Recipes for Love and Disaster

by Neon Noble

Chapter One: Golden Hope's Restaurant and Bakery

Recipes for Love and Disaster

Chapter One

The busy sounds of whisking a thick batter echoed throughout a large kitchen one dim Saturday morning as they had many Saturday mornings before. This kitchen was part of Golden Hope’s’ luxurious restaurant experience, boasting freshly-baked goods each and every day to reel in as many hungry customers as possible. As such, it was the bakers’ job to be up bright and early to bake the goods of such high esteem. Several ponies, some cheerful, some fairly exhausted, currently ran the morning shift. Each was dressed in a soft, white apron and hat as they worked carefully upon the floury countertops of the large kitchen.

Warmth hung about the entire kitchen despite the crisp coolness of Manehatten’s wintry morning as ovens were lit and set to bake the breads, pies, cakes, and pastries to perfection. Baking peels, chipped and charred to black, were placed readily next to the glowing brick ovens for safe insertion and removal of Golden Hope’s’ “Delicious Eats” and were about as worn out as the ovens they were used in. The shiny doors on the ovens reflected images of the busy ponies that used them, scurrying about the kitchen to ensure that the morning rush would have their baked goods warm and on time.

“How’re those pastries coming, ladies?”

Into the kitchen stepped a lavishly-dressed mare, her orange mane braided and pulled into a bun at the back of her head where a sparkling red ribbon held it in place. The mare’s face was coated thickly in make-up, from eye-liner to blush, and her lips were bright red with improper application of lipstick. Her hooves clopped loudly upon the white and black tile floor as they did most every morning. Golden Hope’s goldenrod coat was covered in an earthy green dress with crimson trimmings, and anypony who looked up from their work would be accustomed to the side-stepping and backpedaling to ensure her dress would not become coated in flour. Golden Hope’s emerald eyes looked upon her employees with the familiar arrogant, thickly-lined gaze common with Manehatten’s upper crust as she expertly maneuvered between the chefs of her restaurant to observe their tired work, distracting their noses with the overwhelming odor of too much perfume.

“Mom! Butter Cream is working this morning too, you know!” Golden Heart called from across the kitchen.

“As I said: ladies!” Golden Hope said with a smirk, continuing through the kitchen without stopping.

Golden Heart, her golden-brown mane braided neatly at the back of her head, looked over at the pony working next to her with an apologetic smile. The light vanilla-colored pony hung his head for but a moment before looking up at the smile of the yellow pony and returning a meek smile of his own. Shifting his rear hooves upon the rickety wooden stool beneath them, the small pony returned to mixing batter for the day’s first batch of scones with his whisk pressed firmly between his hooves and a brief sigh. Butter Cream was a dedicated baker if there ever was one, not letting his stature keep him away from what he loved most: baking. It was his passion for baking that helped the stallion, with his long and brown mane and tail and light chocolate eyes, from getting too discouraged while working for Golden Hope.

Not getting discouraged while being a short, young stallion and also working for Golden Hope, one of the most stuck-up ponies in Manehatten, was a fairly difficult task. As she passed him, Miss Hope (she had divorced her husband two years ago) teasingly flicked her long tail across Butter Cream’s cutie mark of a lovely little baking peel, causing him to hop up with a startled squeak. The little pony quickly recovered to keep control of the batter before it ruined Golden Hope’s dress as her daughter gasped, embarrassed at her mother’s harassment.

“Any employee of mine with the rear of a filly and the squeal of a filly will always be, to me, a filly!” Golden Hope laughed haughtily, passing on by the working ponies. She did not look back to see the unhappy frown now set upon Butter Cream’s face.

With a sigh, Golden Heart set aside the muffin batter she had been preparing to hug Butter Cream. While she could certainly see that he did have a bit of a girlish physique, Heart could also see that her mother’s actions were steadily going from encouraging humor to harassment over the course of Butter Cream’s employment.

“I’m sure she’s just joking… but I’ll talk to her, okay?” Golden Heart whispered sweetly into Butter Cream’s ear.

The little pony, still mixing the batter, as hoof-mixed batter tends to take time, sighed again and replied, in a soft and relatively high-pitched voice for a stallion, “It’d be nice of you… thanks.”

Golden Heart sensed the dejected tone in his voice and ended her consoling embrace with a little squeeze before getting back to her work.

Being a stallion short in stature and in love with baking had tended to cause Butter Cream to be treated a little harshly throughout his life. But, as with every other instance, he took a deep breath to clear his mind and went back to work, diligently as before. It was just another day, after all.

“Remember that we’ll be serving Mister Fancy Pants from Canterlot later today, so don’t burn yourselves out before he arrives! I want him to have a most splendid meal while he is in my—I mean, our—excellent hooves!” Golden Hope announced loudly before turning carefully and exiting the kitchen with bombastic steps.

The Golden Hope’s kitchen, previously quiet while the manager was about, carefully masked the busy sounds of baking work with steadily-growing chatter among the mostly female employees within. The sun was steadily rising above the tall brick landscape of Manehatten now, its glowing rays easing into the kitchen through the windows, their sills still caked with early snow. The ponies carefully and skillfully poured batches of muffins and breakfast cakes into molds and tins for baking as it grew closer and closer to the restaurant’s opening time.

Sounds of movement began to build up from the restaurant outside of the kitchen where the rest of the staff was beginning to enter for a new day of work in their slick black suits and dresses. Occasionally one of the waiters would lean into the kitchen and flirt with the busy chefs, who would usually dismiss him with a shake of their heads while continuing to work hard while the rest of the staff stood about idly.

Steadily and adhering strictly to the oven’s timers, batches of goods were whisked from the hot brick confines of the ovens so they could be relit and prepared for the following batches. As opening time came nearer, the waiters finally began a quick clean-up of all of the tables so that the first guests would be greeted by freshly-sparkling tables and food peeking out from behind the front counter’s display.

Golden Hope’s was more than just a bakery. The full-fledged restaurant had a second kitchen dedicated largely to other food items that weren’t handled in the bakery, where the other cooking crew was now positioned, ready to take on the day’s orders. Butter Cream, as he did most days, opened the slider between both kitchens so that orders that included specialty baked goods could be filled.

At this point in the morning, everypony was simply waiting for Golden Hope’s’ signature bell to ring, signaling the start of the morning shift and that the restaurant was open for business. The large bell had been a defining part of the building ever since it opened seven years ago, ringing in time with the main clock tower of Manehatten’s upper district as its first means of attracting customers. Indeed, it was this very bell that adorned the sign over the front entrance and all of its logos: a bronze bell with a heart upon it that acted as both the owner’s and her restaurant’s mark. This mark was on the windows, the napkins, the sitting cushions, the tables, and on the aprons, and it was to be displayed proudly.

Butter Cream most certainly tried his best to display the logo proudly as he carried a fresh tray of scones and muffins out to the display inside the restaurant. Being between the average size of a young pony and an adult pony, the top of his head just barely came above the counter, where it seemed that a puffy white hat was simply floating along behind the pristine surface. This was up until he reached the display, however, where Butter Cream was easily visible behind the glass where the goods were placed for the early customers to see.

“Here you go, Cinder!” Butter Cream cheerfully chirped, having stood on his rear legs to place the tray atop the counter for his ashy gray coworker. The unicorn brushed aside some dark red hair from her eyes as she lit her horn and sorted the goods into their proper spots behind the display, the glass lightly fogged up from the fresh items’ steamy goodness.

“Thanks, Butter Cream!” replied the mare before Butter Cream turned about and headed back into the kitchen.

As he trotted in through the double doors, Butter Cream received a few soft shoulder pats from the other baker ponies as consolation for Golden Hope’s earlier jabs, their hooves leaving small circles of flour in their wake. The short stallion was a major part of the bakers’ moods, radiating cheerfulness almost all the time, so it hurt everypony even just a little bit to hear their boss making fun of Butter Cream. He’d recovered relatively quickly, however, and smiled brightly at Harvest Apple, Ginger Snap, and Rosemary before hopping back upon his stool and returning to his craft.

The morning crowd often never rushed the bakers much, their orders typically already sitting warmly in the display case, so Butter Cream and the rest of the bakers knew they could take it easy. They kneaded dough less vigorously, mixed batter less hastily, and took their time when swapping batches in the ovens. Saturday was one of the best days to be in the morning shifts, the busy, working-class ponies getting to spend some time off instead of rushing through the city to get to work.

Peering through the foggy windows, there were significantly fewer ponies on the streets. Those who were, however, were wrapped in fine scarves or heavy coats to keep the nipping air away as they trotted over the thin layer of fluffy white snow with protective winter boots.

Every so often, a carriage would pass by, pulled by thickly-built stallions that attracted the attention of the bakers, who swooned at the hard-working ponies. Even Butter Cream sighed delightedly and drifted off into brief fantasies at the sight of the carriage ponies, leaning onto the countertop and smiling absent-mindedly until he snapped out of his reverie and found his chin coated with flour.

Butter Cream was, in fact, interested in stallions. That was the truth. He always had and figured that he always would, even if he couldn’t explain it. Most ponies figured out that much about him rather quickly, even if jumping to conclusions based on his mare-ish physique and his soft attitude. Luckily for him, much of the bakery’s staff was supportive of Butter Cream’s attraction to stallions. If they weren’t, he’d probably be out in the snow, looking for another baking job. Of course, there were downsides to ponies knowing; somehow, the information must have reached Golden Hope.

Golden Hope, like most of the upper crust of Manehatten, was less tolerant than other normal pony folk.

“Delivery’s here!” announced one of the chefs in the second kitchen. As if on cue, Golden Hope stepped in through the large swinging doors for everypony to see, even those looking through the divider between kitchens. As part of her management job, Golden Hope saw to it that each and every delivery was perfect for her restaurant.

She quickly passed by the divider and to the open door on the other side of the kitchen, which hung open while a large, blue stallion, scarf wrapped around his neck, stood. The young-looking pony seemed to be relieved to be somewhere warm, oblivious to the cool breeze he was letting in. Butter Cream, trying to watch the exchange, shivered as the breeze passed over him.

“The cold appears to be here, too! What, were you raised in a barn?” Golden Hope said, raising an eyebrow and looking down at the stallion despite being a head shorter. Her lips opened into a mischievous grin before she let out a measured laugh and added, “Oh, silly me! Of course you were!”

The warm smile faded from the stallion’s face quickly. Butter Cream felt sorry for him, the new food delivery pony. Soon enough, an ashamed look passed over the stallion’s face and he hung his head, stepping through the doors and closing them. This only proved to worsen things, as Golden Hope, with her practically constant downward looks, spotted the snow he had just tracked in which began to melt into small puddles. She scolded him immediately, causing him to scramble back through the doors.

Butter Cream looked away as Golden Hope began to chuckle. He set himself to work kneading dough while the sounds of the boss’s transaction with the stallion carried in from the other room. Several hefty thuds echoed in through the divider as the stallion set down his crates of apples mistakenly in the middle of the kitchen. The baker winced with the rest of his coworkers as their boss barked at the stallion to take the crates and relocate them to storage, because he clearly couldn’t see that the fine fillies in her kitchens were incapable of moving such heavy loads.

Golden Heart testily tapped a hoof against the tile, intently listening to the exchange, her head hung with disappointed frustration. She muttered angrily, “Mother…”

* * *

Butter Cream’s break had just begun. He happily hung his apron and stored his hat beside his cubbyhole before trotting out into the anteroom of the restaurant. There he stood and took in a deep breath through his nose, catching the deliciously fresh scents of all of the goods that his friends had prepared.

“Ah…”

He closed his eyes and let the smells take him to a bright and happy place where he could bake and bake and bake to his heart’s content. Butter Cream envisioned himself dancing between cakes, decorating them perfectly with carefully-practiced motions, the sweet aroma filling the air around him. In this particular fantasy, he found himself carrying a particularly elaborate cake to a table, balancing the pastry expertly upon one hoof, as if it carried no weight at all. The recipient of the cake had ordered it to come with a frosting heart directly on top, and that stallion was—

“Fancy Pants!”

Butter Cream hadn’t even opened his eyes when Golden Hope bumped into him at high speed, knocking him across the floor without even a brief apology or glance as she hurried on to the door. Dazed and most likely bruised, Butter Cream feebly looked up and around to see that nopony’s eyes were on him, but rather on the front door. Meekly, the little stallion propped himself up and turned around to find a large crowd gathered at the door. Golden Hope’s dress stuck out between the bodies of waiters, restaurant customers, and finely-dressed Canterlot ponies, the group chattering loudly but incoherently. He rolled his eyes upon hearing that haughty laugh coming from not only his boss, but most of the other ponies that were now slowly shuffling backward to allow room to the celebrity guest of Golden Hope’s.

“Mister Pants! What brings you to this fine establishment?”

“I do say, you appear to have wonderful taste in dining!”

The chattering became more coherent as they flowed into the restaurant. Butter Cream, fearing that he would get trampled by all of the ponies who were walking backwards into the restaurant, began to back up. Mid-step, however, one of his shoulders let off a dull pain, clearly still hurting from the fall, and Butter Cream froze up, stumbling slightly.

“Uh… Excuse me?” He called out timidly, though the ponies before him were certainly too caught up in the arrival of Fancy Pants to hear him. With their longer legs, they grew closer to Butter Cream faster than he could get away from them, and when it seemed like they were finally about to squish him, he felt the strange tingle from being grabbed by magic and soon found himself being dragged to the safety of the wall on the side of the room.

“Careful. These ponies are never going to pay attention to where they’re going and still admit it’s their fault.” Cinder said from behind the counter, the glow dying away from her horn. “Are you okay?”

Butter Cream sighed in relief. “Yes, I’m fine.” He made the mistake, however, of trying to walk closer to make himself easier to be heard past the crowd, immediately stumbling due to his recent injury.

“Oh, Butter Cream…” Cinder frowned. “That doesn’t look fine to me.” Her horn lit and once again Butter Cream was lifted through the air until he was positioned directly on the other side of the counter from Cinder. “Good thing you’re so light… How bad is it?”

Butter Cream looked shyly at the ground and replied, “It’s probably just a bruise, that’s all.”

Cinder nickered unhappily. “Miss Hope needs to be more considerate, I swear…” Her expression turned more concerned. “Are you going to be okay on your break?”

Butter Cream sighed, a furtive frown on his face as he looked briefly at the crowd that still engulfed the doorway before looking back up at the mare, who had now taken to leaning on the counter. “Well, it doesn’t look like I’m going anywhere any time soon. I guess I’ll be fine if I don’t need to move.”

“Now, now! You are entitled to your break and, personally, I think you deserve it.” Cinder shook her head.

“N-no, no, it’s fine. I need my shoulder to rest, anyway…” Butter Cream protested. Almost as if to make his point, he sat down and leaned against the pastry display to take the weight off of that leg.

Cinder took a worried glance into the crowd. With her height advantage over Butter Cream, she could see Golden Hope interacting with somepony at the center of the commotion. Not sensing that they would let Butter Cream pass for a while, Cinder groaned and slumped against the countertop. She peered over the edge at Butter Cream.

“So you’re really going to spend your break in here? Might as well have not taken a break, especially if you can’t get away from her…”

Butter Cream had opened his mouth to respond when a stallion called out, “You there! Are you quite alright?”

The small pony and his coworker on the counter looked over at the crowd, which had now hushed to a low chattering, to see a few of the ponies parting and giving way for a large, well-dressed, white unicorn stallion, with a wavy blue mane and moustache. Butter Cream locked eyes with him from the ground and took a few moments to realize that he had been lost in the stallion’s charming gaze and that the pony had been talking to him.

“Wh-who? Me?” Butter Cream asked, bewilderedly.

“But of course! Do you need any assistance?” The pony’s distinctly “cultured” accent reminded Butter Cream of Golden Hope, but there was significantly less of a belittling air to it.

The stallion had begun stepping forward, the cord from his monocle swaying gently from side to side in front of his neatly-tied bowtie. Some of the ponies behind and next to him gave off looks of confusion or intrigue at this latest development, and even Golden Hope, next to him, appeared slightly taken aback in his sudden interest in Butter Cream.

“Psst! That’s Fancy Pants!” a wide-eyed Cinder quietly hissed down at Butter Cream.

This immediately set Butter Cream’s heart pounding, and he stammered, “Um… n-no, I’m f-fine…”

“I say…” muttered one of the lookers-on. Even still, Fancy Pants walked forward until he was right in front of little Butter Cream, now free of the crowd.

“You’re absolutely sure? You don’t look quite right. There’s nothing I can do for you?” Fancy Pants asked, cocking his head and raising an eyebrow inquisitively. Butter Cream could feel himself blushing from his seat on the floor.

“W-well, my shoulder hurts a bit, but I’ll be--” Butter Cream, still staring wide-eyed into Fancy Pants’ gorgeous, blue eyes, didn’t notice that Golden Hope had just hurried past the white stallion to suddenly take an interest in Butter Cream’s condition.

“Butter Cream, darling! Are you okay?” The sudden, loud outburst of vocal concern for Butter Cream’s well-being caught him off-guard, and he jumped to his hooves with a yelp, breaking his gaze at Fancy Pants for him to cringe at his sore shoulder.

“Oh, you know this young colt?” Fancy Pants asked, turning to the restaurant’s owner. Butter Cream felt his heart sink.

“Of course! This, er, stallion is part of my baking staff!” Golden Hope replied, causing a stir in the crowd behind her.

Fancy Pants blinked. “He is, is he? Hadn’t you better ensure that he is alright?”

Golden Hope at once appeared to be in an embarrassed fluster and smiled widely and falsely down at Butter Cream. “Oh, of course!” she replied through her teeth. “Butter Cream, darling, what happened?”

“Oh, uh… Nothing. I just… fell.” Butter Cream replied, looking shamefully at the floor. He knew he couldn’t tell the truth; if he did, Golden Hope would appear to be crueler than usual and that would probably give the restaurant a hit in its sales. He decided to stick with his lie and hope that it would be enough.

“There, Mister Fancy Pants, he’ll be fine. Now, if you’ll come with me, I’ll see to it that your dining experience is flawless!” Golden Hope said, urging Fancy Pants in the direction of the dining room. He seemed slightly confused, but shrugged and went to follow her lead, the crowd quickly closing in behind them.

“Do take care, then, young chap!” Fancy Pants called to Butter Cream before the crowd swallowed him.

“Bye!” the little pony meekly called back as the chattering disappeared into the other room.

After the anteroom had quieted down, Cinder leaned back over the counter with a rather disappointed look. “I don’t mean to be rude, but how can somepony without a long ways to fall mess himself up that much by falling?”

“What do you mean?”

Cinder rolled her eyes. “What I mean is how could you let her get away with knocking you over like that? If you’re hurt, you at least deserve a day or two off.”

Butter Cream shook his head. “I didn’t want her to look bad in front of important ponies… It would be bad for the restaurant!” He looked up at Cinder with worried eyes.

The mare’s expression softened and she smiled at him. Taking a quick glance left, and then another glance right, Cinder found that the room was clear and so she hopped over the counter instead of simply walking around to stand next to Butter Cream. A light sigh left her lips and she kneeled down next to the short stallion.

“You need to be a little more selfish, Butter Cream. This is Manehatten—if all of the good ponies only care for everyone else, and everyone else only cares for themselves, then the good ponies aren’t going to get what they deserve. Now, I suggest you go in there and let Miss Hope know what really happened, okay?”

Butter Cream stood there for a few moments, staring ponderously at the floor in silence. Finally, he looked back up and into Cinder’s eyes, a determined look set on his face. “Y-yeah, I will.”

It probably would have been much more dramatic had Butter Cream walked into the dining hall right then and there, but the small pony held back for a moment to try to figure out how he could keep his attitude and ask for help walking at the same time. The mare beside him stood from the floor and winked at him when he eventually did squeak out his request, her horn flaring with a white glow.

Author's Note:

I like to write and I certainly like to edit. After reading and editing a few friends' fanfictions for this site, I decided that it would be good enough motivation for me to bring something that I had started writing a year ago back into the light.

Please do not turn away because of the dreaded [M/M] tag-- I ask that you give my story a chance.

Any comments and critique are always appreciated in the comments! Thank you for reading Chapter One!

Comments

[Spooky]

Read it later cause it's 6 AM and I have to go to school and die doing 3 tests... Well... I'll read it if I'm still alive :P

[Neon Noble]

2362134

Good luck on your tests! I hope you have time to read. =3

[Spooky]

2365168
Uhh... Just came back few hours ago... History test tomorrow...

Whatever this is more important

[Neon Noble]

2365233

Ew, history. My weakest course. Better ask Twilight Sparkle for help. :P

[Pandabear]

okay, because of this I view fancy pants as best pony.

[Silver Eyes]

The protagonist is adorable, yep this deserves a like

[Guy_Incognito]

Wow, dude this is a fantastic start to what looks like a really promising and already extremely enjoyable little M/M story.

I really like your characters, I want to say that Butter Cream is my favourite (YOu did a really great job of making him work as a cute, shy-ish colt with pride in his work without making it seem 'campy' or like 'stereotypical' either) but, honestly, I kinda like Golden Hope I mean, she's rude, bordeline abusive to her staff, but, I laughed at a few of her lines (Especially the crack about Butter Cream being 'one of the ladies.')

All in all this is was a really great read; you've got a wonderful writign style (That, actually, I'm kinda...extremely envious of) and it seems like you've got plans to expand this into what I'm sure will be a really cute, funny yarn. You totally earned my golden star/thumbs up and watch.

Keep up the good work, dude.

[Neon Noble]

2394363

Thanks! I appreciate your feedback, and it's splendid to know that my characterizations have worked as I intended!

Golden Hope is supposed to be an utterly despicable character, but that doesn't mean I can't have fun writing her. I, personally, enjoyed the jabs at Butter Cream that I wrote in the beginning, mostly because I thought they were (at the very least) somewhat clever.

I hope you'll be a bit patient with the next chapter, as I've been preoccupied in proofreading friends' stories and working on other things.

Thanks again for your delightful input! =3

[Evening Storm]

This... This is so cute. You get a fav