It was a warm midsummer morning as Derpy waited in line at Sugarcube Corner, her empty mail bag beside her. She had finished her mail delivery route early (...though accuracy was not on her list of concerns...) and was calmly waiting to pick up an order she had made a few days prior for a very special occasion.
Business progressed relatively quickly and soon enough, it was her turn at the register. With a smile, Derpy trotted up to the counter, placed a bag of bits onto the counter and looked at the plump blue mare behind it in the decorated bakery.
“Hello, Mrs. Cake. I’m here to pick up my order of those special muffins.” She piped with an excited smile.
Mrs. Cake smiled brightly with a nod. “Good morning Mrs. Derpy. Yes, they're fresh from the oven and ready to go. Just a moment, and I'll get them for you. ” She replied bubbly and then trotted into the kitchen. The sounds of a paper bag crinkling and soft scrapping could be heard and a minute later, she returned with a large, full paper bag on her back.
“Here you are, dear; one baker’s dozen of Apple Cinnamon Strudel muffins!” Mrs. Cake proclaimed as she placed the bag gently on the counter and then picked up the bag of bits. The cash register opened with a ‘cha-ching’ and the baker mare slid the now less full bit bag back to her. “Alright, here’s your change; you’re all set, Deary.”
“Thanks, Mrs. Cake!” Derpy exclaimed as she scooped up both the bits and muffin bag. The tasty aroma and warmth she felt through the bag indicated that they were indeed fresh from the oven as she tucked them carefully into her mail sack.
“You're very welcome, deary. I hope you and your little pumpkin enjoy them.” Mrs. Cake called with a wave to Derpy.
Once outside, Derpy pulled the bag out to peek at the marvelous purchase she had made. “Oh boy…I just know that muffin will love these, heehee!” She mused to herself proudly as she placed them back in the mail sack, “there’s nothing better than waking up to fresh muffins, especially on a special day like today. I’m sure that Doctor will like them too when he gets there.” She concluded as she started trotting towards home.
It was Dinky’s birthday and she wanted get her a special flavor of muffin that was on sale. Dinky had taken a liking to this flavor and Derpy thought: ‘what better than for my little muffin waking up to a great breakfast on her special day?’. She had invited her friend, Doctor Whooves, over today as well, and he was more than happy to spend time with her and her daughter; a tasty, included breakfast was just a welcomed bonus for him.
~***~
Being the weekend, Ponyville was busier than usual; numerous ponies trotted through town, chatting and going about their business as Derpy passed by with a smile on her face. Dinky liked to sleep in on the weekends, so Derpy didn't have to rush to be home before she awoke.
The bubbly Pegasus trotted down the street, humming to herself as she was home bound. As she passed through town square, the sound of her stomach rumbling permeated the air. “Gosh...I knew I should have eaten something to tide me over before I left this morning…” she trailed off in disappointment. She had waited to eat breakfast with her daughter, so the wafting smell of fresh breakfast in her bag reminded her of how hungry she was. Deciding to give in, she trotted over to a vacant nearby bench and hopped up to it.
“I know I’m saving these to eat with Dinky and Doctor…but just one to tide me over wouldn’t spoil much…” she thought to herself and then reached into the paper bag. Pulling out one of the muffins, she smiled brightly with excited wall eyes and a trickle of drool escaping her mouth in anticipation.
She licked her lips and opened her mouth, moving the muffin slowly towards it, oblivious to a sound of approaching wagon wheels. Just before the muffin could grace her taste buds with its intoxicating flavors, said wagon’s wheels bounced through a puddle beside Derpy's bench, sending a big splash of water upwards, drenching Derpy's head and front hooves in a wave of murky water. She sat frozen in place for a moment as her mouth closed into a frown before shaking the water out of her mane with a look of confusion and looked at the muffin still in her hooves. The warm treat was soaked and covered in dirt and twigs…totally ruined.
“Oh Pony feathers…” she muttered to herself and dropped the muffin in a nearby trash bin. She looked at the bag of muffins behind her, and breathed a sigh of relief seeing it was untouched. “Phew.” her smile returned as she shook off as much of the water as she could, leaving the bluish gray fur less dirty. She figured she’d wash up properly once she got home.
Derpy then proceeded to sit back down, reached into the bag again and pulled out a second muffin. She smiled brightly as she looked at it…well, it and possibly something on a roof across the street, then closed her eyes and opened her mouth again.
Just then, there was a loud squawking noise from above and a large bird appeared out of nowhere and snatched the muffin up in its beat, startling Derpy and making her let it go. She watched in surprise as the bird flew back up into air and and landed in a nearby tree. it perched itself on a branch in front of a nest and set the muffin down beside it.
The excited chirps of baby birds could be heard from the tree and four little beaks appeared with hungry mouths open and...one furry little snout? the mother bird and babies all stopped chirping and turned to look at the fifth little face. The critter in question, happened to be a mouse that had crept into the nest to blend in with anticipation of food. He heard the silence and stopped squeaking to see the birds looking at him. He grinned sheepishly and with one swift motion, bit a big chunk out of the muffin, jumped out of the nest and darted down the branch. The mother bird squawked angrily at it as she hopped after it down the branch. Seeing that the furry thief was gone, she shook her head and returned to the nest. She then proceeded to start picking away of the muffin and pass them out to her babies individually. The family ended up enjoying the meal one piece at a time.
Derpy watched on in surprise as well as amusement as she smiled at the joyous site of the mother bird feeding her young. "Awww...that's so cute." she mused to herself. Her brow then furrowed sadly and she hunched forward with a sad sigh.
“Huh...that happened. Just my luck…at least, I still have ten muffins left to share with them.” she said to herself as she quickly packed up the bag, not wanting anymore nasty surprises. “At least the babies enjoyed it...and that I thought to buy extras.” She said confidently before getting off the bench and moving along. "I'd better get going; muffin might be waking up soon and I'm sure that Doctor is on his way too." She muttered to herself definitively. She didn't believe in the whole 'third time's the charm' thing, so she decided to ignore her hunger and eat at home.
~***~
In the town park, three fillies sat at a picnic table, tapping their hooves in spiritless fashion, pondering very hard about something. It was the Cutie Mark Crusaders; they had agreed to meet early for their crusading hangout. Although Princess Luna had spoken with them about how their cutie marks represented who they were, they still had fun crusading and exploring different ideas with each other. They also wanted to at least finish off a long list of ideas they had penned recently before moving on.
Apple Bloom let out a sigh. “Hm...so what are we doing today, Scoots?" She asked curiously. "Ah can' think of anything else that we haven' tried on that part of our list, can you?"
Scootaloo rubbed her hoof on her chin in thought. "Well, let's check again, just in case..." she flipped through her notepad of ideas. "let's see...Cutie Mark Crusader..." She glanced over the ideas, “…window washers?” she started.
“That didn’t go so well when that rope broke on us while working high up on town hall.” Sweetie Belle remarked, "That and we put too much soap in the bucket...half of the building was covered in bubbles."
“Ok...how about that Advice Stand idea we had?” Scootaloo followed up.
“No, we tried that one…and we really didn’ get anywhere with anything ponies asked us to help with 'round Ponyville.” Apple Bloom reminded them.
“Yeah, and it didn't help when they all came back, demanding their bits back...I thought only one bit per advice was fair, but..." Sweetie Belle brought up. "I think that weird mare didn't appreciate our honesty about her looks..." Apple Bloom and Scootaloo scowled as they remembered the choice language said mare had for their advice.
“Ok…um…rocket scientists?” Scootaloo arched an eyebrow as she looked at the curious idea on the list.
“I couldn't read half the words in that dumb book…and I didn't know you weren't supposed to push the big red shiny button on that toy rocket set we tested.” Sweetie Belle piped. “I still don’t think Button Mash is over how it crashed into his new Joy-Con game either…” She rubbed the back of her neck as she recalled the event.
Scootaloo bit her lip at the memory and cleared her throat, “Eheheh…yeah…a-anyway, um…how about…”
Overhead, Derpy was passing by, eyes closed and humming happily. She had decided she could make better time flying and took to the air. She opened them when she heard voices and spotted the three on the bench below. She smiled warmly at them before looking back up...only to be met with a wall eye vision of leaves and sticks...
Rustle, crack, rustle, WHAM!
She hadn’t been paying attention to her flight path, as she had veered a little too far to the right and made a messy discovery of where a nearby tree grew. “Oof…ow…wah!” she grunted while passing through the greenery until getting stuck in a group of branches.
The fillies heard the noise and looked around in confusion. “Uh…did you girls hear something?” Scootaloo asked. The three were oblivious to the soft 'pomf' sounds on the table in front of them.
“Yeah we did. Huh…that was weird. Must have just been our imaginations,” Sweetie Bell said before turning back to the table, “Huh?” She squeaked when she spotted a fluffy object in front of her.
Apple Bloom and Scootaloo turned back and gasped at what was in also front of them. Three muffins had fallen from above, bounced along some branches in an orderly fashion and had landed in front of each filly.
“Hey, where did these come from?” Apple Bloom asked as she looked at the muffin curiously.
“Do you think these belong to somepony?” Sweetie Belle asked, poking her muffin and looking around for possible answers.
Scootaloo shrugged and waved a hoof. “Well, nopony else is around, so they can't belong to anypony, right?” she stated lazily as she picked up and sniffed the muffin with a smile. “Mm…I already had breakfast, but it smells really good…”
Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom smelled them as well and nodded in agreement. Just then, Sweetie bell gasped and gave a wide and excited grin. “Hey, I’ve got an idea!” She exclaimed and leaned in to whisper to them.
Both Scootaloo and Apple Boom’s faces brightened upon hearing the idea and both nodded vigorously. “Yeah, that’s a fun idea, Sweetie Belle, why don't we try it?!” Apple Bloom agreed as she picked up her muffin and looked at the others.
With one last nod to each other, each held their muffin up in anticipation: “CUTIE MARK CRUSADER, FOOD SAMPLERS!” The three shouted in unison and then bit into their muffins and chewed happily. “Mmmmmm!” They all exclaimed before proceeding to scarf down the rest of each muffin, leaving just wrappers and a straggling crumbs in their wake.
After they were done, the three sat back, licking their lips and rubbing their satisfied tummies as they took in the flavors and satisfaction.
“That was delicious…” Scootaloo sighed in satisfaction.
“The apples were definitely from our farm, and the flavors blend together perfectly with jus’ the right amount o’ cinnamon…and other...uh, stuff...ah think.” Apple Bloom tried to detail happily.
“Sweet…but with a hint of crispy tart. The freshness helps make it a simply divine treat…at least, that’s how Rarity would probably put it.” Sweetie Belle critiqued while licking her lips.
“So…did you two get anything?” Scootaloo asked lazily after a moment, remembering that they were doing this for a reason.
“What? Oh, right,” the three fillies sat up together and looked at their rumps…which were still as blank as before.
“Dang, still no cutie marks!” Apple Bloom exclaimed as she folded her hooves in frustration.
“Ooh…and I really thought we’d have them this time.” Sweetie Belle said dejectedly.
“Well, I think that finishes this set. Come on girls…let’s go hang out at the clubhouse.” Scootaloo said, dejectedly and got up from the seat. Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle nodded and hopped off the bench after her, leaving the table empty, save for some crumbs.
After they left, there were more snapping noises from above and a grey mass fell out of the tree. "Wah!" Derpy cried as she plummeted into a bush behind the table; her open mailbag landing beside her. Moments later, she groaned and emerged, dizzily swaying and eyes rolling with stars around her head. “Ow…I-i'm ok…” She said to herself as she staggered out of the bushes, covered in twigs and leaves.
Nearby, rested an open bag that had flopped out of her mail bag…again. Derpy's eyes shifted positions upon discovering the crumbs on the table and realizing what had happened. “Oh no!” She gasped and galloped to the bag to examine it. To her horror, three more muffins were gone, leaving her with only seven.
“Oh dear…what is with my luck today? Oh well, at least I’ve still got a bunch…” Derpy thought to herself as she folded the bag up extra tight this time and stuffed it carefully back into her shoulder bag, hoping it would help keep them more secure. “Time to get home now.” She forced a smile and continued down the trail. At this point, she was starting to get worried; she wasn't too far from home, but at the rate she was losing them, she feared that she didn't have enough muffins to make it home for breakfast...
~***~
After another short trot, Derpy came across a small festive set of decorations that were being put up by a small group of ponies and a variety of animals. Among them was a yellow Pegasus mare with a pink mane; she was humming a tune happily as birds and other critters were running around, having fun while the event was being put together.
Passing by a small section of tarps, she spotted a familiar yellow Pegasus with a bright pink mane, struggling to help another brown Pegasus lift a long section of banner. “Slowly…um, yes, a little higher…no, too far upward, eep! No, not that way…” she was instructing quietly, her partner struggling to hear her.
Derpy was walking by when she heard the Pegasus talking and looked up at it with a smile. “Hello there Fluttershy…” She started, startling the Pegasus with a squeak before she whirled around to see her. “Oh…my bad…but what’cha doing with the banner?” She asked curiously.
“Oh…h-hello Mrs. Derpy…um, we’re just setting up for the Animal Society's mid-summer festival tomorrow.” She explained softly, calming down from the scare.
“Oh, ok. ” Derpy replied as she saw the other helper struggling to hold the banner, causing Fluttershy to quickly adjust her grip as well. “Is there anything I can do to help?” she offered brightly.
Fluttershy stabilized the banner before giving her a small smile. “Oh, yes, that would be most helpful Derpy…that is, if you don’t mind…” she asked graciously. “If you could help us lift this banner and hold it while we pin it in...it would be very helpful.”
Derpy smiled brightly and nodded as she set her bag off to the side and then flapped her wings up towards them, careful to not knock into anything like past incidents that came to mind…such as the incident at the Town Hall building with Rainbow Dash a while back…
Fluttershy and the other mare smiled warmly as she joined them and allowed her to take the middle section of the banner with her teeth and lifting it upwards with the other two, taking orders from Fluttershy on how to adjust the decorations.
Meanwhile, a group of animals were scampered around near the banner area, where Derpy's bag was. The delicious aroma of the still warm muffins was permeating the air and reached some of them, caused some to stop dead in their tracks. Enchanted by the aroma, several noses rose into the air and looked towards the bag, where the scent was coming from.
As the curious group approached the bag, a white rabbit, Angel bunny who had accompanied Fluttershy, hopped in front of the bag, stomping his foot and shaking his head at the other animals, knowing what they had in mind. He thought the muffins smelled good too, but he knew better.
The other animals all looked at him and at each other and just smiled in excitement. They were too enchanted by the scent to care about any drawbacks at the moment and eagerly walked towards the bag, despite the rabbit's protests…
With the weight of the banner lessened along with an extra hoof to help, the three managed to pull it into place and had the entire set of banners around the tower put up and done. Within a few minutes, the job was done and the three Pegasi backed up while still in the air to look around at the completed section of the project.
With a sigh of relief, Fluttershy nodded and turned to Derpy with a grateful smile. “Oh, thank you very much for your help Mrs. Derpy…”
“Not a problem Ms. Fluttershy, I'm glad I could help out.” Derpy replied happily.
“Yes…and if you hadn’t come along, I’m sure we’d still have had…huh, Angel?” Fluttershy started, before a frantic bunny behind Derpy caught her attention.
Angel was hopping around feverishly to get her attention and pointing at something. Both Derpy and Fluttershy tilted their heads and looked towards where he was pointing.
A short distance away, a small group of animals were dancing around and happily playing with or nibbling on chunks of some brown food substance with a reddish tint. There were also a few animals gathered around a crumpled paper bag that was pulled out from a blue mail bag that belonged to a certain blonde Pegasus...
Derpy gasped in horror when she the animals rummaging around her bag and playing with her muffins. “Oh no, not my muffins!” she shouted in distress and flew swiftly over to the bag on the ground and fought to pull it away from a group of squirrels. "No! these are mine! Let go!" she said frantically. The squirrels chirped angrily at her as they held firm on the bag they were trying to claim.
Angel on the other hand watched the mayhem and looked back at Fluttershy. He went wide-eyed and merely shrugged, knowing what was coming. He held up a paw and a few fingers. “3…2…1…” He counted down…before…
“HEY!!!” a soft, yet piercing shout permeated the air. In an instant, every single animal involved with the muffins, froze and their gazes all shot towards the source of the voice. The critters that were fighting to hold Derpy’s bag immediately let go, sending Derpy tumbling backwards while clutching the bag.
Mere seconds later, an angry Fluttershy flew over to the mischievous and cowering animals with an stern glare on her face. “No, you stop that right now!” She demanded softly with hooves on her hips.
The group of animals that had muffin pieces in paw all dropped them, backed away slowly and cringed at their furious caretaker. They knew they were busted.
“You should know better than that! You DO NOT, steal some pony's food; those are not yours!” Fluttershy scolded them sternly. She looked over and saw Derpy pouting at the crinkled bag.
After seeing the chunks laying around and looking into her bag, Derpy had concluded that five more muffins had been ransacked, leaving only two left. Her ears dropped and her lips quivered; even though she had saved two muffins, she didn't have enough to share with her daughter and Doctor for breakfast.
Fluttershy finished scolding the muffin thieves and had inspected the ones that were stolen, only to discover that they were all nibbled on or half eaten, no longer appetizing for anypony to want to eat them. She took a couple deep breaths to calm down and turned to fly over to the saddened Derpy, who was still cradling her almost empty bag.
Fluttershy put a shaky hoof on Derpy's shoulder, making her look up at her. “I am so, so sorry that my friends did that. I-I don’t know what came over them…they’re usually o-oh so well behaved…” She apologized profusely.
The situation was not looking good; Derpy didn't have time to head back to Sugarcube for more, since Dinky would be waking soon and Doctor would be arriving shortly for breakfast. That and with losing all the others as quickly as she did, she didn't want to press her luck with the muffins she managed to save for her family.
Derpy remained quiet for a few moments as she shook herself off and examined the remaining muffins in the bag. She sighed sadly as she folded up the bag tightly, put it away and turned to Fluttershy with a sad smile. “Oh…it’s alright Fluttershy…at least that means the muffins were delicious…” she said calmly.
“Um…here, I'll pay you back for the m-muffins that were eaten. How much were they? I saw them on sale when I last went there, so they shouldn't cost too much.” Fluttershy bargained as she reached behind her with her snout and tried to find her purse.
Derpy shook her head with a sad smile as she put her bag on and turned towards her. “No, that's ok Fluttershy…I was planning on sharing them with other ponies anyway…I just wanted to save a few for my family, which I did…” She put the bag and started to walk away.
“Um…but…no…okay, if you say so…thank you for your help Mrs. Derpy…and um, sorry again…” She agreed reluctantly with a wave to the leaving mare, knowing her mind was made up. She then made a sharp turn around with her attitude making a full 180 as she turned back to give the animals responsible for the mess...the stare. “We are going to have a nice long talk about this later…”
Behind her, Angel just shrugged with a sigh…before taking a bite of a muffin chunk that he had grabbed and smiling in satisfaction.
~***~
Meanwhile, a brown Earth Pony stallion with a spiky mane, bow tie collar and an hourglass Cutie Mark, was approaching Derpy's cottage at a casual trot. It was Doctor Whooves, Derpy's good friend who was arriving for the breakfast she had invited him to.
“Hm…let's see, Derpy did say she was going to purchase the muffins this morning…but hopefully she has some butter in her home…yes, can’t have muffins without butter…and even a bit of jam…” He rambled. “Ugh…I forgot to ask what flavor those muffins would be…she said Dinky loved them, but didn’t say what kind. I really hope it isn’t pear...” he muttered in disgust as he trotted up to the entryway of Derpy's cottage. “I hate pears….whether plain or in a confection, they’re the bane of any smart man- er…pony and poor Dinky would be in for a polite turn down…pray I don't upset them too much.” He thought to himself uneasily.
As he neared the doors, he quickly pondered about whether she was home yet or not. He knew it was a bit early, but debated on whether he should knock or just wait, not to wake up Dinky. He didn't have to wait long luckily, because he soon heard a familiar trotting pace and he looked up to see his Pegasus friend, coming towards him, a sad plastered to her face.
“Ah, hello Miss Derpy, how was your…oh dear…you’re covered in dirt and...other ground-based materials. What happened?” He asked, curious and concerned about her predicament.
Derpy stopped at the doorstep and gave Doctor a half smile. “Good morning Doctor, thanks for coming over...and waiting while I took so long to get back.” She said, opening the door and moving inside. “And…well…you could say that…” She trailed off as she stepped inside. “Oh good, it looks like she's still in bed. That gives me a bit of time to clean up and prepare for breakfast.”
Doctor nodded as he followed her to the kitchen and cleared his throat. "Yes that would be best, my dear. I'll set the table for you and be with you in a moment." He offered, walking towards the kitchen. "I trust that everything is still in the place that it was when I last visited?" He asked, opening some cabinets to locate the proper utensils.
Derpy nodded, put the bag on the counter and then retired to the washroom, "Yeah...as far as I know, at least." She replied.
A few minutes later, Doctor Whooves finished setting the table and headed to check on Derpy. “I forgot to ask, which flavor is it? It’s not pear, is it? You know I don’t like those abysmal things.” Doctor called through the bathroom door, curious while trying to remain sympathetic.
“No it’s not Pear, Doctor. As for the morning, it…could have gone better…” Derpy assured him and trailed off uneasily. Doctor breathed a silent sigh of relief where he sat. She then began to tell him about her morning out.
She listed off her day and explained how things went while Doctor listened contently. She told him about getting the Baker’s Dozen from Sugarcube Corner and then through the mishaps she had that day. From the soiled attempt she had first, to the fight she had with a tree and even with the nice animals she was helping set up a festival for with Fluttershy...she told him everything, including the part about not having enough to share with the three of them.
Shortly after concluding her story, Derpy exited the restroom, holding a towel over her shoulder to wipe away any straggling water droplets on her fur. “And well, that’s what happened, Doctor.” She gave a sheepish smile.
Doctor returned the smile sadly and leaned forward. “Well, it sounds like you had quite the misadventure this morning, Derpy…I’m sorry that you had such a treacherous journey.” He said sincerely as he wrapped Derpy into a firm hug, which she happily returned. "But are you sure that you don't want to share the muffins with just you and Dinky? I don't mind putting a hold on a breakfast, if you'd like?" He assured her with a smile. He understood that it wasn't her fault that there wasn't enough muffins anymore and didn't mind taking a rain check for the breakfast.
Derpy just shook her head. "No, it's ok, Doctor...I promised you a breakfast, so we're going to figure something out." She said firmly and started moving towards the now prepared dining area.
Doctor Whooves furrowed his brow as he followed behind Derpy. He respected her determination with keeping her promise to him, but still felt bad that they weren't going to be able to enjoy it together. As he followed her into the dining room, one thought about their conversation lingered in him mind. It had something to do with the special name she called her order...but he couldn't quite put a hoof on what it was.
In the kitchen, a tired filly now sat at the table, rubbing her eyes sleepily. She heard the grown ups approaching and smiled at them with a wave. “Good morning mommy…hi Doctor.” She said tiredly as she fought off the remnants of dreamland.
“Good morning Dinky,” Derpy stated happily, quickly tossing the towel away, narrowly missing the Doctor’s snout as he looked after it with wide eyes, and trotting around the table to hug her daughter. “Happy birthday my little Muffin.”
Dinky giggled and hugged her mother back before looking around the table. “Thank you...hey, I smell something good…is it for breakfast?” She asked.
Derpy smiled with a nod as she moved over to the bag. She reached inside and pulled out the remaining two muffins, slightly squished and deformed by their hectic journey to the table. “Here you go Dinky, I got you a special...Apple Cinnamon Strudel muffin!” She stated happily and put a muffin on her plate next to the toast and fruit.
Dinky's eyes lit up with a smile as she took the now lukewarm muffin and held it in front of her. “Oh boy, thank you, mommy!”
Derpy smiled and handed the other one to The Doctor. “Here, Doctor, this is for you.”
Doctor Whooves forced a smile and took the muffin. “Ah, thank you Derpy, this is truly a delectable part of a good breakfast.” He stated as he took a seat at the table, to the right of Dinky and watched as Derpy took the one on the other side of Dinky.
Dinky was about to bite into her muffin, when she noticed that her mother didn’t have a muffin in front of her. “Wait…where’s your muffin, Mommy? Weren't we going to eat breakfast together?” She asked curiously.
Derpy winced, remembering that she promised she would do that. “Oh…actually, I…I um…” She didn't want to admit it, but she knew that the answer would upset her.
Meanwhile, the Doctor was watching and the nagging feeling he had from Derpy’s story returned. He looked at the muffin and it hit him as to what it was. “Ah, wait a moment Derpy.” He said, drawing attention from the the other two. “What you were telling me before…you said something about getting a ‘Baker’s Dozen,’ right? Is that the kind of order you made this morning?”
Derpy nodded and tilted her head. “Yeah…what about it, Doctor? Isn't it just a dozen that the bakers put extra love and care into baking for somepony that orders it?”
Doctor Whooves blinked and then burst into laughter. “Ahahahaha…oh goodness no my dear, that’s not it,” he replied before catching himself. “Yes, now I remember. It’s an old baker's term and it doesn't mean anything special was done in the baking quality. Perhaps they do put a bit more love than they always do into it, i'm not certain, but It really means that they give you an extra muffin in the batch, giving you thirteen muffins instead of twelve.” He finished explaining.
Derpy raised an eyebrow; her eyes shifted position in surprise. “An...extra muffin in the order…?”
The Doctor pulled the empty paper bag over to him. “Yes, if my memory on traditional expressions serves me right...according to the math in your story...lost two...then another three...then five...and the two here on the table...” He picked it up and felt it gently to check. With a small smile and nod, he handed it across the table to a shocked Derpy. "That adds up to only twelve m'dear."
Derpy’s eyes twinkled curiously as she slowly took the opened bag and peered inside. A smile slowly spread across her face.
Sure enough, hiding in the bottom of the crinkled bag, slightly squished, was the extra muffin. It was the Baker’s Dozen muffin.
Derpy reached in the bag and pulled it out, carefully holding its damaged form in her hoof with a smile.
Dinky gasped in surprise and smiled as well. “Yay! Now you have a muffin to eat with us, Mommy!” She exclaimed as she bit into her muffin; her hesitation from not getting to share breakfast was completely gone.
Doctor Whooves smiled as he reached for a butter knife, struggled to grasp it as he usually does, cut his muffin open and sliced a chunk of butter into it. He then proceeded to eat it and enjoyed every bite of it.
Across the table, Dinky was also enjoying her muffin. She smiled happily with every bite into it, every taste savored since it was a special muffin compared to all the ones she had tasted before.
Watching her daughter and good friend enjoy their breakfast, Derpy smiled warmly as she buttered her muffin as well. It turns out that it wasn’t a bad morning after all and she was going to enjoy this special day with them. She then held the muffin up, and with one last paranoid glance around, took a bite out of it. The flavors overflowed her senses and despite her hectic journey, it was one of the best muffins she had ever enjoyed, here with her family and it really was a special breakfast for them all.
The End.
Author's Note
Hello there, thanks for choosing to read my first story. It was in the works for quite some time and I hope you enjoyed it.
Any Constructive feedback and criticisms are welcome and will be very much appreciated to help me improve in my other works. Thanks again. 
