Chapter IV: Leon

"…and that's how I saved the galaxy!" Pinkie Pie said excitedly. She was sitting at the front counter of Sugarcube Corner- next to her, Leon was ravenously devouring an apple pie. He was currently on his third.

Leon finished the last of the pie, belching loudly. "Oh man, this is some good pie," he said, wiping his mouth. "Anyway, you've got quite the imagination. You really should write that story down somewhere- you might be able to make it into a book or something."

"But I didn't make it up, silly! It really happened!"

"That doesn't mean you can't make it into a book." As he said this Pinkie Pie hopped behind the counter and pushed yet another pie in front of him. "Uh, no thanks, I think I've had enough." She put the pie back under the counter. "So do you have any other stories?"

"I've got tons and tons of stories!" She smiled. "What about you? Do you have any?"

"Me? Oh no, I don't have any stories like that. But I've heard lots of stories from other people- you know, old legends and stuff like that. I guess I could say that collecting them is a hobby of mine."

"Neat! What kind of stories have you heard?"

"Oh I've heard lots of stories. Like… uh, let me think… there's 'The Blacksmith's Apprentice.' That one's from back home. What else do I know? …Oh, there's 'Gunpowder Hill,' and 'The Lost City of Ainan' and 'The Journey of Ho-Oh, The Phoenix King,' and-"

"Ooh! I wanna hear that one!"

"And I'd love to tell it to you. The only thing is, if I started telling it to you right now, it would take me three whole days to finish, if we didn't do anything else."

"Aw…" she said disappointedly.

"If it helps you feel better, I can tell you what it's about." At this, the pink pony seemed to brighten, turning her full attention to the lizard. "Well, it's about this phoenix, named Ho-Oh. He's the king of a civilization in the mountains of a faraway land. He's always wanted to know about the outside world, because he's never been outside his royal palace. So one night, he sneaks out of his bedroom and flies over the palace wall. The rest of the story is about all the places he goes and all the animals he meets in his journey."

"Wow, sounds neat!" She paused for a brief moment. "Mister Leon," Pinkie began, "can I ask you something?"

"Sure. And just so you know, you don't have to call me 'Mister.' It makes me feel old."

"Okie dokie! Anyway, can you point your eyes in different directions?"

"Yeah- watch this." His right eye darted to the right while his left eye remained firmly locked on Pinkie. "Those muffins on that shelf are on sale." His left eye then looked back behind him. "You close at six." His right eye moved up to the ceiling. "You need to dust your rafters more often." Both eyes looked back at her. "You have a very lovely mane."

"Neat! I wish I could do that!" Without missing a beat, she then asked, "How did you get so big?" Pinkie had seen a chameleon before, but it hadn't been anywhere near as big as Leon- she couldn't help but notice that as they walked into Sugarcube Corner together, he stood a few inches taller than her on his back legs.

He rested his elbow on the counter. "Well to be honest with you, I don't really know the answer to that question. In fact, back home there are lots of animals that used to be small a long time ago but are really big now, and no one knows why."

"Wait, so there're giant monster rabbits where you're from?" An image of a giant bunny stomping on a city popped into Pinkie's head- she almost immediately began to act the scene out. "Rawr!" she yelled, crushing tiny invisible buildings under her hooves. "Bring me carrots! Giant carrots! Or I will eat your puny city!"

Leon laughed. "Sorry, we don't have anything like that. But you should write that down too."

She laughed, then fell silent for a moment. Pinkie Pie then asked, "Leon, could you help me with something?"

"Yeah, what is it?"

Ordinarily, Pinkie Pie planned and set up all her parties entirely on her own. It wasn't because she didn't like working with others- she loved working with others. But sometimes, they were just so slow- she could do things much faster on her own. But sometimes, she needed a helping hand, if only for a little while. "I want you to help me throw a party!"

"A party?"

"Yeah! I throw a party for everypony who comes to Ponyville!"

"But the only horse in our group is Red. Does that mean that he's the only one who gets a party?"

"Of course not silly! This party is for you and all of your friends!"

That actually sounded like a lot of fun. "Okay. What do you need help with?"

"I need help baking, finding a place for the party, handing out invitations, baking- no, I already said that… well, I could bake some more stuff until the party starts."

"Cool, I've always wanted to try baking." He followed her into the kitchen. "Uh, do you need me to help you get things together?" he asked. She replied, "No, that's alright. I can get everything on my own." She disappeared behind a door, dragging a large bag of flour behind her when she reemerged- he thought nothing of it. He thought nothing of the second bag either. When she brought in a third bag, he grew a bit concerned. At the fourth, he finally asked her, "Um, Pinkie? Are we really going to be baking that much?"

"Well duh! I'm inviting everypony in town to your party! Do you know how many ponies I have to bake for?" She began to gather other things from around the kitchen. "Now, one quick question- do any of your friends have food allergies or anything like that?" After a certain incident in Fillydelphia, she'd taken up the habit of asking that question before baking anything for somepony she didn't know.

"No, but there is one thing I need to tell you- Lawrence and Hawkeye can't eat anything with chocolate in it. If they do, they'll… well, they'll die."

Well so much for that triple chocolate cake she'd been waiting for an excuse to make. That was okay- she could always make something else. Once she'd finished grabbing all her supplies, she grabbed a cookbook from inside one of the cabinets and dropped it in front of Leon. "You'll be making what's on page 105," she said. "Now let's bake!"

With that, the two began their work. Pinkie began by making a "super-humongous" batch of snickerdoodle cookies. Leon had been assigned to make cupcakes. The difference between their skills was readily apparent; while Pinkie Pie worked quickly and with confidence, Leon worked slowly, uncertainly, keeping one eye firmly locked on the cookbook Pinkie had given him at all times. Pinkie Pie had just about finished with the first batch of cookies- all that was left to do was stick it in the oven. She looked back at Leon to check his progress- judging from the egg he was holding, he wasn't even a third of the way done with the cupcakes yet. "Leon, I'm going to go out and get some fresh apples. I'll be right back."

One of his eyes rolled back to look over his shoulder. "Okay." He watched her leave. He was getting frustrated- this shouldn't be so difficult. How did Pinkie Pie make it look so easy? He needed to pick up his pace, now. So, he grabbed up all the necessary ingredients, mixed them together, poured the batter into the cupcake pan, and slammed it into the oven and turned it as high as it would go.

Pinkie Pie dashed out of the store, to the Apple family stall down the street; she bought a large bag of apples from the stallion there- Caramel, she thought his name was- and hurried back to the bakery. She stepped back inside to find smoke billowing out of the kitchen. Several loud pops sounded from somewhere inside, and Leon staggered out, covered in soot, hacking and coughing. "Oh… oh man, that was terrible…" he noticed Pinkie. "Uh, Pinkie? I don't think those cupcakes are gonna work out."

"That-that's okay. But I think I should handle the baking from now on. But I have something else you can do." She galloped up the stairs, bringing down a large drum a few moments later. "First, put this on." Leon did as she asked, before asking, "What am I supposed to do with this?"

"You're supposed to hit it- it is a drum, right?" She handed him some drumsticks. "Now, you have to go all through the town and let everyone know that we're throwing a party!" She began to push him out of the bakery. "Now off you go! I can handle all the baking!"

"Wait, what should I say if people ask where the party is?"

She stopped. "That's right, we didn't pick somewhere yet, did we?" She began pushing him again. "We'll just do it in the town square at sunset. Now get to it!" She pushed him out the bakery front door, slamming the door shut behind her. Suddenly, the door opened again and Pinkie peeked out. "Ooh! And don't forget to stop by Sweet Apple Acres and let the Apple family know!" The door slammed shut again. With nothing else to do, he began to march down the street, his steps falling in time with the pounding of his drum.

All eyes fell on him as he wandered through the town. That was good- it meant everyone would pay attention to his announcement. "Attention, citizens of Ponyville!" he began, putting on his best announcer's voice. "You are all cordially invited to a party at the town square, today at sunset! There will be food! There will be friends! There will be fun!" Leon made sure to repeat his announcement regularly as he marched.

Suddenly, Leon spotted Ocho walking down the street. He was accompanied by a purple unicorn, the same one that had been with them earlier- Twilight Sparkle was her name. Or, was it Applejack? No, he was pretty sure this one was Twilight Sparkle- that other pony, the orange one with the apples on her butt, that one had to be Applejack. He wandered over to them- Ocho broke off his conversation with Twilight as he grew close. "Leon?" he asked. "What are you doing? You look like a fool. Well, a bigger fool than usual."

"Well, Pinkie Pie's throwing a party for us, and it's my job to tell everybody in town!"

"Leon, we don't have time for parties. We're supposed to be-"

"You should just go along with it," Twilight interrupted. "Besides, it would be a good chance for you to meet everypony in town."

"See, the local thinks it's a good idea! So we should do it." He looked at Twilight. "You're name's Twilight, right?" She nodded. "Twilight, do you know how to get to Sweet Apple Acres from here? I figure you'd know your way around this place."

"Of course. Just follow this road all the way back, and you'll be there in no time."

"Thanks." He began to walk down the street, pounding his drum all the while. Leon walked down the road, continuing to repeat his announcement. There wasn't much of a point though- there were no ponies on this road, and the buildings had given way to countless trees. Up ahead though, he could see a barn alongside a few other buildings- no doubt Sweet Apple Acres. As he drew close, he couldn't help but notice a large circle of ponies gathered around something- he rushed over as fast as the drum he carried would let him and pushed his way to the front of the crowd, to be met with an incredible sight.

It was Silverback taking a bull by the horns… quite literally! His hands were firmly locked around the horns of a large, black bull- the bull snorted angrily and dug his hooves into the dirt, pushing against Silverback will all his might, but the great ape wasn't giving up even an inch. The deadlock continued for several more moments, with neither gaining an advantage over the other. Suddenly, Silverback twisted the bull's head sideways; the bull cried out in surprised as he lost his footing, and fell to the ground.

Dusting off his hands, Silverback looked down at the bull and said, "Are you finished?"

The bull slowly rose to his feet, rubbing his neck with a hoof. "Yeah… yeah, I'm done. Oh, my neck." Just then, a lasso roped itself around the bull's neck, and a gold-furred stallion holding a rope in his mouth approached. "Come on Caesar, let's get you back to your pen," he said, tugging on the rope. Defeated, the bull complied, trudging back the way he came.

"Oh wow, that was amazing!" Leon called.

Silverback looked down at him. "Leon," he said flatly. "Do I dare ask what you're doing?"

"I'm telling everyone in town that there's a party at the town square at sunset."

"A party?" A pony with a large cowboy hat approached. Leon recognized her as the same pony who had been with Twilight- this had to be Applejack. "Did Pinkie Pie rope ya into this?"

"Well, she asked for my help."

"Leon, you have more important things to worry about," Silverback said. "The Humvee isn't going to fix itself."

"Come on, John. I could fix that thing in five minutes if I had to."

"How can you be so sure?"

Leon simply smirked. "It's me, remember?"

"…Fair enough."

Leon looked back at Applejack. "So, can you make it?"

"Yeah, we'll be there. Right Big Macintosh?"

A very large, bright red pony nearby replied simply, "Eeyup."

"Good. Well, I have to go- Pinkie's probably waiting for me." Leon began to head back into town. As he left, he called back, "Be sure to tell all your friends!" Sweet Apple Acres had been the last stop on his one-lizard parade route- now that he'd been there, every pony in town (in theory at least) knew about the party. After a few minutes, he returned to Sugarcube Corner. He removed the drum, but as he reached for the door, Pinkie Pie's head suddenly burst out of the drum. "Hi! Did you tell everypony yet?"

"DAAAH!" Leon screamed, dropping the drum on the ground. She calmly climbed out and asked, "What's the matter?"

"How did you get in there?" he asked back- the last he saw of her, she was presumably working to replace the cupcakes he had irreparably ruined.

"In where?"

"In the-" He looked down at the drum- the face Pinkie had broken through was now fixed, as though nothing had ever happened to it. He picked it up and stared at it, confused.

"So, did you tell everypony in town about the party?" Pinkie asked again.

"Uh… yeah."

"Good. Now you can help me with the food again!" She bounced inside the bakery, with Leon following.

"Are you sure Pinkie? I mean last time, things didn't go too well."

They entered the kitchen. "Don't worry- you won't have to bake anything."

"Okay, then what am I gonna make?"

She smiled back at him "Pudding!" She grabbed something out of a nearby cabinet. "Here." Pinkie handed him a large bowl and multiple packages of vanilla pudding mix. "This is a special pudding mix that can make super-ginormous batches. Just add water and stir. But don't add too much- each package only needs a tiny, tiny bit of water to mix with."

Leon had barely listened. "Right, right." He began to pour package after package of vanilla pudding mix into the bowl, far more than anypony really should. "Just add water and mix until it gets all gooey. It's just like back home- I can't imagine how you'd get that wrong." He put the bowl of pudding mix in the sink.

At that moment, Pinkie realized just how much pudding mix Leon had added to the bowl. "Wait!" But Leon didn't listen. He grabbed the faucet's knob and turned it as far as it would turn. Almost instantly, he and Pinkie Pie were swallowed by the rapidly expanding white mound.

The subsequent pudding explosion could be seen and heard from as far away as Canterlot.