Infinity Train Book 5: The Odd Boy

The Cupcake Car

Orion continued to walk silently as he looked at his number, which had remained at 112 since the events of the puzzle car. Flux was concerned, "Orion, are you sure you're okay?" Orion said, "Yeah, I'm fine. Just a little bothered that my number went up. Let's just keep going." They finished crossing the bridge and entered the next train car.

Once they entered, they saw that they were in a car that had cupcakes for hills and clouds that rained cupcakes. Flux smiled, "Oh, I know this car. It's one of my favorites. We should be able to pass through here easily. Follow me. The door should be this way." Orion started following the fox. They passed over the large cupcake mountains. After a few minutes, the two of them saw the door. Flux pointed to it with his paw, "Viola. One exit door. Provided by yours truly." Orion smiled and ran down to the door and tried to open it, but failed. Orion turned to Flux, "It won't open." Flux was also confused, "Hmm, I wonder why. Whenever I passed through here, I've always been able to get through her without any troubles." Suddenly, the world around them went black.

Orion woke up with a groan. He looked around and saw some strange pink beings standing around. He looked down to see that he was tied up to a candle. Flux was also tied up next to him. Orion called out, "Flux, wake up. We've been captured." The fox heard the boy's cries and looked to see the situation. He frowned, "Oh dear." "Oh dear is right." One of the pink beings spoke. "Flux must pay for his crimes." Orion asked, "What did you do to these people?" Flux shrugged, "Oh, you know. So many people, so little to remember them by." Another pink being said, "He sold us some bad strawberries to use for my brother's birthday cupcake. And he didn't even say sorry. My brother's still traumatized by the taste." The being pointed to another that was in the fetal position in the corner. Orion asked, "Okay, but what are you planning to do?" One pink being said, "We will turn you into ingredients for a replacement cupcake. It will surpass all other cupcakes." Flux began panicking. Orion, however, was intrigued, "Oh, so you can use anything to make cupcakes. Is this due to you living in a cupcake based environment? Can you make other sweets similar to cupcakes? Have your senses of taste and smell evolved in order to be able to use anything to make a cupcake?" The pink beings stared at him in disbelief. Orion understood that he was making them uncomfortable, "Oh, sorry. You wanted to kill us now. Sorry."

Flux sighed as the two of them were held over a bowl of batter. Orion said, "So, mind telling me why you won't apologize to them in order to avoid being turned into ingredients." Flux said, "Because I didn't do anything wrong. The ingredients that I received were top grade and I gave them to them. It's not my fault that the cupcake came out bad. It's that girl's fault." Orion narrowed his eyes. Flux said, "I mean it. I never sell any bad merchandise." Orion yelled, "The first car that I met you, you sold bad air to the balloon people!!" Flux frowned, "Uh, that was more of a mistake of understanding what they wanted. Which, again, wasn't my fault. It's hard to understand them when they don't have mouths." Orion stared at Flux for a moment before sighing, "Alright. I'll believe you." Orion turned to the pink beings and yelled, "Hey, pinkies!!" The pinkies were startled and stopped to stare at him. Orion continued to yell, "Have you considered that the person who gave Flux the strawberries gave him bad ones to sell to you? Or that the pinkie that baked the cupcake made a mistake to ruin the flavor?" The pinkies remained silent. Orion scoffed, "That's what I thought." One pinkie spoke up, "Well, we have been making cupcakes for years. There's no way we would mess it up suddenly." Orion said, "It is entirely possible. If you've been doing it for years, you probably don't even think, allowing for mistakes to be made. If you aren't paying attention, then even an expert can make major mistakes." 

The pinkies started mumbling amongst themselves. They nodded their heads and went to the two of them. They released them and bowed their heads, "We are sorry." "We did not consider that." "Apologies." Flux smiled, "No problem. I forgive you for trying to bake me and Orion. As a matter of fact, let me make it up to you with some strawberries that I've been saving." He took out his suitcase and pressed a button to turn it back into his cart. He jumped in and started looking for the strawberries. After a few seconds, he emerged with a basket of them. He picked one up, "Here's to renewed friendships." He took a bite out of it, but quickly spat it out, "Uh, what is wrong with these?" Orion grabbed the basket and looked at the bottom, "Wait, these are plastic strawberries. Look, there's a tag here that says that its a prank from your supplier. Did they give you the strawberries the first time?" Flux gasped, "They did. Could that have been why the cupcake turned out so bad?" Orion hummed, "Probably. If they've been pranking you for some time, they might've been giving you defective goods and you might not have noticed. That might be why other people have been upset with you." 

Flux gasped before turning to the pinkies and bowing, "I am so sorry. I should've realized it sooner. I am to blame for the bad cupcake." One of the pinkies walked to him and patted his shoulder, "Do not blame yourself. It was friend playing a prank on you. Mistakes happen." Flux thanked him. Orion said, "Well, since we're here, how about we help you bake another cupcake?" The pinkies cheered with excitement.

"Happy birthday to you! Happy birthday to you!" The pinkies continued to sing happy birthday to their friend as Flux and Orion wiped off the batter from their clothes. Flux said, "I'm surprised that you offered to help." Orion said, "Well, I understand what it's like to be the target of a bad joke. I was...bullied a lot at school because I was so different. And a lot of those pranks ended up with me getting in trouble. So, I understand how frustrating it can be to be pranked and have it ruin your mood." Flux placed a paw on the boy to comfort him, "I didn't know that. I'm sorry that you had to go through that." Orion said, "It's okay. Just a part of being the school weirdo." Flux frowned, "It's not okay! Being bullied just because you're different is just plain wrong. And don't let anyone tell you otherwise." Orion was surprised by Flux's statement and smiled slightly, "Yeah, you're right. Well, at least I was able to give these people the help that I never got." Suddenly, his hand glowed green and his number changed from 112 to 57. The two of the gasped and started jumping for joy.

"Here we are." Flux and Orion were standing in front of the exit after the birthday part ended. The pinkies had waved them good bye and told them to visit if they ever had the chance. Orion took the handle and started turning. This time, the door was unlocked. He turned back to Flux, who said, "Maybe helping the pinkies helped to unlock the door. Guess it was the right thing to help them." Orion nodded and continued to turn the handle until the door opened. The two of them walked out to the boardwalk. Orion said, "Alright, let's go." Before they started walking to the next train car, the bridge closed and the train car in front of them was disjointed before it flew off to the end of the train. Orion and Flux turned the corner to watch the car disappear into the distance. Orion asked, "What was that?" Flux frowned, "I have no idea."