//------------------------------// // Chapter 4 // Story: Small Town, Big Business // by Shamrock95 //------------------------------// "So, Cloudchaser," Hotshot said as he placed yet another tray of oat burgers on the counter, "since you're such a frequent customer here, I wondered if perhaps you heard of our new delivery system that we plan to implement in the next few days?" Cloudchaser paused in greedily snatching up her burgers to look at Hotshot. Like Thunderlane, she too had ballooned in weight since taking that first fateful bite a fortnight ago. She now sported a round, swaying belly and a well-padded rump, as well as a thicker neck and a pair of chubby cheeks that gave her foal-like dimples. Also like Thunderlane, she seemed to be oblivious to how much she had gained. "Delivery system?" she repeated. Hotshot nodded. "That's right. I need to get a couple more ponies on board before I can actually go ahead with it, but you can sign up for it today if you want. You can have any food you want delivered to your door at any time of day. Payment is either cash on delivery or credit. What do you say?" The thought of getting food delivered to her door made Cloudchaser's face light up like a hundred-watt bulb. Both she and Flitter were finding it harder and harder to make the flight across town to Hotshot's, and being able to cut their multiple trips there out entirely seemed like a dream come true. "That sounds fantastic!" she said eagerly, her large gut swaying as she leaned forward in anticipation. "I'd like to sign up right now." "Excellent," Hotshot replied. "I just need twenty bits up front and you'll be good to go." Cloudchaser nodded absent-mindedly and handed over her money before trotting out carrying two grease-soaked paper bags stuffed with cheap oat burgers. Once she'd left, Hotshot turned off his charming salespony demeanour and engaged his calculating businesspony mode. He flipped the sign on the front door from "open" to "closed", taking advantage of a rare break in his afternoon rush. He made his way through the kitchen to the room beyond that served as his office. The room was sparsely but practically furnished, with a small filing cabinet, a desk and a swivel chair. Hotshot sat down in the chair and took hold of a list that was lying on the desk. On the list were the names of the other major food businesses in Ponyville. Hotshot knew full well that those businesses would have been struggling more and more as more of the town fell into the grip of his food. The way he saw it, they'd leap at the chance to join in on his success. Once they agreed to join him, he could use them to sell his goods to even more ponies and spearhead his delivery service, helping him rake in even more money than he already was. Once again, a pragmatic approach. It was time for a little acquisition. "Oh, come on, Caramel! Are you sure I can't tempt you to at least a teeny-weeny cupcake? They're like, super-duper-looper tasty!" Pinkie Pie put on her widest smile and tried once again to cajole Caramel into buying some of her baked treats, but Caramel shook his head irritably. "If it doesn't have chilli hay fries in it, I'm not interested," he said snippily, before turning and walking away, his well-padded rump bouncing slightly as he did so. Pinkie's ears flattened and she hung her head. This was the fifth day in a row that the Cakes hadn't had any business—everypony was too busy eating at that new restaurant across town. She'd been trying for the past hour to convince passers-by to take their business to Sugarcube Corner instead, but had only received a few terse responses for her troubles. With an uncharacteristically dejected air about her, she turned and headed back inside. When she re-entered the shop, she saw both Mr. and Mrs. Cake standing at the counter and talking to a teal earth pony stallion. Immediately, her heart soared. A customer! An actual customer! Maybe the Cakes weren't going out of business after all! Before Pinkie could say anything, though, Mr. Cake noticed her standing in the doorway. "Ah, Pinkie!" he called. "Come in, sweetheart. We've got some great news for you!" "Yes, indeed we do," the stallion agreed. He turned and gave Pinkie a big winner's smile. "I don't believe we've met before, Miss... Pinkie, was it? My name is Hotshot, and I'm here with a little business opportunity for Sugarcube Corner." "It's the miracle we've been waiting for!" Mrs. Cake gushed. Pinkie looked confused. "But wait, aren't you the guy who was taking business away from us? Why do you want to help us, all of a sudden?" Hotshot chuckled. "Oh, Miss Pinkie, business doesn't have to always be sink or swim. If it's in their best interests, there's nothing wrong with two businesses helping each other out." He spun around to address the Cakes as well as Pinkie, who was now listening to him curiously. "Did you know that the Chineighse use the same word for 'crisis' as they do for 'opportunity'? Well, that's the philosophy I've always espoused. There's no point in driving yourself into the ground when you can potentially join forces with another and succeed together, is there?" "There most certainly isn't," Mr. Cake agreed. "But wait, I don't understand," Pinkie clamoured. "How can we do business with each other?" "Well, as I was explaining to the Cakes before you got here, Pinkie," Hotshot explained, "I've been getting more demands for food than I can keep up with on my own. So what I suggest is that Sugarcube Corner become a subsidiary of Hotshot's Grill. You'll all still be working here, except that you'll be selling my own line of baked goods rather than yours. As well as that, I may need some help with my home delivery service that I'm planning to implement. The Cakes tell me that you know Ponyville like the back of your hoof, right?" "Yes, sirree!" Pinkie said, nodding her head rapidly. "Great, then you should be perfectly suited to making speedy deliveries. We'll split the profits evenly, and you'll also get a significant discount on my own food. You see? It's a deal that benefits everypony. Crisis into opportunity." "We can't thank you enough, sir," Mrs. Cake said, looking at Hotshot with shimmering eyes. "My husband and I were almost certain that we'd have to close our doors for good." "Well now, I wouldn't be very altruistic if I let that happen, would I?" Hotshot smiled. "I'm so glad that we were able to come to an arrangement. I'll deliver the first consignment of baked goods shortly." "Wow!" Pinkie said, looking ready to burst with joy. "You know, when you first came to town, I thought you'd be one of those super-greedy meanie-pants sort of business owners, no offense of course, but now I can see that you're actually the good kind of business owner! I can't wait to start selling your baked goods, I bet they're awesome!" Hotshot laughed. "It's always lovely to see a mare with such enthusiasm!" he said, as he stepped out of the door. "I look forward to doing business with you all!" As Hotshot left the building with the Cakes and Pinkie waving cheerily after him, he mentally crossed Sugarcube Corner's name off the list in his head. There was one other business he wanted to take a look at that day, off on the other side of town. A second, smaller bakery, owned by somepony named Bon Bon. Hotshot understood that she wasn't the sort of mare who would easily buy into a partnership. If acquisition wasn't an option, then he'd take a look at the next best thing: elimination. A short walk through town brought him to the bakery, where the front door was open to reveal Bon Bon herself standing at the counter. There were no customers and, judging by her despondent expression, there hadn't been any for a while. Hotshot stepped inside. "Can I help you, sir?" Bon Bon asked, looking at him hopefully. "I hope so, ma'am, I hope so," Hotshot replied. "My name is Hotshot, owner and proprietor of Hotshot's Grill." Immediately, Bon Bon's expression changed from hopefulness to mild distaste. "Oh, yes?" she said, not even trying to hide the hint of venom in her voice. "Look, Miss Bon Bon," Hotshot said cajolingly, "you should know as well as I do how cutthroat the food industry can be. We don't have to be competitors, you know. I've come to you today to propose that..." "No," Bon Bon said simply. Hotshot missed a beat. "Pardon me?" "I said, no. I'm not interested in whatever you're planning to propose to me. I built this business..." Bon Bon gestured around the shop with a sweeping motion of her hoof. "...up from the dirt, and I didn't need anypony's help to do it, nor do I need help now. Especially not from a rival." Hotshot fumed internally. These Celestia-damned country rubes, I swear... "Miss Bon Bon, I understand that pride is important to you. But please, be reasonable here." "Reasonable?" Bon Bon scoffed. "You think that me rolling over and letting you buy me out is reasonable? Well, let me tell you something, Mister Hotshot," she spat. "I've been in this business for nearly five years. I did it all. By. My. Self. I went bankrupt four times before I finally started to take off. I've had competition from no less than three other businesses in this town alone, and I have done fine. So, believe me, I'm not about to close my doors for you, or anypony else." Bon Bon puffed, her face slightly flushed from her mini-rant. Hotshot blinked. He hadn't expected Bon Bon to be quite this vitriolic. Acquisition clearly wasn't an option. Elimination it was, then. Hotshot sighed. "Very well, Miss Bon Bon. I can see there's no changing your mind about this. Sorry for wasting your time." He turned around as if he meant to leave. Bon Bon watched him with a triumphant expression, which quickly turned to shock as Hotshot spun around and shoved something into her mouth with lightning speed. A combination of shock and instinct made her bite into the doughy object and swallow it without thinking. Her eyes briefly rolled into the back of her head, before her legs started to tremble. Hotshot watched her with a triumphant expression of his own. "Enjoyed that, did you?" he said silkily. "That was one of my very own cookies, Bon Bon. Would you like another one?" Bon Bon shivered and moaned, completely under the blubbercup essence's spell. Hotshot leaned over the counter and whispered in her ear like a seductive lover. "All you have to do is close your doors, and you can have as many of them as you can handle." Bon Bon moaned again, then nodded. "Okay," she mumbled, "okay." Satisfied that he had her under his control, Hotshot left a bag of cookies on the counter. He turned and left wordlessly just as Bon Bon tore the bag open and voraciously devoured the cookies behind him. Fluttershy hummed happily as she got together her equipment for the butterfly migration that weekend. She always looked forward to the migration every year, and never lost that sense of foal-like wonder from watching such simple and delicate creatures move with such precision and coordination. It was poetic, in a way... A knock at the door startled Fluttershy out of her reverie. She went to the door and opened it to find Pinkie Pie standing there with a smile and a paper bag in her mouth. "Why, hello, Pinkie. What brings you out here?" Fluttershy asked. "I juft wanne' do..." Pinkie placed the bag on the ground and started again. "I just wanted to come by and offer you some of Hotshot's doughnuts. We started working with him today, and I wanted to get in some practice as a delivery mare!" "Hotshot's doughnuts?" Fluttershy repeated. "Isn't he that pony who opened that new restaurant where Quills and Sofas used to be?" "Yep!" Pinkie nodded. "He was doing so super-duper well that he decided to join up with us and let us sell his food at Sugarcube Corner! Wasn't that so kind of him? I was so sure we were going to go out of business! Anyways, I already visited Applejack and Rarity and they just loved his doughnuts. In fact, they loved them so much that they've put in orders for the next month! And then I tried some and I loved them so much that I had to stop myself from eating yours, too! I had to keep telling myself, 'No, Pinkie, these are for Fluttershy', and it was like really hard, but I did it! So I'm sure you'll love them, too! Well, gotta go, Fluttershy, gotta be up nice and early for my delivery job tomorrow, see ya round!" And with that, Pinkie had bounced off, leaving Fluttershy looking a little dazed. From what she'd gathered from Pinkie's gabbling, the doughnuts in the bag were very good. Shrugging, Fluttershy nosed into the bag and took a bite. Her mane stood on end and her wings sprung outwards, before she leapt on the bag like a lion tearing into an unfortunate gazelle. Meanwhile, Pinkie Pie continued to happily bounce for home, blissfully unaware that she had sealed not just her own fate, but that of her friends, as well.