Chapter 16: Pinkie Meets her Match

One sunny day, Pinkie Pie was walking down the street on her way to the Sweet Shoppe for her shift. As she did, she saw a happy sight. It were a bunch of people setting up a carnival.

"Oh goody the carnival is back in town." she gushed.

"Looking forward to the carnival?" asked a voice.

Pinkie looked up, and saw a man. He had orange skin, thinning brown hair, along with a mustache and beard, glasses, and he wore a green shirt, blue pants, and black shoes.

"Oh yes, sir. I love the carnival."

"Well here's a couple flyers. And be sure to tell your friends."

The man then gave her two flyers advertising the carnival.

"Thanks, bye."

And Pinkie went on her way.

When she got to work, she put a flyer on the glass wall.

"Mr. and Mrs. Cake, I'm here." she announced.

"Hi, Pinkie, glad you're here." said Mrs. Cake, as she stood at the register.

"Can you get into the kitchen?" requested Mr. Cake.

He was busy on the phone, taking an order.

"I'm on it."

And with that, Pinkie hurried to kitchen. In the kitchen she began gathering ingredients to make the cakes. The day went on normally, and then some customers came in. It was a woman and a teenage boy. Pinkie who was on a break, saw the boy and realized he was her age, but didn't recognize him from school.

However she felt like she had seen him before. He was a little taller than her, had orange skin, curly brown hair, and green eyes. And he was wearing a yellow short sleeved shirt, blue jeans, and white shoes.

And his mom was was also orange, had long curly brown hair, green eyes, and wore a green dress and low green heels. Being the friendly person she was, Pinkie went up to talk to the guy.

"Hi there, welcome to the Sweet Shoppe." she welcomed.

Then the guy gave her a big smile, and replied.

"Thanks, this a nice place you work at here. Hey, have we met before?"

"Thanks. But I don't think so; I've never seen you before, do you go to Canterlot High?"

"No, I'm just passing through town. My family owns the carnival they're setting up."

"No way seriously? That's awesome."

"Name's Cheese Sandwich."

"Great name, my name's Pinkie Pie." Pinkie looked down, and saw his socks.

They were mismatched, one sock was red with green spots and the other was blue with yellow spots.

"I like your socks."

"Thanks."

"Pinkie, it's time to get back to work." called Mr. Cake.

"I'm coming. Bye Cheese." Pinkie told him, and hurried to the back.

That evening at the Pie home, they all sat together for dinner.

"So girls, anything to report today?" asked Igneous Rock.

Limestone, Maud, and Marble didn't have anything to say, but Pinkie quickly piped up.

"I saw the carnival coming into town, they're setting up now. And I met the owners of the carnival." she informed.

"That's nice Pinkamena." replied Cloudy Quartz.

"Can we go to the carnival when it's ready?"

"We'll see." Igneous Rock replied.

Pinkie squealed, and continued eating.

The next day at school, Pinkie was on her way to class when she saw Cheese Sandwich talking to Principal Celestia and Vice Principal Luna.

"Cheese." Pinkie greeted happily.

The three looked at her, and Cheese Sandwich smiled.

"Hi Pinkie."

"Oh, Pinkie Pie you know Cheese Sandwich?" asked Celestia.

"We met yesterday."

"Well Pinkie maybe you'd be interested in showing Cheese around. He's going to be going here while his family's in town." Luna explained.

"Sure. No problem."

"Great."

"So Cheese how long are you gonna be in town for?" Pinkie asked him, as they walked down the hallway.

"For a few weeks. As long as the carnival's here."

"Cool."

In her first class, she went over to her friends.

"Girls, meet my new friend, Cheese Sandwich." Pinkie introduced.

The girls looked at Cheese, and greeted him nicely.

"Hello ladies, nice to meet you all."

"Hi Cheese Sandwich." said Twilight.

"Nice to meet ya." Applejack told him.

"Hey, what's up?" Rainbow Dash wondered.

"Charmed." replied Rarity.

"Hi." Fluttershy said softly.

Classes went by normally, and Cheese adjusted well.

Then at lunch, Pinkie and her friends asked Cheese some more questions.

"So Cheese, your family owns the carnival?" Applejack asked.

"Yep. We travel from city to city, and bringing joy to the people." Cheese said.

"But what do you do for school?" Twilight wanted to know.

"Usually I'm home schooled, but sometimes my parents can get a school to take me for a while."

"Wow." replied Fluttershy.

"I trust I'll be seeing you girls at the carnival?"

"You bet." Pinkie told him.

And her friends agreed it'd be fun to go. As the rest of the day went on, Pinkie noticed that Cheese was quite good with people. He made people laugh, told jokes, and smiled a lot.

Once the carnival was all set up, the friends went. It was everything a carnival should be. There were many rides, games, food, and attractions.

"This sure looks like a good time." said Applejack.

"What should we do first?" asked Fluttershy.

Pinkie looked around.

"Why don't we start with the merry go round?" she suggested.

"But that's for babies." protested Rainbow Dash.

"Come on, Rainbow Dash. It's a classic ride." reasoned Twilight.

And so they all went on the ride. On the ride they all sat on the horses, and rode up and down as the ride went out in a circle.

"Well that wasn't so bad." said Rarity.

"I guess so." Rainbow agreed.

The friends then went on the roller coaster, ferris wheel, bumper cars, played some games, and got some snacks.

"Enjoying yourselves?" asked a voice.

The girls looked and saw Cheese Sandwich.

"Hiya, Cheese. We're having a great time." Pinkie told him.

"Hey, what's that?"

She noticed a yellow rubber chicken strapped to his waist.

"Oh, this Boneless. He's going to be part of my little act."

"You have an act?" asked Twilight.

"You bet, I'm on my way there now. Come on."

And he led the girls away.

At a little stage area, a small crowd gathered, including the girls. The woman who was now known to be Cheese's mother stepped out.

"Welcome everyone. I hope you're ready to laugh, because he's my son Cheese Sandwich, and his goof show."

Everyone clapped, as the curtains opened. Cheese Sandwich appeared, riding a unicycle, wearing a funny hat, and juggling bowling pins. Everyone laughed, as he rode around and juggled.

"Gee this guy's a riot." said Rainbow Dash.

"You got that right." Pinkie agreed.

"(Laughs), you know, he might be more of a goofball than you, Pinkie." Applejack mentioned.

That made Pinkie stop giggling. She was the goofball around here, and Cheese was better at her than that?

The next day at school, Pinkie and her sisters came onto campus, she saw a crowd was gathered around something. Curious the sisters went to the scene, and saw that everyone was looking at Cheese Sandwich.

He was standing on his hands, and on his feet he was balancing two egg cartons filled with eggs.

"He's gonna spill them." a student whispered.

"This guy's crazy." another said.

Then in a split second, Cheese jumped back to his feet, and caught the egg cartons in his hands.

"Ta da."

Everyone applauded.

"Hmm, I could've done something like that." Pinkie grumbled.

"I don't think so Pinkie." Maud replied.

Then the bell rang, and the students went inside. All day Pinkie watched as Cheese acted friendly, telling jokes, and acting goofy. Those were all the things she did. It seems that people didn't notice her anymore.

One day while Pinkie was looking for her friends. "Hmm, where could those guys be?" Suddenly she heard laughter, she recognized it as her friends'. Following the laughter, and found them. It turns out they were laughing at Cheese Sandwich.

He was juggling some erasers, all while on one foot.

"Gee Cheese, you're a hoot." said Applejack.

"Yeah, I'm sure Pinkie will love this." added Rainbow Dash.

"Love what?" Pinkie wanted to know, coming up to them.

Everyone looked surprised.

"Oh, hi Pinkie. We were just laughing at Cheese's tricks." Twilight told her.

"Well I can still do funny things."

Pinkie then tried to do a funny stunt, by standing on her tip toes, and making a goofy face, but it was actually kind of lame.

"Uh, good job?" Fluttershy replied quietly.

But Pinkie's face fell, and she left.

At home, Pinkie sat on her bed not in the best mood. Suddenly, her sisters burst through the door.

"All right, you've been too quiet since we got home." Limestone told her.

Marble nodded in agreement.

"What's wrong, Pinkie?" asked Maud.

"(Sighs), it's this Cheese Sandwich guy at school. He's more goofy than I am." Pinkie confessed.

"So?" asked Limestone.

"So it means everyone likes him more than me, even my friends."

"I'm sure that's not true, Pinkie." replied Maud.

"But it is."

She then plopped face down on her bed. Limestone then went up to her, and pulled her head up by her hair.

"Now listen here, Pinkamena Diane Pie, you shouldn't let that Cheese Sandwich come and take over your position at school."

"I shouldn't?"

"No. You show him that you're the school's goofball, and you're not gonna let anyone take that away."

Pinkie thought about it, and realized Limestone was right. She needed to stand her ground.

So the next day at school, Pinkie came prepared. She wore bright colored mismatched socks, on her head she wore a jester-like hat, and in a bag she was carrying, she had many fun objects. When her friends saw her, they looked a little confused.

"Pinkie Pie, you look..." Rarity started to say.

"Goofy, silly?"

"Yes." answered Fluttershy.

"Perfect, that's the look I was going for."

"But why?" wondered Rainbow Dash.

"To show how silly I am."

"Salutations, everyone." called a voice.

The girls turned around to see Cheese Sandwich. He was wearing, a tie-dye shirt, jeans, mismatched socks, and a big elf-like hat.

"Hello Cheese." Pinkie replied in a not so pleasant voice.

Then she walked off, leaving everyone confused.

All day, Pinkie upped her goofiness. She told funny jokes, juggled paper balls, and did some goofy stunts. It felt good to back in her spot again, but Cheese was also doing funny things, and getting even more praise.

This really discouraged Pinkie. Things really took a turning point, when she saw her friends talking to Cheese again.

"I gotta tell you girls, thanks for suggesting I do this. Today's gonna be the day, Pinkie's not gonna believe it." he said.

"I can't wait to see her face, when you tell her." Twilight replied.

"How do you think she'll react?" asked Applejack.

"I think she might be surprised. But she'll realize it's a good thing." Rainbow Dash replied.

Pinkie heard it all, but it didn't sound at all good to her. She then stormed up to them.

"Oh, hey Pinkie there's something I gotta tell you." Cheese told her.

"Oh, I know exactly what's going on here." she said.

But her voice sounded anything but happy.

"Pinkie Pie, what's wrong, darling?" wondered Rarity.

"I can take a hint. You all think Cheese Sandwich is funnier than me, and you like him better."

"Pinkie no, that's not it at all." Fluttershy tried to reason.

"Don't try and deny it. I can take a hint."

And she hurried off, leaving the others looking sad and concerned.

At her locker, Pinkie sadly took off her goofy hat, and put away her props.

"Pinkie stop." said Rainbow Dash. All her friends went up to her.

"We're sorry, we got wrapped up by Cheese Sandwich."

The others agreed.

"Yeah, we didn't mean to make you feel like you were being replaced." Twilight added.

The other girls then began apologizing.

"Thanks, guys. And I guess I should apologize too. I shouldn't have jumped to conclusions."

The girls then shared a group hug.

"Can I put in an apology?"

The girls looked and saw Cheese Sandwich, he was holding his silly hat in his hand, and he looked apologetic.

"I'm sorry too, Pinkie. I didn't mean to make you feel like I was replacing you. I just wanted to show you how silly and fun I was." he explained.

"But why?" Pinkie wanted to know.

"Well...it all started when I was a little kid."

A flashback shows a six-year-old Cheese Sandwich. Instead of being the happy, silly, and goofy he was shy and quiet. When his parents set up the carnival in Canterlot City, he stayed close to his mother's side.

His mother stepped away from him for a quick minute, but Cheese felt a little scared and uncomfortable. Suddenly he heard laughter. He looked and saw a little girl his age. It was a young Pinkie Pie, she was smiling, laughing, and jumping around.

"Now, Pinkie calm down." Cloudy Quartz told her.

"Sorry, Mommy."

Seeing Pinkie smiling at everyone, and bringing out the joy in others eased Cheese's shyness. Cheese looked at her, and she looked back at him. Pinkie gave him a big smile, and waved at him. Cheese smiled a little and waved back.

As she walked away with her mom, Cheese got to thinking. If that girl could be happy and make people smile, then maybe he could too. From then on, Cheese smiled more and began making people laugh.

"So I helped you become the goofball you are?" Pinkie asked.

"Yep." Cheese said.

"Wow, I had no idea."

"See Pinkie, you're not being replaced, you're being an inspiration." Twilight told her.

"But then what were you guys talking about when I wasn't around?"

Cheese Sandwich then looked nervous, and rubbed the back of his neck.

"Well...I was actually going to ask if you wanted to be in one of my shows with me."

"Really?"

"Yeah, I asked your friends for their opinion first because I was nervous."

"That's why we stopped talking whenever you came around, we didn't want to spoil anything." Fluttershy explained.

"Well in that case, my answer is yes." Pinkie declared.

Cheese and the other girls smiled.

So another time at the carnival, Pinkie's friends and family were in the stands to watch her and Cheese Sandwich. The curtains opened, and Pinkie and Cheese appeared.

"Hey there folks, I'd like to welcome my special guest, Pinkie Pie." Cheese introduced.

"Hi everybody!" Pinkie greeted happily.

And the show began. The two juggled bowling pins, slipped on banana peels, Cheese rode his unicycle, and Pinkie played a song by stepping on rubber chickens. Everyone laughed at their antics, even Pinkie's rather stoic looking family cracked some smiles and some giggles.

When the show was over, the audience gave the two teens a standing ovation. As they took a bow, the two looked at each other and smiled.

Eventually it came to for the carnival, and Cheese Sandwich and his family to leave. Pinkie and her friends went to see them off.

"It was really nice meeting you all." Cheese told them.

"It was nice meeting you too, Cheese. Gonna miss you." Pinkie told him.

"I'm gonna miss you too, but you think I can get your number?"

"Sure."

As they each took out their phones, Pinkie's friends smiled and snickered knowingly.

"I'll be sure to call or text you sometime, Pinkie."

"And I'll do the same."

"Cheese, it's time to get going." called his dad.

"I'm coming. Oh and before I go, this is for you."

He held out a rubber chicken to her.

"You're giving me your rubber chicken?"

"He's not the only one I have."

He pulled out another one. Pinkie happily took it. And then Cheese got into his family's care, and Pinkie and her friends watched as he and the carnival left the city.

That's chapter 16, plz review