I Fear Nopony, But "Eating Healthy" Scares Me!
A pink blur shot clear through the doorway of Sugarcube Corner at light speed, laughing almost in a maniacal manner as she took off for the streets of her hometown.
Two Earth ponies could only stand in the midst of the wreckage that the blur had caused and subsequently left behind.
A loud crash sounded from behind them, but they didn't bother to look back.
"It's amazing how the entire building didn't fall down, you know, hon?" Mr. Cake said, breaking the silence while still staring in the direction the pink blur went.
"Yeah..." was all Mrs. Cake could say in response.
"Guess we should clean up before she comes back, huh?"
"Mm-hmm."
While being wary of their surroundings, the happy couple got to work cleaning up the remnants of their shop, which was near-recognizable beneath the debris that cluttered it and would take much more than a simple day to clean.
It was quite lucky that the pink blur didn't injure anypony, or, Celestia forbid, kill anypony in its wake. It was also quite lucky that most everypony was indifferent to the blur speeding by in their fair town, having seen it all before. It zipped through the streets, past ponies and creatures, not caring about what it ran into or how it was stopped.
The pink blur zipped by for hours upon hours -- longer than usual, most noted. One had to wonder if it had been across the whole of Equestria by the time the third hour or so had passed.
Finally, when Princess Luna rose the moon, the pink blur came back. It slowed to a speeding strut, then came to a stop outside Sugarcube Corner, revealing the blur's true form as none other than, of course, Pinkamena Diane Pie.
She paused in the doorway, eyeing the wreckage. Her blue eyes shrunk just a little in shock as glass, wood, and all sorts of debris littered the store. Her mouth opened, and she contemplated calling for Mr. and Mrs. Cake, but figured they would blame her for the mess and give her a chewing-out she certainly didn't feel like being on the receiving end of.
So, she decided to go up to her room and retire early for the day. Whatever eating she would have done could wait until tomorrow.
Being as quiet as she could, she tip-hoofed up the stairs and slipped into her bedroom with all the stealth of her friend Fluttershy, closing the door as quietly as she could. Once the coast was clear, she gave a sigh, grateful that her room wasn't as messed up as the downstairs area was. She made her way into bed, clapped her hooves twice to turn off the lights, and went to sleep, hoping neither of the Cakes would find her and wake her.
After all, going on a sugar binge always had a tendency to make her sleepy.
The next day, she found herself shunted out of Sugarcube Corner without any breakfast.
"We're sorry, Pinkie Pie, but perhaps it's best if you stay away from home while we fix up the shop." Mrs. Cake advised.
"Don't worry, we'll be done before you know it! It's about high time we started on some renovations, anyhow." Mr. Cake said.
Pinkie had bought their words hook, line and sinker, but deep inside, she knew the real reason the Cakes were kicking her out. "Stay away from home while we fix up the shop" her flank. What they really meant was "we don't want you around anymore if you're going to keep destroying the shop, so get the buck out and stay out."
Her stomach grumbled. No Sugarcube Corner and no business operations meant no pastries -- not for her, and not for the rest of Ponyville, either. But the difference between the two was that, for one, pastries were about as essential to her as milk was to a foal.
The others feasted on...ugh...healthy food. Food that she didn't even want to utter the name of.
As she walked along the streets, she began to wonder about her friends. Maybe they had some candy left over that she could eat. Anything to keep her tummy satisfied, even though it took a lot of food to keep her tummy satisfied. She certainly didn't want to look like a fool, knocking on every door in Ponyville and begging for candy like some homeless mare going door-to-door begging for money.
She looked around and realized that her first stop, the closest house to her current location, was Twilight's castle. It was huge, and Twilight did love sweets...it was perfect. There had to be something in there!
Her hooves took her to the castle as fast as they could, and within a minute or two, she was pounding on the door. "Twilight! Twiiiii! EMERGENCY!"
The door swung open and bopped her on the snout, causing her to take a tumble down the stairs. "Oww..." was the only thing she said, rubbing her snout in order to get rid of the pain. "Hey, what gives?!"
She opened her eyes and saw all six of her friends, arranged in a neat line and looking down upon her as though she was a mere peasant lying down on the same carpet that kings and queens walked on.
"Pinkie Pie."
Uh-oh. She didn't like when Twilight took on that tone of voice.
"We're glad you're here. Follow us inside, please."
The pink pony, utterly confused, stood up and did as she was told, operating more on curiosity than anything else.
The group took her to the dining room of the castle, where a large rectangular table sat. It was perfect for a party of seven, but something told her the other six guests would not be attending. On the table sat various plates of things that most certainly weren't sweets -- veggies like leafy lettuce and carrots, and fruit like apples and oranges and grapes, plus sandwiches and salads galore.
"We all saw your lil' sugar rush the other day, Pinkie." Applejack spoke up. "You've been havin' one too many of those things recently."
"You startled all the animals!"
"You made me rip a dress I was almost done putting the finishing touches on!"
"You knocked me off my flight path and almost sent me careening into the ground!"
"And you nearly destroyed all of the books in my library." Twilight shook her head. "Applejack is right, Pinkie. Just because a pony works in the food industry and makes a certain type of cuisine, that doesn't mean that pony needs to make it their livelihood."
Pinkie glanced at Applejack and opened her mouth to object. "Apples are a healthy food, Pinkie. And workin' with the stuff has been in my family for generations." the farm pony fired back.
She couldn't believe what she was hearing. Not...make sweets? Or sell sweets? Not have anything to do with sweets? They might as well just tell her to not throw parties anymore, strip her of her other destiny while they were at it. She tried to fight the tears that welled up in her eyes.
"So in order to expand your diet, we'd like you to try the foods on this table." Twilight pointed to the food that seemed to be begging to be eaten. "You're sure to like something!"
With careful hoofsteps, Pinkie lifted herself up into a chair and gazed at the feast. Her stomach grumbled again, just a tad bit louder this time. Her mouth watered.
"You...you...you..!"
The voices of her friends echoed in her mind. The tones were so accusatory, so hurtful...and now they were denying her the one kind of food she loved?
"And before you ask..." Twilight added. "I don't have any sweets here."
She doesn't have any sweets.
She doesn't have any sweets.
She has no sweets.
Is the mare insane?! What kind of...
Her jaw dropped. All she could do was move her gaze from the food, to her friends, and back and forth again. Her friends all had smiles on their faces that seemed warm and genuine, but the Earth pony knew that they held a couple shreds of pity behind them, and she hated every one of those smiles.
"I appreciate all of your concerns..." she said. "But I think I'll just wait until Sugarcube Corner is restored and we get some sweets back in stock."
She hopped off of the chair and began making her way towards the exit of the castle. Before she even left the room, her stomach grumbled once again, this time loud and reverberating enough to cause the ponies and the dragon to stumble and fall. In spite of the noise, however, she chose to ignore it, and the double doors opened and closed.
"Is everypony all right?" Rarity asked.
"I am." Dash said. "Was that Pinkie's stomach?"
"There's no doubt about it." Twilight stood up. "I can't believe I have to say this...but we're going to need a plan."
"A plan for what?" Fluttershy asked, still visibly shaken by the sudden earthquake.
"To make Pinkie eat."
Spike blinked. "You're right, Twilight. I really don't believe you have to say that."
"But Sugarcube Corner is the only sweets shop in Ponyville!" Applejack said. "And Pinkie only eats sweets."
Fluttershy's expression turned from one of panic to one of realization. "Girls! Oh, and Spike." She giggled. "I have the perfect idea! Follow me into the kitchen!"
As she soared out of the room, the others, exchanging confused expressions, decided to follow her, trusting in her judgement.
Nighttime fell across Equestria. Pinkie trudged back to Sugarcube Corner, hoping to at least find a place to sleep -- right now, she didn't feel like asking any of her friends if she could spend a night over.
Lucky for her, Mr. Cake and Mrs. Cake allowed her access to her bedroom, citing that there were no edible sweets in the shop anyway, so she couldn't go on any more wild sugar binges that undid their hard work. The pink mare took another early retirement, slipping into bed and falling asleep in spite of her hunger.
A couple hours after she had fallen asleep, her friends appeared in her room in a bright purple flash. Each one carried saddlebags, full of pastries that looked healthy but had special surprises baked into them, some visible, others not so much..
"Soooo...how are we gonna do this?" Dash asked.
"Rarity, did you bring the tray?"
"Yes, I did, darling." Pulled from the infinitely-sized unicorn mare's saddlebag was a large silver tray, embedded with a large hoofprint. She levitated it over to Fluttershy for her to examine.
"Okay. Everypony, take your pastries and place them onto the tray!"
As Fluttershy set the tray down, everyone emptied the contents of their saddlebags, with Twilight doing the honors of rearranging everything so it was as neatly organized as she could make it.
"All right. Now, let's take this over to Pinkie and place it on her nightstand."
Applejack glanced at her snoring friend, then at the nightstand. "Uh...y' sure, sugarcube? I dunno if that big tray's gonna fit on that tiny thing."
"We'll make it work." Twilight nodded. "Follow me!"
Slowly and quietly, the group crept over to the nightstand, trying their best to avoid the multitude of party favors and streamers that littered the floor. What didn't help was Pinkie's stomach rumbling and causing another minor earthquake, making them lose their footing and collapsing to the floor once again.
"All right, I know these earthquakes are bad, but...everypony be quiet. We don't want Pinkie to-"
Twilight was interrupted by the sound of a few snorts. Without thinking, she lied down on the floor and got as low as she could, and magically maneuvered her friends into the same positions as she watched Pinkie sit up in bed.
"Hello? Who's there?" Pinkie's head moved towards the group. "Is that you, Twilight?"
"Uh, n-n-nope! N-nopony here! Just, uh...um..."
"Dust bunnies!"
Everyone shot Applejack an incredulous look.
"Y-yeah, dust bunnies. We're just comin' out t' play, is all. Don't mind us!"
"Oh...well..." Pinkie yawned. "Feel free to make yourselves at home...on the floor or whatever...g'night..." She flopped back down and was out like a light, snoring away.
"My, that was a close one!" Rarity breathed a sigh of relief. "Wonderful thinking, Twilight. Even if your idea was rather...unconventional."
"Yeah! We look nothing like dust bunnies! What in the name of Celestia did-"
Dash was interrupted by the sound of rumbling. The group immediately lost their footing once again, with Dash jumping up into the air in fright while Fluttershy tripped backwards and promptly fell on Spike.
"W-w-what was that?!" the yellow Pegasus asked, blinking as Spike wormed his way out from under her weight.
"Pinkie's tummy, darling! What else?!" Rarity hissed. "We need to put that tray on the nightstand, now!"
Twilight nodded in agreement. "First, we need to remove the items from the nightstand first. Or rearrange them, perhaps, so Pinkie doesn't grow suspicious."
Applejack quietly moved closer to the nightstand to examine it. The tall blue mirror that Pinkie once had was gone, only replaced by confetti and bicycle horns. She used her leg to sweep the debris off, using careful hoof movements to shove the horns to the side where nopony could step on them.
"Levitate it over here, Twilight!" the farm pony whispered, making a "come here" motion with her hoof. Twilight took notice, and promptly made her way over.
"Where's her mirror?" the alicorn asked.
"Maybe she removed it or somethin'." AJ shrugged.
"Why? She told me she loved that mirror!"
"Maybe she was just doing a bit of redesigning, darling? I know I would love to redesign my room one day and place a mirror like that right by my bed...although I don't know if I would like seeing my messy mane every morning."
"Who cares? Just put the stupid tray down!" Dash whisper-yelled, deciding to hover in midair where Pinkie's tummy rumbles couldn't affect her.
Twilight did as she was told, setting the tray down and using her magic to adjust it so it was just perfect. "Okay. Now, when Pinkie wakes up, she'll eat the pastries without ever being the wiser!"
"I dunno, Twilight..." Spike said. "Pinkie's got a pretty good nose. I think she would be able to smell if fruit was in a pastry."
"What about apple pies? Apple fritter? Apple cobbler?"
"Aren't they all more sugar than fruit?"
Applejack didn't have a fair rebuttal to that, instead scrunching her mouth in frustration.
"Actually, now that you mention it..." Rarity turned to Fluttershy. "Did that ever occur to you, Fluttershy?"
"I...well, no..." Fluttershy rubbed her leg in nervousness, avoiding eye contact with the unicorn mare. "I mostly just went with my gut. I know about modifying foods for picky animals, so I thought it would work with Pinkie."
"If she won't eat fruit straight, then what makes you think she'll eat it in a pastry?" Dash asked.
"I-I don't know! I thought it was a good plan!"
"And Twilight? Surely you knew?"
"Rarity, regardless of whether I knew or not, what other choice did we have? We can't just force-feed Pinkie!"
"Well, surely you have some magical spell that could help our friend instead of letting her starve to death!"
The spat between the group was interrupted by the sound of Pinkie's stomach rumbling once again. This time, it was the loudest it had ever sounded, and everyone could see cracks beginning to form in the ceiling and on the walls from its sheer volume and intensity.
"Sugarcube Corner is collapsing!" Dash cried out. "We gotta get outta here!"
She made a beeline for downstairs, and the others, all giving various reactions of shock, quickly followed suit.
Mr. Cake opened the door to his and Mrs. Cake's bedroom. "What's going on?"
"The place is fallin' t' pieces! Follow us!" Applejack called, before rushing downstairs to join the rest of the group. The couple, attempting to find their footing amidst the impromptu earthquake, escaped as well, making sure to grab the twins from their room before departing.
As they rushed outside, they turned to find the shop wobbling, as though it was on its last structural legs. Other ponies from nearby houses flicked their lights on and ran outside to see what all the commotion was about.
"What's happening? Why is Sugarcube Corner on the brink of collapsing?" Mayor Mare asked, sprinting towards the group and looking at the shop with concern.
"It's Pinkie! She's been-" Applejack's eyes widened. "Oh no. PINKIE! Sweet Celestia, no!"
As fast as her hooves would take her, the farm pony raced towards the shop, but before she could even step a single hoof inside, the building completely collapsed in a heap of wood, dust, and debris. Ponies coughed, some giving screams and cries of shock as they tried to regain some semblance of vision amidst the dust clouds.
"Pinkie Pie! Pinkie, where are ya?!" Applejack called, using her sense of hearing to listen for her friend. She stayed rooted in place, not wanting to risk injuring herself by stumbling on any debris or having it get caught in her hooves as she walked.
As the dust cleared, she could see the tired, ragged form of Pinkie Pie advancing towards her.
"Y'all, I found Pinkie! She's safe!" Applejack called to the crowd, who erupted into cheers and cries of relief. The rest of the group came by her side, with Rarity making sure to avoid the debris that littered the ground while the others used their flight capabilities to avoid it.
"Hey, everypony. What's going on? Why's there so much dust?" Pinkie asked, a tired but melancholy edge to her voice.
"Darling, as much as I dread saying this..." Rarity replied. "We were afraid that the awful cries of your tummy were getting to be so loud-"
"We thought it would destroy all of Ponyville!" Dash finished her sentence. "Look at what it did to Sugarcube Corner!"
Pinkie turned around, and what she saw made her jaw drop. Her home was completely annihilated, to the point where it barely looked recognizable. She looked back at the group, then her gaze drifted to the Cakes. Mr. and Mrs. Cake had broken down and were crying into each others' chests, while the twins only stared wordlessly at the wreckage, appearing to be on the brink of tears themselves as they hugged each other tightly.
"I...I had no idea...I didn't know my tummy was that loud...so loud that..." Pinkie's eyes began to water.
"Pinkie Pie." Fluttershy flew beside her. "I got an idea to mix all kinds of fruits and vegetables in all kinds of sweet treats, thinking you would eat them. We all worked really, really hard to make them, and we were gonna...try and trick you into thinking they were the sweet treats you loved."
"Trick me?" The words danced on Pinkie's lips, a mere afterthought compared to what laid before her. She could hear the murmurs of the surrounding ponies -- some seemed mean-spirited in nature, but she wasn't sure whether it was just her imagination talking or not. All she could do was sit and stare, her body heaving with sobs as she gazed upon the mess that she herself had caused.
Fluttershy began to rub Pinkie's back, but her efforts to soothe her friend didn't last very long, as she felt her stomach become wrapped in rope before her entire body jerked towards Pinkie, her wings flapping helplessly against the Earth pony's steady jog towards Celestia-knows-where.
"Pinkie? W-where are we going? Pinkie, please, wait! Pinkie!!"
Next thing Fluttershy knew, she was busy making the sweet treats all over again, on Pinkie's command.
As she took a batch of banana cookies out of the oven, she heard the front door slam open, followed by the sound of thundering hoofsteps that were rapidly approaching her.
"Fluttershy! There you are!" Twilight took a moment to catch her breath, then exhaled. "What's going on?"
"Pinkie wanted me to make more healthy sweets for her." The yellow Pegasus shrugged as she placed the next batch of mini-sized peach pies into the oven. "She didn't say why, though..."
The others, however, didn't need to hear a reason why. "So she's finally gonna try the stuff we made for her?!" Dash cheered excitedly. "Awesome!"
"It's about darn time!" Applejack nodded.
"Hurry up before her stomach starts growling again!" Spike said.
Twilight stepped forward in confidence and gave a single nod. "Applejack and Rarity, help Fluttershy in the kitchen. Spike, Rainbow Dash, and I will be Pinkie Pie's servers for tonight."
"Oh, a late-night restaurant scene! How fetching!" Rarity said
The group broke up, and Twilight, Spike and Rainbow took the cookies to Pinkie, who was sitting at the table a complete sobbing mess, face on the table, her body heaving with sobs. It pained their hearts to see their friend in such a state, but at the same time, they knew they had to make her eat something, lest Twilight's castle became the next structure to fall.
"Pinkie Pie?" Twilight set the tray of cookies down in front of her. "We made some banana cookies for you."
"'We'?" Spike asked incredulously.
"Uh, well, Fluttershy made them, not us. But still. Give them a try!"
Pinkie's head rose from the table, and the trio nearly did a double take when they saw her face. Nose running, eyes bloodshot, and tears staining the white tablecloth. Still, they chose not to react on it, and allowed their friend to try the food for herself.
She picked up a cookie and sniffed it once, and then twice. She eyed it with curiosity, but also caution.
And then, she stuffed the entire thing into her mouth.
A few seconds passed, and her face brightened, her eyes widening as she held a hoof to her cheek.
Finally, she swallowed, and stared at the trio, who were holding their breaths and praying to Celestia that she wouldn't end up hating it.
"This...is amazing!"
Sighs of relief echoed throughout the room.
"Oh my gosh, these taste so good!" Pinkie ate one after the other, until the entire tray was demolished -- of both cookies, and of the crumbs they left behind.
"You really like it?" Twilight asked.
Pinkie nodded vigorously.
The trio all gave sighs of relief. "She likes it! She really likes it! Thank Celestia!" Dash cried to the sky.
"You guys got any more?!"
"Uhh...well, not banana cookies...but we have loads of other pastries just like it that Applejack, Fluttershy and Rarity are making for you right now." Dash said. "Feel free to eat as much as you want. Wipe out Twilight's whole kitchen!"
"N-now, don't go that far. Spike and I just went shopping at the Ponyville Farmer's Market!" Twilight prodded Dash.
"Yeah. I really don't feel like going again..." Spike remarked, his expression dipped in worry as he seemed to recall a rather traumatic event that had happened while he and Twilight were there.
Pinkie thought on this revelation for a moment, feeling a little disappointed that banana cookies seemed to be off the menu for now, but nodded. If this was how all fruits-hidden-in-pastries tasted, then she wanted them all -- as much as her stomach could handle.
One after the other, various pastries came forth -- strawberry cronuts, blueberry muffins, vegetable puffs, and more were all on the menu and ready for Pinkie to try. One after the other, she tried them, sometimes relishing in their goodness while other times rejecting those that didn't taste appealing to her. For what seemed like moons upon moons, she stuffed herself silly, until she felt like she had packed away a good thirty pounds and gained a sizable belly bulge in the process.
By the end of it all, the others were sapped of almost all energy. Rarity, Fluttershy and Applejack emerged from the kitchen each in tired wrecks, while Twilight, Dash and Spike collapsed on the floor as they watched Pinkie eat the very last of their creations.
"Aah...so good..." The pink pony slunk back into the chair, patting her distended stomach with content. "I never thought fruits and veggies in sweet stuff would be just as good as sweet stuff packed in more sweet stuff!"
Her stomach rumbled again, although it was nowhere near as loud as it was before. Still, that didn't mean the Mane Five and their dragon friend weren't alarmed, with Twilight gathering the group together and forming a protective shield while eyeing the room for any cracks in the walls or the ceiling that would indicate its forthcoming demise.
What came forth was a mighty belch.
Twilight lowered the shield.
"'Scuse me! Guess that's proof that everything I ate was super-duper good!" Pinkie let out a laugh, but it just as quickly turned into a loud yawn. "Aww man...now it's hitting me..."
"Come on. If you want, you can stay here tonight."
"But what about the Cakes? A-and Sugarcube Corner?"
"The Cakes are staying with a family friend until the shop's repaired, they told me." Twilight explained.
"You can always stay with me, if you need to!" Dash offered.
"M-me too."
"Me as well, darling."
"And me, sugarcube." Applejack nodded. "We'll always have a place for ya down on the farm."
Pinkie's eyes began to water again. "Y-y-you guys would do that for me...? After what I did?" She shook her head. "I don't wanna be a burden to you again...especially after what happened yesterday..."
The group exchanged guilty glances, knowing full well what she was referring to.
"Pinkie, you're not a burden. And you never will be." Twilight placed a hoof on her friend's shoulder. "I shouldn't have acted like I did. And I shouldn't have forced you to stop eating sweets just because of one of your sugar rushes. You've loved them ever since you found your destiny and earned your cutie mark. It's a part of you. A part that should never, ever be taken away from you."
She didn't say anything in response, instead listening to the murmurs of agreement from her other friends while also allowing Twilight to continue.
"I'm really glad we could find a compromise. And I hope you feel better now that you have some food in you." A warm smile spread across the alicorn's maw. "Tomorrow, why don't we all go and help to rebuild Sugarcube Corner? Together. As friends."
A lump began to form in Pinkie's throat, and she swallowed it, unsure of what emotion made up the lump. She stared at the white, wet tablecloth for a good long time, thinking about Twilight's words.
Finally, a small smile began to form, her first one since yesterday.
"Thank you, Twilight. You're the best. All of you...you're the bestest friends a pony could ever have!"
She hopped off of the chair and enveloped Twilight in a tight hug, then, with her extendable leg only made possible by cartoon physics, she pulled the others into the hug. However long she wanted it to last, though, it was only for a few seconds, as another yawn parted from her jaws.
"Why don't I show you to the guest room?" Twilight offered. "Just follow me."
Pinkie, feeling too tired to pronk, followed Twilight at a slow pace, her head and her eyes both beginning to droop.
"Oh, and don't worry about the mess!" the alicorn called to the rest of her friends. "I'll clean it up tomorrow."
"Are you quite sure, darling?" Rarity asked.
"I'm sure!"
Rarity blinked, her expression uncertain, then turned to the others.
"Well, I'm up for some cleanin' if you are, Rare." Applejack winked. "Let's get to it!"
Rainbow, Fluttershy and Spike all gave a unisonant "Yeah!" before heading for the kitchen, gathering up all of their remaining energy for one final daunting task of the evening.
By the time mid-morning rolled around, Pinkie Pie was still fast asleep in her bed, snoring and drooling away. Twilight had decided to let her sleep in, knowing that the food coma she must have received after downing so many healthy sweets would leave her out of commission for a while and she could use the rest.
As she let out a yawn and made her way to the kitchen, her gaze met perfectly-placed stacks of dishes -- the same dishes used last night, as a matter of fact. Next to a stack of plates was a small note, which she levitated towards her and opened.
Twilight,
Since we used up a lot of dishes last night, Rarity thought we could wash them for you, so you weren't stuck doing them. I know you didn't want us to, but what's a good favor between friends, huh?
Anyway, we'll probably be at Sugarcube Corner tomorrow, so come find us there!
With awesomeness,
Rainbow Dash
The alicorn smiled and set the note aside, making a mental note to thank her friends when she arrived at the shop. For now, however, she made some pancakes for her and Spike, and the pair enjoyed a good meal together.
Not a half-hour later, and they arrived at Sugarcube Corner, where not just their friends, but seemingly all of Ponyville was helping to clean up. Construction workers talked amongst themselves, one stallion levitating blueprints and showing his three buddies what work needed to be done, and other ponies worked to clean up debris and trash from the wrecked shop.
"Oh, Twilight! Spike!" Amethyst Star waved them over.
"Hi, Amethyst. What's going on?" Twilight asked.
"Well, after Mayor Mare talked with us, we decided to lend a helping hoof and fix up Sugarcube Corner for Pinkie Pie and the Cakes! We figured it was the least we could do for them." she explained. "Are you two here to help?"
"Of course! Just tell us what needs to be done!" Spike said.
"You could help us clean all the debris. There's a lot of it around, and the more hooves, the better. Oh!" Amethyst levitated a familiar silver tray. "I also found this. It looks like it has a bunch of desserts on it."
Both Twilight's and Spike's jaws dropped as they eyed what Amethyst held in front of them. The tray was completely immaculate, as were the desserts. Everything looked just as untouched as when they prepared it -- no dirt, no wood, absolutely nothing.
"How...how even..."
"In case you're wondering, they're still edible. I didn't want to eat one, but I was getting really hungry and they just looked so good." Amethyst gave a sheepish laugh. "You want them?"
Wordlessly, Twilight transferred telekinetic possession of the tray from the unicorn to her, eyeing the desserts in pure shock.
"Uh...w-we'll take them!" Spike snapped out of his stupor. "Thanks, Amethyst."
"Not a problem! I'll see you two around!" Amethyst turned and left, giving a wave to an Earth pony and Pegasus pair and barking instructions at them that neither Twilight nor Spike cared to listen to.
"Twilight! Spike! Oh, how lovely to see you!" Fluttershy made her way up to the duo. "Where's Pinkie Pie?"
"She's, uh...still sleeping." Spike explained. "Hey, Fluttershy, do you know anything about this tray? Why nothing's been touched on it?"
The yellow Pegasus nodded. "Amethyst Star showed it to me and the others. We don't know how or why, either, but..." She shrugged. "I think it's just a miracle. Or perhaps a stroke of luck."
"That would make sense. The pastries aren't magical in any way, so it wasn't like there was a protection spell cast on them or anything." Twilight tapped a hoof to her chin, then shrugged. "Maybe it's just a testament to our friendship."
Spike grabbed a pumpkin cookie in his hands and took a bite, his face lighting up in surprise. "Oh wow, they're still just as fresh as when we made them!"
"Really?" Twilight levitated a cookie of her own and took a bite, nodding in agreement. "You're right!"
"We should share this with the girls." Fluttershy suggested. "I bet they'd love these."
"I agree. But we should wait for Pinkie to come." Twilight said.
"You know, I was hoping we could expand her tastes a little...maybe with some actual fruits and veggies."
"Today?" Twilight blinked. "I don't think that's a good idea. We should let her get used to the various tastes of fruit pastries first before we make such a drastic change as introducing her to the fruits and vegetables themselves."
"Hmm. You raise a good point." Fluttershy nodded. "Come on, I'll take you to the others."
Soon, all of the pastries on the tray were gone. The only thing remaining were crumbs, which Pinkie was more than happy to lick off.
"Hey, Pinkie..." Applejack said. "If'n ya ever want some more apple pastries, y'all are more than welcome at Sweet Apple Acres."
"Yeah! Didn't you say you delivered pies?" Pinkie asked. "Can I have...mm...hmm..." She took a second to think. "A dozen?! No, no, ten dozen! No, a kajillion dozen!"
"Well, I dunno about that many..." Applejack chuckled. "But if ya want a dozen, then sure thing!"
"Yay!"
"For five bits."
"...Yay!"
Applejack shrugged in response to Pinkie seemingly not caring about the price.
"Um, Pinkie..." Fluttershy was the next to ask the pink pony a question. "How would you feel about trying fruits and veggies in their natural forms? Like apples, or carrots, or celery?"
Pinkie blinked once, and then twice. If one listened closely, they could hear the gears turning in her head. Finally, she smiled and nodded. "Sure! I'll give them a try!"
"Okay! You're welcome to stop by my cottage anytime. I'll keep my stock of fruits and veggies fully stocked for you."
Pinkie gave a happy and eager giggle in response, then suddenly stopped as she realized something.
"Oh yeah, um...I never did thank you guys, did I..." She rubbed the back of her neck. "Uh, well, thank you! For caring so much about me. It did hurt when you tried to make me eat healthy stuff and told me that I shouldn't make sweets my livelihood...but I realize now that I don't have to give up my destiny just to eat healthier! It's always good to try new things!" she said. "And I know you were all just trying to help."
"Of course we were. We would never try to force you to eat something you shouldn't. We were just concerned about your health, that's all." Twilight soothed. "Just try not to go on any more sugar rushes, okay? We don't want to have to rebuild Ponyville all over again."
Pinkie nodded. "I'll try. But no guarantees!"
"Hey!"
All of them jumped at the sound of Amethyst's voice.
"If you seven are done eating and chit-chatting over there, get back to work! We got a lot to do and it isn't gonna get done all by itself!"
A silence fell.
"Y'know, I never thought Amethyst was so authoritative like that..." Dash remarked. "She's kinda like Spitfire. Almost."
Rarity opened her mouth to object, then closed it. "Actually? No, you're right, Rainbow Dash. Completely right."
More silence fell, and then laughter broke out amongst the group before they got up and went back to work, Twilight deciding to take a quick dash to the castle to return the tray before returning to the shop.
In the span of two months, the new Sugarcube Corner was completed. While still keeping aspects of the old shop (such as the huge cupcake that stood on top of the structure), it was much bigger than before, boasting three stories. The main area was much bigger now, boasting a tea room for ponies to eat their sweet treats indoors. Upstairs, the twins' bedroom was split into two, so each of them had their own rooms. Both Mr. and Mrs. Cake's room and Pinkie's room had increased in size substantially, each getting remodels based on each pony's preferences (with some disagreement on the Cakes' end). It was, perhaps, the biggest and fanciest shop in Ponyville, and Mayor Mare couldn't help but throw a festival to commemorate its opening. With Pinkie having received the recipes for all the fruit pastries she had tried from Fluttershy, she had gotten to work perfecting them, and served them at the festival to high praise before working with the Cakes to make them permanent additions to the menu.
As for Pinkie herself, she eventually got some free time on her hooves and got around to taking Fluttershy up on her offer. With the Pegasus seemingly hoarding tons of pounds of fruits and vegetables, Pinkie tried everything she threw at her, from conventional foods like spinach and pears to unconventional foods like seaweed and dragonfruit, and adjusted her preferences accordingly while also coming up with unique recipes for putting them into pastries.
It was a happy ending for all, but as they say: for every problem resolved, a new one crops up.
This one, however, cropped up sooner than anypony would have liked it to.
"Hey, Twilight?"
"Yes, Applejack?"
"Ya mind tellin' me more about 'food comas'?"
