Jonathon Smythe's Write-Off Compilation

by Jonathon Smythe

Muffins - One Little Mistake - Slice-of-Life

“Huff… huff…,” pants a light brown earth pony, with his two front hooves on a kitchen counter, “Man, how do the Cakes do this, day in and day out?” He steadies himself, grabs a hold of the wooden spoon in front of him, and starts stirring the mixture in front of him with gusto.

After a couple of minutes, the kitchen timer dings, and the pony releases the spoon, brings his hooves off of the bench, and collapses where he stands. He shakes his head a couple of times, careful not to dislodge the hair net around his dark brown mane, stands up, grabs the bowl with his mouth and moves over to a tray of muffin cases.

He hesitates for a moment, shrugs his shoulders and transfers the bowl to his front hooves. He moves closer to the tray, standing on his hind legs, and slowly starts to pour the mixture into the cases. Carefully… Carefully… Very carefully, he manages to pour most of the mixture into the cases. “The rest can be mini cakes,” he says, referring to the small globs of muffin mixture on the tray.

“Oh, I do hope Ditzy likes them,” Time Turner says, before turning to the oven, opening it, and putting the muffins inside. He then removes his hair net, sets the kitchen timer, and starts cleaning up the various messes he’s made in the kitchen.

---

“I’m home!” A perky voice proclaims, making Time Turner’s ears prick up.

“Ditzy! How was work today?” Time Turner asks.

“Today was… Not the best of days, to be honest,” she says, with a wan smile on her face. “Turns out, ponies don’t like it when you throw the paper at their door.”

“Well, that doesn’t sound so-”

“While they’re opening it.”

Time Turner makes an “Oh” sound before replying, “I can see why they might get upset with that. But still, that’s just one pony-”

“Who then went to the post office, told my manager, and got my pay cut for the day. I didn’t even hit him!” Ditzy huffs, taking a deep breath, and pausing. “Do I smell… muffins?” Turner grins, and nods his head, before turning and walking into the kitchen.

“Yep! I made them myself! Although I can see why you usually go to the Cakes for these. Muffins are hard work!”

“It’s so that they taste better when you eat them,” Derpy says matter-of-factly. “So what flavor are they?”

“Blueberry! I always liked blueberry, and I don’t really know what your favorite flavor is, so…” Turner looks at Ditzy, who looks disappointed. “Ditzy? What’s wrong? Do you not like blueberries? Oh, I knew I should have gone with apples, but after that one filly nearly forced one down my throat…”

“No, it’s not that. I actually really like blueberries, but… Well, I’m just… Super allergic to them. Like, throat-closing allergic. Sorry…”

Time Turner’s breath catches in his throat, before he spurts out, “Sorry? Nonono, you don’t need to be sorry, I’m sorry! I didn’t know you were allergic, and you almost ate one, and if you hadn’t asked what flavor they were, you would’ve eaten one, and your throat would’ve closed up, and you could’ve died-” Turner starts hyperventilating, his eyes filling with tears, while Ditzy looks on, perplexed.

“Turner? Are you okay? It’s alright, I didn’t eat any of them, so I’m not in any danger,” Derpy starts moving closer to Turner, before putting her hoof on his shoulder, shocking him out of his stupor. “Timey? Calm down, okay? You’re going to be fine. I’m going to fine. Everything is fine. Okay? It’s just one little mistake, no big deal. And now you know, alright? You’re okay. You’re okay.” She starts patting his neck, bringing him closer to her. Time starts to calm down, getting his breathing under control.

“A-are you sure you’re okay? I-I mean, I almost…”

“I’m okay, okay? You don’t have to worry.”

“R-right. Sorry,” he takes a deep breath before continuing, “Hey Ditzy…”

“Yeah? What is it?”

“What’s your favorite flavor of muffin?

“It’s banana.”

“...”

“...”

“Hey Ditzy?”

“Yeah?”

“Wanna make some muffins with me? I promise I won’t accidentally try to kill you.”

“Yeah,” Ditzy giggles. “But we should probably clean all the cooking stuff first.”

“Oh, right. Yeah, that’s a good idea.”

They both share a good-natured giggle before heading into the kitchen to make some muffins.

Comments

[Themaskedferret]

Very cute.