I arrived at Town Hall at around midday as I entered the lobby. As I approached the desk, the secretary looked up at me. “Hello, and welcome to Town Hall. Do you have an appointment?” I noticed that her voice was rather dull and drab, almost as if she wore a button that said ‘I really wish I wasn’t here right now.’
“No time for that! I’m Pinkie Pie and I need an audience with the Mayor! Something’s come up and I need to talk to her right away!” I said as I noticed the urgency in my voice seemed to have rolled off of the mare’s back as she turned to a planner that resided on her desk.
“Have a seat… the mayor will be with you shortly…” There’s that drab voice again which made me wonder why she held this job if she didn’t enjoy it. I decided to push it to the back of my mind for now… my main concern was to get help for the Cakes and by Celestia that was what I was here for! I nodded to the receptionist and took a seat as I awaited my turn eagerly. I could only sit still for so long, so I got up and bounced about the room. I nearly resigned myself to the boredom that was the waiting room when a voice piped up to break the silence.
“Ms… Pie? The Mayor will see you now. Right this way, please.” I squeed and bounced down the hallway toward the office of Mayor Mare. Before her assistant introduced me, I already bounced into the room and skidded as I stopped in front of her desk. The abrupt stop caused Mayor Mare pause as she upturned the pile on her desk due to being surprised.
“What, huh, who? What’s the crisis? Is Equestria under attack again? Do I need to sign for an…” When Mayor Mare saw me, she instantly relaxed and sighed heavily. Slowly, she situated the papers back on the desk one by one before she spoke again, “...investigative team from Canterlot? Oh-- it’s only you Pinkie. To what do I owe this honor?” I noticed that, even though she didn’t mean to, she attempted to dismiss me with her eyes. I knew that wasn’t what she meant so I waited until she addressed me again to speak.
“Hiya Mayor! Do you remember that favor you owe me? Huh? Do ya, do ya?” I asked as I bounced in place on the seat. The mayor groaned as she sighed and ran a foreleg along her face. “Well, I’m here to see if that offer is still open! You see, Sugarcube Corner has fallen on dire straits and…”
“... you have an idea of a way to help save it. Yes, I know… and yes, I did know what you were going to say thank you very much. Mostly because of this letter right here…” the Mayor said as she pulled out an official-looking document which I recognized instantly.
“Wait a minute… that’s the form that the inspector gave the Cakes when I, albeit accidentally, caused them to fail the inspection!” I blurted out. I noticed that the Mayor looked generally disinterested with my usual shenanigans, but she played along as she sighed and knitted her eyebrows. “That’s what I came here for! I wanted to talk about opening my own bakery to help pay off the Cake’s debt!”
“I had a feeling you would say that… given how close you are to the Cakes and all…” the mayor said as she rummaged through the pile of papers that resided on her desk. Eventually, she gripped one in her mouth and laid it down in front of me. “All you have to do is sign here, initial here, and print your name here… and pay the startup fee of two hundred bits and--”
“Woah, woah, woah…” I said as I interrupted the mayor during her speech, “It costs two hundred bits to own a startup?” I asked, clearly confused and befuddled. “Last year it was one hundred bits!”
“Well, that’s how thing work around here, Ms. Pie. I’m sorry, but that’s the rules. To own a business, you must pay a founding fee to own the property and the rights to sell goods in your establishment as well as sign all of the prerequisite forms.”
“You don’t get it! I only have a few weeks to make the money I need and it’s a time sensitive issue that I...-”
“Look. Who’s the mayor of this town...hmm?”
“...Y-you are…”
“Right. Who makes the rules and regulations that everypony must follow?”
“Y-you do…”
“Right! So, now, with this in mind… I must ask you for two hundred bits for the proprietary founder’s fee to rightfully own the land and the right to own and operate a business in town. I’m sure that a measly two hundred bits is a fair price to pay to own the rights to such a thing… isn’t it?”
“B-but I… I mean it’s… what I’m trying to say is…” I ran the situation over and over in my head more times then I needed to. No matter what the outcome, I knew she was right. After all, she was the mayor for a reason, wasn’t she? I scooped out the two hundred required bits from my bit bag as I piled them on the table. “There’s your two hundred bits! You’re not making this easy, you know! Here I am trying to be a super-duper-scooper best friend and you’re trying to get in my way of doing that!”
This was not going to be as easy as I first thought.
Mayor Mare slid papers across the desk, then I signed them all. After a few minutes of the Mayor doing some paperwork, she slid a deed across the table that served as my notice of ownership.
Later that day, I visited the plot of land I owned. Worker ponies already laid the groundwork for my bakery, but they were unsure how to proceed. I hopped up to the planning table as a fleeting end of a conversation reached my ears.
“Okay, now how’re we gonna build this? The boss didn’t give us any blueprints... so, how’re we going to do this?” I noticed the other workers facehooved and groaned loudly.
“Hiya! What’cha talking about?” I asked as I placed down a blue sheet of rolled up paper on the table. None of the ponies looked over at me when one of them spoke.
“Building a new bakery right across from an old one under threat of foreclosure.” He said as he pointed at Sugarcube Corner.
“Okey dokie loki! Here are the plans!” I said as I unfurled the paper in front of me to reveal an open air bakery with a long wooden counter and a semi-circular floor plan. The ponies looked at each other and nodded.
“Seems simple enough. Leave it to us!” they announced as orders were barked and movement began. After I watched them work for a time, I bid them farewell as I left them to their work. I bounced away and back toward Ponyville as I looked for the Cakes.
As I arrived back at Sugarcube Corner, I bounced in and located the Cakes, who were seated behind the counter. “Hiya! So I have some good news and bad news for you. The good news is the fact that I talked with the mayor and she allowed me to build a bakery on this empty plot of land across from the Corner!” I bounced in excitement as I recounted the day’s events to the Cakes. “Bad news is that they’re only just building it now and it’s going to set me back and now I’m going to be behind schedule without even factoring in buying the ingredients and I might have to resort to drastic measures to--” My speech was cut short by Mrs. Cake’s hoof that effectively squashed my muzzle. It took me several minutes, but I deciphered the reason why my words weren’t being heard.
“Don’t worry your pretty little head about it, Pinkie dear. We’ll be glad to assist you in getting you started…”
“Yeah, especially since our inventory will spoil before we can use it anyway… you’d be basically doing us a favor by taking it, Pinkie.” said Mr. Cake as he trotted into the kitchen and retrieved the excess supplies.
I bounced in place when I heard this news, my usual grin plastered onto my face. “Ohmigosh! Thank you thank you thank you so much! You have no idea what this means to me I’ll be able to get to work super-duper quickly now!” I rambled off to the Cakes, who smiled back and hugged me as they gave me well wishes before I departed.
The sun streaked lower in the sky as I returned to my plot of land across the way. When I arrived, the worker ponies had just returned from a break as they finished laying the outline for the bakery. When they noticed me, the work seemed to double in pace almost as if I just chided them for being too slow or something equally as ridiculous.
Also, why was I reminded of Sugarcube Corner from the state of the floorplans? It definitely wasn’t the fact that they were using Sugarcube Corner for inspiration… was it?
“Hiya! How’s it going guys?” I asked as I approached the planning table. The foreman stood there as he barked orders into a megaphone at the ponies that worked on the construction. He seemed to zone me out at first before he lowered his megaphone and turned his attention to me.
“Oh! Greetings Pinkie Pie! We just got done with the exterior of the bakery. How’s she looking? Isn’t she a beauty?”
“Well… I wouldn’t exactly use the term beauty, but she does look awfully familiar… !” I said and hoped that the subtle hint was enough for him. He didn’t get it at first, but a second look at the bakery and Sugarcube Corner clued him in on what I meant.
The foreman raised his megaphone again and shouted into it, “Hey fellas! You ain’t following the floorplans! You’re just building a copy of Sugarcube Corner! It needs to be flatter and more circular! Also much deeper width-wise!”
The collected worker ponies facehooved as they tore down half of the building and flattened it out until the base extended into a wide circle. Afterwards, the worker ponies built a separated room that served as the kitchen and storage area.
“Much better! Yupparoonie! Thanks friend!” I said as I patted the foreman on the back with a foreleg. “However, isn’t it just about quitting time? It’s gonna be dark soon!” I mentioned as I pointed to the golden glow around the sun.
The foreman didn’t need to be told twice as he raised his megaphone and shouted into it. “Alright boys! Pack it in! Sun’s setting and we didn’t bring any light sources!” When I heard this, I bade them farewell and returned to Sugarcube Corner. I hopped inside and made my way to the stairs and ascended them. The Cakes already closed up for the night but I was still able to enter thanks in part to the key I was given.
After I brushed my teeth and bathed, I hopped out of the bathroom and flopped down onto my bed. I needed as much rest as I could afford for the trials that laid ahead of me.
Tomorrow started my quest to save Sugarcube Corner.