//------------------------------// // Chapter 82 - "Sweet Greetings" // Story: My Little Caboose II: Friendship is Fragmented! // by DarkWing //------------------------------// The four boys strolled through the town, curious as to where all the ponies were. Spike simply deduced that they were all most likely either busy, or looking at the construction site of the annual circus, watching it being completed. But, he also knew where he could always find some of the most hardworking ponies in all of Ponyville. "Here we are," Spike announced as they stopped in front of a large, gingerbread house looking building. "This is Sugarcube Corner. This is where you can get the best food in all of Ponyville. It's also where one of the nicest ponies, Pinkie Pie lives." "Is the house... edible?" Doc inquired curiously, noting what it resembles instantly. "No, it isn't. Trust me, I learned that the hard way," Spike winced as he rubbed his jaw, remembering an incident that he told no one about a few years ago. "But Mr. and Mrs. Cake should be inside. They work especially hard during this time of the year because they usually help supply the circus with their food." "What do they make?" Donut asked innocently. "Pinkie Pie lives here," Spike said simply. Donut simply shrugged at him. "Mr. and Mrs. Cake? That doesn't tell you anything?" Donut shook his head and Spkie slapped his face lightly. "It's in the shape of a gingerbread house." "Oh. Ohhhhh, so it is!" Donut said happily. For a few moments, the others stared at Donut as he smiled at the building. Donut then looked down at Spike and frowned. "So what do they make here?" "Just come inside," Spike grunted as he walked up to the door and pushed it open. As he did that, a small bell rang from above. "Welcome to Sugarcube Corner," a chubby mare said as she smiled, knowing to always smile for the customers. When she saw who it was, her smile became even more genuine. "Oh, hello, Spike. What brings you all the way down here?" "Hey Mrs. Cake. I'm showing some friends around town and felt that you were a good choice to begin with. Where's the Mr.?" he asked. "Oh, he's out right now talking to the boys down at the construction site. But I'm sure your friends can meet him later." "I guess so," Spike laughed as he pulled the door open some more. "Come on, guys. It'll be difficult to introduce yourselves if there's a wall between you." Mrs. Cake smiled as Donut trotted in with Doc following close behind. She opened her mouth to greet the,, but the smile disappeared as the large, seven foot tall monstrosity walked in and her introduction quickly became something reminiscent of a screech of fear. "Woah, woah, woah, calm down Mrs. Cake!" Spike said quickly. "This is my cousin, Junior. He's a dragon, like me, obviously." "I've never met a dragon that looked like him before," she said through chattering teeth. "How many dragons have you met?" he asked. "...Good point," she said reluctantly. "He's a lot bigger than you are, though," she added, taking a nervous step back from the hulking... thing. "The last time I saw a dragon that big was back when you--" "You don't have to worry about him, he's not into collecting treasure," Spike said quickly as he waved his claws at her to calm her down,, knowing exactly what she was talking about. "He's always just been the big cousin. More into, uh... collecting friends, not collecting treasure. He's the kind that gets picked first in sports, y'know?" "Oh, well..." she trailed off. After a brief moment, she cleared her throat and smiled at Junior. "I suppose if you say he isn't dangerous, I'll give him the benefit of the doubt. Who are your two new friends?" "Finally! I thought I'd never get to introduce myself!" Donut huffed impatiently, tired of waiting to make friends. "My name is Donut. The purple guy behind me is Doc!" "Nice to meet you, Donut," she chuckled, being reminded of Caboose. She then looked past him at the more reserved Doc. "It's nice to meet you as well, Doc." "Likewise," Doc said with a smile. "So, how can I help you boys? I can only assume you're not just here to meet little ol' me," she said. "Well, we did come here for snacks, but we didn't not come here to meet you, either," Spike explained simply. "These guys moved into town today and I decided that while I was out introducing others to my cousin that I'd help them meet others as well. I felt that you were probably one of the best first stops to make." "Oh, Spike, you always know just what to say," she giggled, blushing lightly. Reaching into the glass display, she grabbed four treats and placed them on top of the counter. "Here, you guys can each have one on the house." "Wow, thanks! You're really nice," Donut said as he munched on the brightly colored tart that his nickname was inspired by. "And this tastes really nice too," Doc added as he bit into his. "It tastes great, but it's not overpoweringly rich." "We strive to make nothing but the best," she said firmly, filling with pride at her work. "Nothing but home-grown ingredients and hard work are put into our snacks and treats. If it's anything less than perfect, we usually throw it away or eat it ourselves, but we never put it on the shelves." "Hey, that rhymed!" Donut pointed out. Licking his lips free of sprinkles, he coughed lightly and kicked at his feet bashfully. "Can I have another one? I promise I'll pay you back as soon as I can!" "Oh, okay. Only because you're so nice," she said with a wide smile.Mrs. Cake reached into the display and grabbed another treat for the pleasant stallion that stood before her and held it out to him. "Don't worry about paying me back. A few treats won't put us under." "Amaziiiiiiiiing!~" Donut sang happily as he stuffed it in his mouth. "When I get a job, I'm going to come here all the time to get my food supply." "I have to say, Spike, I'm liking your friends," she said, looking to the small dragon that was licking icing off of his pinky claw. Looking to the large reptilian creature before her, her smile faded slightly, watching him as he stared curiously at the sweet. "Is something wrong, dear?" "He's just not used to much food besides blo-- I mean gems," Spike grunted, nudging him in the leg. "C'mon, they taste good." Junior looked at Spike, then back to the snack. With a shrug, he tossed the whole thing in his mouth and swallowed it. Junior tasted around his mouth and licked the inside of his jowls clear of icing. "[Might not be what I'm used to, but it's good,]" Junior said as he nodded his head once. "He approves," Spike translated, giving Mrs. Cake a quick claws up. "Man, we should tell Grif about this place!" Donut chirped. "He'd love it here!" "Oh, you're friends with Grif?" she asked brightly. "Yup! Grif and I are really good friends! Not as good as friends as me n' Doc, but we're still really close." "He actually knows about this place. In fact, Grif happens to be one of my best customers," she chuckled. "Usually comes in around this time to grab a small bag of treats to eat before and after his daily cloud naps." "That Grif loves his naps," they said together and began to giggle lightly. "And since you're friends with Grif, I also assume you know Caboose?" Donut nodded in reply. "He's bunking with us still. He's a nice boy. Maybe not the smartest in the bunch, but smarts aren't always the best thing to have around. Sometimes the best kind of pony is the one that makes you smile when you're feeling down. I suppose that's why Pinkie likes him so much. They think so much alike." "Yeah, Caboose is really nice! He was always my favorite person from the Blue team!" "What do you mean?" Mrs. Cake asked, eyebrows raised with a smirk. "He means that he's his favorite blue pony friend. He knows a lot of ponies with blue fur," Doc said quickly, putting his hoof over Donut's mouth yet again, wondering at the back of his mind how many times he'd have to do this. Before any more questions were asked, the door behind them opened and the bell above the door began to jingle heavily. "Speaking of..." Mrs. Cake said with a smile, causing the others to turn around. "Good afternoon, Grif." "Sup, Mrs. Cake?" Grif asked with a smirk as he looked past the others, then offered them a brief nod before walking past them towards the counter. "Looking as beautiful as always." "Oh, you," she chuckled lightly as she began to put some food in a small pink box. "I'm doing fine today. I just met your fine friends here. Why didn't you tell me they were so charming?" "Charming?" Grif scoffed lightly, then shook his head as he tossed a small bag of bits onto the counter. "I don't think that's the right word for them... Sorry I'm a few minutes late. Kinda got held up on the way here. In fact, I'm probably gunna have to keep these for a few hours before I can actually take my nap." "What's taking so long?" a shrill voice called from outside. "Oh, who's that?" the pastry-loving mare asked curiously. "That doesn't sound like Fluttershy." "That's because that's my sister, Sister." "Your sister-sister?" she repeated. "No, she's my sister. We just call her Sister," Grif murmured as he coughed. "Sis, come in and say hello." "You're not Dad, you can't tell me what to do!" Sister yelled from outside. "Kaikaina!" he snapped in frustration. "Ugh, fine!" Sister grunted with a thundering harumph. Walking in with a scowl, Sister glared at Grif and stuck her tongue out at him. "Very mature," Grif said. "Your mom's mature!" "We have the same mom!" "Yeah, well... my dad can beat up your dad, bitch!" "We have the same dad too!" he snapped. Turning around, his anger quickly faded and he offered Mrs. Cake an apologetic smile as he grabbed the box with his teeth and tossed it on his back. "Sorry about her, she gets kinda testy when... well, she's pretty much always like this. Kai, say hello to Mrs. Cake. She's the one who makes my daily snacks." "Hey," Sister said briefly. "Hello, dear," Mrs. Cake said, giving her a gentle smile. "It's nice to meet you. Grif never told me he had a sister." "That's 'cause he's embarrassed of me. I was always the favorite." "Good job, you were our parents favorite failure," Grif said, rolling his eyes. "Hey, Grif, you busy?" Donut inquired. "Depends. Too busy for what?" "We're trying to make friends an meet ponies in town! We'd love it if you could come along and--" "Yeah, that's not happening. I've gotta show Sister where Fluttershy lives. Convinced her to let Kaikaina stay with us for a bit until I can find her a place to stay." "What about Applejack's farm?" Spike asked. "Yeah, you see, I thought that would be good, but little miss... romantic over here already started hitting on her brother. Two minutes within meeting him, she was all over him. Don't know Big Mac well enough to let her stay there." "Pft, you're just mad you're not a hunky stallion like him! Instead you're kinda fat and lazy," Sister taunted from the doorway "You know, if you were a little bit closer I'd think about considering doing something about what you just said," he said, squinting his eyes as he pointed at her. Shrugging off the insult, he began to walk towards her. "Whatever. See you girls later. I'll be back around this time tomorrow if my hooves aren't full with this one." "That's fine, dear," Mrs. Cake said, pausing for a second when her eyes met with Sister's. "It was a pleasure to meet you." "Yeah, same," she replied nonchalantly, right before Grif pushed her out the door. "Took you long enough. I thought you'd never get out of there." "It barely took one minute," Grif grunted. Looking at a spot close by, Grif nodded at Fluttershy and smiled at her gently. "Ready to go?" Fluttershy smiled stiffly and bobbed her head lightly. Grif sighed happily and began to trot down the trail. "Great. The sooner she gets settled in, the sooner I can have a nap."