by Arden Hayes
“Oh, darling. I really am so sorry. I completely lost track of the time,” Rarity said. “We went by that huge space two doors down. The one that’s under construction? They still have paper in the windows, but I think it might be turning into a D-Light Shoe Outlet. Wouldn’t that be spectacular?”
“Yeah, totally.” Pinkie organized the table with the sugars and creamers. Now that Rarity was here, Pinkie would just try to have a good shift with her. It didn’t matter that Rarity dropped a whole sack of sugar yesterday or that she forgot to wipe down the counters after her shift.
Mrs. Cake popped her head out of the back.
“Oh, Rarity, you’re finally here,” she said. Pinkie couldn’t tell if she was mad, because Mrs. Cake was usually in a pretty good mood. “The kitchen’s a mess right now. Boxes everywhere. Maybe you could work the counter with Pinkie while we clean up.”
“That’s great!” Rarity said. She finished up a few texts on her phone before tucking it into the front of her apron. “I love working the register.”
Pinkie gave her biggest, brightest fake smile. In the whole time she’d worked at Sugarcube Corner, she’d used her phone maybe twice (and once was today to check on Rarity). The whole point of working a shift was that you were supposed to work! Not text on your phone!
She was just about to say something to Rarity when Feathers Grey came up to the counter. He pulled his wallet from his coat pocket.
“Just wanted to settle up for the slices of pie,” he said, counting out a few bills.
“How’s that book you’re reading? It looks super interesting, Feathers!” Pinkie rang up his order on the register. Then she took the bills and made change for him, dropping a few coins into his hand.
“Oh, very good. It’s about this lion tamer who…” He paused, noticing Rarity staring at him. Her hand was placed thoughtfully on her chin. She’d actually walked around the side of the counter to see his whole outfit. “Um… is something the matter?” he asked.
“No, no, all wrong,” Rarity said, pointing up and down at his three-piece suit. “You’re going to want to do blues, purples. Green doesn’t work as well with your skin tone.”
“Oh! Ha, umm, ha-ha. Rarity, you silly goose! Don’t mind her, Feathers.” Pinkie Pie ran out from behind the counter and got right between them, ushering Feathers to the door. She whispered under her breath, “She’s just teasing. I love green on you.… It goes perfectly with your… uh… book!” She pointed down at the book in his hand, which had a dark-green cover.
“Oh, thanks,” Feathers said as he left. “Yeah, I always thought it was nice, but maybe not. Anyway… see you tomorrow.”
As soon as Pinkie was sure he was gone, she whipped around and gave Rarity her most serious “please tell me that was a dream and didn’t actually happen” look.
“What?” Rarity just shrugged. “Did I say something wrong?”
The next day, Pinkie Pie was working behind the counter when a woman with big blue-and-pink-striped hair walked in. She was checking her watch as she spoke. Then she glanced over her shoulder, looking for the room’s different exits.
“I have an order under the name Amber Glow,” she said. “I called it in a few days ago. If you don’t mind, I’m in a bit of a rush.”
She glanced around the café, tapping her foot as though she couldn’t wait to get out of there. Then she let out a long, annoyed sigh.
“Yes, of course.” Pinkie smiled. “One pickup order coming right up! Let me just go grab it.”
Pinkie slipped into the back room. Rarity was there, rubbing at a spot on her skirt. There were a few dozen cupcakes on the table and some piping bags scattered about. Pinkie ran over to the shelf where all the pickup orders usually were, but there was only a box for someone named Blackberry Soda.
“Ugh!” Rarity said, wiping carefully at her skirt. “This frosting is so hard to get out once it dries. I shouldn’t have worn tulle. I should probably invest in an apron that matches the decor in here.… Hmm…” Rarity eyed the wallpaper for inspiration.
“Rarity, where’s the order for Amber Glow?” Pinkie asked. “It was for three dozen cupcakes. I think it was for pickup today at noon?”
Pinkie went to the fridge and checked in there, but nothing. They weren’t on any of the shelves in the back, either.
“Amber Glow?” Rarity stared off into the distance as if the name sounded familiar, but she couldn’t remember why. “Hmmm… Amber… Glow…”
“Yes! Do you remember now?” Pinkie Pie got excited. Maybe this mix-up wasn’t so bad. “Do you remember filling the order? I think it was a dozen peanut-butter-filled cupcakes, another dozen red velvet ones—”
“Wait… no…” Rarity dotted her skirt with the towel. “I thought those were for tomorrow.” Rarity looked up at Pinkie with apologetic eyes, realizing she’d likely made a mistake.
Just then, Pinkie Pie ran to the stack of papers on the frosting table, sifting through them. Amber’s order was all the way at the bottom. Rarity completed five of the orders that were being picked up that day, but she’d somehow totally missed the date on Amber Glow’s.
“Oh no…” Pinkie said, staring at the sheet. How were they going to frost thirty-six cupcakes in two minutes? And do everything else they were supposed to do in the café? Like help customers and make hot chocolate and clear the tables outside? It wasn’t possible. They would need to have like a billion hands! “This might be really bad. Really, really bad.”
“Did I get the date wrong? Oh, darling, I’m so, so sorry. I could’ve sworn they were for tomorrow…” Rarity said with concern in her voice. She followed Pinkie out of the back room.
Pinkie went to the counter to speak to Amber Glow. She tried her best, most apologetic smile, furrowing her eyebrows to show she really didn’t want to say what she was about to say.
“I’m so sorry,” Pinkie Pie started, putting on her cheeriest voice. “But there was a mix-up with your order, and it won’t be ready for another half hour. Is it possible for you to come back then?”
“What?” Amber Glow asked, as if she hadn’t heard correctly.
“I’m really sorry,” Pinkie repeated. “Your order—”
“It’s definitely not possible for me to come back,” Amber said, her voice somehow even more impatient than before. “I’m supposed to bring those cupcakes to a birthday party that starts in five minutes.”
“Maybe we could deliver them,” Pinkie tried. “If you tell us where—”
“That’s okay,” Amber said. “I’m going to see if the new Butter’s Bakery has opened. I doubt something like this would happen there.”
Before Pinkie Pie could say anything else, Amber Glow turned on her heel and left. Pinkie wanted to tell Rarity that this was terrible for business and she had to be super-careful about pickup orders, but Pinkie was too worried about what the woman had just said.
“Butter’s Bakery? Like the chain?” asked Rarity.
Pinkie ran to the window and peered outside. Amber went over to the two-story building where the construction had been happening. There weren’t tables outside, but the paper had been taken off the windows. A man in yellow overalls was stenciling a sign on the glass: BUTTE.
“‘Butte.’ That’s actually kind of funny,” Rarity said.
Pinkie ignored her, watching as Amber Glow paused at the door, then left when she realized it wasn’t open yet. She had taken one of the to-go menus by the door. “Oh no,” Pinkie said.
There were already five other Butter’s Bakeries in town. They must churn out hundreds of coffees and hot chocolates a day, and thousands of cookies and pastries. Each Butter’s Bakery was exactly the same as the others, with big yellow armchairs and mass-produced chalkboard signs. Pinkie was sure their treats were still delicious, but were they filled with happiness and love like Sugarcube Corner’s were?
“If a Butter’s Bakery opens right across the street, what’s going to happen to Sugarcube Corner?” Rarity asked.
Pinkie Pie just
stood there, staring at the half-painted sign. She didn’t know the answer, but she had a feeling she didn’t want to. How could they compete with a huge chain like Butter’s Bakery?
They would have to try.
“This is not good,” Mrs. Cake said. Butter’s Bakery had opened only an hour ago, and they already had a line down the block. They were giving out free cookies to the first one hundred people who stopped by.
It had been two days since Amber Glow had told them about the new bakery, and Pinkie Pie’s stomach had been in knots the whole time. She’d been the one to break the news to Mr. and Mrs. Cake. It wasn’t the easiest thing she’d ever done, but she didn’t want them finding out by seeing the new sign in the window. Now they were all worried about what Butter’s Bakery would mean for their little café.
“How are we going to compete with them?” Mr. Cake asked.
“We’re Sugarcube Corner, that’s how!” Pinkie Pie tried. She wanted to make them feel better, even if she didn’t feel so great herself. “Everything you make is filled with love and warmth and ooey-gooey happiness. Butter’s serves their drinks in paper cups, even if you’re having them there. There’s no love in that!”
“I bet their hot chocolate isn’t as good as ours,” Rarity added.
Pinkie Pie smiled at her friend. Since they’d heard the news, it was hard to be frustrated when Rarity made mistakes or walked in a little late. Everything seemed less important compared to their new competition across the street.
“Look, everyone still loves us.” Pinkie Pie pointed around the café. A bunch of tables were full. Feathers Grey had come back, even after Rarity had insulted his suit, and he was reading at his favorite table in the corner. “You’ve been here for years. People aren’t going to stop coming to Sugarcube Corner just because a Butter’s Bakery opened!”
Mr. and Mrs. Cake smiled the tiniest bit. “I hope you’re right,” Mr. Cake said. Then they both disappeared into the back room.
“I’m going to take my break,” Pinkie Pie said. “Can you manage alone for fifteen minutes?”
Pinkie had a feeling she knew the answer to that. Rarity wasn’t great at doing anything in the store on her own, but Pinkie really hoped her friend would step up when she had to. And Pinkie absolutely had to take her break now. She had important business to attend to.
“I’ll be fine!” Rarity said as she put some fresh cookies in the glass case. She put the sugar cookies in front of a sign that said OATMEAL COOKIES, but Pinkie Pie just smiled widely and swapped them around when Rarity turned her back.
Pinkie grabbed sunglasses and an old scarf from the Lost and Found box. Then she darted out the door, putting them on as she walked up the street. She didn’t want people thinking Sugarcube Corner’s best employee was going to Butter’s Bakery for their mocha lattes or hazelnut muffins.
The truth was, she needed to see it for herself. Could Butter’s Bakery really be great enough to steal Sugarcube Corner’s business? She’d been into a Butter’s only once before, and she didn’t think it came anywhere close to Sugarcube Corner. That must’ve been five years ago, but still.…
She slipped in the front door, past the line of people waiting for their free cookie. Inside it was… fine. Just fine! So totally normal. There were the same yellow chairs she remembered from the other Butter’s Bakeries. They had some pastries in a fridge by the register, but they looked rock hard—not nearly as soft and delicious as the ones at Sugarcube Corner. And the worst part was, it didn’t seem like a place you’d want to spend a lot of time. It was crowded and loud, and there was music blasting from every speaker.
“Three hot coco-ramas ready to go!” an orange-haired boy behind the counter called out. A customer came by and picked up the cups.
Pinkie Pie stood there, staring at the boy as he made three more hot chocolates. He was using a huge, four-foot long machine. It took him less than a minute to fill up the other orders.
Pinkie’s stomach dropped. She’d tried to be optimistic before, but it was hard to be now. Butter’s Bakery was everything Sugarcube Corner wasn’t: fast and easy. They could serve a dozen customers in the time it took Pinkie to serve one. They probably shipped their cupcakes in from a factory that made thousands every hour.
“Can I help you with something?” the orange-haired boy asked, noticing Pinkie standing nearby. She suddenly remembered she was still wearing the sunglasses and scarf, even though she was inside.
“No, that’s okay,” she said dejectedly.
Then she took off down the street, back to Sugarcube Corner.
Pinkie Pie wished she’d been wrong about Butter’s Bakery, but she wasn’t. It took only a week before things started to change at Sugarcube Corner. She and Rarity were working one Friday, which was usually their busiest night, but only a few people had come in. The usual crowds of Canterlot High kids had decided to try out Butter’s. Pinkie spotted them all at the sidewalk tables down the street.
“Are all the cupcakes frosted?” Pinkie Pie made her way through the kitchen, checking different shelves and cabinets. She’d already rearranged the supply drawers. “What about the pickup orders? Are those finished?”
“We only had two,” Rarity answered, pointing to the stack of papers with her nail file before she returned to her manicure. “I double-checked, just to be sure. Everything’s done.”
Mr. and Mrs. Cake were working the front counter, so there wasn’t much to do. Pinkie Pie had already wiped down all the tables, organized and reorganized the sugars and creamers, and baked a fresh batch of chocolate chip cookies. They were now sitting on a plate in the front of the bakery, just waiting for someone to eat them.
“I even made a new batch of frosting,” said Rarity, glancing up from her nails and grabbing her phone. “Maybe our friends want to come by. That might cheer up the Cakes a little bit. I’ll text them.”
Normally, the idea of Rarity sitting in the back room, doing her nails and texting their friends, would have annoyed Pinkie Pie. But tonight she was grateful for her. Pinkie pulled some ingredients off the shelf and started mixing a new recipe for her mocha cupcake. It was the only thing that made her feel better lately. She’d started using a special chocolate that was much richer than the regular kind.
“Maybe it’s just an off night…” Pinkie said as she mixed a few cups of flour into the bowl. “Maybe once people start going to Butter’s, they’ll realize it’s not so great after all.”
“It really isn’t that great,” Rarity agreed. “But I don’t know, Pinkie.… We haven’t had many customers all week. I had to throw away two absolutely scrumptious pies last night because no one bought them.”
Pinkie whipped the batter around with her spatula, then tasted it. The recipe was getting better, little by little, but she still hadn’t gotten it quite right. She put in a few drops of vanilla and tasted it again. That was a tiny bit better.
“Did you see what happened yesterday?” Rarity asked, lowering her voice. “That group of seniors from Canterlot High came in, and then they turned around and left and went to Butter’s. I could hardly look at Mr. Cake. I’ve never seen him so upset.”
“I know. It was awful,” Pinkie said with a sigh. The Cakes were always such cheerful people, but lately they were smiling less and less. Pinkie would turn around and hear them whispering to each other or sharing a worried look. Mrs. Cake had started counting the register at the end of the night. She was never in a good mood when she was done.
“Rarity! Pinkie Pie! Your friends are here!” Mr. Cake called into the back room.
Pinkie Pie left the cake batter and peered out front. Rainbow Dash, Sunset Shimmer, Twilight Sparkle, Fluttershy, and Applejack were all sitting at one of the big tables in the corner. They’d ordered a whole pie, a stack of cookies, and a round of hot chocolates. Pinkie didn’t think she’d ever been so happy to see them.
“These hot chocolates are incredible, Mr. Cake!” Twilight Sparkle called out. She held her mug in the air to toast him.
; “The pie, too. Your pecan is my favorite,” Applejack said between massive bites.
Pinkie Pie, Rarity, and the Cakes went over to their table. Pinkie used to be too busy to really hang out with her friends when they came in, but the place was so quiet now, she could’ve sat for a while.
Mrs. Cake was actually smiling as she watched Applejack inhale her pie. “I’m so glad you’re enjoying it,” she said. Then she let out a deep sigh. “That makes me happy. It’s just… I’m not sure how much longer we’re going to be around now that Butter’s Bakery is right across the street.”
“Don’t say that,” Fluttershy said. “The town just wouldn’t be the same without Sugarcube Corner.”
Mr. Cake nodded, but he didn’t look at them. “It doesn’t feel that way lately. I’m afraid we’ll have to close if we keep having nights like this one.”
He gestured to the empty café. Only two other people were there—Feathers Grey and a freshman who was studying for an exam. Rarity was right; it was so hard to see the Cakes sad. Pinkie Pie could hardly stand it.
“We’ll just have to get creative!” Pinkie tried to cheer up Mr. Cake. “We can come up with some ideas so more Canterlot High students will come to the café, or maybe we could draw in a new crowd—senior citizens! Maybe Feathers Grey will bring his friends.” Pinkie sent a toothy grin in Feathers’s direction.
Sunset Shimmer made a face. “I think most of Feather Grey’s friends are—”
“We’ll think of something, I promise,” Pinkie Pie interrupted.
“Yeah, there has to be some way to drum up more business,” Rarity agreed.
Mrs. Cake glanced sideways at Mr. Cake. She smiled sadly. “I hope so,” she said. “We spoke about it, and we’re going to give it a few more weeks. If things keep going the way they’re going…”
“We’ll figure something out,” Pinkie Pie repeated. She didn’t think she could bear hearing the rest of that sentence.
“You girls are some of the most creative kids we know.” Mr. Cake nodded. “If anyone can do it, you can.”