//------------------------------// // Not Having Your Cake or Eating It Too // Story: Here Comes the Sun // by JapaneseTeeth //------------------------------// Everypony stared at the empty space where the cakes had been. Expect for Maud, who was still focused on the doorstop, and Spike, who was staring at the cake space but wasn’t a pony. “How the hay can you not know where you teleported the cakes to!” Applejack pulled her hat down over her face. “You’re the one doin’ the teleportin’!” “Teleporting an object isn’t the same as teleporting yourself, okay?” Twilight said defensively. She tried to focus her frustration towards something useful. “You don’t usually have to worry about targeting it because you’re there.” “And you didn’t think to account for that?!” “I get it, I messed up! I’m in a hurry and I rushed it and now I’m even further behind because now we have to track down the missing cakes!” “Assumin’ that they’re still in one piece,” Applejack said. “Well, that won’t be a problem, at least,” Twilight said. “The teleport spell has all sorts of failsafes built in. It automatically corrects the destination so that objects don’t get teleported into each other and ensures that they land on a surface that can support them, mostly. Besides, you can tell when a teleport is successful, and it was.  The cakes arrived at their destination just fine. We just need to figure out where that is before anything happens to them.” “THE CAKES!” Pinkie bounced into the air and off the ceiling. She would’ve repeated the bounces several more times, but Applejack snatched her out of the air. “Calm down, Pinkie! The cakes are fine. We just gotta find ‘em!” “Oh.” Pinkie stopped bouncing in midair and floated down to the floor. “Alright, then. Those cakes are pretty tough; they’ll be fine until we find them!” “So I guess that’s the next thing on the schedule?” Spike asked. “Find the cakes?” “Pretty much,” Twilight said with a sigh. “Applejack, you get your pies to Town Hall before something happens to them. While you’re there, try to grab anypony who’s not busy who might be able to help us search.  Pinkie, you search around Sugarcube Corner to see if the cakes are nearby.  We’ll all meet back here as soon as possible.” “Will do!” Applejack tipped her hat and headed outside. “Okey dokey!” Pinkie bounced out after Applejack. “Come on, Spike,” Twilight said. “We have to get back here as soon as we can.” “Huh? Where are we going?” he asked. “Shouldn’t we start looking for the cake?” “We will, on the way back to the library.” “Why are we going back to the library?” Twilight rapped a hoof on her mane. It made a thumping sound. “So I can take a bath.” Rainbow Dash zipped through the sky above Ponyville, scanning the streets for any sign of Twilight. If anypony could convince the Loud and Annoying Trixie to move her rehearsal out from under her house, it would be Twilight. She just had to find her. Twilight could be anywhere. And was probably running herself ragged trying to make sure that anything and everything was going absolutely perfect.  That meant that Twilight could be anywhere, and would probably be in the most inconvenient location possible. She’s probably going to be checking in on everypony, Rainbow Dash thought. Maybe they’ll know where she is.  She bore to the right a bit, towards Sugarcube Corner.  The puffs of sugar powder coming out the window made it clear that Pinkie was there.  She decided not to risk going through the kitchen. The last time she had flown in, it had taken hours to get the taffy out of her mane. This time she’d play it safe and fly in Pinkie’s bedroom window and take the stairs to the kitchen.  Much less chance of getting slammed in the face by a stray baked good. She dove towards the window.  As she made her final approach, she was blinded by a flash of light. As the glare faded, she found herself rocketing toward an excessively large and impressively ornate multi-tiered cake. Oh come o- “Thank you so much for your help, Sweetie Belle!” Rarity patted her sister on the head. “The Town Hall looks magnificent! I could not have done it without you! Or perhaps I could have, but it would’ve taken much longer and been much more of a hassle.” “You’re welcome!” Sweetie Belle glanced happily around the auditorium. Everything had come together nicely and without incident. Which probably meant that something would happen to disturb it. Maybe a stray pegasus crashing through the ceiling, or a parasprite invasion, or perhaps some creature from the Everfree forest drawn by the smell of appetizers, or a cake dropping out of the sky and exploding on the stage.  But whatever destroyed everything, it wouldn’t be their fault. “What are we gonna do now?” Sweetie Belle asked. “I am going to relax!” Rarity slumped onto the chaise lounge that she had brought along in case a dramatic faint was needed. “I have no pressing duties at the moment, but it is only a matter of time before something will arise.  Twilight will likely be along any moment with some task to carry out, and I would like to enjoy a moment of relaxation before that occurs.” “Rarity! Rarity!” “And there it is.” The mayor trotted up to her and cleared her throat. “First of all, I must say that I love what you’ve done with the hall. It looks wonderful.” “I’m glad you like it,” Rarity answered. “I suppose there is something else that requires my help? “Nothing particularly major. Princess Luna has been readying herself for tonight, and it appears that one of the buttons on her dress has come off.  If you have a few minutes, would you mind running down to her room and sewing it back on?” Rarity sighed in relief. “That will not be a problem in the slightest. I was afraid that there would be some larger, more pressing issue to worry about.” “Hopefully not,” the mayor said. “I will see you tonight at the festival.” She trotted off, ostensibly to attend to other festival business. “Come along, Sweetie Belle.” Rarity beckoned her sister to follow. “I am certain that Luna will not mind if you accompany me.” “Everything feels so much better after a shower,” Twilight said as she trotted down the road. “It really just washes away the stress.” “And the sugar,” Spike added. “Yes, that too. Everything seems a lot better when you aren’t crusted over in frosting. What with how big those cakes are it shouldn’t be hard to find them. Besides, I’m sure if anypony sees them, word will spread quickly.  We’ll find them in no time! Ah, looks like Applejack and Pinkie Pie are already back at Sugarcube Corner!” Applejack and Pinkie stood at the door, talking in low voices. “They look… nervous,” Spike said. “Well, we’re all a bit on edge today,” Twilight said. “Hello, everypony!” “Oh, Twilight!” Applejack fiddled with the brim of her hat. “You’re back!” “I sure am! Did either of you find anypony to help us look for the cakes?” Pinkie nodded vigorously. “Rainbow Dash is going to be here to help us look for the other cake any minute now!” “Wait, other cake? You found one of them already?” “Yeah, about that…” Applejack cleared her throat. “There’s good news and bad news. The good news is, Rainbow Dash found the cake.” “And the bad news?” “The bad news is I found the cake when it appeared right in front of me as I was flying!” Rainbow Dash emerged from Sugarcube Corner, her mane wrapped in a towel. “I just finished getting all the frosting out of my hair.” “You and me both,” Twilight said, her newfound optimism rapidly deflating. “So I guess that cake is a lost cause, then?” “Well, we haven’t actually had time to review the damage yet,” Applejack answered. “Apparently the cake landed on the balcony upstairs. Pinkie apparently made the cakes so unnecessarily big that some of it might be salvageable.” “I guess we’d better go check the damage, then.” Twilight took a deep breath, trying to hold on to what was left of her good mood. “Let’s get moving.” “It is a pity we could not meet earlier, Princess,” Rarity said. She had spent most of her Nightmare Night cooped up in her shop attempting to perfect her complex and unusually ornate costume. She had only heard about the… incidents secondhand. “I understand that you have a loose button that needs repairing.” “Yes, my dress is right over here.” Luna pulled a ball of fabric out of a garment bag hanging from a rack on the wall. The bag really hadn’t helped the state of the clothing much. “Ah.” Rarity bit her lip at the sight of the outfit. “It appears to be a bit wrinkled. Would you like me to take care of that as well?” “If you have the time, that would be wonderful,” Luna replied. “I must admit I was… in a slight rush when I prepared to come here.  I had been up all night doing my usual rounds and such, and I needed a quick nap before leaving. I suppose I should have directed one of my assistants to pack for me.” “It won’t be a problem in the slightest.” Rarity carefully began to unfold the dress. And then continued to unfold it in a less gentle manner, as it was evident that it wasn’t a particularly delicate number. “Hmmmmm.” “I must admit that my selection may not be the most appropriate,” Luna mumbled. “As I said, I was in a hurry and I may have simply just grabbed a dress at random.” Rarity’s ear twitched. “I realize I ought to have put a bit more effort into choosing a dress,” Luna continued. “But with all the other preparations to be done it slipped my mind.  I choose the wrong one, didn’t I?” “I would not say wrong,” Rarity said carefully. “You can be honest.” “There is nothing wrong with the dress itself,” Rarity said. “It just lacks the… ornamentation one would expect for this sort of occasion. As it is, it would be more fitting for a semi-formal event. If you wish, it would not be particularly difficult for me to add a bit of flair to it, to make it more suitable for the celebration.” “If it would not be too much trouble, I would be delighted,” Luna said. “I would prefer to have the proper attire.” “It will not be a problem at all.” Rarity grinned widely. “Sweetie Belle, be a dear and fetch my sewing kit from the boutique. I have some work to do.” “So here’s the plan. We start the search for cake #2 at Sugarcube Corner.” She tapped on the map with her pointer. “We’ll go in two groups, starting on opposite sides; Rainbow Dash and Applejack on this side, and Pinkie and I on the other.  Rainbow Dash will search from the air, and I’ll use a spell to trace any lingering traces of magic from the teleportation. Applejack and Pinkie can search on ground level and ask any ponies we’ve run into if they’ve seen the cake. As long as we follow the path, we’ll go past any potential locations twice, making sure we don’t miss it. Any questions?” Applejack raised a hoof. “Yes?” “Where’d you get the diagram from? I thought we were in a hurry.” “I just… happened to have it available, okay?” “You just happened to have a map of Ponyville available so you could coordinate these kinds of things?” Twilight scowled at her. “With all the weird stuff that happens in this town, I wanted to be prepared. Honestly, I’m surprised that I haven’t had to use this sooner.” “Seriously,” Spike added. “She got this thing set up like three months ago. It’s been sitting in the basement for weeks.” “What’s Spike doing?” Pinkie asked. “I’m going to keep up with Twilight’s checklist, and also see if I can find the Cakes. Not the cake, but the Cakes. You know, the ponies.” “Yeah, we got that,” Rainbow Dash said. “Can we get going already? The sooner we go, the sooner we find the cake, and the sooner we find the cake, the sooner I can convince Twilight to tell Trixie to get out from under my house!” “Trixie is under your house?” Twilight stared at Rainbow Dash. “What’s she doing there?” “Tuning her musical… thing, and shooting off fireworks.” “And why is she doing that?” Applejack asked. “Rehearsing for her show, apparently?” “Wait, she’s putting on a show?” Twilight’s whole face contorted in frustration. “But I told it was too last-minute!” Rainbow Dash shrugged. “Well, apparently Princess Luna overruled you. She actually seemed pretty pumped about seeing Trixie’s production.” Spike bit his lip, trying not to giggle. “Solves all our problems, huh?” Twilight silenced him with a glare. “I can’t believe Trixie even has the nerve to show her face in Ponyville after what happened last time,” Applejack grumbled. “Never mind somehow managin’ to get an audience with the Princess. How’d she manage that?” “Because I sent her to Luna,” Twilight admitted. “She was bothering me about getting to perform, and she wouldn’t listen to me. I figured she’d have to listen if a Princess told her no.” “But you forgot about the whole Nightmare Moon thing?” Pinkie asked. “I mean, Luna knows what it’s like to turn bad and do something nasty and then turn back and have everypony be afraid of you.” “Okay, yes, in retrospect it wasn’t the best idea.” Twilight stomped her hoof. “But that’s not important now. I’ll deal with her after we find the cakes. Let’s get a move on.” She spun around without waiting for a response, stomped outside, and took a deep breath of the sugar-free air.  Hopefully she hadn’t sent the cake too far. If she was responsible for destroying it, she’d never be able to look at a cake again. Which would be a problem, seeing as she was friends with Pinkie Pie. “Alright. Let’s find that cake.” “Hmmmm. Yes. Yes.” Rarity adjusted her glasses. “This silver thread will hold this trim nicely.” She plucked some pins out of the pincushion and began to stick them into the fabric. Luna watched her with fascination. Neither of them even noticed when the door opened and Sweetie Belle entered, carefully balancing a large roll of deep blue fabric on her back. She tiptoed across the room, the floor of which was buried under the numerous tools and materials that Rarity had required. “I brought it!” she announced and dumped it onto the floor next to Rarity. “Wonderful!” The fabric floated up and began to unroll. “Precisely what I needed.” “Is that it?” Sweetie Belle flopped over onto a pile of unused fabric scraps. “Maybe,” Rarity said. “We won’t know until we see what it looks like on the Princess.” She floated the dress over to Luna. “Is it truly necessary that I try it on?” “Of course.  I simply cannot go without ensuring that I have made your ensemble as fashionable as I possibly can.” “I suppose that is true.” Luna took the dress. “We will wait outside. Though do be careful. Some of the seams are a bit delicate.” Rarity and Sweetie Belle filed out and closed the door behind them. “So now what are we doing?” Sweetie Belle asked. “You know, when her dress is done?” “Well, the first order of business will be to move all of my materials and tools back to the boutique.” Sweetie Bell groaned. “Everything?” “Of course, we cannot just leave all of this clutter in Princess Luna’s dressing room. That would not be proper.” “Why didn’t you just have her come over to the boutique in the first place?” Rarity shrugged. “Well, looking back on it, that would have been the simplest solution, but I simply didn’t realize the scale of the modifications that needed to be made.” There was a tearing sound from behind the door, followed by rapid, muffled, mumbling. “That wasn’t a good sound,” Sweetie Belle said. “No, it wasn’t.” “See anythin’, Rainbow Dash?” “Yeah, I see all sorts of stuff,” Rainbow Dash answered. “No cake, though.” “Then why didn’t you just say that?” Dash shrugged. “You asked.” “You know darn well I was askin’ about the cake,” Applejack snapped, kicking at a dirt clod in an effort to expend some frustrated energy. “There’s no reason to go and get all snippy about it.” “You’re the one who’s making a big deal out of it.” Rainbow Dash snorted. “You could’ve just rolled your eyes and ignored it, but no, you had to go and get all bent out of shape.” “Who’s gettin’ bent out of shape? It sure ain’t me.” “Hey, my shape is fine,” Rainbow Dash retorted, flexing her forelegs. “That’s the whole reason I train.” “I’m not talkin’ about your literal shape.” Applejack pulled her hat down over her eyes. “It’s a figure of speech.” “Oh, so now you’re getting all fancy and using figures of speech?” “There’s nothin’ fancy about it!” Applejack stomped her hoof. “Do you see any sign of the cake, or not?” “Nope, no cake. Or anything cake-related. What about you?” “Nothing down here.” Applejack straightened her hat. “Nopony’s seen anything.  We’d better move on.” Applejack trotted down the road that Twilight had instructed them to follow. Rainbow Dash was clearly ornery due to repeated napping failures.  Applejack could understand the frustration. After spending all morning with Pinkie and then having to haul carts of pies around, she was tired too.  Then again, at least she didn’t have to go on the cake search with Pinkie. She didn’t have the mental fortitude for that at the moment. Twilight tried to focus on her spell. It would pick up any remaining traces of magic that clung to the cake, but by now, those traces would have faded so much that she’d barely be able to detect them unless she paid very close attention.  Paying close attention to magic was normally a simple task for her. But normally Pinkie Pie wasn’t following her around.  Or questioning every single pony they encountered if they had seen a cake. In song. She had to admit, the song had been catchy at first, but after the first half a dozen repetitions it had started to grate, and at the moment it had degraded into a drone. “Pinkie, is it really necessary to sing at everypony?” “Of course not!” Pinkie chirped, before she continued to sing. “Then why are you still singing?” “Why not?” “That’s not a reason,” Twilight muttered. “By that logic you should constantly be doing somersaults unless you have a reason not to.” “Good point,” Pinkie said, rather than sang. Twilight tried to hide her relief. “Looks like nopony around here has seen the cake. Let’s head over towards Town Hall and see if it’s over there.” “On it!” Pinkie curled up into a ball and began to roll down the road. Twilight just sighed and shook her head. “I knew I should not have over-indulged in grilled cheese sandwiches!” Luna wailed. “Celestia warned me that they would go straight to my flanks!” “Your flanks are fine,” Rarity snapped as she investigated the remnants of the dress. “Unfortunately it appears as though I was a bit too hasty in my modifications. The trim I added reduced the elasticity of the fabric. Your flanks are not to blame. Not that it matters. Nowadays I am told that some prefer a prodigious rump.” “Is that so?” Luna asked. “The real question,” Rarity continued, “is determining what method would be best to repair the damage.” “You mean you do not know?” “Of course I know! Off the top of my head I can think of three different methods. The question is choosing which one would be best to maintain both the integrity and appearance of the dress, considering we will need to replace a fair bit of fabric. I’m sure I could choose one given time to think it over, but we do not have that time. So I-” Fluttershy burst into Luna’s dressing room, panting for breath. She paused her gasps to bow before gulping down more air. “...sought a second opinion.” “I came as quickly as I could,” Fluttershy choked out between breaths. “When I heard you needed my help, I dropped everything and flew right over!” Luna stared at her, shocked by her sudden arrival. “I... er… am honored by your willingness to assist me, but I am not the one who requested help.” “You… weren’t?”  She turned to see Rarity grinning at her and slowly waving her hoof. “I never realized you were such a fast… flier… Fluttershy…” Sweetie Belle stumbled through the door behind her and collapsed onto a pile of fabric scraps. “I thought you said that Princess Luna needed me!” “I did!” Sweetie Belle gasped. “That’s what Rarity told me to tell you!” “Rarity, what’s going on?” Fluttershy asked. “Princess Luna had a slight… mishap with the dress she intended to wear to the festivities tonight, and as you have some knowledge of sewing, I thought you might be able to assist me in choosing the proper method to repair it.” “Oh,” Fluttershy mumbled. “Sweetie Belle made it sound like it was… um… an emergency.” “It is an emergency!” Rarity snapped. Then she cleared her throat. “Well, of a sort.” “I did not think it was so serious!” Luna wailed. “Curse the day I learned of the Grilled Cheese!” “What?” Fluttershy scratched her head in confusion. “Don’t worry about that. Worry about this.” Rarity thrust the dress at her. “Rarity, I was right in the middle of rehearsing with my birds! Er, well, we were kind of taking a break between songs, but even so.” “The faster you help me with this, the faster you can get back to that!” Rarity said. “Please? I really do need your help. Princess Luna really needs your help!” Fluttershy glanced over at Luna, who was gesticulating wildly at herself in the mirror and muttering in loud whispers about midnight snacks. She sighed. “Alright, what kind of material did you use?” “Lyra, where are we going?” “This way!” Lyra answered excitedly. “That doesn’t answer my question. At all. And why am I wearing a blindfold?” “Shhh, Bon Bon!” Lyra said. “We’re almost there!” “This had better be a great surprise,” Bon Bon grumbled as she trudged along. “I need to finish up the sweets for tonight.” “Oh, please, you had all of those finished like yesterday!” Lyra scoffed. “Besides, you’ve been working like, all day. I don’t know what you were working on, but you can totally take a break.” “Then how about I take a break and you actually do some work in the meantime?” “Hey, I was working. Kinda. There was a last minute addition to the schedule who needed my help tuning up her calliope! That’s when I found it!” Even with the blindfold, Bon Bon was visibly raising a confused eyebrow. “Since when do you know anything about calliopes?” “Listen, you know all about making candy and whatnot, I know how to do music stuff. It’s right there on my flank, remember?” “Your harp, yes, but a calliope?” “Okay, so I’ve never tuned a calliope before, but it’s in the same ballpark.” “Are we almost there?” Bon Bon asked. “I really do need to be getting back to the shop.” “Yeah, yeah, just about! Watch the tree stump.” “What tree st-” Bon Bon found herself accidentally somersaulting forward. “That tree stump.” “Alright, I’m losing the blindfold.” She pulled the cloth off of her face.  Lyra had taken her to some random field on the outskirts of town.  It was empty except for a rickety-looking and takily-decorated wagon, and an enormous cake. The thing was twice the height of a pony and probably weighed as much as a few dozen of them. Why anypony would have ever created such a thing, she didn’t know, never mind why they would leave it out in the middle of nowhere. “It’s a cake!” Lyra said excitedly. “I can see that,” Bon Bon said. “Why is there a cake here?” “I have no idea! But it looks delicious, and I’m gonna find out what kind it is! I bet it’s chocolate.” Lyra held up a large fork. Bon Bon wasn’t sure where it had come from. “You want a piece?” “Wait just a second!” Bon Bon snatched the fork out of Lyra’s hoof, and watched closely in case she pulled another one out. “You can’t just eat it.” “Why not?” “Seriously? Look at it! It’s obviously meant for the Summer Sun Celebration. You can’t just start cutting into it.” Lyra snorted. “Why would they leave it out here in the middle of nowhere if they didn’t want anypony to eat it? That doesn’t make any sense.” “Well, I don’t know, but I do know that you should at least try to find out whose cake it is before you start eating it.” Bon Bon stepped between Lyra and the cake. “I mean, seriously, you don’t even know if it’s safe to eat. For all you know there might be a bunch of ponies inside it waiting to pop out or something?” “Why were there be anypony in the cake?” “I don’t know, but why else would you make it so big?” “Did you two come to get this cake out of the Great and Powerful Trixie’s way?” Trixie bellowed as she kicked open the door of her wagon, causing the whole thing to shudder. “It is sitting right were the Great and Powerful Trixie’s audience is supposed to be sitting!” “Wait just a second!” The cake dropped out of Bon Bon’s mind. “Aren’t you the one who almost destroyed Ponyville twice?” “The Great and Powerful Trixie has never almost destroyed Ponyville!” “You lured and Ursa Minor into town!” Bon Bon said. “Trixie most certainly did not! Those two colts were responsible for that. Trixie even made a valiant attempt to vanquish the creature!” “What about when you put Ponyville under the giant bubble?” Bon Bon continued. “And knock it off with the third person thing.” “What giant bubble?” Lyra asked. “I don’t remember any giant bubble.” “How do you not remember the giant bubble?” Bon Bon shook her head. “The whole town was imprisoned for two days after she took over with an ancient artifact! Twilight had to sneak back in and dual Trixie to free everypony.” “First of all,” Trixie said, “It was more like a large glass dome. Second, it was not two days. It was… a day and a half at most. Also, I was under the influence of an evil amulet. Under normal circumstances I would never try to take over a town.” “Oh, wouldn’t you?” “No. I have no interest in having to run a town. I simply want to be showered with praise and adulation from my adoring fans!” “What adoring fans?” “Trixie’s fanbase may be small now due to her… past indiscretions, but rest assured that after her performance at this celebration, she will have a whole legion of fans!” “You’re performing at the celebration?” Bon Bon raised an eyebrow. “I never saw you on the schedule-Lyra, get away from the cake!” Behind her, Lyra grumbled at Bon Bon’s inexplicably wide range of vision. “The Great and Powerful Trixie was a last minute addition. By Princess Luna herself!” Trixie said smugly. “So I guess that’s why you have this enormous cake then? The frosting does seem to be moon-themed.” “Trixie knows nothing about the cake, except that it is in the way. My audience is supposed to sit there.” Bon Bon sighed. “I don’t suppose you know where it came from?” Trixie shrugged. “The Great and Powerful Trixie has no idea. I thought you had come to move it.  Or to deliver my fireworks.” She thrust a hoof at Lyra. “You did not forget Trixie’s fireworks, did you?” “What? No! I just arranged for somepony else to deliver them.  I didn’t know where to get fireworks.” Bon Bon frowned. “You don’t know where to get fireworks? But what about-” “Legal fireworks,” Lyra coughed. “Oh.” “Well, they had better be here soon,” Trixie said, stomping her hoof. “Trixie needs to begin setting up for her show!” “They’ll be here soon. Don’t worry. In fact, I think I see the delivery pony now!” “It’s about time,” Trixie grumbled as she looked up and saw a grey pegasus hauling a large sack towards Trixie’s wagon. “Delivery!” announced the pegasus. She held up a clipboard and checked it. “For a Trixie, Great and Powerful?” “I am the Great and Powerful Trixie!” Trixie announced, her voice suddenly jumping about ten decibels in volume. “Have you brought my fireworks!” “Yup! One giant sack of assorted fireworks. Just sign here.” “Finally, somepony who actually knows what they’re doing.” Trixie took the clipboard and scrawled her name in outrageously large and ostentatious letters. “Hold onto that. The Great and Powerful Trixie’s autograph will be very valuable someday!  You can leave the fireworks behind the wagon.” “Will do!” “How on earth did you get that delivery set up so quickly?” Bon Bon asked. “Whenever I order anything it takes days. Never mind getting a delivery on a day like today.” “It is quite impressive that she made the delivery with such haste,” Trixie admitted. “I wish I could get that kind of service.” Lyra shrugged. “You want to know the secret? Muffins.” “Muffins?” Trixie asked. “Yeah. Just offer her a basket of muffins if she hurries it up and she’d go to Tartarus and back.” “So that’s where my breakfast went,” Bon Bon said with a groan. “Thanks for the muffins, Lyra!” The pegasus waved as she fluttered by. “They were great!” “They were mine,” Bon Bon muttered. “If you don’t mind, could you do me a favor? I have some banana nut muffins for you.” “Sure!” The pegasus landed and waited intently. “When you head back into town, could you find somepony official and ask them why this cake is here? Like Mayor Mare or Twilight. Just see if anypony knows why it’s here.” “No problem!” The Pegasus nodded vigorously. “I’ll be by to pick up the muffins later!”  She flipped into the air and glided towards town. “I sure hope you actually have some banana nut muffins, or you’re in trouble,” Lyra said, grinning. “Don’t worry about that that,” Bon Bon said. “I’ll take care of it later. Right now I need to get back to the shop and finish up my…” She sniffed. “Do you smell that?” Lyra’s nose twitched. “Yeah, I do smell something. Smells kinda like smoke.” “I think it’s coming from Trixie’s wagon.” Bon Bon wrinkled her nose. “Did you leave something on the stove or something?” “Of course not! Trixie’s wagon doesn’t have a kitchen, so she is forced to cook outside over a fire. In fact, Trixie was doing just that when the two of you arrived.” Bon Bon’s eyes widened. “Where was your fire, exactly?” “Well, Trixie couldn’t have a giant burned spot where she was going to perform, so she built it behind her…..oh.” The three ponies looked at each other, then at the wagon.  A large plume of smoke was rising up from behind it. “We should probably run,” Lyra said.