Pinkie Pie's Potion Problem

Pinkie Pie looked around Zecora's house with wonder. She'd been inside once before, but since Zecora received a shipment of heirlooms from home, she'd rearranged her home to showcase her new treasures. Pinkie Pie stared at a golden pony mask with a transfixed expression, her eyes gleaming at the shimmering, wondrous mask.

"Ah, so you like the golden mask, my pony friend. If you'd like to take it, all you have to do is ask," Zecora winked.

"Ooh, I can take it with me?" Pinkie Pie bounced gleefully. Zecora nodded, putting down a crate full of potion ingredients. "But shouldn't I be paying you? You're making that special potion for me, and well, I don't really have much to offer you except those awesome cupcakes," she grinned, eying the platter of cupcakes, which looked more like a pile of decorations than neatly made cupcakes.

"It's the least I could do for a pony like you," Zecora nodded, moving to her cauldron. "A dash of this will take care of what's amiss."

"So he'll like me?" Pinkie Pie asked with a dreamy expression. She'd liked Silver Anvil for weeks, but she hadn't had the courage to talk to him yet, let alone ask him if the feeling was mutual. His jewelry making kept him busy anyhow, so Pinkie Pie felt the potion was her best option, though she did tell Zecora a white lie to get her to begin brewing the potion.

"Half of this and half of that should have him cured by the drop of a hat!" Zecora exclaimed, dropping a pink, powdery ingredient into the potion along with a red flickering ingredient. When combined, a poof of smoke came from the potion, forming heart-shaped clouds above the cauldron. "But do be careful, my pony friend. This potion is for everyone, not just men. It must be used correctly to get proper results, or else you'll be left with far too many cohorts."

"What does that mean?" Pinkie Pie asked, accepting a flask of the potion from Zecora.

"Everyone will fall in love with you if the flask's contents run askew."

Pinkie Pie nodded: If she misused the potion, the entire town might fall in love with her, not just Silver Anvil. Pinkie Pie wasn't really worried about this side effect. She was going to put the potion into a teapot and take it to Silver Anvil's jewelry shop when most ponies were out to dinner. They would have dinner together, then she would serve the tea, then love would commense.

"Oh, I'm so excited! Thank you, thank you, THANK YOU!" Pinkie Pie exclaimed. She put the potion into a backpack she had on her side, then she made her way back towards Ponyville, forgetting all about the golden mask and how it was so shiny and beautiful. All she could think about was Silver Anvil and the life they would soon have together, if everything went right.

As she came towards the town square, she noticed that most ponies were running towards Sweet Apple Acres instead of heading inside for dinner. Pinkie Pie turned the corner to investigate and saw there'd been a wagon accident, spilling the remaining day's apples all over the road. An assembly line was forming to put the apples into another wagon so they could still be sold tomorrow. Pinkie Pie grabbed a spot in the line not far from the Ponyville well, her job being to pass the apples from Applebloom to Fluttershy.

The assembly line was working, and soon the pile of apples on the street was smaller than the one in the new wagon. Everypony was in a good rhythm too, at least until one particularly large apple flew through the line. Pinkie Pie wasn't expecting the weight, and she lost her balance.

When Pinkie Pie swiveled in the air, trying not to land flank-first in front of everypony she'd ever known, a small flask flew from her pack and plopped into the town well. Fluttershy saw this happen, but she was too concerned for her friend to mention it. The line stopped as they watched Pinkie Pie make an exaggerated effort to stay four-hooves down and backside up.

"Whew! That was a close one!" she grinned, giggling as the line moved again.

Soon the mess was cleared, and to celebrate, a feast was organized for the town square. Cakes from the day's baking made up the desserts, and Granny Smith made a fine stew for the main course. Side dishes, casseroles, and other food products made their way to the town square, and soon the whole town was celebrating their collective effort to save the day.

By nightfall, the party faded, and everypony made their way home.

Pinkie Pie settled into bed, turning on her music box to help her sleep. As she drifted off to sleep, she realized that she hadn't had time to carry out her plan. Silver Anvil was at the party, but there was no way she could throw a tea party just for him in front of all those people. She'd simply have to try again tomorrow, and she slipped off into Silver Anvil dreams.

But when Pinkie Pie woke up, she realized her potion had worked, just not in the way she expected. When she tried to open her front door to journey into town, she was greeted with piles of flowers and chocolates. Two ponies were fighting on the grass over whose presents deserved to be on top of the pile, and another pair were fighting in the bushes over who would serenade Pinkie Pie awake.

Pinkie Pie moved away from the door, slinking into her bedroom where she'd left her pack from yesterday. When she looked inside, she noticed the flask was gone. Then, in a moment of Pinkie clarity, she went back to the moment things went wrong, when she nearly fell on her flank in front of everypony...and the potion rolled into the Ponyville well.

"Oh no…," Pinkie Pie whispered, peeking out the window as the arguing outside grew louder. Ponies from all over town were approaching her house to shower her with gifts, but they were all arguing over the quality, the timing, and everything else Pinkie Pie related.

She had to get to Zecora. Zecora would have the answer, if she didn't have one already. Either way, she had to get to Zecora's house without being seen by her suitors.

Pinkie Pie peeked out a back window for any other ponies. When the coast was clear, she slipped out and dashed into the morning life, fully aware that as time went on, her house would become more and more unsafe. She also knew she'd be blowing her chance to acquire Silver Anvil by potion, but after a disaster like this, Pinkie Pie was okay with that. She'd just have to try again later.

Zecora wasn't angry with Pinkie Pie over the spilled potion, but she knew that they had to reverse the potion's effects before somepony got hurt. So she remixed another potion using the same two ingredients, plus a strand of Pinkie Pie's mane and another ingredient that made the potion poof. The cloud was while and produced hearts like before, but there were lines through them, and the hearts faded much quicker than before.

"Hurry, hurry, before war breaks out. Have them drink it all using your clout," Zecora warned, throwing open her door and gesturing Pinkie Pie into the morning.

Pinkie Pie stampeded into town and threw the potion into a large cauldron in Twilight Sparkle's treehouse. Even Spike was gone from town, probably joining the battle for Pinkie Pie's heart across town.

When the brew was completed, Pinkie Pie filled dozens of cups with the mixture and put them onto tables around the square. Then she did the one thing she'd wanted to do since this fiasco began: She called for her lovers to come to a tea party in her loudest, happiest voice.

A cloud of dust, smoke, leaves, and other debris flooded up from Pinkie Pie's house, and soon a stampede of ponies grabbed cups of the mixture on Pinkie Pie's behalf. Within minutes, all of them had fainted, collapsing on the ground in confusion, wondering how they ended up where they were in the first place.

Pinkie Pie didn't know what to do. Should she remain quiet or own up to her mistake? She had to tell someone, but what about Silver Anvil? Would he still like her after all this or had she ruined her chances?

"Pinkie Pie?" a voice called. Pinkie looked up to see Silver Anvil shaking out his ruffled mane. "I was wondering if you could help me with something. I was going to ask you last night at the party, but I never had the chance to. Please, will you join me in my shop?"

"Wait!" Twilight Sparkle called, picking herself up from the dusty square. "Pinkie Pie, what are you up to? I know all of this has to do with you."

"Sorry, no time, gotta go," she cried, trying to dart off towards Silver Anvil's shop. But Twilight Sparkle's magic stopped her.

"Tell!" Twilight commanded.

The entire town stood up to face Pinkie Pie. She had to come clean. She had to tell them everything.

"WAIT!" a voice cried. Everyone turned to see Zecora coming out of the woods. "That pony is an innocent bystander. It is I that caused this base for slander."

"You caused this? But Zecora, I don't understand," Twilight Sparkle said, turning her gaze to Pinkie Pie. "Will you explain what happened? You do seem to know, even if she's the one who caused it."

"No, I caused it," Pinkie Pie sighed. "I wanted to make a love potion for Silver Anvil because I didn't have the courage to ask him out, but then the potion fell into the Ponyville well and everyone drank it, and then ALL of you fell in love with me, and I had to get Zecora to break the spell, and now we're here, and Silver Anvil wanted me to help him with something. I hope you can all forgive me," Pinkie Pie cried, hanging her head, "and it's okay if you don't want my help. I understand."

"It's okay, Pinkie Pie," Silver Anvil smiled. "Things like this happen sometimes. I still want your help, if the town is willing to forgive you. So they lost some chocolate and flowers trying to get you the perfect gift. Flowers will grow back and more chocolate will arrive with the next supply train."

"O-Okay," Pinkie Pie stammered, unsure of why he would be so willing to forgive her. The town was forgiving too, and soon she was inside the jewelry shop.

At the center of the only worktable that was lit by a small candle sat a necklace with a balloon-shaped pendant attached too it. Pinkie Pie was transfixed, just as she was by the mask in Zecora's house. She then realized it was the same type of gold, and when she turned to Silver Anvil to ask about the metal, he nodded with a smile.

"Let's just say I thought of Zecora too, just not in the same way you did," he blushed. "I think we've cleared the air now, don't you?"

"Y-Yeah," Pinkie Pie nodded, smiling lightly. "Thanks for this. You didn't have to."

"I wanted to. I liked you, but I've never met a pony like you before. I thought of slipping into one of your parties or parades or something, but I'm not that type of person. I'm quiet and reserved, but you make me want to...well, I want to party because of you."

"Well then, let's party," Pinkie Pie smiled, turning on some music and pulling confetti from her pocket. Silver Anvil laughed, dancing with her as Zecora and Twilight Sparkle looked on from outside.

"Let's agree not to interfere again," Twilight Sparkle smiled. "It all worked out well, but falling in love with Pinkie Pie was...well it was just strange."

Zecora nodded. She promised not to give out love-related trinkets to any other ponies, and both agreed to give the new couple some well-deserved privacy. They left the front of the shop, their ears still picking up on the music from many paces away. The sound made them happy, and another carefree day in Ponyville continued on.

Theme 003: Half-n-Half

To complete the themes yourself, I have the list posted on my profile. The list is for any type of fan fiction (one-shot, drabble, etc.) and any fandom. Challenge yourself in other ways to make it more fun, and enjoy!