Chapter Twenty-Two

Applejack and Big Mac charged towards the crowd while covering SweeTango and Starburst that followed behind. It sounded much worse as they closed in. Bunches of ponies were head over hooves with the attempt to hop over the stand. Others were climbing over each other without caring about their surroundings.

"Sweet fancy apples…" The orange pony said. "This looks worse than flash bees in a windstorm!"

"They're definitely crowding at our stand," SweeTango said. "We need to get through!"

"Big Mac and I got ya covered! Go find Zestar Apple once we clear a path, and we'll hold off the other ponies!"

It was strange that the ecstatic ponies paid no mind to being mowed past, but the other mares took it as a chance to push through before the path filled with more ponies.

"Zestar!" SweeTango called out after she and Starburst entered the stand. "Where are you?"

"He shouldn't have gone far." The white pony said.

"Stay back…!"

They heard a voice coming from the caravan. It sounded muffled, as if somepony had hid to not be found.

"Zestar Apple? Is that you?"

"Those crazed ponies can't find me here! I've told them to wait...Why can't they wait!?"

The orange mare enters the caravan to uncover the talking blankets. She was surprised to see the colt so frightened he paid zero attention noticing her presence.

"Zestar...What's going on?" She asked him. "Why are there so many ponies here?"

"This is a nightmare…" He started. "I didn't expect things to get this bad! Apple Blasts this...Cinna-twists that...They keep coming back demanding more! It makes no sense...I followed everything to the letter...I only changed the name! What did I do wrong? I never expected such a hungry crowd. There's just too many of them to please!"

~Ding!~

"No...Not that!"

The sudden sound of the oven timer nearly caused the crowd to shout and lunge over the stand like a potential tsunami. They continued to spout orders while Applejack and her brother held them off with the best of their abilities.

"I have to get to the oven…" The colt attempted to get up. "I must satisfy the customers!"

"I'll get it," the partner said, exiting the caravan. "Starburst, please try to reason with him till I get back."

"I'll try." She nodded.

"...It's all over."

Starburst looked at Zestar.

"I'm a fool for thinking I could get away with handling things on my own. I'm a terrible partner."

"That's not true!" SweeTango said returning. "I said the same thing about me...It was my fault for not realizing how much I've been hurting you!"

"That's besides the point...I can't go back out there. They all know how much of a joke I really am. I've caused a mob demanding what I can't give them, and if I can't give them what they want...then I'm nothing but a failure."

"Zestar…You can't lose hope..."

"I've lost my fire, Sweet…" the pony looks down. "If I can't live up to your expectations...then what good am I to our family back home?"

'I want to be better!'

The ashen pony could hear it.

'I was jealous of her talent...I want SweeTango to realize my true potential!'

"...So that's why you made the recipes in her notebook," she replied. "You wanted to make SweeTango think that you could create ideas as fast as she can."

This made the colt look at her with widened eyes.

"How…?"

"I was surprised, too," SweeTango agreed with him. "It was odd hearing it at first, but Starburst can understand what our hearts aspire for us."

"Our hearts?"

"Zestar, the main reason why I made those recipes was to inspire you. I didn't believe that those recipes would ever take flight, but with your creativity I figured you would have the drive to blow my ideas out of the water! I had no intention to pull you away from what you love, but…" She looked down. "I never thought that it would hurt you. I'm really sorry that I made you feel like I'm taking over our...I mean, your store."

"...You were right the first time. It's 'our' store."

The orange mare looked back at him in surprise.

"I'm sorry for overlooking what you planned for me. It's still my fault that things turned out this way. I haven't created anything new for a long time and seeing those recipes made me feel like I was never going to step up my game. I felt like...I was never going to catch up to you and I became so selfish. Forgive me for not reading between the lines..."

"Oh, Zesty…" she smiled. "Of course I forgive you!"

Hearing that they had made up, the ashen mare's smile returns to her face.

"Well that's fine and dandy!"

The three ponies look out to the voice of Applejack keeping the hoard of ponies from crashing into the station.

"It's good that y'all finally made up, but Big Mac and I won't be able to hold off these ponies much longer!"

"Eeeeyup!" Big Mac pleaded.

"Oh, right!" Starburst began, turning to the partners. "Looks like we need to work fast. SweeTango, were those recipes meant to have ponies act this way?"

"Not at all! I've compared the ones Zestar wrote with mine and they're exactly the same!"

"Actually, there's another thing I've changed aside from the recipe names." The colt answered.

The other two seemed baffled as he retrieved the unknown chest he had found from before. Within it, he pulls out the very bottle he used for his production.

"'True Vanilla Extract?'" SweeTango asked. "I've never even seen this chest before. There's no telling how long it's gone unnoticed, but I'm very skeptical about the brand."

"What made you say that?"

"I've done research on its company in the past. It was given bad publicity due to having products with very true taglines if you exceed the dosage."

"You mean the reason why the ponies out there are extremely adamant about your products is because of the vanilla extract?" Starburst asked.

"And that company has been out of business for a couple years." She looks at Zestar. "Let me see the bottle."

After reading the advised dosage on the back, she might have deduced where the problem began.

"I already figured out what I did wrong," the colt admitted. "It was blurred, but I'm positive it was meant to be teaspoons instead of tablespoons…"

"Can the effect be reversed?" The white pony asked.

"It would desolate overtime, but waiting isn't the best option," the orange pony said while thinking.

"Perhaps there's a way we could slow it down?" Zestar offered. "You know, like to take the edge off?"

An idea clicked in Starburst's head.

"Could the camomile oil work?" She asked. The others picked up on the same idea.

"That's brilliant!" SweeTango acknowledged. "Camomile oil is tasteless! It should help calm them down!"

"Enough to not put them to sleep I hope," Zestar said. "I may have overdid it with your chili, but it's not like we'll have enough time to make enough for everypony."

"No pony said we'll need to," Starburst smiled. "The pastries you made are limited, but are plenty."

"Then I'll just have to market them while supplies last!" The orange pony said, jumping out of the caravan.

"You sure I have what it takes to handle this?" The other partner questioned himself to Starburst.

"Of course," she said. "You and SweeTango are partners that inspire others with the goods you have, and you wouldn't have gotten this far without having confidence in your recipes and each other."

She paused due to a sudden realization. Recalling what Applejack told her yesterday, she couldn't help but smile.

"That's what honesty is all about. Tell me, are you confident enough to trust SweeTango as much as she does with you?"

"I want to be! SweeTango means the world to me!"

"Then to be the best you can be, you both have to own it!"

Having encouraging words by his side, it was that very moment where things kick into high gear. The marketing pony's eyes had widened to the colt's words, smiling as she took them to heart.