Flapjack flipped the pancake on the stove with the spatula checking it over for burn marks. Seeing that there was none he put it on a paper plate next to the hay bacon.
After drizzling a good helping of maple syrup on the steaming pancakes, he cut a small slice of butter he gently put it on top of the layers of syrup. It sat there glistening in the morning sun.
Judging it with a critical eye, Flapjack nodded then reached over and with a flourish of his yellow hoof to hit the little bell on his wooden stall. "Order up!" he yelled.
A teal unicorn got up from the bench where she was waiting and trotted over.
"Here you go Tea Leaf" Flapjack said as he gave her the plate and a packet of plastic silverware.
A smile comes to her muzzle as she takes in the smell of warm pancakes and crunchy hay bacon.
"How much do I owe you Jack" she says happily pulling her bit bag out of her saddle bag.
"Five bits ma'am", he said politely.
After taking five coins out of her bag, she levitated them onto the counter, then took the plate. Tea Leaf turned back to the bench taking a moment to find a good spot, then dug in to her meal with gusto.
Flapjack yawned as he leaned on the stall and looked over at the unicorn. Though the morning sun was barely peeking over the hill, Ponyville was still a village of farmers so some early birds weren't too surprising. Tea Leaf on the other hoof was not much of a early bird as he was used seeing her around ten-ish.
'It's probably a good sign', he mused slouching further on the comfortable stall table. A moment of watching the few other ponies setting up their stalls put his mind at ease.
"Mornin Jack" He turns to the voice and sees a orange mare wearing a Stetson sleepily pull her cart up to a nearby stall.
"Good morning Applejack" he said with good mood clear in his voice.
As she was taking a moment to unlatch herself from her cart, Jack spoke up, "the usual?"
"If you could add three pancakes and a hash of hay bacon on that Sugarcube" she responded as she took the yoke off and slowly trotted closer to his stall drawn by the smell of freshly cooked breakfast.
Taking the kettle off the tiny stove it was on. Jack poured the hot water into a coffee press where the grounds were already waiting. Giving it a minute or two to steep. He then pressed the plunge to the bottom. Jack got a paper cup out and poured it in.
"Here you go Applejack" he said as he handed her the usual cup of coffee. He watches her with concern for a moment, before starting on the bacon. Not too long after a sizzling noise can be heard from the stall.
Applejack takes the coffee and sips at it, her foggy green eyes clearing up, "much appreciated Sugarcube"
"Doesn't Granny Smith usually make your breakfast?" Jack ask as he puts the strips of succulent hay bacon on a plate.
"Normally she does, but we had a hootenanny last night to celebrate the great harvest season we had this year. Problem was that it went on a bit too long, so she was too tuckered out to cook this morning" Applejack groans as she watches him mix the batter for the pancakes.
"Plus someone gotta sell these apples" she says.
He only hums as he puts three circles of batter on the pan.
A comfortable silence fills the air, occasionally disturbed by the sound of pancakes being flipped ever now and again. Jack started to whistle a jaunty tune when he realized the pancakes were about done. He scoops them up one by one with his spatula and puts them onto the waiting plate. He then takes some apple syrup out from under the stall and drizzles it on them, then pushes the plate and silverware to Applejack.
"So Jack what's put you into such a good mood this morning" she asks before taking a bite out of the delicious apple covered pancakes.
As he started to wipe down his cast iron skillet he pauses for a moment before nodding toward the bench with the teal mare, "you see that unicorn over there" he whispers with a excited grin.
Applejack turns her head to see a teal mare finish her breakfast. The unicorn then proceeds to throw away the plate and silver ware in one of Jack's trash cans. Clearly busy, she trots further into the slowly awakening market and out of view.
A smile begins to grow on Applejack's face.
"Her name is Tea Leaf and she usually shows up around ten, but here she is early as bird" Flapjack said with a satisfied smile.
"I think it means that I might have a pretty new face around here in the morning before the rush starts." He continues happily.
Taking his freshly cleaned skillet he set it down on the stove and only to look up and see Applejack giving him a knowing grin.
"Well partner I didn't know you were seeing somepony?" Applejack ribbed as she polished off her breakfast.
A brief look of confusion was on his face as Flapjack went over what he had said before it hit him.
"T-that was not what I meant and you know it" he stammered and all the suddenly found something wrong with his skillet.
Applejack gave a chuckle and said "I'm just yanking your chain Sugarcube, I know what ya meant" She deposited the plate and silverware in the trash can before asking. "How much for the breakfast Jack?"
Jack shook his head to get rid of the embarrassment and quickly totaled the cost of her combo of a coffee, pancakes, and a hash of bacon.
"That'll be 7 bits ma'am" He said politely a small smile on his face
Applejack paid him and said "Y'all have a good day now Sugarcube"
Having said her piece she trotted over to nearby stall and begun to set up. She placed rows of apples and apple based goods on the stall quickly overwhelming it with a pleasant smell.
Flapjack turned and started greeting another customer with a smile on his face. It was a good day today, hopefully he won't see anymore of those Cat Dolphins.
The Rain pattered off of the large tarp set over his stall in a slow steady trickle as a few ponies in raincoats made their way across muddy paths. The biting wind knocked against his stand, but the warmth of a cup of coffee kept Flapjack nice and toasty. He did wonder what those Pegasi were thinking making such a dreary day.
As he stood there fiddling with a small jar of strawberry jam he wondered if he could fit it somewhere in the packed basket of jams.
"One hot coco if you please" A voice chirped interrupting his train of thought.
Flapjack's body went on autopilot as he set the jam jar under the stall and took the milk out from underneath the stall with one hoof while he searched around for his coco pan with his other. Finding both he sets the milk to boil as he fishes the coco powder out and sets it to the side. Having done this his eyes lock on to his customer with a polite grin resting below them.
A goofy smile was returned to him, as the pink hooded mare started to prance in place and jostled what seemed to be a collection of colorful umbrellas on her back.
"What are you up to Pinkie?" Flapjack asked bemusedly his smile coming a little more naturally.
"Working on defeating the rain!" Pinkie Pie said excitedly
He raised an eyebrow and looked at the collection more closely, the whole pile of umbrellas looked like they would fall off the mare at the slightest poke. Flapjack tested this by gently prodding a purple one that looked like it was about to fall on his stall back into place. The rest of them shifted and bucked on Pinkie's back but they miraculously held.
"And how does a rainbow of umbrellas help you with that?" he asked rather confused.
"I'm glad you asked, I wanted to explain my plan to somepony but Dashie was busy and I realllllly need to get this done" She answered.
She then pulled a large and in depth map of Ponyville out of her hair, and splayed it across what little counter space he had. Coincidently knocking over his little basket of jams he had on the counter. They clattered against one another before tumbling onto the muddy soil each with a thunk. The basket then landed gently on top of the pile of broken jars.
Flapjack looked down at the muddy slush of broken glass and splattered jam, his face decidedly neutral. He then turned his attention back to the pink pony.
He sighed.
Pinkie grin shrank "Sorry." she said
She reached down to start cleaning the mess up, but he waved her off.
"It's ok. They weren't that big of a deal as I can always get more of them from my brother, so about your plan" He gestured to the map of Ponyville.
The pink mare stood there a look of concentration dawning on her face as she tried to think of a way to make it up to him. She shook her head as she focused on the map.
"You see these X Marks?" she gestured with a hoof to a series of red X marks, "these are some of my Emergency 'You Need to Get Out of the Mean Rain' spots and I need to go restock them." Her voice growing pitched as she picked up steam,
"BUTTTTT I also need to restock my Emergency ' The Sun is Being a Meany Pants and Won't Stop Irking our Eyes' supply of umbrellas and I wanted a jolt of coco to get me on my way" Pinkie finishes her explanation by sweeping the map back into her mane and giving him a full grin.
Flapjack set down a cup of hot coco in front of her and spools a bit of whip cream out of a can onto the top of the coco finishing it off with a thick sprinkling of chocolate flakes. His hoof streaks out and tries to hit the bell only to knock into the firm wood of his stall. He looks at spot only to see no bell. He scans up and down the counter, but no bell.
"Ding" His bell chirps out
Flapjack stares at the silver bell that rested in Pinkie's hoof as she pressed it again "Ding." His gaze traces up to the mare's eyes as she stares at him before pressing the bell one last time "Ding" and then she gently sets it down on the counter. There it sat not a speck of dirt on it.
"Thank you" He says before his own yellow hoof reached out and tapped the bell.
"Ding" Pinkie chirped happily.
"Order's Up" Flapjack Proclaimed. "That will be two bits ma'am"
The pink mare nods happily as she deposits nine bits on the counter she then takes her hot coco and trundles to one of the tarp covered benches. Flapjack calls out to her before she gets to far.
"Pinkie you payed too much" he says annoyed.
"Nuh uh! I payed just the right amount" she countered maturely.
"Look Pinkie I don't want to bother you right before you leave, but you payed me way too much for a...." Flapjack trailed off his eyes going wide.
For there sitting in her once unoccupied hoof was a plate holding a triple decker delight supreme. The layers in between the pancakes all but oozed chocolate sauce, and the pancakes themselves were chunked with pieces of chocolate, with a touch of vanilla extract interweaved into the batter, and topped off with a heavy dose of whipped cream crowned with a delicate circle of strawberries. It was one of his most heartfelt intensive creations, and as if to mock him he could see his silverware sitting neatly next to pancake.
"Wha- How When did I ?!" he said asked/yelled.
"When I ordered it silly" Pinkie looked at him in concern. "You alright there Jackie?" she says as she tilts her head.
Flapjack's mind had a mental shutdown as little versions of him in his head scrambled around to find an answer. Sparks and flames surround them on the deck and all hope seemed to be lost. Brother held brother as they awaited the end, but then one brave Flapjack screamed out their salvation. "IT"S PINKIE PIE SHE DOESN'T MAKE SENSE" he cried. Suddenly the fires and malfunctioning mind righted itself, and a sigh of relief was had.
Outside of his mind Pinkie waved one hoof in front of his face getting no reaction. She shrugged and walked off into the light drizzle to enjoy her second breakfast.
Flapjack lay on his rose colored bed enjoying his rest. He turned and opened his eyes to look at the clock hanging near the dark window.
5:00
Time to get up.
Seeing the time he silently shifted out of bed and started stretching the kinks out of his legs first with the front pair before moving onto the back pair. Having done this, Flapjack arched his back and it gave out a series of satisfyingly loud pop. Stretches done he heads out of their bedroom through the moonlight living room into his kitchen.
His dining table had no decorations, and the counters were bare of anything that looked like it could even be used in the creation of food. As Flapjack strode by the dull brown cabinets idly looking them over he slowed to stop at a particular cabinet. Hers was a bright pink in color and inlaid with fine engravings of a mixing bowl with a burgundy colored handle.
The yellow stallion looked at it solemn before opening it slowly.
Flapjack made his way down the path, his back saddled with all sorts of pancake supplies. Any syrup you name and he probably had it in one of the bags on his back. He continued on the path towards the Ponyville market humming a soft tune under the moonlight. His hoofsteps were soft as he approached her stall.
The oak stall had a high counter ready for any customer to pick up their meal and enjoy it. Flapjack settled near her stall as he set the bag of supplies next to it. He then went around to the back of the stall and grabbed a small broom, carrying it over to the benches nearby, sweeping up and down them till he had removed all of the dirt, imagined or not. Then doing a quick check of the trash cans he laid around and changing then as necessary.
Having done this he sits behind the stall fiddling with the strings of a small pink bag. Opened up in a reverent manner he gently places the bell on the counter and sets the bag on the stand next to his stove. The sliver of moonlight left in the sky reflects the silver threads stitched in the bag to the shape of a mixing bowl.
Flapjack finished his routine up by cleaning his cooking tools and restocking what was missing: Two dozen eggs, Three bags of flour, and a little bit of every type of syrup, besides pecan he can't get anyone to try that one. It was all then neatly placed under the stall in all of her favorite spots.
He had finished everything too quickly and was left standing there behind her stall. Flapjack leaned on the stall and looked around at the empty stalls of Ponyville market. Each one was standing as a monument to a pony's business or at least the shell of them, it made Flapjack just a little empty as he stood there alone.
With no one around to look at, he turned his eyes up to the moon. It hung up there, the bell of the ball in a courtroom of fading stars, its luminescence breathtaking. And as he looked up into the sky the stars seemed to twinkle twice as bright under his gaze. The early morning wind nipped at his yellow coat and stole his attention away from the moon and its dancers.
Finding something to do he starts making coffee. That took almost no time and he had a paper cup resting in his hooves, slight trails of steam rising off of it. He stares at it unsatisfied. Flapjack sets it to the side and gets the milk, flour, and eggs out to make a proper breakfast.
A mixing bowl comes out in a hurry as he turned on the stove with simple twist of a knob. He poured the flour in first, the white powder followed quickly by a deluge of creamy milk. Finally two eggs fall in and with an application of a whisk the mixture turned into a batter fine enough to sell. Well almost. Flapjack takes a small bottle of vanilla extract out from under the stall and lets two drops of it fall into the batter stirring it in.
He sets a pan on the now hot stove and pours the mixture out into three white moon like pancakes. Since he wasn't selling these pancakes a few hoof fulls of pecans were secreted away out of their spot and sprinkled generously on the forming pancakes. A smile rested on his face as he watched them cook. Flapjack flipped the pancakes as a sizzling noise came crackling from the pan.
Three golden pancakes stared up at him as took a plate and set them on it. A knife with three slices of butter flashed and the little pecan studded darlings looked great. He again looked around before reaching for the pecan syrup, popping the lid, he poured a generous helping of syrup on each one. His breakfast was ready, but he set the plate down and snapped out a hoof to hit the bell and yelled "Order Up!" Having done this he descended on his breakfast like a wolf devouring a stray lamb.
His plate sat empty on the counter not even the run-off syrup survived the onslaught. Flapjack sat and sipped at his coffee his face content as the moon went to sleep and the sun started to creep up past the hills. The yellow stallion finally saw someone else, a familiar yellow mare coming up with her wagon of carrots.
"Mornin Carrot Top you want anything" Flapjack said as the mare's wagon passed the stall.
"AHHHHHHHH!!!!" She screamed jumping in surprise. Her wagon jumped up a few feet, a few carrots falling to the ground.
"It's all right Carrot its just me" he said calmly
She abruptly stopped and greeted him cheerfully.
"Morning Flapjack" she said as if she had not wailed like a banshee.
"Mornin Carrot Top you want anything" he repeated the question.
"No I'm good" she continued onto her stall.
And again Mixing's Breakfast Stall was open for business.
