With a hop, skip and a jump, Twilight was off. With Spike on her back, holding on for dear life, she ripped through town, choosing to blissfully ignore the ponies on the street who were bowing low with reverence. It usually irritated her, and more than once she had spent precious minutes attempting to get them to stop, but today, she trotted right past.
“Look there! It’s the Princess!” One voice shouted.
“Princess Twilight Sparkle! Get down!” Another whispered loudly to her friend.
“Where do you think she’s going?” A third questioned curiously. Twilight grit her teeth, forced a smile, and ran a little faster past them.
“Twilight, can’t we slow down?” Spike called out in a panic. Twilight turned around and only just realized that he was clinging to her tail, else he completely fly off of her back. Smiling, she stopped momentarily, allowing him time to crawl back onto her back before setting off once more.
“I’m sorry Spike, but we have to hurry to Sugarcube Corner! Pinkie’s going to be going away to visit her parents and sisters on their rock farm in a week and I have to ask her if she and Applejack can cater to the event before she leaves!” Twilight explained, rounding a corner. The alicorn had opted to take a back route to her friend’s house, allowing her passage through most of town without having ponies surround her, bowing and following her to her destination. Within minutes, the two had arrived.
Sugarcube Corner was bustling as always. Cup and Carrot Cake hurried from one end of the bakery to the other, taking orders, collecting bits, yelling the orders to each other, and finally delivering said orders to the customer. Twilight took a moment to smile at the happy couple, both with smiles plastered to their faces. It was nice to see the two work together so harmoniously, completing each other. Unfortunately, that peace could not last.
“It’s the Princess!” A random, faceless voice in the crowd called out, and immediately the entire room turned to her. Twilight felt her face flush under the wide eyed gazes of fifty ponies, including the Cakes.
“Eheheheh… hello, everypony!” Twilight called out nervously, walking forward slowly. Everypony dropped low in reverence as she passed. Resisting the urge to roll her eyes, she strolled up to the counter, where Mrs. Cake stood gaping.
“P-Princess Twilight, h-how may we h-help you this f-fine afternoon?” She stuttered, forcing a smile. Twilight sighed and leaned closer, putting a reassuring hoof onto the older mare’s shoulder.
“Mrs. Cake, it’s just Twilight to you. You’ve known me for years. I’m one of Pinkie’s best friends! There’s no need to be so formal with me.” Twilight laughed. Cup nodded slowly, with a smile of her own crossing her face. There were few who could resist smiling when the Princess of Friendship was doing so.
“Of course, of course… I’m sorry Twilight. How can I help you today? Was there something you needed?” She asked after regaining her composure. Twilight nodded and looked to the stairs.
“Yeah, I was actually wondering if Pinkie was in today. I needed to talk to her about something.” Twilight asked. Mrs. Cake frowned and shook her head.
“Oh, I’m sorry dearie, but she’s gone to visit her parents already. She won’t be back for another week or so.” Cup exclaimed, shrugging. “I thought she would have told you!” Twilight’s shoulders slumped.
“Oh… I thought she wasn’t leaving for another couple days!” She sighed. “Wasn’t she leaving on Friday?”
“Yes, dearie. This Friday. Today.” Cup giggled despite Twilight’s misfortune, and she placed a motherly hoof on her shoulder. “I’m sorry. Is it something that we can help with?” She asked. Twilight thought about it for a moment before her face lit up once again.
“Now that you mention it… yes! Yes you can!” Twilight squealed with delight. “I have a request to make of Sugarcube Corner! Do you mind if we talk business for a bit in private?” She asked hopefully. Cup looked to Carrot, who nodded eagerly.
“Of course, dearie! Come into the back room, we can talk there. Carrot,” She turned to her husband. “Look after the shop while we’re gone, I don’t think we’ll be too long!” Twilight nodded. Spike hopped off of her back and took off to Carrot, requesting a jeweled cupcake.
“I won’t take more than five minutes, I promise. I wouldn’t want you to lose customers just because of me.” She giggled as the two mares walked to the back room. Cup closed the door behind them when they arrived, and she pulled up a chair for the Princess. Twilight graciously accepted it and sat down.
“So, what’s this about dearie?” Cup asked as she sat down as well. Twilight smiled. Getting right to business: This is what she liked!
“Well, I’ll explain the situation bluntly, Mrs. Cake. The Golden Oaks Library has no patrons.” Twilight’s lip threatened to quiver at the memory of the empty log book. Cup blinked.
“Okay…” She started, but Twilight interrupted her.
“And that’s just not acceptable! It’s up to Spike and I to get more ponies to take an interest in reading! After all, reading is one of the best pastimes that a pony can have!” She exclaimed, throwing her forearms into the air dramatically. Cup blinked again.
“Okay…”
“And in order to get ponies interested, Spike came up with the idea that we should host a book fair at the library! Tell me, Mrs. Cake, do you know what a book fair is?” She asked.
“I…can’t say that I do, dearie!” Cup laughed awkwardly. Twilight leaned in, eyes wide.
“It’s a wondrous event, where the library offers free book loans to everypony and anypony! Everypony can come in and browse some books! They can take some out if they wish, purchase some if they wish, and partake in some delicious food and drink with their neighbors and friends!” Twilight finished, sighing dreamily, and her voice dropped to a whisper. “It’s an egghead’s heaven.” An awkward silence filled the room. Cup cleared her throat.
“Yes, that sounds… splendid, dearie. And how did Pinkie – or us, I suppose – come into play here?” She asked. Twilight snapped out of her dream and brought her attention back to Mrs. Cake.
“Oh, yes! Well, if it’s no issue, I was hoping that Pinkie Pie could supply the baked goods for it! She and Applejack are among the best bakers that I know of – excluding you and Mr. Cake, of course – so I was hoping that they could help me out with this!” Twilight exclaimed happily. Cup visibly relaxed.
“Oh, of course dearie! That sounds easy enough! What kinds of goods were you looking to get? Cakes? Cookies? Cupcakes? Banana breads? Donuts? Pretzels?” Cup started going off on a tangent, listing off various types of Sugarcube Corner wares. Twilight laughed and raised her hoof, silencing the mare.
“All of the above would be fantastic.” She answered with a smile. Cup stopped and gaped at Twilight.
“All of the above?! You want some of everything?!” Cup’s eyes were wide. “When were you planning this book fair for?” Twilight tapped her chin with a hoof, thinking.
“Hm… well, I was thinking for next weekend sometime, maybe Saturday and Sunday. Do you think that would be possible?” Twilight asked hopefully. Cup bit her lower lip.
“Well… normally I would say no, due to Pinkie not being here, and due to the size of the order…” Cup watched as Twilight’s face fell. “But I suppose we can manage that if it’s for a Princess.”
“Really?!” Twilight lit up and lunged for the older mare. “That’s fantastic, Mrs. Cake! I’m so glad to hear it!” The alicorn pulled Cup in for a tight hug. “You’ll be paid for this whole thing, I promise! This is such a huge favor, Mrs. Cake! Thank you so much!” Cup laughed as she futility attempted to push Twilight off of her.
“It’s perfectly fine dearie, we don’t need to be paid! The business that we’ll get from the advertising and whatnot is more than enough to cover the costs! Besides, it’s always a pleasure to serve the throne.” Cup bowed her head, low enough to be respectful but too low. “It was an absolute honor to host Her Royal Highness, Solar Princess Celestia.” Cup smiled at the thought.
“Are you sure it won’t be too much trouble?” Twilight asked again. “I don’t want to impose on you and Mr. Cake in any way.” Cup shook her head.
“None at all, dearie, none at all. Don’t you worry; Carrot and I will have it all done for next Saturday, even if we have to close down the store for the entire week! Leave it to us!” Cup reassured her. Twilight nodded, relieved.
“I’ll send Spike by later tonight with the full list of everything that we’ll need. Thank you for doing this, Mrs. Cake! You don’t know how big of a help this will be for me!” The alicorn shook hooves with the earth pony before leaving the room. She quickly spotted Spike sitting at a table, face full of cupcake. He was the only one in the room not bowing to her.
“Come on, Spike, let’s go! We have four more stops to make before we head home!” She enveloped the surprised dragon with her magic and levitated him onto her back.
“How did it go, Twi?” He asked as they waved goodbye to Sugarcube Corner. “Can the Cakes do it?”
“They sure can! Free of charge, too! This went better than I thought it would! Where would you like to go next? Rainbow’s, Fluttershy’s, Applejack’s or-”
“Rarity’s!” The enamored drake cooed, hearts in his eyes. Twilight stifled a laugh, shook her head, and took off towards Carousel Boutique.