"We get visitors sometimes, and my parents always bring cool stuff from their adventures. I know I can get a little impatient for ponies to turn up, but you always calm me."
"The last time we had a guest was almost a year ago, and I have no idea when the last time you met any pony your age. You've done some great things Pinkie, your a natural at making ponies smile, but you can't do that with no ponies around."
"Why do you sound so sad Granny, Aren't we going to go on an adventure like you and great granny."
"Although, we rarely have guests, I have to be here to help them."
Pinkie was starting to feel sad, an emotion almost alien to her "That's fine I can stay here with you I don't need..."
"Pinkie, I know you better than you know yourself, if you saw how much ponies needed help to smile, you would have demanded to go find them immediately and do every thing in your power to help them."
"What are you saying Granny."
"You need to go on your own adventure Pinkie, to find ponies who've lost there smiles. I, can't go with you Pinkie."
Pinkie was overcome with sadness and anger. "I can't help anypony without you Granny! How am I supposed to smile without you!"
Granny Pie saw Pinkie like she'd never seen her before, the sight of the pink party pony shouting with tears in her eyes made it nearly impossible for Granny Pie to not just hug Pinkie and never let go. But she struggled on and remained serene.
"Whenever your lonely Pinkie what do I tell you?"
Pinkie thought through her tears and sadness, "stories."
"Stories of ponies I met, and stories I learn't from ponies I met. You need to find your own ponies, your own stories, and your own smile."
"I can't, I could never smile without you Granny."
This time Granny did hold her closely in a hug. "You can Pinkie, you can. Think back to when I told you about when I was a filly in a family who struggled to get enough food to survive, and my crazy mother took all the bits we had left and spent them on cupcakes, because the one thing in the world she cared about was seeing the ponies she loved smile. That's your destiny Pinkie, there's smiles out there that only you can bring."
Pinkies anger settled but her tears did not. "Your right Granny but how could I make somepony smile when I feel so alone."
"You go out into Equestria, and find every pony you can and tell them everything you know about smiling, and you give them cupcakes you put all your heart into, and than even if you haven't found your smile yet, they will do the smiling for you."
"I wish you weren't so right."
"No you don't." Granny said with a smile, which Pinkie followed.
That night they lay together, and Granny Pie sang every lullaby she knew to Pinkie, it took less than half to get Pinkie to sleep, but Granny Pie continued, not for Pinkie, but for herself.
The next morning Granny and Pinkie baked cupcakes for the last time in a long while.
The good thing about cupcakes is.
They can be a lot of things.
But its very hard for them to be sad.
And sure, there was an after taste of sadness in this batch.
But there was an overwhelming taste of determination.
And most importantly, it made the two ponies smile.
______________________________________________________________________________
YOU COMPLETED ACT ONE
^o> ("Thanks for reading, I hope you enjoyed yourself.
~[ ] I'll write act two as quick as I can.")
LlLl
______________________________________________________________________________
