> Are The Muffins Ready?
>  by Zee The Freeman
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

> Check 'Em
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	The radiant sun warmed Rainbow's outstretched wings as she flew through the sky above Ponyville. Her duties for the day were finished, not a single cloud was scheduled to show up now for another week. She soared through the sky and observed Ponyville, taking in its familiar yet wondrous sight. Her joy-fly was interrupted when something wafted past her nose. She created a parachute with her wings, quickly slowing her velocity. The halt caused cloud residue left on her hooves to fly off, turning to rain droplets and landing in the street with a few silent plops. Flying back to the source of the nose-trap, she soon discovered its source. It smelled of enchanting baked goods, though Sugarcube Corner was way too far away to smell from here. The house below her left only one window open, presumably the kitchen one considering the enthralling aroma. Rainbow began her descent, following her nose towards the off-yellow-painted wooden window. She landed softly, and glanced around to ensure nopony stood watch over the house. Sticking her face inside, her legs trembled and her eyes closed as she overloaded her sniffer with all the sweet air it could handle. The endless delicious aroma halted, and Rainbow opened her eyes to see the cork. A grey mare stuck to her, nose to nose. She half-stared into Rainbow's eyes, her other eye looked towards the ceiling. Rainbow blushed, backing her face from the cross-eyed curator of floured fragrance. Chuckling, Rainbow explained, "Heh, sorry Derpy. I was just flying by since my shift was over, I couldn't help but smell the, uh...what is it you're-"
"Muffins!" Derpy exclaimed, rearing with a subsequent cheer.
Rainbow's eyes widened at the word, "Muffins? You're making..muffins?" Pinkie always made cupcakes and cake cakes, and while they were delicious, Rainbow couldn't recall the last time a muffin satisfied her post-work hunger. "Are they done? Can I have some?" She asked, butting her head past Derpy to get a view into the kitchen. The whole room was a complete mess, flour somehow doused the walls and butter sat on the counter, partially dripping off onto the floor. Whatever other ingredients she might've used probably couldn't be determined without the egghead coming in and talking a bunch.
"Sorry Rainbow, they're not ready yet. But they will be soon!" She said, plastering a dopey smile across her face. "Wanna come in? Timey just left, we have a lot of fun together."
Rainbow had time, she just finished work. Rarity might've said something about some new sky fabric or whatever, but muffins came first. That's what her stomach told her anyway. "Yea, it'd be great to chill and wait for some muffins." She trotted around the house and entered through the front door, despite Derpy's invitation to jump in through the window. She's not some sort of scaredy-pony, she just didn't want to break anything else in Derpy's house. This consideration did seem to be in vain though, as opening the door revealed something way beyond organized chaos. Books were tossed to and fro, pictures and sculptures of muffins and bubbles lay stern about. Some muffin miniatures and even a full scale statue of the time keeper pony sat in clear organization over to the far end of the room. It was like a rainbow forged from garbage, except instead of comprising of color, it was organizational skills.
Derpy stumbled out of the kitchen and fell on Rainbow, whose iron frame resisted the crash. "Wanna play a game?" She asked after standing up from their collision.
Rainbow shrugged, "If it means I get muffins, yea." This was met with a squeal of joy as Derpy ran into the piles of garbage, disappearing in them. Moments later she popped out the top with a board game in her hooves. Rainbow watched as the muffin mare set up the board game, which looked to be centered around muffins. She sat in tandem with the silly mare who pulled out a bunch of different muffins from the box.
"Pick your muffin, Rainbow Dash!"
Rainbow glanced over to the kitchen, "What about the ones in the oven?"
"Oh Rainbow Dash, you're so silly! They're not done yet. They will be soon, though." She pushed over several different colored muffins to Rainbow, "You can choose from these ones. Except that one," Derpy swiftly snatched up the yellow muffin piece, resting it next to her back leg. Rainbow picked up the blue muffin piece. It looked more like a blueberry muffin than the actual piece for a board game. A quick sniff brought her hopes back to earth, however, as it was merely detailed plastic.
More detail than Mr. Hasbro does on his sculptures, Rainbow thought just as Derpy grabbed and shook the dice. She tossed them with all her might, causing them to bounce clear off the board and fly under a nearby shelf unit. "Umm...how am I gonna play without dice?" Rainbow asked, glancing into the kitchen.
"Could you help me get them Rainbow Dash? I'm not super strong like you are." The grey mare begged, now sporting a sad look upon her normally bright face. Rainbow sighed and nodded her head. She picked herself up with her revived wings, positioning herself at the best point to lift the shelf. "Ok Rainbow, could you move it to the side?" Derpy pleaded a bit more, and Rainbow complied. 
"It'll all be worth it for those muffins, just hold out a bit longer." Rainbow whispered to herself as she moved the shelf of miniature muffins over to her side. She grabbed the dice after setting down the shelf. The shelf wasn't heavy, even with the miniatures on it. Rainbow questioned why Derpy even had miniatures of muffins to begin with. She resolved it would be better to leave these questions unanswered. Despite Derpy's silliness, Rainbow suspected there was something behind those wall-eyes just waiting to show its face. "Got the dice, so does this mean the muffins are done yet?"
"They're not done yet, Rainbow Dash. They will be soon. It's your turn to roll!" Derpy's piece already moved. She had a pair of dice sitting near the piece, one displaying a face of four, the other of three. Rainbrow groaned, plopping down and whipping the dice at the board. They bounced and halted at the edge of the board, snake-eyes. Derpy's eyes lit up, and she began dancing vigorously around the board. She eventually sat down, giving Rainbow a look of admiration. "Great job rolling snakes, Rainbow Dash! I don't really know what a snake dances like, so I made it up." An awkward silence continued for Rainbow as Derpy took her turn. The dice landed on dual sixes, causing Derpy to rise and rear. "I won!" She cheered, causing Rainbow to examine the board more carefully. There wasn't any sequence to it, just places where you'd put the piece depending on what you rolled. The celebration was cut short as Derpy ran into the kitchen, shortly followed by several loud clangs and crashes.
The grey mare dashed into the room Rainbow sat in, holding a tin of muffins. The intoxicating aroma was mostly gone. The muffins were burnt, and not just normal burnt. They could've made convincing stand ins for coal chunks in the Hearth's Warming Eve play. They were all black, except for one. One muffin stood proud in its groove, flowing out in a near perfect dome. Several delicious dots of blueberries studded the outside of it, making it look more like half-buried treasure on the beach instead of a muffin. Derpy picked up the shining muffin, and outstretched her hoof to Rainbow. "A muffin made just for you, Rainbow Dash!"
"It's alright, Derpy. You can keep that-"
"But I made this one for you, Rainbow. You're my best friend."
"I am?"
"Nopony else besides Timey has come into my house before. I'm really glad you came over." She prodded the muffin towards Rainbow. Smiling, Rainbow happily accepted the friendship muffin, which she downed in one bite. The taste was divine, to put it in Rarity's terms. She glanced over at Derpy, who chomped at one of the coal-muffins. The grey mare looked at her chewing friend, and smiled warmly.
"Rainbow Daaaaash!" A distant yet familiar voice called from somewhere in Ponyville.
"I think somepony needs me for something. You don't mind, do you?" Rainbow asked Derpy. To her surprise, she received a strong hug from the matron of muffins.
"Same time tomorrow? We can play games again!" Derpy offered as she released Rainbow from her embrace.
"Same time tomorrow, Derpy. I'll be there." Rainbow smiled and trotted out the door with a farewell wave backwards, which was mirrored by her friend. She quickly focused forward, opened her wings, and shot off into the sunny sky to search for the pony calling her name.