My Little Pony: Pinkie Pie and the Cupcake Calamity

by Arden Hayes

  “Where’s Rarity?” Rainbow Dash asked as she dug into a piece of peach pie.

  “I’m sure Rarity will be here any minute,” Pinkie Pie said, trying not to sound too disappointed. Rarity was supposed to be there at three, but she was running late again.

  Sunset Shimmer glanced over her shoulder at Mr. Cake, who was helping a customer pick out a sugar cookie for her young daughter. “Do you think there’s still hope?” she asked, her voice uneven. “When will they officially decide?”

  “I’m trying to get them to wait just one more week,” Pinkie said. “I had this idea for a party, and I think if we could just—”

  “I got it!” a familiar voice called out. They turned to see Rarity striding toward them. “Sugar… on the Corner…”

  “Um… what does that mean?” Pinkie Pie asked.

  “Sugar on the Corner!” Rarity repeated. “It’s a big idea; I think the biggest we’ve had. I think it can save Sugarcube Corner!”

  “What can save Sugarcube Corner?” Mr. Cake came over to the table after he’d rung up the woman’s cookie. He looked genuinely hopeful. His green eyes were bright.

  “Everyone from Canterlot High used to come after school or on the weekends,” Rarity explained. “Now they’ve started going to Butter’s instead. But what if we did something so cool that they just decided they liked Sugarcube Corner more? What if it was the place to be?”

  “How would we do that?” Mr. Cake seemed confused.

  “Sugar on the Corner.” Rarity swept her hands through the air in a dramatic gesture. “One night a week, Sugarcube Corner will admit only Canterlot High students. There will be tasty treats. There will be a dress code. There will be a band and a photo booth and no adults allowed. Well, except you and Mrs. Cake.”

  Pinkie Pie’s eyes lit up! Rarity was following through with Pinkie’s idea. But would Pinkie get any say… or any credit?

  Mr. Cake paced back and forth. He put his hand on his chin. “I have to get the okay from Mrs. Cake, but I think it’s worth a shot. We could do the first one this Friday. Is that enough time for you two to pull it together?”

  “Of course.” Pinkie Pie saw her chance to jump in. “I already have a ton of ideas.”

  “Well, great, then,” Mr. Cake said. “We’ll trust you two to plan the perfect night. I think… if this doesn’t work, I don’t know what will. I’m going to go find Mrs. Cake and tell her all about it.”

  As he left, Rarity turned to Pinkie Pie and grabbed both her hands. She shook them up and down with excitement. “I’m telling you—this is it!” she said. “We’re going to plan the best party together!”

  Pinkie tried hard to smile, but she wasn’t convinced. Rarity wasn’t always the best employee.… Would they really be able to pull it off?

  Pinkie Pie looked at the to-do list she’d made the night before. As head of the Party Planning Committee at Canterlot High, she had organized dozens of unquestionably fun events: the Fall Formal, Blitzball Brunch (where prospective players could learn about the team), High Tea with Principal Celestia and Vice Principal Luna, and a fund-raiser for the Equestria Girls and Boys Club. If there was something Pinkie Pie did best, it was planning an amazing party.

  She’d written a quick three-page list of the different desserts she wanted to have at Sugar on the Corner. The Rainbooms would play—that was obvious—and she made notes about getting cute paper napkins and cups so they wouldn’t have to worry about kids breaking the nice ceramic ones. She envisioned everything covered in her favorite color: pink! Pretty pink stationery invites with fluffy cupcakes on them, she wrote at the bottom of the list. A banner that says SUGAR ON THE CORNER?

  “You’re not going to believe who I hired to play on Friday night,” Rarity said as she sat down. They were at one of the sidewalk tables outside Sugarcube Corner. Mr. and Mrs. Cake had given them the afternoon off so they could finalize the event. That, and the café had been so slow that the Cakes barely needed any help.

  “Oh, I thought the Rainbooms were going to play…” Pinkie Pie said, trying to smile through her disappointment. She was sure that Rarity had a good idea if she’d already hired the band, but… was this the first sign that she and Rarity really weren’t on the same page?

  “Well, I love the Rainbooms—you know that—but we’ve played at Sugarcube Corner a half-dozen times. We need to start thinking bigger… an act that will draw a crowd. Something new and hip and edgy. Like… the Comeback Kids!”

  “The Comeback Kids?” Uh-oh. This party was supposed to be lighthearted, and fluffy, and fun. And the Comeback Kids almost exclusively played sad ballads about broken hearts. “I just don’t think they’re—”

  “I already booked them.” Rarity shrugged. “They needed to know right then because it’s such short notice.…”

  Pinkie let out a sigh. Maybe the Rainbooms wouldn’t play, but that didn’t mean they couldn’t use the rest of her ideas. She’d just have to reimagine some of the details to fit the new band.

  “So I was thinking desserts everywhere,” Pinkie Pie said. “We could make a three-tiered cake with the Canterlot High colors and the mascot. Or—ohhh! Maybe just a giant Wondercolt! Miniature cupcakes and cookies and hot chocolate for everyone. Basically, sugar everywhere! I really want to show off how good the desserts are at Sugarcube Corner.”

  “I know,” Rarity said slowly. “But I was thinking of this more as… just a really cool party. We can have all the refreshments at one table and kids will get a cupcake or cake when they want some, but we should think of different things to raise our profile. Bigger ideas. A photo booth, the step and repeat. I want everyone using the hashtag #SugarontheCorner.”

  “But Sugarcube Corner is a dessert place,” Pinkie tried. “Shouldn’t that be what we focus on? I was thinking we could give each kid a goody bag with miniature cookies. The bag could be sparkly!”

  “A goody bag?” Rarity’s eyes went wide. “That feels so third grade! Pinkie Pie, you have to think cool. Exclusive.”

  “Okay, see, you keep saying that word, exclusive.” Pinkie Pie started to delicately make her point. “But what do you really mean by that?”

  “People should feel lucky they’re invited, and lucky if they get in,” Rarity went on. “Sugarcube Corner can hold only fifty people, tops. Not everyone is going to be able to come.”

  “But that’s the whole point of Sugarcube Corner! Everyone is welcome.”

  Pinkie could hear her voice rising. Why were they having a party that didn’t match up with what Sugarcube Corner was? Why did Rarity want to turn it into something else? One of the best things about the café was how warm and welcoming it was.

  “Well, not on Friday nights. I’m going to tell Sunset Shimmer and Twilight Sparkle to do the inviting. Nothing official. I want them to just ‘spread the word’ about the party, and be very selective about who they tell,” Rarity said. “Oh, #showyoursugar! That’s a great one for the photo booth! People can post that on their networks!”

  Pinkie Pie stared down at her to-do list. “So basically I should just make some desserts…?”

  “Yes! Perfect, darling! But not Canterlot High–themed ones,” Rarity said. Just then her cell phone rang, and she grabbed it from her purse. She stood and turned her back to Pinkie Pie as she picked it up. “It’s the person from the photo booth place. I have to get this. Just—make those desserts! Plan for about fifty kids!”

  She strode off down the sidewalk, saying something about “flattering lighting.” Pinkie Pie’s stomach was twisted into knots. She was the one who was head of the CHS Party Planning Committee, but Rarity wasn’t listening to a word she said. What about the cupcake hats Pinkie Pie wanted to make? Or the silent auction she wanted to have for a Sugarcube Corner–themed birthday party? And she didn’t care what Rarity said—it was a proven fact that everyone loved goody bags.

  “I will make those desserts,” Pinkie Pie said as she underlined that item on her to-do list. But then she continued down it, underlining the oth
er items, too. “And make the cupcake hats… and the goody bags… and get those paper plates and cups.…”

  She’d worked at Sugarcube Corner for years, and she knew the place better than Rarity did. Pinkie understood what kind of party Rarity wanted, she did. But that didn’t mean she agreed with it.

  They’d just have to find a way to do everything both of them wanted to do, all at one super-fun party.

  “All right, Sugarcube Corner is officially closed for the night.” Mr. Cake taped a sign to the door that said CLOSED FOR A PRIVATE EVENT. “Mrs. Cake and I will finish frosting those cupcakes, Pinkie Pie. You guys just holler if you need anything.”

  “Great, we will!” Pinkie said, striding over to Rarity. She set a few big boxes on the table in the center of the room and began unloading her supplies. “I made some cupcake hats and this great banner. Look at all the little details!”

  She rolled the banner out on the table. It said SUGAR ON THE CORNER in big, loopy script. Then she’d hand-painted different desserts around it: chocolate chip cookies and pink-frosted cupcakes and slices of key lime pie. The cupcake hats she’d made out of papier-mâché. She’d put elastic string on them so it looked as if you were wearing a cupcake on your head!

  Rarity went pale. “Ummmm… I thought you were just making the desserts?”

  “Well, yeah. We needed some decorations, too!”

  “But I have decorations.” Rarity looked confused.

  There was a knock on the door. Pinkie Pie ran to open it, and in walked all eight of the Comeback Kids. They’d come early to practice their set for the night. Two workers were right behind them, carrying the materials for the photo booth. Rarity immediately went into planning mode.

  “You can set up your musical equipment in that corner,” she said, pointing to one side of the café. “And we’ll put the photo booth right here by the counter.”

  “But where are we going to put the banner? And the cupcake table?” Pinkie Pie asked. “I had this whole setup for the hats, too. We can place them on a long table against the wall so people can pick out their own.”

  The Comeback Kids and the workers were standing there, watching them argue. They were holding their heavy equipment. “We don’t got all day,” one of the workers grumbled.

  “Hey! Here’s an idea…” Pinkie said, sensing the tension. “Why don’t we just have two themes? One party; both visions!”

  “Um, I suppose that could work,” Rarity said. “Okay, boys. You can just put everything on this side of the room.”

  “Great!” Pinkie Pie agreed. “I can decorate everything on this side.”

  Pinkie Pie started setting up around the counter and front tables while the band and photo booth workers set up in the back part of the café. She was sure this plan would work. Pinkie hung the banner above the counter, right where she had imagined it would be, and lined up the cupcake hats on a table against the wall. She was bringing out the huge, three-tiered Wondercolt cake when the rest of their friends walked in.

  “Wow,” Rainbow Dash said, glancing from one side of the room to the other. “This is like two parties in one.”

  “Cool photo booth!” Sunset Shimmer said, running inside. She and Fluttershy took three silly pictures in a row, and the machine shot out a photo strip. The background had #showyoursugar written all over it.

  Rarity’s side of the room had silver- and gold-star confetti scattered on the floor, and she’d put a velvet rope outside the door and had the step and repeat there. The Comeback Kids played a few notes, warming up their instruments.

  “Come see the Wondercolt cake!” Pinkie Pie said, pulling Rainbow Dash and Applejack over to it. “I made it in three days. Doesn’t it look just like the statue in front of Canterlot High?”

  “It definitely does,” Applejack said. But she kept glancing over her shoulder to see what was happening on the other side of the room. Twilight Sparkle was talking to some of the Comeback Kids. The lead singer, Red Forest, was a cute junior from the next town over. There was a rumor he used to model for the Canterlot Gazette ads.

  Pinkie Pie grabbed Rainbow Dash’s hand and led her to the cupcake hats. “Try one on!” she said. “They’re so fun, aren’t they?”

  Rainbow Dash put a chocolate cupcake on her head, looping the band under her chin. Pinkie thought she looked adorable. For some weird reason, Rainbow Dash took it off just a few seconds later.

  “You have to walk the step and repeat, friends!” Rarity called out. She made Twilight and Fluttershy follow her out to the front of the café. She already had a photographer taking pictures of the Sugar on the Corner backdrop.

  Feeling a little sad, Pinkie Pie watched her friends go. She was glad Rarity’s stuff was popular… but why did they like Rarity’s decorations better than hers? Twilight was practically swooning over Red Forest. Pinkie glanced at her Wondercolt cake, which had taken hours to design. This was the first party Pinkie had thrown that just wasn’t any fun at all.

  “How come the café is decorated so differently?” Sunset Shimmer asked, glancing from one side of the room to the other. She walked down the line in the middle where Rarity’s confetti stopped. “It’s kind of… weird.”

  “Yes, it is.…” Mrs. Cake came out of the back room holding the stack of paper plates and napkins Pinkie Pie had bought. They were covered with tiny chocolate chip cookies. She took in the café. “It feels like two different parties with two different themes.”

  Seeing Mrs. Cake through the window, Rarity darted back inside. “Well, we ended up having different visions, so we thought we would do both. That’s my side of the room, with the photo booth. I wanted glitz and glamour. And Pinkie Pie wanted more of a sugar-and-sweets theme. Both are fabulous, obviously.”

  “That’s very true, but maybe we can make it feel like one party instead of two?” Mrs. Cake suggested.

  “Which party do you want it to be, though? Should we stick with the dessert theme?” Pinkie Pie felt a little nervous asking the question. She wanted Mrs. Cake to like what she’d done, of course. She wanted the whole café to be decorated the way she’d envisioned. Rarity’s party was “cool,” but it wasn’t sweet and warm and sugary like Sugarcube Corner.

  “Let’s just go with the glitz and glamour theme,” Mrs. Cake finally said. “We already have the photo booth and velvet rope and everything. Maybe we could do a sweets-themed party another night. It’s a great idea, Pinkie; it really is.”

  Mrs. Cake offered her a small, sad smile, then returned to the back room. Pinkie Pie felt everyone watching her, even the Comeback Kids. She swore she heard Red Forest whisper something about her cupcake hats.

  She’d never been more embarrassed in her whole life.

  “You guys can help Rarity decorate the rest of the café,” Pinkie Pie said, her cheeks red. She couldn’t take it anymore; all the sadness and disappointment from the past few weeks had built up and she felt as if she were going to burst. “I’m going to go finish frosting the cupcakes and make sure we have enough cookies ready, and bake some more… because this is a bakery and that’s what I do. I don’t need to plan some raging, super-cool party.”

  She turned on her heel and went into the back room. Her heart was pounding. For a moment she thought she might cry, but then she saw Mr. and Mrs. Cake in the back office and she tried her best not to. She couldn’t tell them how devastated she was by the thought of losing Sugarcube Corner. She couldn’t tell them how much she wanted to be a big part of saving her second home… or how much it upset her that her ideas only seemed to make things worse.

  Pinkie Pie picked up the bowl of marshmallow cream from the fridge. She dumped in a few teaspoons of vanilla extract and mixed it up. Then she slid a tray of whole marshmallows into the oven, right under the broiler. She wanted them to get nice and toasted brown. She riffled through the cabinets, looking for other ingredients she could use. She pulled out a pack of sliced almonds, crushed them up, and then mixed them in, too.

  Baking always calmed her down. For
so long, Sugarcube Corner had been her escape whenever she needed it. If she didn’t do well on a test or had a fight with a friend or had a hard day at school or felt sad for any other reason, she could always come to Sugarcube Corner to relax. If she was being totally honest, working with Rarity had made that harder. Maybe it was because of the new pressure with Butter’s Bakery, or maybe it was because she and Rarity didn’t work the same way. But she felt as if Sugarcube Corner were slipping away from her. In some ways, it was already gone.

  The timer on the oven went off, and she pulled out the tray of toasted marshmallows. They were a perfect golden brown, and they smelled delicious. She picked up a few with a fork and tossed them into the bowl of marshmallow cream, stirring them around and around. If she put the mixture in a piping bag, she could squeeze it right into the center of the cupcake. She’d use it for the top, too. She didn’t have time to make a fresh batch of buttercream frosting.

  “Baking away…” Mrs. Cake said as she stepped out of the office. Mr. Cake was right behind her. “There’s still a few dozen cupcakes for the party, if you want to frost those, too. I think we have enough cookies already.”

  “I’ll definitely frost them,” Pinkie said. She didn’t look up from the bowl.

  “Pinkie, I’m sorry if before—” started Mrs. Cake.

  “It’s okay,” Pinkie said, and she meant it. “I think these last few weeks have just been difficult for me. I want to stay positive, but it’s hard.”

  “For us, too,” Mr. Cake said. “It’s very scary.”

  “I just…” Pinkie could feel the tears in her eyes. “I really love this place.”

  “We do, too. So much,” Mrs. Cake said, wrapping her arm around Pinkie’s shoulders. “Why don’t we frost some of these cupcakes together? For old time’s sake.”

  “I’d like that,” Pinkie said.