MVC: Muffins vs. Cupcakes

by Page Turner

Chapter 2: Go Ahead, Bake My Day

Chapter 2

Go Ahead, Bake My Day

Lyra and Bon-Bon were having a completely ordinary day so far. Well, as ordinary as a day can be for an Aspiring Voice Actress/Confectioner and a Musician/Conspiracy Theorist/Human Enthusiast. Unfortunately for them, their day was about to get much more bizarre.

“...and that’s why we need to be prepared for when the humans come,” Lyra finished.

“It’s also why you’re completely insane," Bon-Bon retorted. “I keep telling you, there’s no such thing as humans.”

“Prove it.”

“I don’t HAVE to prove it! You prove to me that humans DO exist!”

“You just have no sense of adventure.”

“No, YOU have no sense of reality!”

The two ponies continued to bicker as they trotted down the street. An outsider seeing the two constantly arguing like this would likely come to the logical conclusion that the two did not get along. They would be wrong. Lyra and Bon-Bon were about as close as two mares could be. Not only were they roommates, but they both thought of the other as the sister that fate had forgotten to give them, and the constant banter between them was their way of showing affection. Lyra was just about to make a stinging retort when she noticed the crowd that had gathered in front of Sugarcube Corner. “What do you suppose all that’s about?” she asked instead.

“I don’t know," Bon-Bon replied. “Lets check it out!”

Closer inspection proved that the crowd was not gathered around Sugarcube Corner after all, but rather, the until-recently vacant property on the other side of the road. The plain looking building now had a sign hanging over the door that read: ‘Derpy’s Muffinry, The bestest muffins in all of Equestria!’ Underneath this sign hung a banner: ‘Grand Opening! every tenth custumer gets their muffins freee!’

Lyra and Bon-Bon looked at it curiously. Finally, Bon-Bon spoke up. “That’s not grammatically correct.”

“Who cares about that?” Lyra replied. “We finally have a place that sells good muffins!”

“How do you know they’re good?” Bon-Bon asked. “You haven’t had one yet.”

“The sign says so.”

“You can’t believe everything you read.”

“Where’d you hear that?”

“I read it in a book once." Seeing Lyra’s look of triumph, Bon-Bon quickly backpedaled. “Uh, I mean... THAT’S NOT THE POINT!”

“I win," Lyra stated smugly as she trotted ahead into the crowd.

“You just keep telling yourself that," Bon-Bon replied. “Hey, where are you going?”

Lyra looked back at Bon-Bon. “To get some muffins, of course," she replied,

“And how do you plan to pay for them?”

“Why should I have to pay? I’m going to watch the line and not get in until I know that my turn is the free one. It’s called ‘math’.”

“That’s cheating!”

“So?”

“It's wrong!”

“You gonna give me some money?”

“No.”

“Then I'm going ahead with my plan," Lyra turned herself back around and waded into the crowd. Bon-Bon, after a moment of hesitation, followed.

++++++

How does Pinkie Pie do this? Ditzy Doo thought. There had been a nonstop wave of ponies coming into the shop all morning. She was really proud of her success, but taking all these orders one after the other was surprisingly exhausting, and on top of that, her supply was running low. At this rate, she was going to run out of inventory by lunchtime. That would not be good for business. Fortunately, her salvation was on the way, in the form of a mint green unicorn seeking a steady income.

“Hey Derpy!” Lyra said.

“Hi Lyra! How's the band?”

“Not that good. We haven't played anywhere decent in weeks! It's getting to the point where I may have to start looking for a real job." She shuddered at the thought.

“Well, I could use some help around here." Ditzy looked from side to side surreptitiously, (which was easy for her since she could check both directions at once) and then beckoned Lyra to lean in closer. “To tell you the truth, I'm a bit worried about running out of stock. If I can't get away from the counter, I can't make enough muffins for all these customers," she whispered.

“So you want to hire me?” Lyra asked.

“Well, maybe,” Ditzy began. “I’ll need you to turn in some sort of application, and then we’ll have to conduct an interview..."

“I need a job, and I love muffins.”

“You’re hired.”

“Wait, just like that?” Bon-Bon suddenly spoke up.

Once again, Lyra gave her that maddening ‘what are you, crazy?’ look. “Well, yeah. Derpy asked for an application, so I told her I needed a job. She said I’d need to do an interview, so I gave a qualification.”

Bon-Bon was silent for a moment. “Wow. That actually makes some bizarre kind of sense,” she finally said with a touch of fear in her voice. “I think your insanity is starting to rub off on me.”

++++++

Pinkie Pie ground her teeth in frustration. This wasn’t a good start to the game. The work day was almost half over and Pinkie had only gotten five customers. Derpy, on the other hoof, had customers literally lining up around the block. Pinkie took a deep breath to calm herself. Of course business would be slow on the first day, After all, the Muffinry was new, and it was only natural for ponies to want to try something new, especially when free food was a factor. Perhaps she should talk to the Cakes about offering some sort of promotional gimmick... Pinkie was interrupted from her thoughts by the all too welcome tinkling of the bell over the door.

“Welcome to Sugarcube Corner!” Pinkie called. “What can I do for you today?”

“Hi, Pinkie Pie. You can start by telling me what’s going on across the street," said the newcomer, who turned out to be Rainbow Dash.

“Oh, that. Ditzy and I decided to play a game to find out if cupcakes are better than muffins! (They are.) She bought that house across the street and turned it into her own bakery! Now all I have to do is run her out of business and I win!”

Dash looked around at the deserted sweet shop. A random tumbleweed blew past, despite the fact that they were indoors and nowhere near the desert. “So far you don’t seem to be off to a very good start,” she pointed out.

Pinkie waved a hoof dismissively. “Oh, that’s just because everypony wants to try the new place. By tomorrow they’ll all be back in here again. You’ll see.”

Dash shrugged. “Whatever you say, Pinkie.”

“Hey Dashie, can I ask you a favor?”

“What is it?”

Pinkie held a box of cupcakes in front of Dash’s face. “Buy these cupcakes, and then go outside and give them away.”

“Um... Why?”

“Duh. Derpy’s getting a lot of business by giving away free muffins, so I’ll give away some free cupcakes to counteract it! It’s the perfect plan!”

“Well, I guess...”

“Yay! Thanks Dashie! I knew I could count on you!”

++++++

That night Ditzy Doo went home more exhausted than she ever had in her life.

“Welcome home, Mommy!” a small voice called as she entered. A moment later, an equally small unicorn ran up to her and gave her a big hug. “How was work today, Mommy? You look tired!”

“It was a lot tougher than I expected,” Ditzy admitted. “How about you, little muffin? How was your day?”

“Great!” Dinky replied. “Miss Harvest came over this afternoon!”

“Really? What did she need?”

“I dunno, maybe you should go ask her. She’s still here.”

“Oh, okay. Where is she?”

“She’s in the living room,” Dinky replied, pointing a hoof behind her. Ditzy followed the little hoof with one of her eyes. Sure enough, she could see the top of Golden Harvest’s fiery mane over the back of the sofa. Upon hearing herself being talked about, she turned and gave Ditzy a wave. “Hey Derpy!”

Ditzy trotted over to the sofa and sat down next to her oldest friend. “Hey Carrot Top!” She replied. Much like everypony called Ditzy Doo ‘Derpy’ because of her eyes, Golden Harvest had picked up the name ‘Carrot Top’ due to her bright, orange mane. She was also a carrot farmer, so that may have had something to do with it.

“I heard you’ve decided to go into business for yourself,” Golden said. “How is it?”

“Exhausting,” Ditzy replied.

“I’ll bet. You look like a plushie that’s been dragged behind a cart for twenty miles.”

“Gee. Thanks.” Ditzy rolled her eyes. It was quite a sight.

“Oh, you know what I mean.” Golden waved a hoof. “Anyway, I came because I’m a little worried.”

“I’m fine. I can handle it,” Ditzy said defensively.

“It’s not you I’m worried about. It’s Dinky,” Both mares looked over at the little unicorn.

“Muffin, go play in your room for a while, okay?”

“Okay, Mommy!” Dinky immediately trotted down the hall to her room. As soon as she was gone, Ditzy turned back to Golden.

“What about her?”

Golden Harvest sighed. “Here’s the thing, Derpy, little Dinky depends on you. She needs somepony solid around who can take care of her, especially after...” She didn’t have to finish the thought. Ditzy knew that she was referring to what happened to Dinky’s father. Golden cleared her throat. “Anyway. The issue here is that with this whole bakery thing, you run the risk of sacrificing that stability. After all, if this doesn’t work out, you’ll be out of the job. How will you take care of Dinky then?”

Ditzy went pale. She hadn’t thought of that. How could she forget something so important? If she lost this game with Pinkie, it wouldn’t just be her who would suffer, but her daughter as well. Suddenly, her brilliant plan seemed utterly foolish.

Golden Harvest, seeing Ditzy’s distress, wrapped a foreleg around her shoulder. “Hey, Derpy. You know I’m here for you, and I just want you to know that whatever happens, I’m here for both of you, Okay?”

Ditzy nodded dumbly. “Thank you, Carrot Top. You’re a good friend,” Ditzy said finally. “I hope that it won’t have to come to that, but if it does, I can’t think of anypony I’d rather have taking care of my little muffin.” Then, she fell asleep in her best friend’s embrace.

Golden Harvest squeezed Ditzy tightly. “I’ll do my best.”

Comments

[kamil]

That chapter ending... Right in the feels.

Fortunately I like muffins better anyway, cupcakes are great and all but they just can't stand up to the versatility of the elegant package that is a muffin.

[_Kenzu_]

An update?
cdn.memegenerator.net/instances/400x/28329238.jpg

Hope Lyra dose not mess things up for Derpy. She cant go out of business
cant wait for more

[Stiggerzz]

ERMAHGERD...UPDATE!!!

gifsoup.com/view2/1429018/leslie-nielson-moonwalk-o.gif

right now that that's out of the way

good chapter, nice touch there with the drama derpy now faces with dinky as a result of the competition. though it's nice to see carrot top (tis her real name, i shall accept no others) helping her out.

lyra working there though.....there are only two outcomes that i can see here

fail
and epic fail

with a side of hilarity

[Obsidian Quill]

A Cupcake and Muffin War between Derpy and Pinkie! You must update this soon! Maybe have the Background six and the mane six join in the war.

[MarcusFirehaven]

This is awesome. I can't wait for the third chapter!

[_Kenzu_]

2173954
an interesting idea, you get the awe struck cat for that
up-ship.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2010/02/cat_its_beautiful.jpg

[Inferno demon Dash]

She just....fell asleep I would be annoyed if I was Rainbow, why should she have to give away the cupcakes she just bought? Damn.....poor Derpy, she seriously has to think of this, very glad Lyra got hired to work with Derpy though