All In A Day’s Work
On one of the slower street corners of Manehattan sat a relatively medium sized pink building with a banner reading “Sweets Emporium” proudly displayed across the top. Inside the sweet shop one of the owners trotted happily down the stairs from the apartment attached to the store. Her pink coat just happened to match the building’s exterior and even the cupcake on her flank was used for one of the designs on the banner. She hummed happily as she reached the bottom of the stairs, violet eyes scanning over the still dark store. A quick flick of her hoof solved that problem and the lights came on in all their florescent glory. She then moved over to the coffee maker and put on two pots. One for the early morning customers they were about to receive and the other for her roommate and business partner who was not quite the morning pony she was. Or maybe that was morning griffon.
The clicking sound of claws on wood and a low, irritating grumble alerted her to the fact that said partner was coming down to join her.
“Good morning sleepy head!” the earth pony greeted.
The griffon groaned as she cleared away a few eye boogers with her black talon.
“Too early in the morning,” she muttered, blinking her emerald green eyes open the rest of the way. “I swear, Cupcake, I don’t know how you can be so chipper this early.”
“Just excited to start another day of work I suppose!” she replied cheerfully.
The black and white griffon groaned again.
“Yeah well I need coffee to get my day started,” she grumbled as she walked over to the machine.
“It’s still brewing but it should be done here any minute,” Cupcake informed her.
“Ugh. I knew I should have stayed in bed a bit longer.”
“Ah come on Glinda, it’s not so bad!” her pony partner said with a wave of a hoof.
“Yeah, it’s worse,” Glinda retorted. “Why can’t we be one of those bakeries that open later in the day or at night?”
“Cause then you’d complain that we’re working long hours into the night,” Cupcake replied as she walked into the kitchen.
Glinda raised a talon to protest but then stopped and shrugged her off-white shoulders.
“Yeah you’re right,” she admitted as she followed Cupcake. “So what do we have to do first?”
“Well first can you..um...” Cupcake hesitated a bit as she pointed to her long, purple, pink and blonde mane.
Glinda rolled her eyes then walked over to the drawer where they kept the hair ties. The raven/white tiger hybrid moved over to her partner and used her talons to tie the tri-colored mane into a snug ponytail so none of it fell into the food.
“You know I’ve seen earth ponies with ponytails before,” she noted. “How do they do that without a griffon, dragon or even a minotaur around to help them?”
“Probably have a unicorn friend do it for them. Or another earth pony or Pegasus,” Cupcake noted.
“I guess. Also isn’t it kind of weird you have a hairstyle named after a part of your body?”
“Eh, that’s why I don’t think about these things too much,” the pink pony said with a shrug.
“Whatever,” Glinda scoffed with a roll of her eyes. “So what are we doing anyway?”
“Well let’s see,” Cupcake mused as she walked over to a far counter and looked over a list she had made last night. “We need to make some more minty brownies, choco cake, cherry poppers and of course griffon scones.”
“Yep I got that one. But first there’s something very important I have to do.”
“What’s that?”
“Check on the coffee!” the griffon remarked before she stepped back into the storefront.
Cupcake chuckled with a shake of her head then went to work baking up a fresh batch of goodies for the day.
( - ) ( - ) ( - ) ( - ) ( - ) ( - )
Once they had everything baked and set up, Cupcake flipped the door sign to the “Open” side and they waited for their first customer to arrive.
And waited.
And waited.
While Glinda idly sipped on her coffee and read through her book, Cupcake forced herself to keep her cheerful disposition. The first hour or so was always the slowest for them so there was no reason for her to get discouraged. They were a new place after all. Ponies just needed to learn they were there and they were sure to come in.
“Stop it,” Glinda spoke up, not looking away from her book.
Cupcake jumped a bit from being startled out of her thoughts.
“Stop what?” she asked innocently.
“That thing where you’re making things worse than they are in your head,” the griffon informed her. “The mornings are always slow at first. Which is fine by me. Gives me time to wake up,” she grumbled before she took another sip of her coffee.
“I know, I know,” Cupcake sighed and leaned her head on her left hoof. “I just want our business to do well. I mean we’re doing okay now but we can always do better!”
“You think I don’t? Of course I want it to succeed! But stressing about it isn’t gonna help.”
“You’re right, sorry. It’s just that these first few hours are always the most anxious for me,” she confessed.
“Really?! I hadn’t noticed,” Glinda replied with a heavy amount of sarcasm.
Cupcake was about to give a retort of her own when the bell attached to the front door rang out to let them know they finally had some customers. They watched as a grey Pegasus mare and a brown earth pony stallion practically jumped into the shop.
“There, we go customers. Ya happy?” Glinda remarked before she looked at the duo. “Welcome to Sweets Emporium whadda ya want?”
The rather uncourteous welcome earned her a quick elbow jab to the ribs from her partner. The hit made her jump up a bit then quickly change her expression to as pleasant a smile as her beak would allow as she folded her talons on the counter in front of her.
“I mean, how may I help you?” she restated in an overly polite and cheery tone.
“Do you have Lemon Muffin Surprise?!” the gray mare asked eagerly.
Glinda’s response, however, was halted by her surprised at the Pegasus’ mismatched yellow eyes which seemed to be looking in two different directions. Thankfully, though, before she could make a comment about them, Cupcake quickly jumped in front of her to address the customer’s concern.
“Yes we do! Hot and ready to go!” she declared.
“I’ll take eight!” the blonde mare shouted excitedly.
“Ditzy, I don’t think we have time for you to get eight muffins!” the stallion next to her said in a hurried tone.
“Come on Doc, there’s always time for muffins!” Ditzy cheered.
“Yes but-” Doctor Hooves started again but was quickly stopped by a surprisingly intimidating glare from his companion.
“There’s always time for muffins!” she repeated in a more aggressive tone.
“Alright, alright,” he said backing up a bit. “But we must hurry!”
“What’s the rush? Ya got somewhere to be?” Glinda scoffed, earning her an annoyed glare of her own from Cupcake.
“Well yes actually,” he replied, turning to her. “You see we have a thing. Well two things really,” he paused and tapped his chin in though. “More thing six things. Six things and a lizard.”
Glinda cocked a confused eyebrow at that last part.
“So you see it is vitally important that we get going as soon as we can and can’t be distracted by-Oh look they have Jelly Foals!” he suddenly proclaimed and pressed his muzzle up against the glass display of the multicolored treats. “Why I haven’t had one of these since I left Trottingham!”
“Actually we get these right from Trottingham,” Cupcake informed him. “Which does mean they’re a little more expensive. Sorry.”
“Oh it’s fine, it’s fine. I’ll take one bag please,” he request of Glinda.
Glinda nodded before she opened her side of the display and dug a plastic scoop into the box. She emptied the contents into a small paper bag and repeated the action until it was nearly full. Right as she placed the bag on the counter top, Cupcake placed the box of muffins next to it. A satisfied smile crossed the griffon’s beak as she rang up the order.
“That’ll be 12 bits,” she stated as she held out a talon.
Doctor Hooves looked over at Ditzy expectantly.
“Well?” he asked.
“What?” she replied cluelessly.
“Pay the fine ladies please.”
“Wait you want me to pay for yours as well?!” Ditzy asked indignantly.
“Well it was your idea to come here after all,” Doctor Hooves pointed out. “Besides, you know I don’t carry money.”
The wall eyed Pegasus straightened her eyes up enough to glare at him again and quickly muttered something under her breath before she reached into her saddlebag with a wing and produced the money. She placed it in Glinda’s talon then quickly snatched up her box of muffins while Doctor Hooves took his bag of Jelly Foals. The two then seemed to remember what they were doing and rushed back out the door.
“Off to a great start already,” Glinda remarked as she deposited the bits in the register.
( - ) ( - ) ( - ) ( - ) ( - ) ( - )
Shortly after their first two customers left, Glinda went in the back to check on her griffon scones. This left Cupcake alone to deal with the new customer that just walked in. The light grey stallion glanced at a few of the offerings in the displays in front of and behind the counter before he turned his attention to her.
“Give me a coffee with cream, sugar and some ice,” he said flatly.
Cupcake tilted her head at the last bit of the order.
“Um...ice?” she asked uncertainly.
“Yeah. Ice,” he repeated in a slightly annoyed tone.
“You mean an iced coffee. I’m sorry but we don’t serve those.”
The earth pony’s brow furrowed. “No I don’t want iced coffee! I want ice in my coffee!”
“I...what?” she asked, again baffled by the strange required.
“Oh my Celestia,” the stallion muttered. “Just listen carefully. I. Want. Ice. In. My. Coffee!”
“I’m sorry sir but we don’t have ice,” she informed him. “I mean we have milkshakes and chilled drinks but not just ice.”
“What do you mean there’s no ice?! You mean I gotta drink that coffee hot?!” he bellowed.
She tilted her head away from him nervously. “Yeeessss....?”
“Then forget it!”
He stamped a front hoof down before he turned and stormed out of the shop. Cupcake let out a relieved sigh once he was gone. She hated having to deal with irrate customers because she was not good with confrontations. That was more Glinda’s specialty.
Speaking of whom, she reappeared from the kitchen not too long after that incident with a fresh tray of griffon scones. As she used a set of tongs to place them in one of the behind counter displays, she happened to notice Cupcake’s rather frazzled expression.
“What’s wrong?” she asked as she set the empty tray down.
“Nothing. It’s nothing,” the mare said, forcing a smile.
Glinda sighed and removed her potholder gloves.
“Another customer get in your face?” she pried.
“Well...no. Not really. But...you think maybe we should have some ice available for drinks like...coffee?” she suggested in a very higher tone.
The black and white griffon blinked in astonishment.
“Tell me he did not want ice in his coffee?” she remarked incredulously.
Cupcake nodded.
“Okay, one that’s dumb!” Glinda pointed out. “And two, you have got to learn to stick up for yourself whenever that kind of stuff happens.”
“I know, I know,” the pink pony sighed and leaned on the counter. “It’s just that my mom told me to always be polite and positive and ponies will return the kindness. But ever since I moved here that’s been tested almost everyday.”
“Pfft. All my mom told me was to keep my beak shut while she was talking,” the griffon muttered as she too leaned on the counter.
“I guess that’s why we work so well together! We round each other out!” Cupcake observed, going back to her usual chipper attitude.
“Whatever,” Glinda scoffed again with a roll of her eyes.
( - ) ( - ) ( - ) ( - ) ( - ) ( - )
By midmorning things had slowed back down enough that Glinda returned to her book while Cupcake went into the back to inventory things. The bell once again signaled the arrival of a customer and by the time she looked up from her book she was already face to face with a black Pegasus stallion wearing a black fedora and red tie. She tapped a talon impatiently as he looked over the menu options just above her.
“I’ll have a Double Chocolatey Muffin and a bottle of chocolate milk please,” he ordered.
“Really going for the chocolate thing, aren’t ya?” Glinda remarked as she set about fulfilling the order.
He shrugged. “What can I say, it’s my weakness,” he joked then frowned a bit. “One of many actually.”
“Uh huh,” she replied, clearly not interested. “This gonna be for here or to go?”
“Oh. Um, here if you don’t mind,” he replied, just now noticing the small group of tables in the far left corner.
“It’s no fur off my flank,” she retorted as she set the items on a tray. “That’ll be 3 bits.”
He happily paid the amount then looped the tray’s bar around his neck to carry it over to one of the tables. As he happily munched away on the muffin and sipped on the milk, Glinda went back to her book again. She only got a few lines in, however, when something clicked in her head.
“Wait a minute,” she whispered then used a talon to save her place before she flipped to the book’s back cover.
She looked at the author’s profile picture then back up to the customer sitting at the table. She repeated the action a few more times until her eyes finally believed what they were seeing.
“It’s you!” she exclaimed.
He jumped a bit in shock.
“What’s me?!” he asked hastily.
“You’re Blackbird! The author of this book!” she said, holding up said book so that front cover as facing him.
He looked closer and noticed she as holding a copy of his fifth book “Grey Griffon and The Snow Beast”.
“Oh hey you’re reading one of my books!” Blackbird exclaimed happily. “So you a fan?”
“Kinda but I need to talk to you about some things!” Glinda declared as she flew over the counter and over to the table.
Oh crud! He thought in a panic as she landed in the chair across from him.
“I need to talk to you about your portrayal of Grey,” she started with a slight edge to her voiced. “What’s with making him so...nice?!”
He swallowed nervously as he tried to think of the best way to put his answer that wouldn’t result in a slash to the face.
“Well...you see,” he started unsurely. “I was trying to be accurate to griffon culture but...well it’s kind of hard to find a griffon around Equestria to actually ask them about...themselves.”
“Well griffons aren’t exactly the most sociable of creatures,” Glinda explained. “Especially around ponies.”
“Exactly!” Blackbird exclaimed then shrunk back a but under her glare. “And well I didn’t want to seem insensitive by portraying him in a completely negative light so I tried to make him just a little...rough around the edges.”
“Yeah I noticed that. He was a lot more gruff and snarky in the first two books. That I liked!” she praised. “But then he started being more...goody goody! Even at their best griffons aren’t like that!”
Blackbird sighed and rubbed his temple.
“You can blame that on my publisher,” he told her. “They felt the books weren’t selling well because Grey was ‘too mean’ and I should ‘lighten him up’. Course they’re still only selling a little better so that goes to show what they know!”
“So why don’t you just bring him back to the way you had him? Least he’ll be interesting again,” she remarked.
He stared at her for a second before he reached into his saddlebag and produced a quill and piece of paper.
“Here,” he said, sliding them towards her. “Can you please write that down so I can bring it to them and then maybe they’ll listen! Especially coming from an actual griffon!”
“Oh I’ll tell ‘em exactly what I think!” she commented with a smirk as she took the quill in her left talon.
“Glinda!” Cupcake’s voice rang from the kitchen door. “Are you bugging that customer?!”
“No, I’m talking to him! I can do that, ya know?!” she shot back.
“Since when?”
She paused for a second.
“There’s a first time for everything,” she said with less enthusiasm. “Besides he’s the author to the book I’m reading and I wanted to talk to him about it.”
Cupcake’s violet eye lit up. “Wait. He’s an author?! Like a famous author?!”
“I wouldn’t exactly say famous but...kinda known,” Blackbird told her.
“But you’re still somewhat of a celebrity, right?” she pressed.
“I...guess you could say that.”
“Good! Stay right there!”
She then zoomed upstairs to the apartment, leaving both Blackbird and Glinda in a state of confusion.
“What’s she doing?” he asked the griffon.
“Probably something annoying,” Glinda said in a flat voice.
Not much later Cupcake came back down with a camera hanging from her mouth by its strap. She trotted over to the table and placed it down on top of it so she could speak freely again.
“Would you mind if I took a picture of you for our wall?” she asked excitedly.
“Uh, yeah, sure that sounds cool,” Blackbird replied a bit surprised.
“Wait. Why are we putting it on the wall?” Glinda asked, still confused.
“It’ll be our wall of famous ponies who have come through here,” the pink mare explained.
“Since when did we have that?!”
“Since we had our first celebrity show up,” she replied, gesturing a hoof to Blackbird.
“Again, not entirely sure that word applies here,” he stressed.
“Oh it’s close enough!” Cupcake waved off. “So Glinda since you’re a such a big fan, why don’t you take a picture of him for us.”
The griffon rolled her eyes. “Alright already. Geez you can be pushy when you want to be.”
She then picked up the camera and gestured for Blackbird to do some kind of pose. After a second’s hesitation, he placed an elbow on the table and rested his head on his hoof to go for a “deep thinking” look. At least that’s what he was trying for but the camera’s bright flash forced him to close his eyes right when it was taken.
“There,” Glinda muttered as she handed the camera back to Cupcake.
“Thank you,” she smiled then looked at Blackbird. “And especially thank you! This will hopefully help bring some more customers in.”
“Oh no problem. I certainly know what it’s like to be struggling,” he confessed. “Hey how about this, I’ll make a dedication to this place in my next book. Sound good?”
“Sounds great!” Cupcake cheered and clapped her forehooves together.
“Cool. Then I guess I better get going and get back to it,” he said then got up from the table and turned to leave.
“Yeah what is taking that book so long anyway?” Glinda demanded.
“I’m...having some issues,” he sighed. “But it will get done! I promise you!”
“Better be before I loose my eyesight.”
“Aaaaw,” Blackbird moaned, lowering his head in shame.
Cupcake frowned then jabbed Glinda in the ribs again.
“Ow! Quit doing that!” the griffon snapped.
“Then stop being so rude!” Cupcake told her.
“I can’t help it! It’s how griffons are!”
“Which I’m gonna go tell my publisher! Hope to see you ladies again soon,” Blackbird said as he opened the door. “And let me know how that picture comes out!”
“Will do!” Cupcake replied with a smile and a wave.
He tipped his hat to them then stepped out side and flew off. Cupcake’s smile widened a bit as she looked at the camera sitting on the table. A celebrity endorsement. That should help. Yep, things were definitely looking up for them.
( - ) ( - ) ( - ) ( - ) ( - ) ( - )
By early afternoon they actually began to experience a rush that was leaving them a bit overwhelmed. They rushed around trying to fill as many orders as they could while more and more customers shouted new orders at them.
“I want a griffon scone!”
“I want a banana nut muffin!”
“One apple filled donut please!”
“Mommy get me ice scream!”
“Can I get a vanilla bean shake with extra oats?!”
“Did anypony ever tell you look like Princess Cadance?!”
“Can you change the tires on my cart?!”
“NO!” Glinda shouted at the last request, causing the pudgy pony to fall backwards.
“Glinda!” Cupcake snapped at her.
“What?! That was a stupid request and you know it!” she shot back.
“I know but less yelling and more working!”
“Fine!” she snarled as she bagged another customer’s order. “So we’re busy now, ya happy?!”
“Ask me again when this is over,” Cupcake sighed.
After nearly ten minutes of rushing around the crowd finally started to thin out until they were back to their normal trickle of customers. They used this downtime to restock and bake backups as well as do some much needed cleaning. Once they were caught up they returned to their normal positions behind the counter and actually enjoyed the calm and quiet for a change. It didn’t last too long though as a familiar ring caught their attention.
What they saw standing at the door, however, confused them to no end. The shape of its head kind of looked like a pony and they could make out the bottom of it’s hooves but aside from that there was no definitive shape to it. Not even a tail. It was just a big ball of pink...fluff. The...mare simply stood in the doorway for a few seconds looking straight at ahead at nothing.
“Can we...help you?” Cupcake asked unsurely.
“No. No I don’t think we can,” Glinda whispered to her.
“Shush! She’ll hear you!” the earth pony hissed quietly at her.
“Will she?” the griffon asked flatly.
As in response to her question the pink puffy pony practically glided up to the counter where she stared intently at Glinda for several, uncomfortable seconds.
“Well?! Whadda ya want?!” Glinda snapped at her.
The pink poof ball then raised a hoof and stared tapping on the glass.
“Thhbblllblbll,” was the only form of answer she gave.
The griffon behind the counter narrowed her eyes in annoyance.
“What?!” she asked indignantly.
“Pffft! Pff-pfft!” the odd pony stuck out her tongue again and tapped on the glass insistently.
“If you want something just SAY SO!!!” Glinda snarled, causing the pony’s pink fur to sweep back a bit.
“Are you saying you want the chocolate eclair?” Cupcake jumped in, hoping to stop the situation from getting worse.
The pony then nodded vigorously.
“Okay then! One chocolate eclair coming up!”
She then ducked behind the counter to pull the treat from the display case. She carefully wrapped it up then looked at the weird pink pony again.
“Well this be for here or to go?” she asked in her usually chipper voice.
“Pfffttt,” the fluffy mare replied.
“Um...” Cupcake stammered. “Sooo...to go then?”
She nodded vigorously.
“Alright then!” the earth pony smiled again before she placed the treat in a bit. “That’ll be one bit!”
The puffball retrieved the coin from...somewhere and placed it on the counter. She then let out a loud gasp as she Cupcake slide her the bag. She quickly snatched it up in her mouth before she turned and trotted out the door. Once she was gone, Glinda glared at her business partner.
“Okay another weird thing like that happens and I’m done!” she remarked.
( - ) ( - ) ( - ) ( - ) ( - ) ( - )
Later in the day, things had slowed down enough once again that Glinda took to sweeping around the tables while Cupcake dusted the glass in front of and behind the counter. She hummed happily to herself as she cleaned as well as took some mental notes on what was selling and what wasn’t so she could adjust her list for tomorrow accordingly. She set the duster down and took a moment to bask in a job well done when a shrill voice caused her to cringe a bit.
“Yose guys wanna by some fireworks?!” the voice from outside yelled loud enough for her to hear clearly inside.
“What was that?!” she asked, spinning around to the front of the store.
“Oh not again,” Glinda grumbled as she dropped her broom.
“What? What is it?” Cupcake asked in concern.
“Don’t worry I’ll handle it,” she told her as she flew towards the door.
“Handle what?! What is going on?!”
Instead of answering, Glinda flew out of the door and focused her sights on the offenders. A pair of delinquent earth ponies that showed up from time-to-time outside of the store to peddle fireworks to anypony walking by. Part of her had to admit it was kind of impressive they showed up so fast since they hadn’t been opened that long but most of her was annoyed they tended to drive away the small business they did have!
“Hey! What have I told you two punk about selling in front of the store?!” she growled, flying face-to-face with the taller, lankier one.
“To...uh...not do it during business hours?” he asked back in a less than intelligent tone.
She glared at him and his friend. They were a rather motley duo. The taller one had a long, blond mane that fell past this chin and his head was usually covered by a some kind of knit cap. His friend was shorter and stouter but he covered it up with a long black coat that probably held all these fireworks they kept trying to sell. He also never spoke a word which only served to annoy Glinda even more.
“I told you never to do it!” she barked at the blond one. “Now get out of here before I grab you by that ratty mane and beat him,” she pointed to the shorter one, “with you!”
They both stared in disbelief for a second.
“You can’t do that,” the tall one challenged.
She crossed her arms over her chest and hovered as she stared cold at them.
“Try me,” she challenged back.
Again they were silent for a moment.
“Eh forget it,” the blond waved off. “It’s not worth it. Come on, let’s go back to the Fast Pause where we’re wanted.”
“Tsk. I highly doubt that,” Glinda muttered as she watched them go.
She made sure they were completely out of sight before she landed on the sidewalk then stepped back into the shop to find a still confused Cupcake looking at her.
“What was that about?!” she demanded.
“Just a couple of punks that keep trying to sell stuff in front of the store,” Glinda informed her. “Don’t worry I think I scared them off for good this time.”
“‘Keep’?! ‘This time’?! Has this been happening and I haven’t noticed?!”
“You’re usually prepping stuff in the back when they do it. I told ya, it’s not big deal. They scare easily enough so I can get rid of ‘em we need to,” the griffon waved off as she picked up the broom again.
“It looked like a pretty big deal out there to me!” Cupcake retorted, pointing a hoof towards the window.
“Look I took care of it. Now stop throwing a fit, you’re giving me a headache,” Glinda said as she rubbed her forehead.
Cupcake scrunched her muzzle in annoyance then turned her head up with a “hmph”.
“I’m not throwing a fit, I’m just being a concerned business owner,” she insisted. “And the next time something like this happens I’d appreciate if you told me!”
“Fine, whatever!” the griffon growled.
“Don’t you ‘whatever’ me,” Cupcake grumbled as she stepped behind the counter once again. “Ms. I’m Too Cool for Everything.”
“What was that?!” Glinda snarled, whipping her head to the mare.
“Nothing!” she replied cheerfully.
( - ) ( - ) ( - ) ( - ) ( - ) ( - )
As afternoon gave away to evening, the duo slowed down their production and began to get ready to close. Though they were still going to be open for another hour or two, it never hurt to start putting things away now as well as going down to one oven. And of course their already slow trickle of customers went down so low they always considered just closing early. Or changing their hours altogether. Thankfully they hadn’t made any such decision though as a group of ponies suddenly entered. A surprisingly group as well because from their attire they looked like the royal guards that accompanied Celestia. Though their armor was darker and they seemed to be made out of...crystal? Well except for the orange Pegasus guard wearing the traditionally color armor.
“Presenting their royal highness Princess Cadance and Prince Shining Armor!” he declared to the nearly empty store.
“Royalty?!” Cupcake declared in a near panic. “We’re not ready to royalty!”
“Well freaking out’s not gonna help with that,” Glinda pointed out in a surprisingly calm tone.
“I know, I know! Okay Cupcake. Just breath. Breath. Don’t think about how this is a make or break moment for the store,” she mumbled mostly to herself as she took a few deep, calming breaths. “How’s my mane look? Good?”
“It’s fine,” the griffon rolled her eyes then smirked a bit. “I could put it back up in a ponytail if you want.”
“You think I should?”
She shrugged. “I really don’t care either way.”
“Well you should care because we have royalty coming!” Cupcake screamed.
“Actually we’re already here and you don’t need to make such a fuss. We’re perfectly fine with just-”
Princess Cadance stopped mid-sentence when she got a good look at Cupcake. The earth pony stopped herself when she got a good look at the princess. In fact every pony, and griffon, stopped what they were doing to look at the two. Cupcake had been told be a few ponies that she looked like Princess Cadance but of course she didn’t really listen to them because she had never met the princess. Until now. And now that they were face-to-face she had to admit there were some striking similarities. Their coats were a similar shade of pink, their manes and tails definitely held the same three colors in almost the same pattern and even their eye colors matched! Naturally the biggest differences were the wings and horn Cadance was sporting along with being taller. Still the similarities were enough to catch them all off guard. Enough to keep them all standing perfectly still. That was until Glinda slowly leaned over towards Cupcake.
“Whoa. This is freaky,” she whispered into the mare’s right ear.
Cupcake merely nodded in response.
“Well, um, ladies, we’re sorry to intrude like this but we’re in town for a diplomatic meeting and we thought we’d stop by somewhere to get a quick bite to eat,” Shining Armor explained, breaking the awkward tension.
“Yes. And this shopped looked like the perfect place we could come and have to ourselves for awhile,” Cadance added. “As much as I like to socialize it can get a big taxing when you’re swamped with ponies wanting your attention and autograph or a picture all the time.”
“Picture?” Cupcake asked, still in a bit of a shocked daze. She then shook her head to clear it out. “Oh a picture! Do you think we could get one with you to place on our wall?!”
“Wow C, you weren’t paying attention at all, were you?” Glinda teased.
“Oh. Right,” the mare remarked, ears dropping against her head. “Sorry that was insensitive and rude of me.”
“No it’s alright,” Cadance waved off. “I’m kind of used to it by now. Actually I was just about to ask if I could get a picture with you!”
“With me?”
“Of course! We’re practically twins and I don’t think anypony would believe me if I just told them!”
“I don’t think I believe it and I’m standing here!” Shining Armor remarked.
A round of laughter followed his joke and it thankfully helped break the tension. Pictures were quickly exchanged between Cupcake and Cadance before orders for her, Shining Armor and their quartet of guards were taken. They sat at a few of the tables and chitchatted amongst themselves and were even quite kind and talkative to Cupcake and Glinda. While a few ponies did stop and look through the window at the unusual gathering, few were brave enough to actually step inside. Those who were, were greeted with a pleasant chat with the princess and prince as well as the owners of the store. Which, in turn, ended up being very good publicity for them.
Eventually though they did have to leave and get back to their official duties.
“Well this has been a fun and...unique experience,” Cadance told Cupcake.
“You’re telling me,” she replied with a laugh. “Please come back anytime you want.”
“We just might if you keep making delicious treats like that,” Shining Armor said as he licked the crumbs of his cookie of off his lips.
“Although my next visit may have to be alone since my husband can’t seem to control his sweet tooth,” the princess said as she gave him a disapproving glare.
“What? They were good!” he protested.
“Well we do try our best,” Cupcake said with a satisfied smile.
“And judging by how much they ate, I’d say we did a good job,” Glinda remarked as she gathered up their trays.
“Again I noticed,” Cadance smirked, glancing at Shining Armor again. “We’ll be sure to give you a recommendation to all our friends.”
“Really?! That’s wonderful! Thank you so much!” Cupcake squealed with excitement before she lunged forward and gave the princess a huge hug. She then realized just who she was hugging and jumped back in embarrassment. “Sorry.”
“It’s fine,” the princess chuckled, saying it as much to her tense guards as she was to the other pink pony.
The guards relaxed then nodded to the princess before they exited the shop to scout the streets for any potential threat. Cadance and Shining Armor gave Cupcake and Glinda one last goodbye before they left as well. Even after they were gone, Cupcake still had a huge smile on her face.
“Royalty. We met royalty. And they’re gonna tell their friends about our place!” she beamed. “This is good! This is very, very good!”
“You know, if we do get more business we might actually have to hire on some more help. Those afternoon rushes are killing us,” Glinda pointed out.
“You’re right,” she agreed and tapped her chin. “The problem is I don’t think we can afford to hire anypony else on.”
“Well we gotta do something,” the griffon pointed out as she swept a few new crumbs off the floor.
Cupcake continued to lightly tap her chin as she mulled the idea over. Her thought train was brought to screeching halt, however, when she spotted a giant lizard running down the streets of Manehattan. It was followed closely by the brown stallion and grey Pegasus from this morning.
“I told you we shouldn’t have stopped to get muffins!” Doctor Hooves cried out.
“I’m so sorry Doc! I just don’t know what went wrong!” Ditzy shouted apologetically.
“Just keep going!” he told her.
Cupcake blinked a few times from her vantage point behind her glass then turned her head towards Glinda.
“Did you just see..?” she asked, not even sure how to finish that sentence.
“Nope,” Glinda stated flatly as she continued to sweep.
“Oh come on. You had to have seen something!” Cupcake pressed.
“I didn’t see anything and I’m sticking to that story.”
The earth pony puffed her cheeks in annoyance before she went over to the door and flipped the “Open” sign to the “Closed” side. She then flicked the lock shut and turned back to her partner.
“And with that I’m calling us done for the day,” she declared.
“Good. I’m ready to go back to upstairs and sleep for days,” Glinda said as she stretched a bit.
“Well you won’t get that much sleep,” Cupcake reminded her as she walked over to the counter. “We’ve still got another day of work ahead of us tomorrow.”
“Oh joy,” the griffon scoffed.
“Oh you know it’s not that bad. Despite some of the...more colorful moments of today it was a good day. And tomorrow can be an even better day if we try!”
“Ugh. I swear you cheeriness makes me more nauseous than eating everything in the store would.”
Cupcake merely stuck her tongue out at Glinda in response. She knew that deep down the griffon cared just as much about this place as she did. And soon enough it would be one of the top sweet shops in all of Manehattan. All she needed was to work hard, hold her beliefs and give it her best! All of which came easy to her because it was all in a day’s work.
The End