Upper Crust

Chapters

Story 1 - Moving In
Story 2 - Setting Up
Story 3 - The (Not So) Grand Opening
Story 4 - The Review
Story 5 - The Plan
Story 6 - A Special Ingredient
Story 7 - Five Stars Returns
Story 8 - Bills
Story 10 - The Effects Of Word Of Mouth (And Some Good Press)
Story 11 - Clipsy’s Day
Story 12 - Now Hiring
Story 13 - Not A Moment Too Soon
Story 14 - Guzzle and Go
Story 15 - Preparing...Just In Case
Story 16 - Twilight’s In Town
Story 17 - Mysterious Mares And Slurred Speech
Story 18 - A Royal Seal
Story 19 - Only The Best
Story 20 - Too Tempting
Story 22 - Something New
Story 23 - Size Problems
Story 24 - Mascot
Story 25 - Big Enough?
Story 26 - No Such Thing As Bad Publicity
Story 27 - Twilight’s Folly
Story 28 - Clipsy Returns
Story 29 - The (Immobile) Truth
Story 30 - Over Effective Advertising
Story 31 - A Request For Help
Story 33 - A Trip To Ponyville
Story 34 - The Beginning Of The End
Story 35 - Heading Home
Epilogue
Story 9 - A Second Chance
Story 21 - The Delivery
Story 32 - The Visit, The Truth

Story 1 - Moving In

4:03AM.

Cookie Crumble blinked a few times as the digital bedside clock gently glowed its red hue. She had no baking to do today, in fact it was probably one of the very few days in her life she didn’t have any baking to do. Routine however was often a blessing and a curse. In this case it was the latter. She yawned and turned over, trying to get back to sleep but her eyes met Rolling Pin who was also awake. He reciprocated the yawn.

“Morning Crumbly.” he said, voice mellow as it always was, putting his arms and hooves around her to give her an early morning hug which she nuzzled into. The two laid there together for a moment in silence before Cookie decided she may as well give up on any further beauty sleep.

“Morning Pinny.” she said back, yawning once more and rolling back over to her side of the bed and deciding to start getting up. It was early, her mind was still a bit of a mish-mash of tiredness and operating on autopilot. The nicknames of Crumbly and Pinny were swirling around in her head. A regular customer of theirs a number of years ago had coined it and it had stuck between the two of them. That almost seemed like a lifetime ago now, despite the fact they had only shut up and sold the food cart a few months ago.

It had seemed so much simpler, just a little cart situated in the local park selling their goods every day. Savoury or sweet depending on the palette of the customer of course. The two made what Cookie thought was the perfect pair of bakers. Quite by chance they had met at a bakers convention in the city, Cookie had gone to look for new ideas having hit a baking blind spot with her own goods. The two got to talking looking at one of the stands next to each other and the rest was history.

Rolling Pin, or Pinny was what she deemed a very traditional baker. His skill was with breads and he specialised in it. There was hardly anything he couldn’t bake. Rye, sourdough, cornbread and more. Generally if a customer wanted it, it was available or he could make it at request. The only little gripe Cookie sometimes had was Pinny was a little slow, he took his time which was all well and good but on occasion it had led to an unhappy customer who’d given up waiting and stormed off in a huff. “It takes time to make it properly, if you want it done fast go to Gallopways.” he’d say. “I’m sure they’ll have it but it’ll be twice the price and not nearly as good.” Besides cooking from a small food cart was limiting anyhow. That’s why they’d moved into a store, now they could do it properly. They’d given all of their regulars cards to the new location. Opening day was in a week.

Cookie Crumble herself was a pastry chef. That’s why she often thought of themselves as the perfect pair. Whilst Pinny handled the breads she was a dab hoof at making pastries and desserts. Not that she couldn’t make bread at a push but she’d rather focus on the sweet things. Most of all she loved creating anything that involved chocolate. Cookie had hours of fun coming up with new treats that sometimes flopped, but often were a hit with the customers. At least that was until they got bored and she came up with something new. It was always a challenge creating new things but she relished it every time. Somehow unlike Pinny she always managed to keep up with the fast pace of the city and she prided herself on having almost little to no complaints about keeping her customers satisfied. Despite the two sounding like chalk and cheese to each other the pair worked together incredibly well. Their differing styles and types of goods they offered meant that they always had variety, something the ponies of the city loved very much. It had made their business a great success and now they were ready for the next step.

“Do we have to get up so early?” Pinny moaned, hauling himself up from the bed and pushing the covers off his body. “There’s no baking today, the hired help won’t be there until nine. What’s the rush?”

“Well...I can’t sleep. Can you?” Cookie asked.

“No…” came the defeated response.

“So we might as well do something productive. There’s lots we can do down at the store ourselves.” she said, a rather jubilant tone in her voice. “We still need a name for the store you know.”

“Can’t we just use the name we had at the cart? Cookie Crumble and Rolling Pin’s Sweet Treats?” Pinny asked.

“No, we need something snappier. That’s far too much of a mouthful. Besides, we’re out the park and in a real store now...well nearly.” Cookie replied, putting a hoof to her chin and pondering it. There was still a lot of work to do...the ovens hadn’t even been installed yet and she didn’t even dare think about the displays, counter, till. She started to breath heavily and panic, until she felt the warmth of Pinny sooth her.

“Okay, something snappier. Why don’t we head down there and think on it?” he said, moving away from Cookie and heading towards the bathroom to wash up and prepare for the day. Now where were her glasses...oh, and her tail bow and shawl. Couldn’t leave without any of those.

“I’ll get breakfast going.” Cookie replied. Heading for the kitchen herself. It wasn’t long before the two headed out in the darkness of early morning, the store itself was a short trot away from their Manehattan apartment. Useful should they ever need to get there quickly.

There was a click as Cookie unlocked the door and the two stepped inside. The bakery was a total mess. Before they had purchased the property it had been a pizzeria, it meant the building itself was suited for cooking. Just the wrong type. Pizza ovens could probably be used to bake bread if absolutely necessary but it wasn’t ideal. It was one of the first things they had gutted from the place. Right now it was little more than windows with the old venues name still on and mess as the hired worker ponies did their jobs to install everything they had purchased and give the place a fresh lick of paint. The most important things, the ovens, were meant to be arriving tomorrow. Cookie prayed they turned up on time, even if the store was a total disaster on opening day with those at least it meant they could bake.

The two sat down at a couple of rickety chairs the work ponies without magic were using to get to higher spots to paint, leaning on the rather rough and unfinished counter top where future customers would be served.

“So...a name.” Pinny started to say. “Something not a mouthful, rolls off the tongue, catchy. I suppose that eliminates using our names.”

“Well, unless we use our nicknames.” Cookie said. “But apart from you saying it I’ve never really liked Crumbly as a nickname. I’d go with Cookie.”

“Cookie and Pinny’s?” was the first suggestion.

“Doesn’t say what we do really. Unless they think we just bake cookies.”

“Hmm… I suppose using our names is a bad idea then.” Pinny mused. “You have any suggestions?”

“Bakers Dozen?”

“I think that already exists, it’s so obvious.” Pinny replied.

There was another hour of exchanges with one pony rejecting the suggestion for various reasons. Too obvious, too vague, too long, too short, boring, over the top. It went on and on. Pinny was losing his temper.

“Urgh, who’d have thought coming up with a name would be so difficult!” he said in frustration, slamming a hoof on the unfinished counter. “I mean, I know the high class ponies of this town can be hard to cater for, don’t get me started on that one customer who ordered a triple-stacked bread loaf with sesame seeds and melted butter! What do they think they are!? The upper crust!?” he moaned, flopping his head down onto the counter in defeat.

“Wait, what did you say?” Cookie asked.

“What about the triple-stacked bread loaf?” Pinny replied.

“No, no the last thing - that’s our name.”

“Melted Butter?” Pinny replied, perplexion on his face.

“No you great big fool, Upper Crust!” the mare said with excitement, she got up from her chair and gave Pinny a great big squeeze for having happened upon the name in such a way. “It’s perfect! Short, snappy and it tells everypony exactly what we do while sounding a little upmarket at the same time!” she squeaked in delight.

“Upper Crust.” Pinny said, thinking on the name. “I can’t think of anywhere else that has it already. As soon as city hall is open I’ll head down and register the name. Although I’d never have thought we’d come up with the name like this.” he laughed, giving Cookie a hug back. “Then we can ask the workers to do lettering on the windows.”

Cookie pulled away from the hug, sitting back in her chair and adjusting her shawl which had become a little crumpled from the hug. That was one thing they didn’t have to worry about at least. “Sounds ideal. Oh! Well, at least we have the name. But we still need to figure out the display stands, where to put the till, do we want seating? No, no that will just take up valuable storage space. Oh my…” the mare fumbled through her words getting rather distracted as she did so. It was the warmth and yet another hug from Pinny that always calmed her down.

“Shhhh, don’t overthink it. I doubt the store will be ready in time for the opening day, but we can be as ready as we can be.” he reassured her. “We’ll be a hit like we were at the park. I know it, you wait and see. Ponies will be buying so much of our food they’ll be struggling to get through the door!” Pinny said with a small chuckle.

“You really think so...heh, that would be amusing. I don’t know if we’ll be that good, but we’ll see.”

The two continued to discuss further store plans until the work ponies arrived. Thankfully when Pinny headed down to register the name it wasn’t taken. He breathed a sigh of relief. It was official. In one week, Upper Crust would open to the ponies of Manehattan serving up baked goods like the city had never seen.

Story 2 - Setting Up

Two days to go.

It was early morning again, neither Pinny or Cookie were a stranger to it, they were bakers after all.

Despite it being only 6:30am however both were already in a slight panic. Right now Pinny was doing his best to calm Cookie down from the barrage of concerns she was firing at him.

“But the Signwriters only finished doing the lettering yesterday! They said it needs at least a few days to settle! We’re opening in two!” she exclaimed with panic in her eyes, observing the lettering. “Although I must admit it does look rather upscale.”

They had gone for a golden colour on the lettering. Upper Crust adorned the windows along the top in a rather fancy font. As Cookie stared at them she felt Pinny move up close to her and give her a small rub of reassurance.

“And we have the time, just leave it alone. It’ll be fine once we open.” He said.

“Ohhhh, but what about the oven?”

“What about the oven?” he replied, his deadpan face showing that he didn’t quite get what the problem was. “It was installed with no issues. What’s the worry?”

“What if it’s not big enough, and we have to get a bigger one!? AND THEN WE HAVE TO SHUT DOWN WHILE IT’S BEING REPLACED???” Cookie almost started to yell the last part of the sentence, frantically making her way over to their brand new baking oven and sticking her head inside to observe the space. The sight of his partner with her head having vanishing inside the door with only her body sticking out was quite amusing, it made him chuckle.

“Well I’m glad you’re laughing! Because I’m not!” she snapped back, pulling her head out and turning to him. “How can you be so relaxed!? This is our grand opening Pinny! It has to be perfect! You know what the ponies of this town are like! One miss-trot and we’ll be shunned forever!” she said, almost bouncing up and down nervously on her hooves.

“Dear?”

“Yes?”

“Calm.”

There was something about the way Pinny said that word when Cookie was starting to panic that brought her back to reality. As if a great tide washed over her body and soaked her skin in a soothing manner. She stopped bouncing, coming to a stop in the centre of the store and taking a few breaths.

“Calm...right...calm. But how can I be? There’s two days to go and so much to do still...plus, we haven’t even started baking. We need goods to sell.” she explained, looking a bit forlorn as she observed the still messy interior of the store. “I mean look, the counter still needs a proper top.” she said, pointing her hoof towards it.

“Which they’re doing today…”

“There’s none of the small tables or chairs that we ordered so the customers can dine in if they want to!”

“Again, arriving today, remember?”

“Right, right...what about the pricing boards? We’re still waiting on those!”

“They’re being delivered and installed tomorrow. It’s one of the last things. We do still need to come up with pricing though, maybe we can do that tonight.” Pinny mused, putting a hoof to his chin and thinking.

“Look, I’m just worried okay? We’ve sunk everything into the business. If it doesn’t work...what do we do?” Cookie asked, her upper lip wobbling a little. “I want it to be right.”

“And it will be. Cookie we’ve been planning this for months. So far everything has happened right on schedule. I know we open in only two days. You’ve got to relax. It will be fine. Calm.”

Those words hit her again. She reasoned it was in the tone of voice that Pinny had. In any case it worked. Suddenly, she felt far less worked up.

“Yes. Calm. You know what makes me calm?” she asked.

“Go on.”

“Baking. We haven’t even tested the new oven yet. What if I make a small batch of cookies to give it a test?”

“I think that’s a great idea. You do that and I’ll see if I can get this place a bit more tidy...not much point as the work ponies will arrive soon and mess it up again, but it’ll give me something to do.”

For the next thirty minutes Cookie baked...cookies. It was her namesake after all. Something simple, but tasty. Despite her flair for trying new things she always fell back on them in times of stress or worry. They were quite easy to bake. Cream the butter, sugars. Combine egg, a little vanilla. Sift in the flour and salt followed by her favourite part. The chocolate chips. Roll them into the right shape. Place on a baking tray and wait seven whole minutes. It could be a little longer but she preferred them warm and doughy. She pulled them out of the oven just as the work ponies arrived for the day.

“Something smells good!” one of them quipped as they walked into the store.

“Just giving the oven a try gents, I’d say it was a success. How many did you make dear?”

“Well, I wanted to give it a good test so a reasonable sized batch. Would you like one fellas?”

She watched as they each took a cookie. It was the first real test of her baking in the new store, Cookie’s eyes widened as she saw the smile appear on the faces of the stallions chewing on the sweet treats. Success!

“These are great! I gotta take more jobs doing work in bakeries!” one said.

“Yeah! Real delicious. All gooey and warm still. Reminds me of what my mamma used to make…” another said. “Takes me back to when I was a foal and she’d bake treats for us.”

“Well no worries with the oven then, right dear?” Pinny asked.

“Right. Glad you all like them.” Cookie said, taking one for herself and biting into it. With a single bite all the reasons as to why they were doing this made sense. Suddenly, there was absolutely no doubt in her mind.

“You okay?” Pinny asked her.

“Fine...fine. It’s just what they said reminded me of why I love baking. Making ponies happy.” she said, a small tear in her eyes. Pinny gave her a hug.

“Well I think that’s a fine reason to love what you do. Now then we should let them get on with it. Otherwise we’ll only be in their way. You all know what needs doing today?” Pinny asked, the last part of his sentence was directed at the workers.

“Sure! Don’t you worry Mr. P. We’ll have as much done as we can today, we know you open soon.”

“Two days, that’s all we’ve got. Then we have to start baking.”

It was still early morning as they left the store, the two had errands to run of their own, they needed supplies. There was a little already there which Cookie has used to make the treats she had this morning but that was it. They had to head into town to get more ingredients. Just for the first week mind you, they were still getting everything in place with a supplier who would deliver straight to the bakery. But for the opening they really wanted to wow ponies with some special treats Cookie had in mind and it required some things they didn’t supply. Pinny could see her vanishing off on occasion to scour the stores around town for specialist ingredients. He admired how much thought she put into her work.

“It’ll be okay, right?” she asked as they trotted into town.

“Of course it’ll be okay. Have I ever led you wrong?” he replied.

“Never.”

The two made their way downtown. It was a beautiful morning. The two had work to do, opening day was fast approaching.

Story 3 - The (Not So) Grand Opening

Cookie watched as the last batch of treats were baking in the oven. It wasn’t even 9am and she was exhausted. Her and Rolling Pin had been up early trying their best to get everything as ready as it could be.

The last two days had been well...a whirlwind would be the only way she could really describe it. Everything had surprisingly gone to plan. The final touches had been made to the interior, everything had been tidied up and cleaned. The work ponies had left yesterday with a message of good luck and they wished the two well on their journey. A few had even said they’d come back once they were properly open to buy some of what they’d be offering. Right now, Cookie was just staring at the oven and waiting for the inevitable ping! it would make once they were ready.

“Will you stop staring?” Pinny said. “You haven’t even looked out the front and there’s only 10 minutes until we open. Don’t you want to see?”

“See what?” Cookie replied.

“Well...there’s already some customers waiting. Obviously the flyers I put up around town yesterday worked.”

Cookie peeled herself away from the oven and made her way to the front where Pinny was putting the final touches to the displays and preparing for them to open up shop. There was indeed a very small line of ponies waiting patiently outside. A few Cookie actually recognised. They were old regulars from the days when they had the food cart. Some though were new. This was good and bad. What if they were critics? Or ponies from high society? A bad review would break their business. Suddenly she was in full on panic mode again, at least for just a moment until her eyes came to rest on one particular pony standing in line.

“He’s uh...wow.” she said.

“I know. I noticed him too. Gotta be twice as big as any pony I’ve ever seen. Clearly a big eater.” Pinny replied with a small chuckle. “At least we know we’ll be making some sales.”

Cookie observed the clock. “5 minutes. Look are we ready? I’d rather be open and get business going than waiting around until the exact moment.”

“Be my guest dear. Ponies are waiting.” Pinny mused. He took his place behind the counter. Cookie made her way to the front door and unlocked it, flipping the sign from Closed to Open. Without a huge amount of fanfare, Upper Crust was open for business. The mare opened the door with a big smile and gave a little welcome and thanked the queuing ponies for waiting before taking her place behind the counter to serve.

It was a pretty even mixture of ponies of all types and colours, both mares and stallions who entered the store. A few were in a slight rush, clearly on their way to work. Both ponies dealt with them first and quickly served them. Each ordered a small panini and were already eating it before they had left the building.

“I hope they actually taste it.” Pinny quipped to Cookie was just finishing up serving a different customer. “I can’t stand ponies who inhale food without actually getting a taste for it. Why bother?”

Once the small rush from the ponies on their way to work had died down the rest of the ponies who had made their way in were actually mostly milling about the store looking at what to buy. Some had actually bought a small pastry or some other thing and were sat at one of the tables eating it. Some of the old regular said hello and wished them well also, commenting that even though it was a bit more of a journey for them it was worth it to once again get the food they had so enjoyed from the cart. Cookie smiled, suddenly with customers it felt like a real bakery.

“Excuse me miss?”

Cookie turned her attention back to the pony that was in front of her. She tried not to make any obvious reactions. It was the extremely large stallion from the line outside.

“Yes, can I help you?” she replied, smiling at him.

“Is it possible for you to bag up one of every item you have on display? I’m talking about the sweet treats of course. I’d also like if possible a singular slice of each bread. My name is Five Stars, I’ve reviewed food from every bakery in town and yours shall be no exception.”

“Where was he when we were running that cart?” Pinny said under his breath, clearly not quietly enough.

“Excuse me sir?”

“What Pinny means to say sir is that we had a bakery cart in the park before here, we are not new to this. He was curious as to why you didn’t visit us then.” Cookie asked.

“A food cart as a bakery? What a novel idea. I’m sorry though my dear I only review from brick and mortar establishments. Not just bakeries either.”

“No kidding, at that size…” Cookie heard Pinny say below her as he pulled one of each of the treats out from below the counter as well as then going to fetch a singular slice of each type of bread that was on offer. A strange request, it would mean each customer buying one would get an ever so slightly smaller loaf. He just hoped none of them would notice. He brought the bag to the counter and let Cookie do the math for the cost which she gave over to him.

“Reasonably priced, that will earn you an extra notch on the review. I’ll be taking this little lot home to really taste test. If it’s good, I’ll be back. You’ll be able to read my review in The Manehattan Gazette.” the rotund stallion said, picking up the bag and then turning himself around. Rather amusingly his large flanks brushed the customer next to him at the counter who he apologised to before leaving.

“The Manehattan Gazette? You know I thought I recognised the name when he said it.” Pinny said. “Yeah, he writes all the food reviews. Shows too. I did try and pick out the best for him.” the stallion said before going back to serving.

Cookie was now more worried than ever. What if he didn’t like it? The bakery wouldn’t even have a chance to build up a customer base because a single bad review could decimate any chance of that before it even happened! All she could do was wait for tomorrow. Like Pinny said he had picked out the best. It wouldn’t be that bad surely? On the plus side, a good review would mean that the opening time queue would be much, much longer…

The rest of the day would shape up to give the two an idea of what ‘business as usual’ would constitute. There was always a small lull between lunch and evening dinner time as ponies were at work. The most trade done was when ponies got out their office for a break around noon and then around five in the evening as they headed home in rush hour. No incidents. The day went well and the majority of the stock was sold. It was when they were cleaning up Cookie finally said something.

“Aren’t you worried?” she asked Pinny who was just cleaning some of the counter tops.

“About what?”

“Five Stars. The review? It could make or break us.”

“Oh sure, but you heard him. I doubt it’s going to be bad.” Pinny replied, carrying on cleaning.

“How can you be so relaxed? We’ve spent so long building up to this and it could all be destroyed by a few pen strokes!”

“Look dear, you have to be a bit more relaxed about all this. Yes it could, but that’s very unlikely. From what he said even with my little jabs he was going to give us points for the cost. We did our best today because it was opening day. He got the tastiest food we had to offer. Okay asking for a single slice of bread was a little strange but maybe he’s trying not to pack on more pounds.” Pinny explained, with a little snicker at the end of his sentence. “Although clearly the life of a food reviewer for the paper takes its toll on the body.”

“Alright, if you say so. But I get to say I told you so if it’s bad.” Cookie replied.

“Same, when it’s good. Not if it’s good. When it’s good. I’ll pick up a copy of The Manehattan Gazette tomorrow and we can read it together.”

“Deal.”

The two tidied up and readied the store for tomorrow. It was strange, Cookie was almost expecting a bit more pomp and circumstance on their first day of opening. But they had sold well and made a good chunk of money. She was happy and it seemed Pinny was as well. As they locked up for the night and headed home, she couldn’t quite get her mind off tomorrow. What would Five Stars say in his review? Like Pinny said, she’d just have to be patient.

Story 4 - The Review

“I got it.”

It was an hour or so before the bakery opened for its second day. However all that had been on the two ponies minds since yesterday was the review Five Stars would have penned last night. Despite Pinny having the always more calm nature of the two it had been wearing on his thoughts as well. He had just kept a calmer appearance up for Cookie so that she wouldn’t go into full freak out mode.

Once they had both arrived and started prepping for today’s business, he had found a few minutes to slip out at around 8 to go get a copy of The Manehattan Gazette from one of the many street vendors located all over the city who sold them. He was just coming back inside clutching it in a magical glow next to him, having levitated it back.

“Well?” Cookie asked expectantly.

“Give me a moment, I need to leaf through the pages. Huh, Princess Twilight is coming to visit…”

“Never mind that. Get to the reviews, the reviews!” Cookie barked, watching with impatience as Pinny now used his magic to turn the pages of the paper. Towards the back middle they found the page spread. It wasn’t just their bakery that Five Stars had written about, in fact one restaurant that had opened on the same day as them had a larger section on the page. Pinny felt Cookie breathe a sigh of relief next to him.

“Well at least if it’s bad it’s a smaller section, perhaps nopony will notice?” she asked.

“It’s The Gazette dear. This is pretty much the paper that ponies in the city read on a daily basis. Unfortunately I can’t ease your mind unless I tell a flat out lie.” Pinny replied.

“Mmmm…” came the concerned response from Cookie. “I can’t read it. Can you read it out to me please?”

“Fine.” Pinny said, leaning in a little closer to the paper to read the tiny print on the page. It was a considerable write up. He started to read aloud.

“As most of you know, I am an avid fan of sweet treats and confectioneries that the ponies of the city have to offer. When I heard there was a brand new bakery opening in Bronclyn on the corner of Farrier Avenue in an area absolutely devoid of such a place I was rather excited to go and have a taste of their offers on opening day.” Pinny read, coming away from the text to talk to Cookie. “Well it seems positive so far…”

“Keep reading!” was all the mare replied.

He obliged her request and carried on reading the rest of the page without stopping. “The bakery is called Upper Crust which I am not sure is having a dig at some of the ponies of the city or the two owners attempts at a delightful pun I am not sure. In any case I thought the naming clever, so I hoped the food inside would reflect that. I talked to a few previous customers. Now readers, you may recall I said this was a new establishment but the two ponies running it are far from new to the baking game. It turns out they both ran a food cart for many years in the local park, a fact confirmed by some small but pleasant conversation inside where I did as I always do, purchase one of everything on the menu.” Pinny paused for a moment to take a breath. It was hard to read such a lot of text in one go.

“The interaction I had with the two owners was hospitable enough, as with anything new in this city they were rather rushed off their hooves but took the time to answer my questions and the key point, accommodate the rather difficult task of removing one slice of bread from each loaf for me to try. My apologies if you bought a loaf there yesterday and it was a little shorter. The store itself is pleasant and reasonably priced, another boon the two have earned. You can either take your food away as I did myself or there is ample seating to dine in. Now onto the important bit, the food itself. Baking is a tough game in this town, whilst the two have picked a prime spot for their bakery I would encourage them, if they choose to read this, to really get inventive with what they offer. This may be unfair criticism because it was their first day but I found nothing particularly inspiring to the palette on offer. That is not to say the food was not good. In fact everything I ate was baked to perfection and extremely tasty. I particularly would like to recommend the cookie I tried. Very good indeed.” Pinny continued to read, he saw Cookie smile at the comment about the cookies rather wide. Remembering her words though he carried on.

“However there was nothing there I have not purchased at other bakeries before. To stand out in Manehattan you have to be bold, exciting and make a statement about your food. If you are local to the area and want good, wholesome baking I’d recommend Upper Crust, but if you’re looking for something to really wow you, give this bakery a miss. As always I shall return in a month to see if things have changed for a follow up review, but for now I give Upper Crust four out of five stars. They’ll have to do a little more to earn the final star from me.”

Pinny finished reading the review and turned to Cookie. “Well, actually I’d say that was pretty positive. Four out of five isn’t bad at all.”

“He said we’re boring.” Cookie said, looking a little dejected.

“Now now dear, he was constructive. He just said we offer the same sort of food as other bakeries in the city. I mean he’s not wrong and it was out first day, we’re just trying to get our hooves on the ground first.” Pinny said trying to reassure Cookie.

“I know...it’s just I doubt a review like that is going to earn us a huge amount of extra customers.” Cookie sighed.

“Well, we have a month.”

“What do you mean we have a month? What until we shut down because nobody wants to buy our boring baking?” Cookie asked back. Pinny just chuckled to himself.

“No until he returns, he said he’d do a follow up review in a month remember? I say when we have free time we come up with some new and exciting things ready for his return. Start selling them a bit beforehand so it doesn’t just look like they’re for him. Who knows, they might be a hit and we won’t need to worry about a follow up review. You’re creative dear, I’m sure you and me can put our heads together and come up with some exciting foods.” Pinny said with a smile.

“But when? We’ve only just opened, we’re so busy. When are we going to have free time to think of new things to bake Pinny?” Cookie asked.

“We’ll make time, now come on - don’t be so down.” The stallion said, giving her a warm hug to take the edge off her concerns. “We’ll work it out and make sure that next review gets us all five stars. For now, lets just worry about today and making a bit more money huh? Personally I’m more worried about paying off our bills.”

“Well we need customers for that, hopefully that review won’t put them off.” Cookie said, still obviously rather worried.

“It won’t, like I say heck he was actually quite positive about what we’re doing, we might actually be busier today.” Pinny replied, still in full on reassurance mode.

“I suppose so, I’ll get to baking.” Cookie said, putting the newspaper under the counter and pushing on with the day. All the time she was working before opening time the mares mind was racing, her thoughts focused on what she could put together to really wow Five Stars. By the time the day was done, she already had a few.

“I think I’ve got something.” she said to Pinny.

“Something what? Oh good work today. Wasn’t as busy as I’d hoped but we broke even at least.” he replied, head somewhat buried in the till as he counted up the money.

“Something we can really use to pull ponies in. It’ll need a bit of work beyond just baking but I think I’ve got an idea that will start to earn us some extra customers, then I’ve got a few more treats I’ve been thinking about that will cement it in. Can we talk about it when we’re home?” she asked.

“Of course! I knew that brain of yours would be whirring away over the day. Sometimes your concerned nature does actually help us out.” Pinny said smiling. “I’m pretty beat, let's close up and go home."

That evening, Cookie would explain her idea. She had to work out the finer details, but that was what discussion about it would be for. All in good time, first though they had to prepare the store for tomorrow and get everything cleaned up. It could wait a few hours.

Story 5 - The Plan

“Whew, what a day. Ahhhh sweet sofa, come to me…”

Pinny flopped himself down on the couch and let out a yawn that stretched his jaw wide as he made himself comfortable on the cushions. He was about to shut his eyes when he saw Cookie standing over him with a frown, at which point he pulled himself up and made room for her next to him.

“That’s better. I want to rest too you know.” she said with a slight tone of annoyance which quickly vanished. “Now then.”

“Ah yes, the great plan. So you said you’ve got something? Something that needs work beyond just baking.” Pinny asked her as she sat down next time him and leaned into him to relax.

“Yeah...although it sounded a bit fanciful and almost like something out of one of those old ponies tales you hear when you’re a foal.” Cookie started to explain. “You know how I’ve been going around the city searching for special ingredients?”

“Oh yeah. Well you had some success didn’t you? I saw you bring back a whole bunch of things the other day.” Pinny mused.

“Well yes, but there was one thing I didn’t show you. Hold on.” Cookie replied, getting up off the couch and disappearing into one of the few rooms their apartment had. Pinny heard her rummaging around as items were shifted. Whatever it was she was getting it was pretty clear she had hidden it. Eventually she returned with what looked like a rather plain bag which she put on the small table in front of the couch.

“So uh, what is it?” Pinny asked.

“I got it from a rather strange pony in a warehouse near the docks. I didn’t want to go back and get more without explaining what it is first.” Cookie said.

“So go on, explain. I’m waiting to hear what it is.” Pinny said, Cookie opening the bag to reveal an ordinary looking pile of white sugar inside. “...But that looks like sugar to me.”

“Well, it is sugar.” Cookie said. She watched as Pinny inspected the bag.

“It has very few markings, in fact they haven’t even listed the ingredients. Isn’t that illegal?” he asked.

“Well yes...and no. It’s imported sugar. The pony I spoke with said it comes from a land far beyond Equestrian borders but a small town is dedicated to producing this stuff. That’s partly why it’s not labelled as you’d expect, another race produces it but he didn’t say who or what.” Cookie carried on. “Probably for the best, the whole deal seemed a little shady but I think this might be what could really put us on the map. I stumbled across all this quite by accident on my travels. They told me they could supply as much as we needed. It’s a little more expensive than what we use right now but I was promised we’d start making the money back tenfold if we used it.”

Pinny raised an eyebrow. “That sounds like some mighty slick salespony talk to me. Are you sure you weren’t swindled?” he asked. “We’ve precious little money as it is what with pouring it all into this.”

“Well, I only bought this bag. I said I’d be back if it worked.” she reasoned. To Pinny this seemed fine, a single bag of sugar was hardly going to put them into debt.

“So what’s so great about it?” he asked.

“It’s something to do with the way they make it, it’s extra sweet and apparently has a very light addictive quality. If you add it to food ponies will want more. Perfect for us because we put sugar in almost everything we bake. I figured we could try it tomorrow and if we get repeat customers we’ll start using this. It could be the thing that wins over that critic and more customers. What do you think?” she asked, picking the bag up and holding it in her hooves.

“Well...we need something. Honestly I was hoping for some novel treat ideas but this is the one time we’ve struggled. We don’t have the time to sit here for hours trying to think of new and wonderful treats for the ponies of the city right now...perhaps we can in a year or two when we’re really on our feet but we’re too stretched…” Pinny said, thinking about the whole thing. “My worry is if this stuff actually works, what happens if we run out of it, or the supplier vanishes? We’ll be back to square one.” he said, concerned.

“Well by that time hopefully even if it does happen we can start thinking of new things. Ease off using it and go back to the regular stuff. Hopefully ponies won’t be able to tell the difference.” Cookie said. “I know it’s a bit of a cheat but we need this Pinny. I’m just lost of ideas right now what with concentrating so hard on making the bakery a success.”

For a moment Pinny thought, but it was honestly a no-brainer with how they were doing. “Alright, we can give it a go. But I don’t want to use this stuff forever. I mean if it’s addictive before we know it ponies will be demanding more food than we can produce.”

“Well, I don’t know if it’s that good. But we’ll see.” Cookie replied. “I’m going to start applying it to our baking tomorrow and we can see where we go. There’s something else…” she said.

“What?”

“He did mention due to the way it’s produced mixing it with food has a small side effect. It loads it with calories. So anypony that eats this stuff will rather quickly gain weight, especially if they eat a lot of food with it in.” Cookie explained.

Again Pinny stopped and thought. “That might be a good thing. Perhaps if ponies coming to Upper Crust are large, it’ll make others think the food we serve is so good they’ve eaten themselves to that size at our bakery. I mean, this is where we can impose a ‘limit’ I guess. When they start getting too big that’s when we can think about going back to regular sugar.” Pinny replied.

“But they’ll notice, I know you said they won’t but I bet they will.” Cookie said back.

“Well, we can deal with that when we get to it. By that time we’ll be well established and hopefully we can weather the storm. In any case like you said, we need this.” Pinny said with a smile. “Go and get some more bags of this stuff just in case when you can. We’ll start to work it in tomorrow as you planned. I suppose the sugar is just baking and the future plans is the work beyond it.” He said. “At least this will give us more time to consider our options when we have to move away from it.”

It was a little shocking for Cookie to see Pinny change his mind about it so quickly. He was always the cool and calm one of the two and he seemed to make the decision about the sugar with very little qualms apart from what he raised. Hopefully this little gem would give them the edge they needed for the moment. Cookie was worried however what sort of long term effects it would have on their customers. Pinny was too, he just didn’t show it like she did.

They spent the rest of the evening discussing what they could bake tomorrow before retiring to bed. They had enough of the sugar for what they planned to bake in the morning at least. They’d see what sort of reaction they got when they started making sales.

Story 6 - A Special Ingredient

The two had got up a little earlier than usual. As per normal Cookie had been worrying about everything she was about to do. In practicality there was actually nothing different about the process except for substituting one type of sugar for another, but Pinny knew she’d be up most of the night thinking about it anyway so he decided to forgo their usual wake up time and go down with her to the bakery to get going.

As he and Cookie started to put together the days goodies he took a closer look at the bag. There was precious little on it to identify it as a sack of sugar. In fact the only identifier it had was the company (he assumed) that produced it.

Chit Chat Cane Sugar
Extra Refined

There was nothing else. It didn’t even say how much the bag contained.It was just a pretty regular looking amount. At least he was confident that in terms of what it contained they hadn’t been duped.

“Now for the important bit…” Cookie said, taking some of the sugar from the bag and gently measuring it out so she got the right amount.

“Going for the cookies first huh?” Pinny asked, making his way over to the oven to check on some bread he had currently baking.

“Well I figure it’s almost impossible to mess up cookies right? Start with something simple. I know we’re going to put it in a few things though.”

“Well last we talked about it yesterday it was going to go into the cookies, gingerbread ponies, doughnuts and what was the other thing?” he asked.

“The sweet apple fritters.”

“Oh yes, and if we sell out of all of them quickly I guess we know it has worked.”

“That’s my thinking.” Cookie replied, adding some finishing touches to the cookies. “I’ll get to work on the rest while your bread bakes.”

Pretty soon, Cookie had whipped up all the things she had to bake using the new special sugar. Everything else had the sugar from their normal supplier. Both were pretty committed to the new stuff at this point but they might as well make sure it did work as sold to them. Might as well use up what else they had left as well right?

With ten minutes to go before opening time, the two put everything under the counter ready to go. There was a couple of ponies waiting outside for the door to open which Cookie dutifully let them in a little before the official opening time. It was unfortunate as both seemed to be in a rush neither bought anything with the special sugar in, each grabbing small breads presumably to eat at work during the day.

“Darn, I was hoping at least one would buy a cookie perhaps.” Cookie said with dismay.

“Don’t worry, even without that sugar they usually sell well.” Pinny replied, “I doubt it’ll be long.”

He was right. Roughly fifteen minutes later a stallion walked in already holding a cup of coffee and browsed the food selection before he made an order. “Could I just get a chocolate glazed doughnut if that’s alright?”

“No problem, eat in or take away?” Cookie asked.

“Eat in, I won’t be long.” the stallion replied, pushing the appropriate amount of bits over the counter top and taking a seat. Other customers came and went in the interlude but the two kept a close eye on him.

“Look!”

“What?” Pinny asked. “I’ve hardly taken my eyes off him. What am I supposed to be looking at?”

“How can you not see it!?” Cookie hissed back.

Suddenly it was right in front of his eyes. Pinny watched. The stallion had sat for about five minutes before starting on the doughnut. He wasn’t a glutton of a pony clearly, he took reasonable sized bites out of the dessert. But each bite he took Pinny observed he ate each one a little faster. Very quickly the doughnut was gone. It wasn’t just the speed at which he ate, it was the fact that each bite seemed to add a very small, almost imperceptible amount of weight to his frame. Mostly it was noticeable in the belly. By the time he was finished with the doughnut his rather smart business shirt was pushing against the buttons.

“Two bits says he comes and gets another.” Cookie whispered.

“No bet, of course he will.” Pinny replied, already getting a doughnut out and placing it on the counter top. The stallion heaved himself off the chair and made for the counter once more.

“Just an...oh, how did you know?” he asked, pushing some more bits across. Pinny just gave an innocent smile.

“Call it a lucky guess with how fast you ate that first one. I’m guessing you enjoyed it?” he asked.

“Amazing! I’ve never had such a sweet doughnut! Once I started I dunno...I just couldn’t stop. Do you make those every day?” the stallion asked eyeing the rest under the clear counter that were on display.

“Well we sometimes put a different glaze on, but yes generally we have doughnuts of some description available.” he said.

“Can I take two more to go? I don’t know if I can wait until tomorrow…” the stallion said, fishing more money out of a very small pouch he had on him and giving the money over. As Pinny bagged up the two doughnuts to go he saw the stallion very quickly lick his lips before he thanked him for the doughnuts and left. Before he was even out of sight of the shop Pinny saw the doughnut he had bought to eat was already half gone.

“I guess it really does work, I’ve never seen a single pony buy four doughnuts in the space of less than ten minutes.” Pinny mused. All he heard from Cookie was an excited squee as a little celebration of triumph.

The rest of the day was a similar story with the rest of the specially loaded baked goods. Ponies either bought more or came back later in the day on their breaks to purchase as much as they could before it all went. By just after midday everything with the special sugar in had been sold, with Pinny and Cookie doing their best to push the treats and to tell their friends about just how good it was. A few more returned after everything had sold, a little upset that there was none left but understanding and every one that came back was bigger than when they entered. When they closed up for the day even Pinny couldn’t help but show a little excitement.

“We made over half again what we’ve been taking the previous days! And no waste! This really is miracle sugar. I don’t see why we don’t start adding it to everything!” he exclaimed, looking at the small golden shining stack of money in front of his face.

“Do you think that’s a good idea?” Cookie asked.

“Well, why not?” Pinny replied. For once Cookie, the worrier was the voice of reason.

“Well if we add it to everything and everything we make is amazing I’m sure somepony will suspect something. It’s going to be too obvious.” she explained. It made Pinny put his hoof on his chin in that manner of thinking he usually did when the gears in his head started to turn. “Plus you saw the effect it has. If we put it in everything not only are ponies going to be suspicious, they won’t even be able to fit in the store!” she finished.

“True...well what about a rota? Or do we just keep it in the same small selection of goods? That way customers who buy breads will never know, it’ll just be the ones who buy the doughnuts and fritters and what have you.” Pinny said.

“I think that’s the best bet for now, plus it means we don’t have to spend more on this fancy sugar. I know it was the plan originally to put it in everything but I think that’s gonna be a really bad move long term.” Cookie replied.

“Well, I think ultimately this is just a bad move long term sweetie, but we had to do it.”

“I know...but for now can we just do it this way, please? I mean look even with just these we made so much!” Cookie exclaimed, now getting excited herself over the amount of money sitting in the till. It was more than she had ever seen in one day.

“Very well, that’s sensible. We’ll just have to keep an eye on how it progresses. You think the critic will return?”

“If word gets out about how good these are, I don’t see why not. But he’s going to want something of everything again. He’ll notice as soon as he tastes the other things and realises they’re not as sweet.” Cookie said, starting to worry once more.

“So each day we just make one item of everything with the good sugar. Even with the waste it’s hardly going to cost us much. We probably won’t have to keep it up long. If word gets back to him how good it was, he’ll be back.”

“Isn’t that cheating? I’d feel bad…” Cookie mumbled.

“Well we’re already cheating, plus like you say he’d figure it out. What’s one more little thing?” Pinny said.

“I guess… I just don’t like it.”

“Neither do I, so we only do it as long as we have to. Okay?”

“Okay.”

The two hugged and closed up for the day. Hopefully it wouldn’t take too long for Five Stars to come back. They’d be ready.

Story 7 - Five Stars Returns

Word was getting around.

So were the customers.

As planned Cookie and Pinny had been making one item of everything with the new special sugar, sticking to one of that type to make sure customers went for that particular variety over the rest. Everything still sold, but those things sold much better than others. They’d bake double the amounts because they just knew it would vanish, usually within the first hour of opening.

So for example if they had four different varieties of cookies for sale that day, they’d put the sugar in the chocolate chip cookies and keep it that way and rotate the rest around, if customers asked. “Well these just happen to sell so well we keep them as stocked as we can at all times!” was the stock response.

The fact they sold the same things each day packed with this hugely fattening sugar was already starting to have a rather noticeable effect on the customers. One pony in particular who had almost become somewhat of an advocate and in effect, unpaid positive spokespony for the bakery who sang their praises whenever she could was the largest of them all.

The two had gotten to know her a little better, everyday she was always first in line before they opened and had quickly sniffed out the items that contained the super sugar. Neither Pinny or Cookie had let on to her or another soul about it so she was just as oblivious as the rest. But it was clearly having an effect on her. Pinny and Cookie watched as she squeezed her way through the entrance, the mare was getting a bit too big, her large and hefty belly that nearly touched the floor getting wedged in the door frame as she pulled her way through. Today, a kind (or infatuated) stallion gave her a push from behind.

“Morning all!” the mare enthusiastically chimed. “Ya’ll are gonna have to make that entrance wider if you keep wanting me to buy stuff! What ya got on today…” she said, already scanning through the counter to see what was on display.

“Morning Eclipse.” Cookie replied. “Plenty as per usual! You gonna order anything different or shall I just bag up your usual?”

“Give me a moment. I just want to have a look…” the mare replied still scanning. Her full name as the two had discovered was Luna Eclipse, but due to the similarity it shared with a certain Princess she preferred to just go be Eclipse. She wasn’t from the city either, some of that country twang still perpetuated her speech. Y’all was always a dead giveaway.

She was still making her decision as Cookie and Pinny served a few more customers, then Cookie spotted him.

“He’s here!” she almost yelped, dashing back to try to find the special treats they kept for when he arrived with all that amazing sugar in. Eclipse looked up in astonishment, Pinny just shrugged and kept his cool.

“Who’s here?” she asked.

“I believe they are referring to me.” Five Stars said without missing a beat. “I’ve been hearing things, especially from this one.” he carried on, looking over at Eclipse who was still trying to decide what she wanted.

“Oh? What sort of things?” Pinny said, still keeping that calm attitude.

“How suddenly, particular items on your menu, despite being what I’d call regular bakery goods are suddenly selling like hot cakes.” he replied.

“Some of them are hot cakes! Care to try them?” Cookie enthusiastically replied, reemerging from the back having found what she was looking for.

“No, I think I’d like what all these ponies are going crazy over. Excuse me miss, what do you recommend?” he asked, turning to Eclipse, who finally broke her staring spree to reply.

“Ah forget it! Yes, bag up my usual!” she blurted out, turning to Five Stars before following up with a “Sorry, I had a moment. Everything! Everything is good!” was all she managed to say, already drooling a little as she watched Cookie put her order together, her fat belly pressed up against the glass of the counter which squished against it.

“Everything? Well of course you’d say that. Layponies never appreciate what is really good over just good. Can you recommend me something? Last time I was here I ordered a little of everything but from what I understand some things are better than others.” he carried on.

“Well...do you want what’s in my order? It’s the best of the best.” Eclipse replied, picking the bag up with her hoof and offering it to him.

“Oh well...I am sure I could order this myself. Why would you offer it?” Five Stars replied, slightly perplexed.

“Because I want good things for this bakery, you can make that happen. I’ve been trying but word of mouth only goes so far. I guarantee what is in that bag will make you write a five star review, Five Stars.” Eclipse said.

“Well...thank you. Keep an eye on The Gazette. But I do expect real improvement in what’s in this bag. Do you trust her?” he asked Pinny and Cookie.

“She’s our best customer, of course we do. If she wants to give you her order I’m not going to stop her.” Pinny replied. All Five Stars did was nod and turn to leave.

“B-But, the special…” Cookie started to say.

“Don’t worry about that, he won’t need it.” Pinny replied.

“Won’t need what? Oh and while that may have seemed like it was out of the goodness of my heart, you guys have another bag right?” she asked, grinning a little.

“Of course, I think actually…” Pinny started to say, Cookie appearing by his side and passing a second bag over the counter top. “...of course we do, enjoy.”

With a small squeak of delight, Eclipse vanished. Well, not so much vanished. Rather ungracefully got herself slightly wedged once more before this time she actually managed to wiggle herself free of the store and happily waddled her way home.

“This is going to be a problem if she gets much bigger, we might have to do something about it.” Pinny mused, watching as Eclipse waddled away.

“Well, we’ll think of something. We always do. Look I know he’s going to write a great review obviously but do you think he’ll realise?” Cookie asked, the store now quiet once more, the morning rush over.

“Well it was a chance we had to take. He’s a foodie so if we get absolutely panned then it’s a good chance he knows about the sugar. I’ve got a feeling he didn’t though. He seemed really confused that we had somehow improved what he thought were standard foods without changing much, especially after he suggested we do something special.” Pinny said.

“Well, we’ll see. Once more, just got to see what he writes.” Cookie replied. At that point, a customer walked in. The two went back to serving.

Story 8 - Bills

Cookie opened the door and groaned, she would have let Pinny magically pick the letters up, but being the first in she just decided to lean down and get them herself and then placed them on the counter. Pinny followed close behind.

“More?”

“More.” Cookie replied a little deadpan. “I’m starting to worry again.”

“Try not to fret honey, business is picking up and we’re bound to start making money soon.” Pinny replied. “We’re not struggling yet.” he said, slipping the envelope open and looking at the amount. “Although this one is rather large…”

The review still hadn’t come out since Five Stars had come back. It was strange because he had written the first one in rather quick order however he seemed to be taking his time on the second. Of course Cookie was already worrying he was taking so long because he was looking into the food they had sold him. Pinny as per usual had tried to relax her, stating he was probably taking his time because he wanted to write the second review well and give the food the proper attention it deserved.

In the meantime, the bills for the business were starting to pile up. Even with the fact that they were developing a small selection of repeat customers the amount they were making was just about covering their running costs for the time being. Neither had started paying themselves a salary yet and paying off the costs for the builders who had done all the work on the bakery was slow going. They were paying it off little by little which was keeping any debt collectors at bay for the time being, but every time they paid some off, a new bill would appear for something else.

“The fact of the matter is we need more customers, I don’t think we’re going to get it until the review comes out.” Pinny said, putting the bill down and coming over to the sofa to sit with Cookie, who was flipping through a magazine to try to take her mind off it.

“I know, but is there nothing else we can do? We’re using the sugar which is probably the biggest draw but it’s not really having as big a pull for customers as I had hoped.” Cookie sighed.

“Give it time, we’ve only been serving the baked goods with the new sugar for a short time. You know sometimes I think you’re a little impatient.” Pinny said, moving a little closer to her to wrap himself around her for reassurance. “Things have a way of falling into place. The review will come out and we’ll have ponies lining up outside the door as far as the eye can see. Just you wait.”

He gave Cookie a small kiss. Hopefully the review would come out soon. Cookie didn’t have as much direct involvement with the finances as Pinny, since he did a little less in the bakery he took it upon himself to manage them. Besides he didn’t want her to worry. The two spent a few hours together discussing more mundane things before heading to bed.

The two got up bright and early, as was the routine and when they were waiting for that first review Pinny would head out shortly before they opened up and the stock was ready to get The Gazette.

“Well?” Cookie asked as she watched him scan it on the counter top of the bakery.

“No...he reviewed some restaurants and a takeaway pizza place. Nothing got five stars. Perhaps it’s that he reviews the same establishments altogether, I noticed when he did us last there were some other bakeries in there too. Although seeing as nothing is earning top marks perhaps it’s better this way…” Pinny replied, putting the paper away.

“That doesn’t explain the takeaway pizza place.” Cookie said back, getting herself ready for the days business. She glanced up at the usual small line today comprised of three ponies waiting. Of course the first one there was Luna Eclipse. She smiled to herself, at least it was nice to have one pony they knew they could depend on every single day. Of course there was more regulars than just her but she was the only one who was that much of a regular. Cookie already had her bag prepared as she squeezed through the door when they opened up.

“Good morning Clipsy. I take it the usual?” Cookie asked.

“Would I have anything else? Oh - is the review out yet?” Clipsy asked Cookie.

“No, we got The Gazette this morning, still nothing.” Pinny said between serving some other customers. “He’s sure taking his sweet time.”

“Ohhhhh, excellent news!” Eclipse excitedly said, opening the bag just to double check all of her order was inside.

“Uh what, excellent news? How do you know that? He hasn’t even written anything from what we can tell.” Pinny asked.

“Ya’ll don’t know much about Five Stars do you?” Eclipse giggled. “If he’s taking his time that’s a good sign. If the review comes out quickly you know it’s going to be middling. If he’s mulling over it, there’s somethin’ about yer food that’s got him thinkin’.” she said. “At least that’s what I’ve heard on the grapevine.”

“Well, that’s good news I suppose. We were getting worried.” Cookie said with a forced smile.

“Ah shucks don’t be! The food here is amazing! Still though a good review means more customers, I liked how quiet this place is.” Eclipse replied.

“Well our mounting bills don’t. We could certainly use a trade boost.” Pinny said, coming over now he had finished dealing with the initial queue of ponies and they had left. It was just the three of them in the store.

“Well I’ll still be here first in line every day! This stuff is just too good to pass up. I’ll be back tomorrow, keep your hooves crossed he releases it soon!” the mare said, once more squeezing her way out and waddling out down the road.

“She gets bigger every day…” Pinny said watching her go.

“Well, that’s our fault.” Cookie replied.

“I know, but I can comment on it can’t I?” he said back. “I mean she’s clearly addicted now.”

“I can handle one pony addict. I just don’t think I could handle a whole line at the door rabid for our specially made goods Pinny.” Cookie said, he could see her starting to worry again.

“Well then that’s when we start to scale it back like we discussed. Hopefully they won’t notice the difference.”

The explanation that Luna Eclipse gave at least was some hope for the two, as the days went on and more bills were pushed through the door they couldn’t wait to see what he’d say. The sugar had helped, but really they needed more ponies like Eclipse, despite what Cookie said. The size of her well...that was just a side effect they’d have to look at dealing with when more ponies got bigger.

Story 10 - The Effects Of Word Of Mouth (And Some Good Press)

“Buh?”

Cookie felt the press of a hoof into her side. More specifically, Pinny’s. The mare opened her bleary eyes and looked at the clock. 2:37AM.

“Oh no...did I sleep through the alarm again? S-Sorry honey, but I...yawn...feel like I could use another few hours at least.” Cookie replied whilst still yawning, but she hauled herself out of bed just the same.

Since the amazing review a few weeks ago both of them had been getting up extra early. She knew the life of a baker was difficult, she was more than used to early starts. However by the time they had closed up for the day and gotten home, the pair were only getting two or maybe three hours sleep. The daily demand was exhausting.

It was all because of the increase in sales. On one hoof, the review had been such a blessing. Cookie had done some rough mental maths and figured that with the amount of money now coming in, if the rate of sales kept up they’d pay off their entire loan and own the business outright within a year.

One the other, it was a curse. Customers coming to the store each day had more than tripled and the two hardly got a moment to just stop and rest before another pony either trotted, waddled or squeezed their way through the door. In some cases like Clipsy, one of them had actually had started taking their orders outside for them as they could no longer fit inside the store and no amount of butter or grease would allow them to slide in. Some of their customers were just becoming too fat, with Clipsy leading the way in obesity.

This also meant the extra early starts to ensure that there were enough baked goodies for everypony each day to satisfy demand. It seemed the bigger that their regular customers got the more they wanted to order. Clipsy for example was now taking three of her usual goodie bags each day which meant she was packing on the pounds thrice as quickly. Others once they were getting to certain sizes began to ask for an extra chocolate cookie here, or a few extra pieces of carrot cake there. As of yet, neither had refused any orders. Cookie felt bad but getting up so early she wanted to make all the extra effort worth it and that meant taking a few extra bits from the big ones when they added to their order.

In any case, another day was before them. Despite being still half asleep, with a cookie mug in hoof her and Pinny were sitting at their small living room table just taking ten minutes before the day began.

“We need to do something about the obese customers.” Cookie started to say. When she was this tired, she was very to the point about things.

“Hmm, I suppose. Anything in mind?” Pinny asked. “We’re busy enough without having to run their orders out to them.”

“What about a window?” Cookie asked.

Pinny sat for a moment. “I’m sorry dear, I don’t quite follow.”

“Okay, so you know how those big fast food places that sell burgers, fries etc have like - cart windows? Customers with carts can just pull into a little separate lane and then order at a window? What about that.” she explained.

“Well...we’re on a corner but we’re right on the pavement. We don’t have room to build a whole cart lane. Also dear, most of those big customers waddle. Or at least they try to...I think Clipsy might actually be cheating and using wheels under her hooves. I swear I can’t even see them move…” Pinny mused to himself.

“That’s only because she’s so large now that most of her folds cover her legs. Anyway, well what about just a window?” Cookie asked again.

“Err…”

“Okay, let me sketch it…” Cookie said, pulling a piece of scrap paper from nearby and a pencil and starting to doodle a very rough outline of the interior of the bakery, explaining as she did so. “So the counter runs from this wall, in a ninety degree bend and then to this wall yes?” she said, with Pinny just nodding his head to agree. “Well what if where it ends at this wall that is next to the street, we cut a hole in it and add a window. That way, ponies too big to fit inside could just queue there and we don’t have to keep coming out to them.” Cookie said, making her point by drawing a huge arrow on the paper where she was talking about having the work done.

“Hmm...it’s a good idea. But there’s one thing, we’re super busy. I know there’s two of us but that’s another thing we’d have to look after. I can see us getting so caught up in serving customers at the actual counter we forget about those at the window.” Pinny replied.

“Well...what if we hired some help. You know, maybe a young pony? It wouldn’t be a hard job. All he or she would have to do is stand at the window taking orders, fetching the items we prepare and then giving it to the customer and taking the money. I mean we’re making so much money now Pinny with all these extra sales that we could afford to take someone on.” she said.

“You know sometimes you really do have all the answers.” Pinny said, giving her a small peck on her cheek. “Maybe you should be tired more often. You seem to come up with the best things.” he chuckled, to the unamused frown of Cookie.

“Yes...well do you think if I cover the bakery for an hour when it’s quietest you could contact the builder ponies who helped us with the interior of the bakery before we opened? They did say they’d be happy to work for us again. I think I’d just need to bake them up some more cookies.” Cookie said with a smile.

“I don’t see why not. Anyway I think we’ve discussed this enough. Times wasting and if today is like every other day of the past few weeks we need to get cracking, those treats won’t bake themselves, as much as I’d like them to.” Pinny said, getting up having finished his coffee. Cookie did the same, the two leaving the empty mugs on the counter and heading out into the dark and cool night air. At this time of day the city was sleeping, hardly another soul about. That would change quickly of course.

As the two trotted towards another day of work Cookie just thought more about the problem. She was sure ponies like Clipsy were getting so wide they took up a large portion of the sidewalk. Would she be spilling out into the street in another few weeks? None of the especially large ones seemed to really be noticing that they were just getting so obese. All they did was keep coming back for more, each and every day. Like the sugar, Cookie was sure the window idea was just a temporary stop gap until they had to face the real issue but for the meantime, it would allow them to keep selling without the issue of ponies being too large to come in. She remembered the last time Clipsy had actually managed to get in, she had been wedged for a solid hour in the doorway until a combination of grease, butter and about six ponies pushing and pulling her had actually freed her. It was at that point Cookie had decided to bring orders out and stuck a note in the door informing customers if they were too wide, to wait outside and she or Pinny would see to them.

It was actually quite incredible to her just how large some of them were getting, she didn’t think ponies were capable of such weight. Some were starting to resemble hippos more than ponies as each sale added more and more pounds to their already hugely wobbly bodies. Only time would tell. For now, once Pinny had talked to the builders they’d have to find some time to interview a few candidates for the job. Hopefully the work would be completed quickly.

Story 11 - Clipsy’s Day

Before the bakery opened, Clipsy’s day would start later than most other ponies due to her line of work. Being an Astronomer meant she worked mainly at night, having to travel outside the city where light pollution was less of an issue. Her observatory was located in the hills just outside the city, a short walk from the first stop on any trains heading towards destinations like Canterlot, Ponyville etc. However her morning routine had changed somewhat since she always liked to be first in line.

The first thing was wobble her body out of bed, a body that was growing by the day with each visit to Upper Crust. Her mattress was developing a rather noticeable groove in that got deeper every time she lay her head on the pillow at night. One of the beds corner posts that held the frame above the floor had developed a crack. For now she had bound it up with string and prayed it didn’t give way one night at some early hour while she was snoozing.

Since breakfast was already being prepared for her down at the bakery, she didn’t bother with anything to eat before leaving her apartment. Just some clothes (that like her bed, were starting to struggle with her enlarged size) and a small amount of makeup. Although with more surface area for it to cover, she found she was going through that rather quickly as well.

Today was one of the five, maybe six times a year she actually visited the observatory. A lot of work she could do from home, which was lucky considering her changing body. But not all of it could, today she had to make the trip, but not until this evening. Her plan was breakfast, a small trip around to get some new clothes and more makeup and then head home and head out tonight.

The exit way from her apart was becoming...a bit of a squeeze to get out of to say the least. Most Manehattan apartments were built in mind for slender and somewhat smaller ponies to maximise the little space that the city had. She was finding now that the smaller corridor to the stairs was well, too small. Perhaps she should think about moving somewhere a bit more roomy? The way out was a bit wider than the entryway to the bakery, so she wasn’t getting wedged quite just yet, but as she waddled forward she could feel her rather bulbous flanks sliding along the wall on each side. The mare always went out with her saddle bags and now kept some jars of grease, butter and other things that meant if she got stuck, she at least had something on hoof to be able to squeeze herself out with.

The bakery was a short waddle a few blocks from her house and as per usual, she was first in line. After standing for about ten minutes a few more ponies joined her. She could see Cookie and Pinny inside beavering away to get the goods prepared. She generally spied her bags of treats being put together a few minutes before they opened. Leaning back she quickly leaned herself forward again, apologising to the waiting customer behind her as she felt her two very large, very squishy cheeks push backwards into him. The mare was finding with little room the manoeuvre herself, she was still struggling to get a real grasp of her body size and just what room she had to be in. Sometimes it meant she bumped herself into a pony or two, but being so huge and soft generally it left them more flustered than she was.

The door opened and the sign was flipped by Cookie and Clipsy stood aside to let customers that could actually fit through the front door get in to get what they wanted, the point was she was first in line. She could wait a minute or two whilst either Pinny or Cookie found a moment to bring her daily treats out to her.

Today it was Cookie, with that usual big beaming smile who made as much small talk as she could before handing the bags over. She mentioned they had some plans for a small expansion to make it easier on ponies like her to order and were looking for a member of staff to help with it before she dashed back inside to fill more orders. Clipsy just waved, taking one of the many delicious baked goods from the first bag and chewing on it as she started her waddle into the city proper. She’d hail a cab but feared it would be a struggle for her to actually get in.

Firstly, she came to the clothing store. What did she need? She had made a list yesterday that she got out of her saddlebag to double check.

Smart shirt (work)
2x Pairs pants
Undergarments

It wasn’t a huge list but things she needed, sometimes when she arrived at the observatory other ponies were there working too. She wanted to make sure she looked at least reasonably well dressed.

She found an assistant who didn’t say a word about her size, most ponies in the city were taught to be civil, especially in work. She only asked if Clipsy was looking for something tailored more to a pony of her stature which she just said she was and presented the list. It wasn’t hard to find a smart shirt, with ponies who frequented upper echelons of business often wearing them and being big themselves. What was a problem was the pants and undergarments.

Eventually, after some rummaging through a storage space long neglected the assistant was able to find a couple of pairs of pants that were suitable. Being held by the store for so long they were heavily discounted and snugly fit Clipsy’s frame. These would do for now, she’d have to suss out larger pairs of have them let out at a later date.

The undergarments well...firstly, she tried a rather thin and delicate pair of the largest panties they had which was their largest size available. As soon as the assistant started to pull them over her rump and just past her tail dock well…

Shrip!

They gave out pretty quickly, unable to quite hold their shape together against the large rump that Clipsy now possessed. Both of them blushed, the assistant taking the now ruined pair and muttering that she’d check to see what else they might have. Eventually returning some time later (Clipsy suspecting she had to take some time to calm herself after witnessing a pair of fabric literally rip in two before her very eyes) with a larger and sturdier pair. The mare was hoping for something a bit more comfortable, even these hugged her ass tightly, but the point was they didn’t rip. After the small fiasco, she paid for her purchases and left, leaving the still red-faced assistant behind as she waddled onwards to get more makeup, eating a few more treats as she went.

The first bag had been completely devoured by the time she had reached the store and she had started on the second. Clipsy wasn’t by any means a mare who went completely overboard on making herself look pretty, but she did like to look nice. She purchased a few items, getting some eyes really staring at her as she made her way down the thin isles as her rear brushed a few things off the shelf that she had to stop to bend over and place back. She was sure she heard a few grumbles from mares who were taking no pleasure directing their partners attention back to them.

After that, she made her way home, finishing the bag and stopping by the bakery just before they closed to pick up a few final treats. Now quieter she was able to get a bit more information out of Cookie about what they had planned. She explained it as a sort of drive-in window but for those that walked. It sounded like a good idea and Clipsy said she’d let some of her bigger friends know about it, being unable to get inside like her anymore they weren’t quite as dedicated and had stopped visiting. This was a good excuse for them to come back. She bid Cookie farewell and headed home to prepare herself for work tonight.

Squeezing her way back into her apartment she prepared her notes and chewed on the final bag of treats for the day and began to ponder what her weight might be. She had a set of scales but she was honestly afraid to try them out. She could estimate but usually her estimations were off, too low generally so that just made her more afraid to get an accurate reading. If the size of her was any judge, she wasn’t quite at four figures but a few more months of eating this stuff every day and she would be. The trouble was, it was just so good. She had tried a few times to figure out what it was about what Cookie and Pinny did to make their treats so great, perhaps one day she’d just ask them outright. But for now, she was just happy to eat them.

The mare made her way to the train station, catching one of the evening trains bound for Ponyville that stopped at the small halt near the observatory. As she stepped into the carriage, she felt it lean to one side and shift position due to the now extremely heavy mare occupying the space. Thankfully she could sit near the middle and it did right itself, even if there was a slight lean still. She just read a paper and pretended not to notice.

A short ride later and she was there, now her real work could begin. There was one thing she had forgotten, it was only a single-width door to get inside. She could see a few colleagues inside already peering through the glass portion of the door, figuring out how they’d get her in the building.

Oh well, that’s what the grease and butter was for.

Story 12 - Now Hiring

The work on the ‘Waddle Through’ - at least that is what Cookie had started calling it after they had finalised plans and the work was progressing, albeit a bit more slowly than her and Pinny had hoped.

It turns out the perfect spot for placing the hole in the wall wasn’t so perfect after all. The construction ponies had looked at it for a good thirty minutes before telling them the news.

“Well...it’s an exterior wall, so it’s a load bearing one.” the most senior of them had said. How big exactly does this hole need to be? If it’s bigger than your front door I’m afraid I wouldn’t even know where to begin.” he said, looking at the solid brick wall in front of him a little more and then turning back to face Cookie and Pinny.

“Well, we were hoping it could be roughly as wide. We did do some very rough measurements to what we’d like and um, I’ve drawn a small sketch.” Cookie said, putting it to the stallion.

“I see, what is it a bakery needs with an access hatch anyway?” he asked, mulling over the measurements and getting a small pencil out from his jacket to adjust Cookie’s sketch slightly.

“Well...some of our customers are quite er, large. So large they struggle to get through the front door. We’re hoping to put this in to make it easier for them to pick up orders.” Cookie explained.

“I see, well…” The senior construction stallion said, passing the paper sketch back to Cookie and pointing out a change he had made. “It can be done, if we just slightly reduce the size and above it will have to be propped up with a steel girder but it should hold the weight no problem. Can you live with that?” he asked. “It will add some cost but like I say, it’s doable.”

They desperately needed the big customers to keep coming, so the two had agreed to the quoted price. It was a few thousand bits more than they were hoping to spend but they had to have it if the bakery was going to keep selling to their biggest clients and not turn them off wanting to buy their goods. The special sugar was good, but even big ponies were fussy enough that if they were going to be inconvenienced and have to wait longer for orders, they’d go elsewhere.

Once they had settled up and got planning permission from the city to make the change to the building, they had then put up some adverts in the local papers looking for somepony who could take on the job. They had decided to run the ad as follows:

WANTED.
Enthusiastic mare or stallion with experience in the service industry for an exciting new serving opportunity! Join a small team of dedicated staff at one of Manehattan’s up and coming bakeries. Five days per week, minimum wage. Please visit Upper Crust Bakery to discuss an interview.

The bakery’s location was then listed underneath. The two had decided to keep it short and sweet, running adverts was more expense. They had even put a small sign in the window which had gotten a few comments from their regulars as well. Clipsy was the only one not to ask because Cookie had already explained what they were doing.

Within a week, they had narrowed it down to three candidates they wanted to interview and were mulling over the Resume's they had dropped in one late night after work.

“So let's see then, we have two mares and a stallion. All under thirty. All with various experience. Let’s start with the first one shall we?” Pinny said, picking up the first resume from the small stack.

“So a mare, aged twenty seven. Name of High Heel. Previously worked in the fashion industry and decided it wasn’t for her. Mainly working in horse shoe stores. Go figure.” Pinny read, making the more than obvious name connection. “Has plenty of customer service history serving customers with clothes but none working in the food industry. Has great references and holds jobs she has for years at a time. I think the only thing going against her is just the lack of experience working in any sort of business like ours.”

“Mmmm, she’s a candidate for sure. She’s the one that came in whilst you were busy with some of the customers. She was in a bit of a hurry because she said she had some other places to drop her resume off at around the city. If we don’t decide to hire her, I think she’d get another job elsewhere. She was quite chirpy though, said she wanted to at least drop it off and that it didn’t hurt to try.” Cookie explained to Pinny, who was already looking at the next candidate.

“Okay, well this is number two. The stallion, young one too. Only twenty two. Called Rising Dough. Has always worked with food, family has a business also selling breads from a bakery in another part of town. Would have liked to have taken it over but they have decided to sell up in their old age and feel he’s too young to take it on. Just wants to work in a bakery, in any capacity.” Pinny explained. “Do you remember him? He was a little overbearing when he dropped it in, but very complimentary about our business. I think perhaps though he just wanted to really try to put across how much he wanted the job. He seems to be the opposite of High Heel. Little customer service experience but has worked in a bakery since he was very young and he’s still very young. I think maybe he can be taught.”

“Do we want the stress of having to teach him though? I was hoping we could get a pony who had both qualities.” Cookie frowned, watching as Pinny picked up the last resume.

“Unfortunately dear it seems none of the applicants we whittled it down to had everything we wanted, we’re going to have to do some level of training to one of them. I mean the rest were even worse.” Pinny said looking over the form in front of him.

“Wasn’t there one who seemed to think they were going to be some sort of taste tester?” she asked.

“Oh yes, that one I tossed a while ago…” Pinny laughed. He started reading from the final form.

“Applicant number three. The other mare. Twenty five. Called Wheat Flower.” he paused for a moment. “Wheat Flower?”

“Yes, like flour?” Cookie asked.

“No, look at the spelling. Flower, like the plant. F-L-O-W-E-R. Perhaps her parents thought it would be clever?” he looked a bit puzzled.

“I mean I’d have thought F-L-O-U-R would have been the spelling...oh well.” Cookie said.

“Mmm, in any case. The problem with this one is that she can’t seem to hold down a job. Has always worked with food and has an extensive history of jobs, but none seem to last more than six months. In fact the list of jobs seems to be the majority of her resume and not all the references are favourable.” Pinny continued. “But I remember her explaining when she came by that it was because she just felt she hadn’t worked for the right people yet or found the right place. Whatever the case, I think she might be trouble. I don’t like the spotty job history or some of the references.”

“Well, maybe that’s a long case of bad luck. Something we can clarify at an interview.” Cookie said. “Apart from her maybe being a bit of an issue she has great experience from the huge variety of work she’s done so maybe that might actually work in her favour.”

“Maybe. I mean do you see any reason not to ask all of them in for an interview over the next week or two?” Pinny asked.

“Not really. I think tomorrow we should get back to all of them and let them know. By the end of the process, we’ll know who we want.” Cookie replied.

So the three ponies were notified and interview dates were set. By the end of the process of seeing all of them, Cookie and Pinny knew who they wanted to hire. Each one had actually been very good, but there was one of them that was really outstanding. They’d be perfect to serve customers at the Waddle Through and perhaps be able to do a little more around the bakery too. A little less pressure on Pinny and Cookie would be wonderful.

Story 13 - Not A Moment Too Soon

“Hnnnggg - H-Hey guys! Little help here!”

“Oh my...Clipsy, I said I won’t be a minute! Honey help me out here…”

Pinny looked up from finishing counting the money from a customer's order to see well, it was a blocked doorway. He smiled at the stallion before saying “Excuse me.” and made his way around the counter to the wedged Clipsy.

“Clipsy I said I would be right out, you didn’t have to come in!” Cookie sighed, looking at the blushing and totally stuck mare who had gotten wedged in their doorway right around her hips. No matter what she did, she couldn’t move forward into the building, her body only gave a little wiggle room and with that, she was about able to make herself comfortable in the situation she had gotten herself into.

“W-Well sorry, I’m in a bit of a hurry today…” was all she said, trying to free herself once more but only succeeding in reality in jamming herself in tighter to the snug space. Those in the shop were watching the whole thing, some in awe and others chuckling. A few outside were starting to scratch their heads wondering how they were going to get inside.

In the commotion, Pinny managed to pry his attention away just long enough to ask the customer he had been serving to help out. “Sorry, but just behind the counter there is a large paint can. Do you mind just levitating it over here please?” he asked the stallion, who obliged and brought the can over, hovering it gently through the air until it reached Pinny who prised the lid off. Both Clipsy and Cookie took a look at the goopy interior. It certainly wasn’t paint. It was then that the smell hit them.

“G-Guh...what is that?!” Cookie asked, Clipsy giving a similarly horrified look of disgust when the smell hit her nostrils.

“It’s what’s going to get you out of there Clipsy. After last time, I thought I had better come up with something that would really give a lot of lubrication. Hold still.” Pinny said, starting to gently apply the mixture around her wedged flank with a brush.

“Yes but you still haven’t told me what it is!” Cookie asked, she had seen the can appear but had assumed it was paint. Thinking perhaps Pinny had bought it in advance of work on the Waddle Through being completed.

“It’s a mixture of engine oil, grease, butter, yogurt and a little olive oil.” he said. “I figured it would form a very slippery but somewhat not total liquid substance, perfect for freeing a wedged pony with ease.”

“Okay, well a lot of those I understand, but why yogurt?” Cookie asked.

“Oh, we just had some left over and I needed to thicken it up a bit...anyway. Clipsy try and pull yourself free, going backwards. Otherwise I’m going to have to give you a second coat.”

“Haha, very funny...hold on.” the mare said. She gently wiggled her hindquarters and slowly but surely, started to slip her body back out the way she came. There was a little resistant, her large and bulky flanks still somewhat fighting against the door frame, but aside from taking a little paint off in the process, she was free a few moments later. The customers now relieved they could get out gave a small, somewhat amused hurrah and carried on with their day, with Pinny returning the paint can to behind the counter and carrying on business as usual. Cookie came out with a jug of water to wash the disgusting mixture off the side of Clipsy, complete with her usual bagged order. Clipsy was still rather red in the face.

“Honestly dear, you were in that much of a rush? You should have waved me or something. If I’d had known I’d have passed it straight out.”

“I know...sorry. Now I’ve wasted more time than I tried to save, sorry about your door…” Clipsy managed to mutter, opening one of the bags and taking a treat from inside to comfort eat. Cookie just smiled.

“Don’t worry, maybe I can find a paint can that contains paint to fix it up with rather than pony-freeing lube.” she laughed. “In any case, this won’t be a problem come next week. We’ve hired somepony and the work is nearly complete. You’ll be able to order from the new window.” Cookie explained, seeing Clipsy go back to a beaming smile at hearing the news.

“Oh! Well that’s good news. Can I ask, not that it’s my place. But I keep hearing you and Pinny referring to it as a waddle through. I uh...don’t think a name like that is really going to sell the new service to your bigger customers. I’ve got a name for you.” she said.

“Oh, what were you thinking of?” Cookie asked.

“Guzzle and Go.” Clipsy said, still smiling. “That way you’re still advertising it’s a fast pick up service where your customers are going to guzzle down your food! I know I do…” Clipsy carried on, taking another bite of food and just about getting her last words out before her cheeks were crammed with food.

“Hmm...I’ll have to ask Pinny, to be honest it was just a name we came up with to refer to it. But that does sound better. Who knows, you might be ordering through the Guzzle and Go window next week.” Cookie said with a small chuckle. “Anyway you better going, aren’t you running late?”

“Oh!” Clipsy said, suddenly remembering she was. “See you tomorrow!” the mare said, turning and waddling away at a slightly faster than walking pace speed. Cookie went back inside to deal with the rest of the customers for the day which was now quieter after the morning rush.

“She okay?” Pinny asked.

“Fine, but she did have a good idea. What if we called the new window the Guzzle and Go? She made a point that Waddle Through with the word waddle in wasn’t the best. What do you think?”

“Hmm, you know I kind of like it. Implies our food is quick to eat too. Might make more customers stop by. Sure, I don’t see why not.” he said. In truth Pinny didn’t really mind what it was called, but that was certainly a better name. He was happy as long as Cookie was happy with it. “A sign above the hatch might be a good idea though, shall I get one made up if you’re happy to go with this new name for it?” he asked.

“Of course! The new employee is coming in tomorrow anyway for his training. We can tell them then as well. Have we got everything set up?” she asked.

“Well apart from missing a small register for them to keep money at rather than having to use the main one, I think so. The construction work is mostly finished. And yes, I will get some proper paint to make it look a bit nicer. That large beam they had to put in is a bit of an eyesore.” Pinny said, inspecting it. As the builder had explained, a large steel beam had been put across the top of the hatch to support the wall now there was a hole in it. It was a little ugly, but some paint could probably fix it up. The sign might be able to cover it up somewhat too perhaps…

In any case, tomorrow the new hire would be coming in and Pinny and Cookie would be showing them the ropes of their job. Both of them just hoped they had picked the right pony for the position. They’d find out tomorrow at least when they arrived. With what happened today, having this new service open and serving customers as soon as possible would be a blessing.

Story 14 - Guzzle and Go

Cookie and Pinny had done their best. They had told all their larger regulars about the new addition to the store and showed them where it was. They had even had a small metal sign printed to go outside with an arrow that had a small picture of the logo with the following wording:

Guzzle and Go window now open!

It also sported a cute chibi style image of a rather round looking pony, indicating it was for larger customers. The additional till had arrived in the past few days, it had given Pinny and Cookie time to train their new hire on it.

“Rising Dough? Sorry just one more thing…” Cookie started to say. They had decided to go for the young stallion, feeling that his background already working from a young age in another bakery gave him a big advantage. He could learn the rest of what he needed to do and help out around the kitchen. So far he had only been in for a few days as the part of the bakery he was supposed to be working in wasn’t actually open yet, but he had been quite helpful already in taking some of the workload off both of them.

“Yes? Something else you want to show me?” the stallion asked.

“No, ask you actually. Do you have well, a shorter version of your name we could refer to you as? Rising Dough seems so formal. Like I go by Cookie and Rolling Pin is Pinny.” Cookie asked, watching as he thought for a moment.

“Well...sometimes the colts at school would tease me and call me Doughy because I have a little pudge but that’s all I can think of, plus I thought it was mean…” he trailed off, thinking on the nickname.

“Well, we’ll call you whatever you like. I like Doughy though, it rolls off the tongue rather easily. And we’d never use it negatively, unless it bothers you?” she asked smiling at him and giving him an almost motherly pat on the head to try to reassure him.

“I don’t mind trying it, it has been a while since anyone used it.” he said. “Do you mind if I just make sure the till is all good to go one last time? I know we’re opening soon.” he asked.

“Of course dear, be my guest. Oh - here. This will be your first order. I can guarantee Clipsy is first in your line and will be wanting her bags. She’ll probably already have the money prepared. Now do you remember the system?”

“Yes it seems easy enough, take their order and money. Shout it out, if either of you is too busy to fetch it I can get it myself, but I’m still not sure where everything goes…” he confessed. Again Cookie just smiled, he had only been here a few days so she was well aware he didn’t know where all the baked goods went yet. He was probably still used to his family bakery as well.

“That’s why you call out, we can show you and if you’re unsure and we’re busy just ask. Never too busy to show you where things are. Anyway. I am going to open up. When you’re ready, open your hatch and start taking orders dear.” Cookie said, making her way to the front door to unlock it. It was a little strange not seeing Clipsy at the front of the queue, today it was occupied by a rather normal looking stallion in some business attire waiting to get in to order. In fact the whole queue was missing any ponies of considerable size. All Cookie could do was assume her telling them and putting the new sign out had worked and they were all around the side of the building, she couldn’t help just taking a sneaking look around the side for herself, as the hatch was just behind where the glass for the shop front ended it was hard to see the size of the queue.

But there they were, as she expected. Doughy had a queue five or so ponies, each of them taking up a considerable portion of the sidewalk with as expected, Clipsy at the front chattering away to him. She could see the transaction had already been made and Clipsy was holding her bags of treats, but obviously not having met the new employee yet wanted to talk to him. As Cookie came back inside she could hear him. It was rather cute, Doughy was being as polite as possible an answering her questions but could tell by his tone and short answers he was trying to move her on so other waiting customers could order, with Clipsy wilfully and quite happily ignoring all these verbal cues.

“Yes ma’am, I come from another bakery.”

“Oh which one!? I tried a few before I found this place.”

“Uhm, The Bread Box? It is run by my family.”

“Oh I know that place! They make great breads! It’s in the name after all!” Clipsy happily replied. It was at this point Cookie decided to intervene.

“Hi Clipsy! Having a good morning!?” Cookie happily greeted her with at the Guzzle and Go window. “Here, thought you might want to try this, something new! I’d be really interested to hear your feedback!” Cookie said, pushing a small biscuit her way, which Clipsy immediately took and then made a step off to the side to eat. This allowed Doughy to serve the next customer.

“Tip one.” Cookie whispered in his ear. “The larger ones can be bribed to move on, in fact I think Clipsy knows this and does it on purpose…”

Doughy just smiled and nodded, turning his attention back to the next customer and started shouting out orders from the window. The system seemed to be working nicely, his voice was nice and clear and he wasn’t afraid to let both of them know what the customer at the window wanted. Mostly large but fairly standard orders. As soon as one of them heard it and they were free, they’d bring it to the window. Cookie was taking a rough time estimate in her head for each order and it was about on par with them coming into the store. But it was never about serving the fat ones faster, it was about keeping them out the store so it didn’t slow up the ordering process for ponies who could still fit inside. In that respect, it seemed to be working. At the end of day she asked Pinny how they had done.

“Well I won’t lie, it seems to have worked, we’ve made a good amount of extra bits today. Seems that young Doughy is earning his keep.” he said, having added the money from the main till and Doughy’s till together.

“Well that’s good news, I suppose just keep in mind he had to bribe a few more beyond Clipsy to move on and stop yakking asking him questions. But once I told him about it and he was okay to do it, he seemed quite happy to slip them an extra cake or something.” Cookie replied. “Anyway you keep counting, I’ll just see how he’s doing.”

Cookie made her way over to the now closed window, where Doughy was sitting and just staring at the till. “Sorry.” he started to say. “Just making sure I still know where everything is, iI want to make sure I’m doing it right.”

“Well judging by our takings today I’d say you are.” Cookie said reassuringly. “So how do you like it, do you still want to stay with us and work here?”

“Oh yes! I’m enjoying interacting with uh, the larger of your customers. I have to ask why are they so big? I’ve seen big ponies in the city, even sometimes in our own bakery but that one Clipsy, I’m was uh, I guess impressed? She was so huge.”

Cookie wasn’t quite ready to tell him everything yet, but from that question she could tell he thought something might have been pulling them back here. For now, she decided a small half-truth would be the way to handle it.

“They just really like our baking, we put a little extra into it. It pays off.” Cookie explained. Doughy just replied with a “Huh.” and accepted it, for now. He spent a few more moments staring at the till and then hopped off his small seat. “Is there anything else you want me to do before I leave?” he asked.

“No, I think we can handle it from here. Oh, do you want to be paid daily, weekly or monthly? We don’t mind as long as we have enough to give you.” Pinny replied.

“Do you mind daily? It would be nice to take something home to my family…” Doughy said.

“Of course not, here.” Pinny said, pushing a small pile of bits his way. “This is your daily amount, don’t spend it all at once.” he joked.

With a “Thank you!” Doughy took his payment and left for the day, trotting out the front door towards home.

As they finished tidying up and preparing for tomorrow, Cookie had to ask Pinny.

“So?”

“So what?”

“We’re keeping him right?”

“Of course, he had a few moments but they were all minor. It’s to be expected starting something new. I think he’ll fit in well. He seems to like you.” Pinny said.

“Oh stop, I think he just likes affection. Maybe he feels homesick slightly as well. It can be tough being away from family even if it’s just for part of the day to work.” Cookie said.

“I heard him ask about our larger customers too, I think it was a good call what you said. If he sticks around and we can trust him we can tell him the truth at some point.” Pinny mused to himself.

“Or he might find out on his own. In any case, we’ll speak to him about it when the time is right.”

With the bakery now a three pony team it was definitely starting to feel more like a family. Cookie hadn’t even had a chance to read today’s paper, which as per usual Pinny had picked up early in the morning. She flicked through it as he finished counting the money and doing a little cleaning. One article however caught her eye, in fact she remembered Pinny mentioning it quite a few months ago.

Royal Visit by Princess Twilight Sparkle Announced!

The article detailed a list of districts the Princess would visit during a short one week trip to the city. Bronclyn was on it.

Story 15 - Preparing...Just In Case

“Cookie, in all honesty do you think The Princess of Friendship, Twilight Sparkle. Is going to walk into our bakery?” Pinny asked, rolling his eyes in disbelief. The two were sat at home after another day of work, just resting for the evening. It was the only quiet time they got to themselves.

“Well you read it too! Look!” Cookie said, shoving the article back towards Pinny in a slightly panicked state, crumpling the paper a little in the process. “Oops.”

“Yes yes, I know - the royal visit. But all it says is that as part of her tour of the city Princess Twilight will be spending a day in Bronclyn. It doesn’t say where in the district she’s going to go. It’s a huge district honey, she’s most likely going to visit ponies she knows or has specific destinations in mind. She’s hardly going to be trotting down the road at lunch time, see our bakery and walk in is she? I mean does she even walk, I’d have thought a Princess would be taken everywhere in a carriage…” Pinny started to get side tracked, Cookie bringing him back to the matter at hoof.

“Well it could happen! We should be prepared just in case!” Cookie started to say. “Princess Twilight is one of the smartest ponies around! If we serve her one of the special baked goods and she puts on weight she’s going to get suspicious!” Cookie said.

“So we have three choices.” Pinny said.

“I hate it when you simplify everything.” Cookie retorted.

“Hear me out. Choice one is we carry on business as usual and hope she doesn’t come in. Choice two is we prepare one of everything and keep it to one side and hope she doesn’t get suspicious when we don’t take her order from under the counter. I don’t really want to consider option three because we can’t afford it.”

“Close for the day?” Cookie asked.

“Mmm hmm.” was all Pinny replied.

“Yeah, lets not do that.” Cookie said. They still owed too much money and couldn’t afford it.

“What if...well, what if we did go with choice one? She’s a Princess isn’t she. She’s not going to order a huge batch of treats. I hardly think a couple of cookies is going to make her noticeably fatter.” Pinny suggested.

“Pinny, she’s royalty. She’s one of, if not the smartest pony in Equestria. I mean do you even pay attention to our leaders? She’d notice.” Cookie said.

“I was never much of a royalist.” Pinny drily replied.

“Clearly. Well...hmm…” Cookie thought for a moment.

“Look be realistic dear, like I said what are the chances she actually visits us? Slim to none?” Pinny reasoned with her.

“Well, yes I suppose.” Cookie replied.

“So I say we just do what we normally do. We carry on business as usual. If on the very rare, almost nil chance she actually walks through the door we serve her the couple of items she orders and she goes away thinking she probably just overindulged on her week trip to the city, and those city foods are oh so rich.” Pinny calmly explained to his now slightly less panicky partner.

“Fine, I’m just worried.” Cookie said.

“Darling, you always worry. It’s my job to make you worry less.” Pinny said, nuzzling close to her.

“Thanks.” Cookie replied back, giving Pinny a hug. “Oh, tomorrow. I want to show Doughy how to bake a few basic things when we’re quiet. I assume that’s okay with you?” she asked.

“Of course, but you know he’s from a bakery anyway. He might already know how to bake these things himself and we’ve just not asked him to. Might be worth querying with him.” Pinny said, reading some other articles in the paper as he settled in for some down time.

“Good idea. I’ll ask tomorrow.” Cookie said back, closing her eyes for a moment to rest.

The next day the store was as busy as usual. Once the morning rush had passed, Clipsy having bothered Doughy sufficiently enough that he gave her another couple of free treats, Cookie was finally free to pop the question towards their new staff member.

“So, it wasn’t something we completely covered in the interview and I know you’re from a bakery. But can you bake?” Cookie asked. “One of the things we asked about was helping out around the store whilst it was quiet, I thought now might be a good time as generally I start preparing for the lunch crowd.”

“Oh sure!” Doughy replied, sliding the hatch shut as no customers were present. “I do bake a little, but generally I got asked to clean things or make sure customers were being served. I can do simple things.” he said.

“What sort of simple things?” Cookie asked.

“Well, cookies, flapjacks, brownies, uhhhh…” Doughy thought for a minute. “I think I tried doing gingerbread ponies once but the icing for the features was a bit off.” he confessed, looking sheepish.

“Well we sell all those things, if you can bake them yourself it would be a great help to me. I can coach you through it and give you advice.” Cookie said with a smile.

She decided to start off with something simple and her namesake of course, the delightful chocolate chip cookie. Doughy was a fast learner which was helpful. He had a good basic understanding but Cookie had some tips that he didn’t know just to help the baking process along. There was one moment though in the whole process that put Cookie a little on edge.

“Woah!” she heard him exclaim, she wasn’t quite paying attention to what he was doing and hadn’t noticed Doughy had just straight up dabbed his hoof into the sugar and had a taste. Cookie froze. She wasn’t sure what to say.

“What is it?” she decided to ask.

“This sugar...I’ve never tasted anything like it.” Doughy said, going for another taste, Cookie slapped his hoof away to a frown. “What!?” he asked.

“We don’t ever ever lick our hooves, then the sugar. Somepony is going to eat that!” Cookie said, seeing that Doughy understood but he was still curious about the sugar.

“Okay, but - what sugar is that? I’ve never tasted something so sweet!” he exclaimed.

“It’s just our wholesalers sugar we use. I’ve never really thought much about it.” Cookie calmly replied, keeping her cool and not spilling the beans.

“Oh...well, it’s a lot sweeter than the sugar we used to have at our bakery. That’s for sure.” Doughy said, going back to making the cookies. Cookie was sure to keep an eye to make sure he didn’t try to sneak another taste, thankfully he didn’t and not before long the batch he had made was done and baked. Cookie inspected it by eating one.

“Mmm! Good job! There’s a few little things you can improve on but that will all come with time and as you do more baking. But for a first batch, pretty good. We can put these on sale.” Cookie smiled, taking the tray and starting to put them under the counter on display. “Thank you Doughy, oh I think I hear a customer tapping on the window for the Guzzle and Go. Can you serve them?”

With a dutiful nod Doughy took his usual spot and Cookie silently let out a sigh of relief.

“Did he do okay?” Pinny asked, just finishing up helping a customer at the register.

“Yes he did fine, in fact he baked these.” Cookie said, pointing her hoof to the cookies now freshly on display. “He took a lick of the sugar though, don’t worry I was calm and just told him I never really thought about it. But he kept saying he had never had something so sweet.” Cookie explained. “I only took my eyes off him for a second.”

“Well don’t worry, unless he starts eating the sugar out the bag he was probably just impressed with how sweet it was.” Pinny replied.

“Yes but, it was the sugar on its own, not mixed with anything. You remember they said it was more potent that way.” Cookie said, worried.

“We’ll keep an eye on him, just maybe make sure he doesn’t start trying to sneak it or anything like I said. With the royal visit coming, we’ve got enough to worry about.” Pinny said.

“Alright.”

He was right, with the possibility (albeit a very slim one) of Princess Twilight coming in, the two had enough on their plate to worry about for now. The visit was approaching fast.

Story 16 - Twilight’s In Town

Despite being one of the first ponies generally to get to the paper filly and pick up the morning paper before he started work, today Pinny was surprised to find there was but a few copies left when he took one.

As he started to have a quick look through on the way back to the bakery he could see why. It was a special edition outlining the entirety of the Princess’s visit. The entire first half of it was devoted to not just a rough plan (as best the reporters could guess to her movements) of her visit but also other articles explaining facts about her life and all her accomplishments. As Pinny had already said to Cookie he was never much of a royalist. His eyes glanced over the articles of her almost fantastical achievements which from what he could tell, boiled down to saving the world several times over. With a small roll of his eyes he placed the paper in a saddle bag and carried on back to the store, there was only really one thing from it he needed to tell Cookie.

“It’s today.” he said, putting the paper on the counter top as she immediately grabbed it up and started to read through, quickly getting to where he had found the article with that bit of information. It was a few paragraphs into where they suspected she’d be visiting.

“Oh yes, they think she’s been in the city for a few days already but shall be visiting the Bronclyn district today.” Cookie read, somewhat repeating what Pinny had already stated but just in more detail.

“Mmm, well I suspect all the customers will do is talk about it.” Pinny replied, getting the final things ready for morning opening. “Where is?- Ah.”

He was just about to ask where Doughy was when the young stallion trotted through the door, huffing as he was clearly out of breath.

“Sorry I’m late!” was the first thing he blurted out. “But the streets are rammed! What with the expectation of a visit by the Princess I struggled to get through the crowds lining the streets.” he said, quickly trotting to his spot in the bakery and getting ready as quickly as he could.

“Understandable, this is a once in well, probably every few years occurrence.” Cookie thought. They did get visited either by Princess Twilight or one of the other royal ponies every so often. What with Manehattan being a large city they were often here on business. “He’s here now, don’t make a fuss.” Cookie whispered to Pinny, who just nodded and went to flip the sign from closed to open, with Doughy opening the hatch for the Guzzle And Go at the same time. It was odd, on such a busy day with so many ponies out and about so early, the only customer waiting patiently at her usual spot was Clipsy. As no ponies decided to come into the store, Cookie thought she’d go out and talk to her.

“Morning.” Cookie said. It was always amusing to see just how big Clipsy had gotten since last time. Cookie hardly saw her these days what with her now using the hatch all the time. It seemed she was now starting to give up on clothes due to her size, this morning not wearing anything at all. Cookie was starting to wonder how many more bags of treats it would take for her to hit immobility. She’d get her answer once she stopped being able to visit.

“Oh, Cookie!” Clipsy happily replied, giving her a big hug and smooshing her fat body against her in the process. “Seems I’m your only customer! Not surprising since practically everypony is on the lookout for the Princess! I ever took the day off work!” she exclaimed.

“I see, she’s that much of a big deal?” Cookie asked. She was a little more interested in their rulers than Pinny was, but didn’t realise just how much people apparently wanted to see the Princess.

“Of course! Even just to be able to glimpse that purple coat would be something!” Clipsy happily replied, taking a bite of a cookie. “Anyway, gotta run...er, waddle! I’ve got an inside tip of one of the best places to see her, I hope my spots not taken!” Clipsy said, jiggling away as fast as her fat stubby legs would carry her. Doughy just shrugged at the window, with Cookie smiling back and heading back inside.

As lunchtime rolled around Pinny sighed. “This must be our worst day of trading yet. We’ve had three customers come in all morning. How many at the window Doughy?” he asked.

“Just two. Clipsy being one of them.” he said back.

“I think the city is just gripped with Princess fever. Don’t worry about it, we’ll be back to normal once she’s left the district.” Cookie replied. “Hopefully we can catch up.”

As the two were talking, they hardly noticed the robed pony enter. Pinny looked up from what he was doing to see a taller than normal, he assumed mare by the slender body shape, looking down at the goodies under the counter behind the glass. He couldn’t even see her face with the robe covering most of her head and the fact she was looking down.

“Can I help you er...miss?” he asked.

“Oh yes, can I please have a small selection of your yummiest cookies? I’ve had rather a busy morning and I’m quite famished.” came the reply.

“Of course, one moment.” Pinny replied, leaning down so he could pick out some choice treats from under the counter. As he did so, he swore through the glass he observed a flash of the hidden ponies skin colour. A purple? He wasn’t sure, whoever she was, the mare was going through great lengths not to be identified.

“Here’s your order. Would you like a bag?” he asked.

“Please.” was the reply.

At this point Cookie had stopped what she was doing, as had Doughy. Both were, with some caution, trying to identify whoever it was hidden under the robe. Cookie could only make out that it was a Unicorn from the horn pointing the head material up somewhat but it was a struggle to see if there was any wings. Her back was quite well hidden under the cloth.

Dutifully, Pinny bagged up the goods and went to pass them over, but found that they were magically grabbed by a purple glow. Forthcoming from somewhere within the robe was a selection of bits which were levitated onto the counter. It was double what the goods would have cost.

“Ah miss, this is far too much. You’ll want some cha-” Pinny started to say, but before he could finish his sentence he heard the door to the bakery shut and the mare was gone.

“Well, that was odd.” Cookie said.

“I know, I couldn’t even see her. Do you think it was a criminal not wanting to be noticed?” Pinny asked.

“Oh come on dear, what kind of criminal after a crime spree thinks ‘Oh I know, I’ll stop for some really tasty cookies on the way back to my hideout.’” Cookie sarcastically replied. “Did you even make out any of her features?”

“Well, just that the magic was purple and I think her coat was as well.” Pinny said. “But it was all hidden under that robe, it was hard to tell.”

“Wait...purple!?” Cookie exclaimed. She quickly grabbed the paper and flipped to the only colour image that had been printed on the cover page. Before them was a large image of Princess Twilight.

“Purple.” Pinny said. “Well, she did look a little taller than most ponies.” Pinny said, a little shocked. “You think it was her?”

“Of course it was her! It makes perfect sense!” Cookie excitedly clapped her hooves together. “She just wanted some alone time to eat! She can hardly go anywhere without getting mobbed by fans after all can she? And to think! We served THE PRINCESS our cookies!” the mare happily exclaimed.

“Uh, well that’s the thing dear.” Pinny started to say. “We served her the normal cookies. You know? She was so well hidden I thought she was just a regular customer.” he explained with a slight wobble of his lip. He saw Cookie’s joy almost immediately turn to concern.

“Oh...dear.” was all she said.

“What’s wrong with normal cookies?” Doughy asked.

“Oh uh! Those ones were a little old! We had some special ones prepared for her is all!” Cookie hastily replied, her mind already racing as to the consequences of what they’d done. “I’m just worried she didn’t get the best!”

“She might like that, being treated normally for once.” Doughy replied, turning away as he had a customer at the hatch to serve.

“What are we going to do - this is a disaster!” Cookie whispered to Pinny, who was already calming her down.

“Absolutely nothing! Like I said before, so she gains a little weight - she’s not going to blame it on us!” he hissed back. “We can talk about it more tonight, but for now let’s just get through today and if there’s any blow back, we can figure it out then.”

A few streets away, in a secluded spot, the robed mare had already finished half the cookies. She had only meant to eat one and then take some home for her friends to enjoy. But they were so good! She had to have more. Hopefully, she could slip in again before she had to head home.

Story 17 - Mysterious Mares And Slurred Speech

“I can’t sleep.” Cookie said, obviously tired but still wide awake. Pinny groaned.

“I know, we went to bed over an hour ago and all I can feel is you tossing and turning next to me. Because of that, I can’t sleep either.” he moaned slightly, wishing he could just get a reasonable nights sleep.

“We need to talk about this, I’m worried. More than usual.” Cookie started to say.

“I know dear, you worry about everything. This time though, I can understand why.” Pinny replied. “Look, it’s just like I said back in the bakery. So she might gain a little weight, how is she going to connect that to us? She’ll just think she overindulged during her visit.”

“It’s not the weight gain I’m worried about.” Cookie replied.

“Oh?”

“It’s the addictive properties of the sugar, Pinny.” Cookie said, now sitting upright in bed as her mind started to wander over the possible outcomes of essentially drugging and Princess. “If a robed pony makes her way into the store again without revealing who she is I don’t know what we’re going to do.”

Pinny sat upright with her. “Well, I suppose we could always ask if she is Princess Twilight.” he said.

“Are you crazy!? You don’t just ask a pony if they are a Princess!” Cookie exclaimed back.

“I suppose you’re right, generally they’re out in the open and not shying away from being seen. But what would be so bad about asking her if she does come back? The worst she could say is no and we find it's a different pony.” Pinny said.

“Okay, fair point. But then what? Say it is and she reveals herself, what then?” Cookie asked.

“Well, at that point I’d say we’re humbled she has chosen to visit us and swap her order out for the non-addictive stuff we had waiting for her before. One of us can make small talk whilst the other fetches her order, the right order this time.” he said.

“Everything is so simple for you isn’t it? You know sometimes situations don’t go as you plan, that’s how she ended up getting the regular cookies yesterday when she dropped by and we didn’t recognise her.” Cookie huffed, slinking back down under the covers and turning over. She felt a hoof over her back as Pinny tried his best to give her a bit of a hug.

“I know dear. I don’t think it’s going to happen one hundred percent that way. But it’s a rough plan to try to get it to, and if it doesn’t, well, I’ll do what I always do.” he sighed.

“Make something up?” Cookie asked.

“Make something up.” he said back, sliding back into bed himself. They had another day ahead of them to rest up for.

It was a busier day than yesterday. There was no sign of the mysterious robed mare who had visited during their quiet period but the regular customers were back. Clipsy, as per usual was at her window hatch getting her order as first in line. Cookie took a few minutes to speak to her whilst Doughy vanished to attend to something else.

“Morning Clipsy, did you manage to get a glimpse of the Princess yesterday?” Cookie asked her.

“Afraid not! Supposedly not many ponies did! -chew- She gave a few meet and greets but apparently was holed away just a couple of blocks down for official business. But your cookiesh kept me going!” Clipsy replied. Cookie noticed the slight, faint slurring on the word cookies. It was a very small thing but she asked her another question to get her to repeat the word.

“Oh thanks, glad they did. We were thinking about bringing in some new flavours, something you’d be in favour of?” she asked.

“Of course! Your cookiesh are the besht!” Clipsy replied. There it was again, she was watching the mare as she spoke. Clipsy’s face was starting to build up a good level of pudge, and Cookie deduced that from this, her lips and cheeks were getting so bloated and fattened that it was actually causing her a slight speech impediment now, with the shhh sound at the ends of certain words the outcome of it. She let the mare go as Doughy had returned to serve other customers, she could see she was eager to get eating anyhow.

She made her way over to Pinny who was just finishing a transaction with another customer.

“She slurs now.”

“Beg your pardon?” came the reply.

“Clipsy, she’s slurring her words. I was listening to her and watching her face. She’s getting so large that her fat is actually causing her to speak poorly.” Cookie said.

“Like how?” Pinny asked.

“A couple of words. Cookies became cookiesh. Best became besht. I tried watching her mouth as she spoke, it’s like her lips can’t find enough room to get the words out struggling up against her bloated cheeks.” Cookie explained.

“That’s...well, she’s the only one right? It can’t be that bad.” Pinny said.

“She’s the only one, for now, there are a few other regulars who aren’t that far behind her you know. Every morning that window looks like the city fatties are all having a get together.” Cookie replied.

“Well, I know there are bigger ponies than her. Particularly the ones who run the higher end luxury brands in the city. They’re real porkers.” Pinny replied.

“Yes dear, but it has taken them years of eating rich, decadent foods to get to that size. Not a couple of months of snacking on three bags of cookies and other treats every day.” Cookie sighed. “We’ve really got to address this and soon. I think Doughy is cottoning on as well.”

What makes you say that? We said we’d keep an eye on him.” Pinny asked.

“Well, he keeps finding excuses to head towards the back and sort out orders under the guise of being helpful. I mean you must have noticed he’s put on a little weight. He’s only been here a week.”

“Hmmm…”

Pinny leaned around Cookie to get a look at Doughy serving at the hatch. He couldn’t deny that the stallion was bigger than a week ago. It wasn’t something you’d notice unless you really stared, but he had definitely developed a bit of a pudge.

“I’ll speak to him at the end of the day. Or…”

“Or what?” Cookie asked.

“Or, now is the time to start slowly switching back to the regular sugar. I mean, we’ve got regulars. We’re making enough money to pay ourselves, a member of staff and the bank back. Perhaps we should consider it?” he suggested. “We could do it slowly so they don’t notice.”

“Let’s talk about it tonight.” was all Cookie replied. She knew it would have to come at some point, she just hadn’t been expecting it to so soon.

Story 18 - A Royal Seal

It had been a lot of talking, in fact the two had hardly gotten any sleep last night which is why each of them were a little sluggish today. Eventually though they had come to a reasonable compromise on the sugar. A gradual reduction starting today. They’d drop the content down to ninety percent this week, eighty next and ten percent each week until eventually they were hoping to just use twenty percent of the addictive and fattening sugar. It was such a gradual phase out over the few months that Cookie was confident it would work.

As they opened up though, both her and Pinny were obviously nervous about it and it showed. Cookie despite looking and feeling more tired than usual twitching slightly, just waiting for that first comment from a customer. If anyone noticed it was going to be Clipsy, who was as she always was, first in line at the hatch to get her daily three bag order.

She watched out of the corner of her eye as Doughy passed the bags over and Clipsy as she always did immediately retrieved a treat from one of the bags and chewed.

It was much to Cookie’s relief when she had finished it that she didn’t even bat an eyelid, eating the small marzipan square she had pulled out with no complaints. Even commenting “As good as always, see you tomorrow!” to Doughy before she waddled herself out of the line so another pony could be served.

“I think it’s working.” she said to Pinny.

“What is?” he replied, which made Cookie frown. She knew sometimes he liked to play dumb.

“The sugar reduction, Clipsy just had her usual order and didn’t seem to notice. She was going to be the biggest test.” Cookie said to him.

“Well, unless that food critic shows up again. It could happen.” he mused.

“I think he tends to stick to new places and we had two visits, how many more does he need?” Cookie asked.

“Well if he had gotten hooked like the rest he would have been a regular, I guess he’s just either got much more willpower or his job prevented him doing so.”

“Hmm, oh. It’s Stampy.”

Of course the stallion's name wasn’t Stampy, it was just another nickname like most ponies had. Butter Stamp was one of the many Pegasus ponies employed by the mail service to deliver around the city. It just so happened that his route included most of Bronclyn. He pulled a few letters out of his bag and dropped them on the counter.

“Morning to you two, this one needs a signature. Sign here please.” he said, quickly dispensing with the pleasantries and presenting a small slip on a clipboard which Pinny signed for. He picked it up. There was a small note on the top of the envelope that told Stampy he needed to get it signed for as proof of delivery.

“How come? Usually packages have to be signed for. Not letters?” Pinny asked.

“I think you’ll find once you open it that letter isn’t just a bill. Keep it safe. See you both around.” he said, closing his saddlebags and turning for the door. Cookie however wasn’t going to let him leave without something and she nudged Pinny, who magically levitated a couple of biscuits towards him to take.

“Here! I know delivering all the mail is rather tiring.” Cookie said with a smile.

With a smile back, the stallion left with the baked goods and took off into the sky, presumably to his next delivery.

“You know we probably shouldn’t be giving him the treats, he’ll get too fat to fly.” Pinny commented.

“He’ll be fine. So uh…” she said, nodding her head towards the letter that was now safely under the counter. “Do you want to open it?”

“What now? Can’t it wait? We have customers.” Pinny replied, but for the moment the morning rush was over and Doughy seemed preoccupied serving a few remaining near-blobs at the hatch. “Oh, fine. I can tell you’re excited.” he said, picking it up and flipping it over.

“That’s odd...what is it?” Cookie asked, looking at a rather large red coloured blob on the back which appeared to have a stamp on it.

“It’s a wax seal. That’s rather old school and well, that might be what Stampy was talking about. The only things with wax seals on these days tend to come from either royalty or ponies who are so high class we’d basically be insignificant specs to them.” he said, observing the seal. “But this appears to be royalty. Look at the stamp.” Pinny said.

The stamp was rather intricate, even in wax. It very obviously though from a glance showed the royal seal of the four Princesses.

“Oh gosh, and there’s my nerves again.” Cookie said. “You read it.”

Pinny didn’t even comment this time, he just opened up the letter and started to read the main body of the text. The address indicated it had come from Ponyville. The top middle of the letter bared the same seal that was on the wax.

Cookie Crumble and Rolling Pin,

I would like to thank you both for the delicious treats you sold to me a number of days ago. It made a rather hectic and busy visit to Manehattan much more bearable.

At your earliest convenience, please respond to the address below. Your confectionery alongside one of my friends baking is some of the best I have ever tasted and I would like a small selection of my close friends (and myself) the chance to experience it for the first time and again.

Expenses will be covered, I would very much appreciate it if with the box of goodies you included a cost, which will be paid to you as soon as possible. A variety selection of what you believe is your best work would be ideal.

Twilight Sparkle

Princess of Friendship

“Well...that answers that.” said a rather astonished Pinny.

“It WAS her! I knew it!” Cookie exclaimed. “Oh, oh, we better make sure that we make her the very best!” she carried on.

“Does that mean going back to using one hundred percent of the sugar?” Pinny asked, sighing. Already it seemed the reduction was going out the window. What were they going to do with all that regular sugar they bought…

“Of course! She’s a Princess! She’ll notice!” Cookie replied. Already her mind was starting to race thinking of what she could put together in what would be the greatest and most tastiest box of treats Cookie would ever bake. She was going to make sure that Princess Twilight got only the best.

“That doesn’t mean we have to stop our plan for the bakery though, right?” Pinny asked. He could see already that all the worry and fear had evaporated from Cookie, who was somewhat caught up in the moment of having her baking be so good that Princess Twilight herself had asked for a special order.

“Well, let's put it on hold for a little bit. I want our customers to eat like a Princess!” she squeed. Oh well, it was a good idea for the entire day it lasted. Pinny had to admit to himself it was rather unexpected that she had sent a letter asking for a box of treats. He had hoped she would have made it back so he could have asked the robed mare who she really was, but the letter was proof enough. He and Cookie knew. In this situation, with the ingredients they were using, distance was probably a good thing.

Story 19 - Only The Best

“Are you sure you want to do it rather than close for a day?” Pinny asked, still a bit bleary eyed. It was midnight and he was fumbling around (magically) with the lock to the bakery door. Eventually it clicked and he let himself and Cookie in.

“Just think of it as an early start okay? Look, this means we can fulfil the order and still open today as normal.” Cookie replied, starting to clean down the kitchen so it was ready to be used.

“I know, but she’s paying us, whatever we want! We could probably double our normal price and she’d have no idea. We could take a day off.” Pinny retorted, helping Cookie clean before they started to bake.

“Or doing it this way means we can pay off our debts a little quicker. Then we can have all the days off we like...within reason.” Cookie said, getting out her ingredients. “Besides, I’m going to have some fun baking her the best. New treats as well well as our established favourites. You get on with the bread dear, I’ll start with what I have planned.”

“Okay, just say if you need me.” Pinny replied.

And so the two began to do as they always did, every day. Bake. It’s just that it usually wasn’t a midnight baking session. It had come to Cookie as they had wandered home that night and eventually with enough cajoling Pinny had finally agreed to it. He wasn’t happy about it of course, but Cookie had her ways. After being together for so long she knew what to say and what to offer when she really wanted him to do something for her.

She had the perfect plan too, a mixture of sweet and savoury. Cookie would do the sweet, Pinny would do the savoury. On Pinny’s list was mostly breads, but some of the nicest they could muster. He was making scones, rolls, pasties and a few loafs. Cookie herself was making cookies, cupcakes, macaroons and muffins. She had contemplated brownies, but hadn’t managed to come up with anything unique (bar adding even more of the special sugar) to make them extra tasty and although she was going to make sure to use plenty of the sugar, she was going to let her baking speak for itself.

They had arranged for a special night time pickup from the postal service. They had until four am, so four hours to get everything baked and packed. Time was against them.

“Do you think we should have asked Doughy to come in and help?” she asked, zipping around the kitchen and picking what she needed. Pinny never had this problem of course, he just levitated everything towards him. Of course though Cookie could always shout to him if he could levitate it over. He stood at his station, kneading the dough.

“I think asking him to come in at midnight might have been pushing it, he’s only been with us a short while. Don’t want to scare him off.” he replied.

“True…” Cookie responded. In any case, time was ticking on. It had taken her an hour just to get all the base ingredients mixed and then prepared so they could go in their large oven, which roared into life. Cookie placed her desserts inside, she had four separate timers on the side for each one as they all took different times to bake. All she could do now was wait. Pinny had finished too, so the two had a little time to discuss their new predicament in a long line of escapades.

“So are we going to do this every time she puts in an order?” Pinny asked.

“Oh right...I hadn’t thought of that. I suppose she will.” Cookie said, already assuming so. “Well, why not? The more orders she puts in the more we can make and the quicker we can pay everything off. This is a blessing really.”

“You know they’re going to link it back to us though, our customers are quickly becoming some of the fattest ponies in the city. Once Princess Twilight starts to put on weight, they’ll quickly find out she’s been ordering it from a particular bakery here. Our bakery. Do you really think we’re going to be treated well and accepted after Equestria discovers that it’s our doing Princess Twilight is the size of a house?” Pinny replied.

“The size of a house???” Cookie blurted out.

“Well, not that big, But look at Clipsy. I think if she keeps coming in a year she’ll easily be taking up most of the street, if she’s still mobile.” Pinny said, with his somewhat serious tone.

“Don’t scare me like that. But I see what you’re saying.” Cookie said.

“That’s not an answer though. We know what it is and exactly what’s doing it. If we cut back on the sugar like we planned all this won’t be an issue.” Pinny said.

“I know, but if we do cut back and lose customers, we’re going to be back selling out of a cart in the local park. I like what we have now, walls, somewhere that is ours. Not a temporary spot on a pavement.” Cookie sighed.

“But you heard Clipsy the other day, even with the reduced sugar she still was quite happy with her order.” Pinny tried to reassure her.

“But that was such a small amount taken out. I worry that if we kept reducing it they’d notice…” Cookie responded. “Can we keep going with it as we are, just for a little longer. Please?”

“Okay, but you know I’m not a fan of all this. Still, I suppose the quicker we can pay off our debt and be free of it the quicker this is all over.” Pinny said.

As he finished speaking, there was a ping! from one of the timers. Cookie opened the oven and pulled out the freshly baked batch of cookies. They smelt delightful, if only Princess Twilight could eat them slightly warm…

The rest of the evening the two worked to make sure that everything was baked to perfection. Despite being tired, the two gave it their all, with effort being put into their work like they never had before. This was for royalty. It didn’t get any better than this, there was no higher praise to be won than from one of the rulers of Equestria. The two were just packing up the box making sure everything was well packed as they heard some hooves trot up outside the door.

“Oh gosh, is that the time already?” Cookie asked. It had all passed swiftly, the two of them making it just in time for the pickup.

“Yeah, put the note in the box dear. I’ll go answer it.” Pinny replied.

Cookie pulled the small note from the counter. It was sealed and she placed it directly on top of the goodies before sealing the box. It was short and simple, the cost of the treats and what the box contained was the gist of it, with a little gushing from Cookie over how thrilled she was that Princess Twilight had wanted to order a box of their baked goods with Cookie almost urging her through her writing to order more should she want. She sealed the box up and Pinny reappeared from outside, with Stampy following him in.

“Oh good uh...morning, Stampy. Didn’t think it would be you picking up.” Cookie said.

“Part of my route but I do this as well, bit of extra money you know? Smells like you’ve been baking.” the stallion said, sniffing the air, picking up on the unmistakable scent of baked goods.

“Yes, that’s what we’re delivering. It’s to go to the Castle of Friendship in Ponyville. For Twilight Sparkle.” Pinny informed him, he didn’t see why he should try to disguise it, especially since the address was on the box.

“You’re sending cookies to The Princess? You two must be doing well. I’ll make sure it gets to the sorting office safe but after that it’s out of my hooves.” he replied, carefully picking up the small box but finding that it didn’t weigh much. “See you both later on my regular rounds.” Stampy said, trotting out the door and vanishing into the night air.

“Well, better clean up again. We need to start baking again in a couple of hours.” Pinny sighed, grabbing some cleaning materials and starting again. Cookie joined him.

“You think she’ll like it?” she asked.

“She’ll love it. Trust me.” Pinny replied, too tired to give her a detailed reply. The two carried on their work, with the first royal commission out of the way it was only a matter of time before there would be another.

Story 20 - Too Tempting

It was a bit of a journey back across the city for Stampy, luckily with these dedicated early morning deliveries it meant he went straight to the pickup and back to the depot to drop it off before then going on his usual route.

The smell though, even as he flew across the crisp morning air of Manehattan with his wings beating the aromas of the packed case was permeating his nostrils. All that sugar and lovely baked goodness was a little too tempting and finally he had to set down on the rooftop of a block of flats to step away from the package and get some fresh air.

He was torn. Never in his professional career had he opened a customer's letter or package. It was the number rule at the post office. Under no circumstances was anypony to open anything as priority one was to get it delivered.

But the smell...it was so good! He was in that bakery every day nearly now delivering something. Thank Celestia they got a lot of bills which gave him an excuse to be there and possibly get a freebie. He still hadn’t worked up the courage to actually buy anything.

He peeked at the container. It was well closed up. If he pried it open they’d know he had been sticking his nose in to try to get at the contents. Stampy steeled himself...and got a nose peg out of his postal bag. At least that would maybe make him slobber a little less on his flight back to the depot. He needed to work on his willpower.

“Urgghhh…”

The alarm clock was making that horrible noise again. The beeping was...annoying. Cookie almost swiped it off the bedside table in anger as she blinked, looking at the time. It was unfortunately, time to get up.

The extra long day had been tiresome. She had been fine until roughly early afternoon but after that she had just started to feel run down. By the time they had closed up for the night, she had barely managed to walk home and get into bed, hardly paying any attention to Pinny.

It was a second shake from him that roused her. “Come on sleepy head. We need to get in.”

“Can I just say I’m ill today, please?” she asked, rolling over to try to get a few more seconds of precious sleep.

“Now you know that won’t work. Come on. I asked if Doughy could open up for us today so all we have to do is bake when we get there. He seemed happy to.” Pinny said.

This seemed to perk Cookie up a bit, now that she knew there was less work to do. Still groggy, she got up and prepared for the day.

The storefront was open when they arrived. Her and Pinny could see Doughy inside. Although he seemed somewhat preoccupied.

“Looks like he finished cleaning and setting up.” Pinny said, giving the front door a push. It was locked though, he spied the key in the lock from the other side. At that point, he knocked on the glass to try to get Doughy’s attention but the young stallion seemed engrossed in whatever he was doing.

“Hmmm…” was all Pinny said. “DOUGHY!” This was followed by some louder bangs on the door. He was aware though that it was early so tried his best to keep it somewhat quiet and not wake the neighbours. Finally, Doughy perked his head up and came to the door.

“Oh, sorry you two! I never heard you in the back.” he said, unlocked the door from the inside. “I just thought it would keep the bakery secure if I locked myself in.” he explained.

“Indeed, what were you doing?” Cookie asked.

“Oh uh, just sorting some things out in the back, give me a moment to clean up…” but before he could finish, Pinny had already walked past him to see what he was up to. On the counter top was a small pile of sugar with a snout imprinted into the middle.

“Cleaning up sugar with your tongue I see?” Pinny asked.

“Oh gosh, I’m sorry!” Doughy said, suddenly starting to look a bit panicked. He knew they were suspicious. “But, it’s your sugar! What is it!? It’s nothing like I’ve ever had!” he exclaimed.

Pinny looked at Cookie with a raised eyebrow. She just nodded. “I think we should explain…”

It took about thirty minutes to tell Doughy about the sugar, he had a lot of questions but suddenly he realised why they had so many big customers like Clipsy who came by every day. He even mentioned he had noticed after eating it he had put on a few pounds himself, which he had dismissed as just some extra food he had eaten that day having the effect. But it made total sense for why they were so successful.

“We are planning to reduce what we use, but it's been so good for us. We can’t just yet. You’re the only one that knows.” Cookie said.

“I see.” Doughy replied.

“And we’d like it to stay that way. Doughy we like you working for us, we don’t want to lose or the bakery but if this gets out, we’d be ruined.” Cookie continued.

“And we are planning to get rid of it eventually, it’s just we have lots of bills. For the time being, we need to keep using it.” Pinny backed her up with.

“No, I understand. I won’t tell a soul.” Doughy said. He saw them both breath a small sigh of relief. “But, does it not bother you?” he asked.

“Of course it does. In fact we stumbled across it quite by accident. But for the moment we’re just quashing our morals to keep the bakery alive.” Pinny said.

“Well, if you can live with it for now, so can I. But I think at some point you owe Clipsy and the other huge ponies an explanation. I think they suspect something but they’re so addicted they don’t question it and keep coming back.” Doughy said.

“Yes...we will, when the time is right.” Cookie said.

“I’ll get back to work. We open soon.” Doughy said, getting up and moving to his station.

“He took that better than expected, but he has better morals than us.” Pinny said to Cookie.

“He’s a child, they all do.” Cookie said back. “But he’s right, we are going to have to explain at some point.” she said. “Like he said, I am pretty sure Clipsy and the others know there is something making them huge in our food but they just don’t know what and won’t bring it up.” she mused.

“Let's open for the day. We can talk about it tonight. Don’t forget the Princess has a batch of our baking now, that might vindicate us somewhat.” Pinny said.

“With the special sugar…” Cookie replied.

“I know.” was all Pinny said. The two got on with opening up for the day, still tired.

Story 22 - Something New

Cookie was thinking.

Pinny could tell she was thinking. She always moved her body to the same pose whenever she was in deep thought mode as he called it. A hoof went under her chin. She leaned on something (in this case, it was the counter top) and her eyes stared up at the ceiling as she searched for a vacant and non-distracting place to park them whilst she retreated into her mind.

He always liked to leave her for a minute or two pondering. Only a customer or Pinny saying something would pull her from being transfixed on her thoughts. No customers were forthcoming, so Pinny decided to break the silence.

“Go on, what’s on your mind?” he queried.

He watched as Cookie’s eyes slowly came down from staring at the ceiling back to ground level, he was waiting to hear what she had to say.

“We need something new.” she said.

“That’s a little vague dear, what do you mean something new?” he asked.

“For the bakery. I mean something new to keep customers coming.” she carried on.

“Well, it might be an idea when we do get to dropping the sugar content. When are we doing that, by the way?” he asked. Now might be a good time to bring up the subject again. It wasn’t hard to imagine Pinny’s disappointment when the query was swiftly ignored.

“No I mean like deals, maybe some sort of gimmick thing to keep customers returning.” she said.

“Well, we have a strong customer base already that do keep coming back. What makes you think they might stop?” he asked. “Plus I don’t like the use of the word gimmick. That’s not the sort of thing we do.”

“I’m just thinking about the future really. Like you say, the sugar won’t keep them coming forever Pinny. I dunno though, this isn’t really my area of expertise. Do you have any thoughts?” Cookie asked him.

“Hmm…” Like Cookie, Pinny had his own thinking pose. Except he’d sit on his flank and rest his head more on his hoof than Cookie did. After a moment he stood up. “I can only think of two things. Special deals. Like customers have a stamp card and for every ten things they buy, they can choose a freebie. Or we end up spending money and buy something for the bakery like you suggested. Either way, it’s going to cost us money. Is now the time to be spending or taking cuts?”

“Like I say, I was just thinking about the future Pinny. It’s best to be prepared.” Cookie said.

“Okay, well I can’t argue with that. So what would you prefer to do? A deal means we don’t buy anything but we’d lose money on goods we had to give away free. Some sort of new thing for the bakery means investment but might make us more money in the long run.”

“Hmmm…” Cookie started to think again.

“Can I make a suggestion?” A third voice now entered the conversation. Doughy had just been listening up until now as he had a few customers to serve, but they had since left.

“Huh, well I hadn’t considered a third option. What are you thinking Doughy?” Pinny said.

“Well, I think ponies really know you for your innovation in tackling issues with customers. Why my job exists, for example.” he started to say. “One of the things that always get mentioned, especially by the fatties, is that unless they’re a Unicorn the traditional style bags that you put your baking in for customers to take away aren’t exactly hoof friendly.” he said. He could see Pinny was listening so he carried on. “What if you came up with a bag that was bigger and more suited to those ponies? You could fit more in, it would save you costs on buying hundreds of paper bags. Like, a reusable bag? And if they bought one from you they’d get a small discount on their purchases to encourage buying it. Say it cost ten bits but they’d get one bit off every purchase? In ten visits the bag has paid for itself for them and you’ve made ten sales that more than covers the cost for you. Everypony wins.”

Pinny was rather impressed. It was such a simple idea. Cookie had even come out of her thoughts to listen to what Doughy had to say.

“That is a good idea Doughy. I suppose it would need a bit of investment to make it work but in the long run we’re going to profit and it’s another way to keep customers coming back. What made you think of it?” Pinny asked.

“Like I said, often the ponies at the hatch here complain about the bags you give them. It seemed obvious to suggest something new and easy for them to use.” he remarked, turning back to help a new customer who had just arrived.

“Well it’s an option.” Pinny said to Cookie.

“I think it’s clever, since it was his idea maybe we can add him to the design as the mascot. Really push it on the fact that our youngest employee came up with the idea? Then he’d get the credit he deserves for it as well.” Cookie said. Pinny smiled, it was so like her to make sure that Doughy wasn’t just cast aside for his contribution.

“Well if that’s what you want. I suppose it somewhat combines the discount idea into a product anyway. Best of both worlds.” Pinny replied.

“We’ll need some time to approach a company to design it.” Cookie said.

“I’m sure we can find one. Manehattan has thousands of shops like grocery stores with reusable bags. In fact, why don’t we just approach the supplier of ours and ask who the company is. We might just be able to approach them and ask.” Pinny mused.

“Alright. Doughy?” Cookie asked, watching the young stallion turn to face them from the hatch. “We think it's a wonderful idea, actually we’d like to use it. How would you feel if we promoted them using you, since it was your idea?”

“Sure, call them Dough Bags haha. You get my name in and it could be a pun on dough balls.” he chuckled. Then he saw their faces light up. “Wait, that was a joke. I wasn’t being serious.”

“Um, for a joke it’s actually pretty good…” Cookie started to say.

“Dough Bags it is I guess.” Doughy said, just shrugging. He had to turn away again as there was a tap at the hatch.

“Despite the fact that was a joke that’s probably the best name I could come up with. We can think about it though.” he said to Cookie. “Anyway, does that satisfy your craving for something new?” he asked.

“Well, it puts my mind at ease knowing we’re going to have something in the works that makes us unique beyond the sugar. Plus like Doughy said, It’ll be good for the customers like Clipsy.” Cookie replied.

It was a fair point. At a few points, even Pinny had noticed it. Like Doughy had said, it was no problem for a Unicorn to simply levitate a bag. Pegasi and Earth ponies had a little more difficulty trying to hold them in their hooves as well as walk. His mind was already thinking about some sort of saddle bag style design. But he’d leave that up to the designers to suggest what might be best if he and Cookie laid out the idea to them.

As per anything, they just needed the time to do it. First thing to do was to contact their own bag supplier. Of course, not every customer was going to invest in a new reusable bag, they’d still need traditional paper ones. But saving costs on having to buy less of them would help a great deal. As soon as the day was over, he’d head down to their offices.

Story 23 - Size Problems

The bags were on their way, at least that’s what Pinny had told Cookie. He had spent quite a few hours down the offices of the company. The owner had been somewhat intrigued by the idea of a reusable bag that wasn’t made of paper. Pinny had chuckled, he had taken an attitude almost like an engineer trying to solve some great problem when the idea was presented and explained. “Astounding, I can’t promise anything but we’ll certainly try.” had been his parting words when Pinny had left. He’s check back in a week to see a prototype.

The day was going fairly normally. Customers were coming and going as normal, at least until Cookie heard Doughy asking for some assistance.

“I think we have a problem.” he said, pointing to the small hatch window he worked at, it was obvious to see why.

It was a hoof. Clipsy’s hoof. The mare had reached in as per normal to grab her order but she was now so flabby it had become wedged in the hatch. Cookie could see her frantically flailing trying to pull it free but her fat was now pushing up against the frame and squishing against it on the inside portion. She sighed. “Get the butter and grease mixture Pinny keeps near the counter. I’ll go outside and see how she’s doing and calm her down.” Cookie said.

“I’ll be right back, blubber emergency.” she said, nodding her head over to the hatch so Pinny could see what was going on.

“Oh right, hope she’s okay.” was all he said. He returned to serving a customer inside the bakery.

Cookie hadn’t actually seen Clipsy for a little while now. With the hatch opening, her daily purchasing was done there. She had taken to Doughy quite well. Often on slower days she heard the chatter between them. The mare was obviously interested in Doughy despite the age difference between them with her being older than he is. Doughy would however just brush off her advances and often got her to shut up when she took her order.

“Hey Clip...Oh.”

There wasn’t really a word beyond ‘Oh’ that Cookie could think of. Not being able to observe the ever growing mare’s size she was somewhat unaware of just how big she had gotten. In front of her was a pure pony fat ball. What seemed like endless rolls of blubber covered her entire body and were spilling into the street, carts having to swerve to get around the immense frame of Clipsy. Hooves were encased in blubber. The one that was stuck in the pickup window was even fatter that what she could see in the shop, with blorpy blubber pressed hard up against the window on the outside. Her monstrous ass rose above her head behind her bringing a new meaning to the term ‘ass shelf’ that Cookie didn’t quite think was possible. She gasped a little. Clipsy’s head was surrounded by her own fat, chin after chin forming multiple neck rolls around her almost sunken head. It didn’t stop her smiling though, that was about the only movement she seemed capable of, apart from reaching out with immensely flab covered hooves to get at food.

“Hi….huff….Cookie!” the mare replied. Still as happy as ever but her voice was permeated with laboured huffs and puffs as even speaking took a toll on her. Cookie nervously grinned in response.

“I’ve uh...asked Doughy to grease your arm so you can pull it free. I think let him give you the order in the future rather than reaching in to get it?” Cookie suggested.

“Oh!...puff...good idea!” Clipsy replied. Her hoof still wasn’t free.

“I haven’t seen you in awhile...how are you?” Cookie asked, trying her best not to blurt something out about her immense mass.

“Good!...huff...still enjoying...puff...your amazing treats!” she replied. It seemed the grease had now been applied and Cookie watched a slightly grease covered hoof slide free of the window. Clipsy didn’t even need to use it to balance herself any more, an immense belly bed of blubber that kept her aloft and raised above the floor was now what she seemed to rest on. Her stomach gently burbled and glorped in anticipation of the fattened treats she was about to get. Cookie watched as Doughy cleaned the grease as best he could off from around the hatch before passing out the bags Clipsy was waiting for.

“I can...see that.” Cookie replied. “Um, Clipsy. Are you aware of how big you are?” she had to ask, not particularly wanting to sugar coat it and cause the mare more strain by making her speak more than she had to.

“Oh...huff...this? It’s...puff...nothing!” Clipsy started to say. “All...huff... worth it! I...puff...love your baking...huff...so much! URRRRRRPPPPPPPPPP!”

Cookie had to stand back as Clipsy let go a huge belch that echoed around the street. Ponies that weren’t already staring at the mound of blubber blocking the pavement now turned to see what had caused an ear shattering belch which echoed around the blocks. Cookie just nervously grinned.

“I err...I have to go. Enjoy.” was all Cookie said, vanishing back inside. She had to speak to Doughy. Amazingly, by the time she had trotted around back into Upper Crust, Clipsy had already vanished from the window so Cookie had free reign to speak to Doughy and Pinny without hurting her feelings.

“How HUGE is she???” Cookie asked.

“Well I can’t really say. Maybe a few thousand pounds?” Doughy guessed. “She mentioned the last time she tried to weigh herself on the industrial scales at work they went to their maximum available reading. Of course she can’t do that anymore, not being able to fit inside most buildings. She said she lost her job.”

“Oh gosh, we’ve really messed up.” Cookie said, starting to panic. “Are there other ponies like her who are repeat customers?”

“Not at her size. There are a few mares and stallions who are probably around half her weight? She’s well ahead of the rest though. None of them block the street like she does.” Doughy said. “They eat slower, probably take them at least a few months to get to her size.”

“Were you aware of this?” Cookie asked, turning to Pinny.

“Well, not really. I had heard a rumour there was a pony in town who seemed to be eating for all the city. I wasn’t aware they were referring to Clipsy.” Pinny replied. “The problem might sort itself though.”

“Sort itself? How?” Cookie asked.

“Well, apart from the Princess Twilight, we don’t deliver. I don’t know about you dear but I don’t really fancy getting into the home delivery business. The Princess is an exception. At a guess, Clipsy will at some point lose mobility and have to resort to other foods to eat. Then the pounds will start to vanish.” Pinny explained.

“Well, I hope you’re right. Or she’s going to mount herself on a cart that can take her weight and start being driven here.” Cookie suggested back. She saw Pinny go back into thought.

With the two now only paying attention to their inside customers (who were chubby at best, seeing as they could still fit through the door) the pair had completely lost sight of their window customers. Neither really had the time or need to pay attention and it wasn’t something they had told Doughy to keep an eye on. But...Clipsy was something else. Their (literal) biggest fan by a mile. Cookie wasn’t even aware ponies could be as big as she was. Quite frankly, it was amazing she was alive.

However, Cookie despite being concerned for her customers had an idea. Word was sure to get around town about the super blobby mare who seemed to stop at their bakery every day. Perhaps they could swing her size to use. A few free treats would likely get the mare to agree to what she had in mind. She had a new job for Clipsy in mind.

Story 24 - Mascot

Things were moving along for Upper Crust.

Cookie and Pinny had come to the conclusion that despite the growing size of their customers, it was still not wise to start swapping the sugars for their treats. They still had bills to pay.

More packages were going out to Princess Twilight. Each day Pinny bought a paper to try to see if a front page article appeared stating the immense size of the Princess. So far, nothing. Each day he would breathe a sigh of relief.

The bags had come in and had been somewhat of a success. Ponies were buying them up who were regulars but most didn’t seem too interested. So far, they had only really been just about able to recover their investment into the research and development of the product, but it was slowly recovering which was the important point.

Doughy was doing well, he had taken to the job and was now starting to help out around the bakery when the hatch was quiet. However due to the increasing size of their customers this was getting less and less commonplace. As returners kept coming back they were finding they were too large to enter the store and each day the hatch queue got progressively longer. Clipsy was always up front of course.

Thinking of Clipsy, Cookie had discussed her idea with Pinny. Whilst initially against it, she had slowly brought him around. His only real concern was would she agree to it? Cookie was fairly sure with what they were offering as payment, she’d jump at it.

“Morning Clipsy!” Cookie said. She had asked Doughy today to let her know as soon as the mare appeared at her hatch. Cookie was carrying her usual order. Conversation was slow. Clipsy seemed to have now settled into a rhythm of huffs that punctuated her speech.

“You...huff...brought it out?” she asked.

“Well, you’re our best customer, we hardly talk anymore. I thought it might be a nice chance to catch up.” Cookie beamed, pushing the loaded bags into her folds for storage. “I have something I wanted to ask you.”

“What...puff...was that?” Clipsy asked.

“Well, Doughy has gotten to know you quite well. He told me you lost your job? Is that right?” Cookie asked with a concerned tone.

“Yes...huff... couldn’t fit inside...puff...the observatory or...huff...work from home.” came the short but very laboured response.

“Oh dear, you know I can’t help but feel we’re partly responsible for all this. I wanted to make you an offer, seeing as you’ve supported us right from the start.” Cookie smiled.

“What...huff...offer?” Clipsy asked.

“Well, we’re doing okay but we’ve still got a lot of debt to pay off for the work done to get us up and running, as well as bills. We’d like to try to sell even more. You’ve always been an advocate for our baking. How would you like to be the mascot for Upper Crust?” Cookie asked.

Clipsy didn’t say anything, she just raised an eyebrow and gave Cookie a stare as if she wanted to know more.

“You’d be well compensated! We were thinking of paying you a salary of six bags a day?” Cookie said.

“Ten.” came the single word response.

“Eight and it’s a deal.” Cookie negotiated back. She could tell even without explaining what Clipsy was going to have to do the offer of free food was too tempting.

“Deal.” Clipsy said. “I’d...huff...shake but uh…” she trailed off, noting that her hooves were somewhat sunk in blubber. Cookie just grinned.

“I think we can assume you’ll take the job. So we have a plan. Mobility is obviously a bit of an issue for you. We’re going to get a large cart pulled by some hired ponies. They’ll move you around the city. All you need to do is act as a living billboard. We were thinking that your size alone will make ponies come here. Would you object to uh...being painted on?” Cookie asked.

“No...huff...as long as it...puff...washes off.” Clipsy said. “I’ll do...huff...whatever you like...puff....for this, within reason.”

“Great. Well we’ll need a week or so to prepare everything. Can you come here early on Monday? Say around seven in the morning?” Cookie asked her.

“No problem.” Clipsy said. It seemed a little too easy to Cookie but the mare had readily accepted and now they had a travelling billboard to draw in more customers. She trotted back inside the store to give Pinny the good news.

“I had to offer a little more than six bags.” Cookie started off by saying.

“Let me guess, she wanted ten?” Pinny chuckled.

“Initially, but I got her down to eight. I explained what we planned to do, she was only really concerned that the paint we were planning to put on her would wash off.

“What was the idea with that anyway? I thought we were going to paint the cart.” Pinny said.

“Contingency dear. At eight bags a day her flab is probably going to start covering the advertising at some point as it spills over the side. I figured we could put it on her when it does.” Cookie explained.

“Of course, you do think of everything.” Pinny said, giving her a smile. “When did you tell her to start?”

“Monday next week, so we’ve got a week to prepare everything. We just need to find some very strong ponies and someone to paint the cart with advertising for the bakery. What do you think of ‘At this size, there must be something keeping this mare coming! Upper Crust Bakery.’ for the cart? We can put it on Clipsy when she covers it.” Cookie mused.

“I think that works, easy to get that on the side and makes it nice and direct. No problem at all with that.” Pinny said. “I suppose I’ll start seeing about some ponies that can haul her about if you want to take care of the painter?”

“I hope we can find the time.” Cookie said. “Did I see another letter come from Ponyville?”

“Yes. I’m waiting for the day we see a rather blobby Twilight on the front page. She’s had several boxes now. Even sharing them with her friends, they’re going to start getting rather large soon.” Pinny replied. “We can make it up after work or tomorrow morning?”

“Let’s do it in the morning, I’d like a night at home this evening.” Cookie smiled.

“Of course.” the response was interrupted by a ping from an oven timer. “Oh that’ll be the marzipan.” Pinny said, trotting off to remove the freshly baked batch from the oven.

Next week, the two would have everything ready for Clipsy. Hopefully she wouldn’t immediately break the cart under her weight...

Story 25 - Big Enough?

Monday rolled around.

It was early as per usual. No problem for the bakers as they were used to early starts. Pinny was inspecting the wagon.

Whilst it was a sturdy wagon (he mused on the somewhat contradiction, wagons were always sturdy. They were built to take immense weights of produce) he had still erred on the side of caution and taken some precaution to reinforce it. Extra struts under the main body and stronger beams to hold the sides up had been some of the small modifications he had managed to find time for in the week. This was along with laying down a rather plush carpet and a number of soft pillows around the edge for Clipsy to lean against. He figured that if she was to be spending most the day, five days a week riding around on this thing she may as well be comfortable. Softer suspension was also part of the upgrades, but for that the wagon had gone away to a wainwright as it was beyond his expertise.

He heard a small cough behind him, it was the hired ponies who were to pull the cart. Of course they had made it there before Clipsy.

“Morning all of you.” Pinny said. It was a mixed bunch. Two stallions and two mares. All of them were unicorns. They were smartly dressed and sported the clothing that had been hoof-made with the upper crust name and logo on. That had been another expense.

“Morning Rolling Pin.” one of the stallions said. “Well, she’s a fine looking wagon.” the stallion continued, observing the wagon overall, the decorative paintwork that advertised the bakery as well as the plush area on the back. They had yet to be informed of their cargo.

“Indeed, well we thought we had better go all out for it.” Pinny replied. He noticed one of the mares reading the signage.

“Excuse me mister Rolling Pin?” she began to say “But I can’t help but notice the slogan ‘At this size, there must be something keeping this mare coming! Upper Crust Bakery.’ she asked with a bemused look on her face. “Nopony has actually told us yet what we’re hauling.”

“Well um. Yes, so…” Pinny started to say, but from a distance he heard a familiar wheezing. He also saw the eyes of the four cart ponies go rather wide. He stopped talking as the question had been answered without him needing to say more. Clipsy had arrived.

“Good...huff...morning.” she managed. Her sunken eyes observed the four ponies staring at her and she smiled. “Hope you...puff...four are up to this.”

“Yes...well. Uhm, mister Rolling Pin. A moment please?” one of the stallions said, smiling the biggest fake grin Pinny had ever seen.

“Of course. Clipsy just wait here...uhm not that request is going to be a problem. Be right back.” he said, the four trotted around the corner away and out of earshot of her.

“The deal's off.” the same stallion said.

“Wait, what!? Look fellas...and ladies. I know you weren’t informed of your cargo but I was assured you’d take the job on.” Pinny replied.

“We thought you wanted baking supplies hauling, or maybe even a delivery of your products. That’s usually what bakeries want moving.” the stallion continued with a low, slightly distressed growl. “But now we’ve seen the wagon and her it makes sense. No wonder your route didn’t feature any stops!”

“Yes. The idea is it’s to advertise our bakery. She’s our best customer.” Pinny explained.

“Well it doesn’t take a fool to see that! The size of her!” the other stallion butted in. “She’s got to be the biggest pony in Manehattan! Even larger than some of the bigwigs we’ve worked for!”

“Look, I think you’re all missing the point.” Pinny said, getting a little annoyed. “All you four have to do is get her on the cart and haul her around town for the morning and afternoon. You don’t have to say anything to anypony, stop to speak to anypony. Apart from the physical aspect you four are here for, she’s going to do all the work just by sitting on the cart.” Pinny said. “This is easy money for you.”

“If the cart will take her weight, do you even know how much she weighs? Even with the four of us we’re going to struggle.” one of the mares said.

“And what do you mean get her on the cart? That’s our job?” the other mare interjected.

“Why do you think I requested four unicorns? I’m sure the four of you have enough combined levitation magic to get her on and off. The cart can’t be lowered and there is no way she is getting on herself. I’d have made a ramp on the street but the city forbids it.” Pinny said. “Look...try it, today. I know we have a contract for a year but if you struggle and it doesn’t work we’ll call the whole thing off with no repercussions.” Pinny said, holding a hoof out to shake with one of them.

“Fine, deal.” one of the stallions begrudgingly said. “One day, a trial. We’ll carry on if it’s manageable.”

“That’s all I ask. Now, time is wasting. Let's get going.” Pinny said. The five ponies returned to the cart and Clipsy, who was idly munching on the final bag of her treats from yesterday.

“All sorted. Now then Clipsy, these four unicorns are here to get you on and off the cart and pull you around town okay?” Pinny said.

“Okay.”

“I’ll let them do that. I’ll just go get your payment.” Pinny said, vanishing inside the bakery to get the bags from Cookie who was inside getting ready for the day. It had been agreed to give Clipsy four bags for her to eat as they pulled her around town and four bags once she returned in the evening for her to take home.

“Alright everypony. Let's do this…”

The four unicorns combined their levitation spells to lift Clipsy off the ground. It was a struggle but not as bad as they were expecting. In what should have seemed like an amazingly impossible task, the mare started to rise as a good few thousand pounds of fat gently started to lift up. The four had to compensate for the sudden sag of the blubber which was a victim to gravity as Clipsy felt herself slowly move towards the cart, eventually squishing down onto the plush surface. Through her folds, she smiled. It was a nice soft space to sit. The sides of the cart gently pushed against her immense size and the unicorns closed the rear up which softly squished her rump.

“Phew...well, not so bad.” one said, wiping away a small bead of sweat from his forehead. At that moment, Pinny returned, seeing Clipsy now planted on top of the wagon.

“Oh good. Here you are Clipsy.” Pinny said, passing the four bags upwards magically to her. The mare just took them in, already starting to eat. “Wagon looks sturdy too...no audible creaks or wood cracking.” Pinny said. It seemed the modifications had worked.

“Yeah. So far.” one of the unicorns replied. They got themselves hitched up.

“Now you know the route yes?” Pinny asked. “By the time you get to the first landmark ponies should be starting their day.”

“Yeah, it’s easy enough. You basically want us to pass all the biggest areas of the city so ponies are gonna see her right?” one of the mares replied.

“Exactly.” was all Pinny said. “Good luck.”

It was a struggle to get going, he could see the four of the ponies (despite the fact they had bodies built for pulling) struggle somewhat to start off. But once the flab started to roll, they seemed to settle down into a standard pulling motion. Hmmm, might have to hire two more at some point should Clipsy get too much for them. At least even if they disagreed to continue pulling her, they’d get a day's worth of advertising out of it.

Pinny watched them go, wondering how the day was going to be for the five of them and just how effective this advertising was going to be.

Story 26 - No Such Thing As Bad Publicity

The cart approached its first spot on the tour around town. The ponies pulling Clipsy had been told to slow down, but not stop. Just so ponies observing could get a good stare at the cart.

Pinny had done everything he could to make the cart comfortable. The soft suspension, huge pile of cushions and plush sides meant that Clipsy was riding in as much comfort as she could have hoped for. Her fat however still bounced and wobbled as the cart moved its way down the streets. The roads in the city were not exactly maintained well, she felt every small bump cascade up through the carts suspension and into her folds which gently lapped against each other as her weight stayed contained, but shifted around.

Clipsy was somewhat occupied with the food, not taking that much notice of the ponies around her. It was still early and only just now were the streets starting to become occupied as ponies began to make their way to work. At the optimum point, as per the schedule, her cart rounded a corner and started to make its way down the road that led to Bridleway.

As ordered, the four ponies pulling her began to slow down and take the street at a leisurely pace. It wasn’t until Clipsy finished her current bag of treats and looked up she noticed their location. Traffic was still moving, but everypony near the cart or the ones at least who had looked up from their papers or whatever it was they were doing had stopped to stare. Her ears pricked up, from the ones close by, she could already hear the comments.

“My goodness...the size of her!”

“What on Equestria…”

“Hey honey, maybe we could visit the bakery. I kind of like it…” This one was followed by the sound of a smack and a yelp from the pony who had made the comment.

The comments just kept coming as Clipsy slowly made her way through Bridleway. The advertising, or rather, the living, wobbling billboard was having the exact effect that Cookie and Pinny had been hoping for. Clipsy decided to observe from her folds the ponies staring at her. Mostly, it was shock. The majority just stared at her and her immense bulk as it slowly passed them on the street, the ponies scarcely believing that it was possible to be just that fat. She wasn’t sure if they were reading the advertising slogan on the side of the cart, but that wasn’t really her concern.

But there were other voices too. Some who were agreeing with the words painted on the size of the cart. She was sure some of the ponies in the city were gainers, noticing a few of the chunky ones seemingly staring at her first and then down at the slogan and making a mental note of bakery.

Eventually, the cart left Bridleway. Clipsy relaxed again and made for another of the goodie bags that had been given to her for the trip. There was quite a few more stops to last out the day yet.

They passed the Manefair Hotel, the park, Saddle Row, Carneighie Hall and a myriad of other hot spots in the city where it was well known that ponies would be en masse. The route had been carefully worked out by the two bakers so Clipsy would pass by hopefully at the exact right moment where she would have the most impact and be seen by the most sets of eyes.

The reactions in most of these places was the same. Overwhelming amounts of shock as the impossibly obese Clipsy, hauled by four ponies, passed them by. However, whether the ponies looking at her were shocked, amused, interested (or in some cases aroused, that pony from Bridleway wasn’t the only stallion to make a comment and then feel the wrath of their partner) she was getting a good idea that her presence and size was having the desired impact. She wasn’t sure whether or not Cookie and Pinny were going to have hundreds of angry, shocked ponies descend on their bakery or if mostly it was going to be curiosity. Perhaps they might even have piqued the interest of the gainers in the city. In any case, they were certainly going to get more customers.

Clipsy herself was having quite the time of it all. Nopony seemed to approach the cart and if they did, they were warded off by the four ponies hauling her. She was told she was not there to answer questions, just be their mascot and make sure that the advertising on the side was observed so ponies knew where to direct themselves if they did want to find out more.

There was another factor to the cart trip. Clipsy could hardly move herself but could just about manage these days. She always noticed as she moved, her blubber would jostle about and move to her motions, but it was little as she didn’t aggravate herself too much. The cart ride was different, every bump in the road, every little movement the vehicle made without her input (and just either down to her weight leaning on it, or the road surface) travelled back up through it and into her. Almost as if her huge, near immobile fat body was a shock absorber. Thank goodness she was under no obligation to speak to anypony outside the cart, she was wholly absorbed by feeling every little bump and jostle of the cart echo up through her, fat gently bouncing around as she enjoyed the feeling, much to her satisfaction.

There was little for her to do other than sit, eat and enjoy the motion of being toured around the city as the large advertising billboard she was. The cool breeze of the day kept her at a pleasant temperature. On a hot day though, she thought she might have to ask for some ice perhaps. Did bakeries keep that? She wasn’t sure. It was something she could suggest. Maybe they could just pack sheets of it between her folds.

The mare was only halfway through her visits when she noticed she was already on her final bag of treats. Something else to watch out for, not to eat everything too quickly. She had to make it last for the day. Perhaps though...hmm...she had a thought.

“Huff...Hey!”

Clipsy watched as one of the ponies closest to her turned their head around, hearing her cry.

“You...huff...think we can...puff...stop for a snack!?” she asked.

“No can do lardy, we’ve gotta keep to the route!” came the response. Hrm. It was worth an attempt. Clipsy started to munch slower on what she had left. Perhaps she could negotiate up to more bags if this was as big a success as she had observed. For once, she ignored the need for more feed and thought of the greater good if this went well. Even more food. They had better stick to the route.

As the cart rolled its way through the final points of the route, the mare pondered what she would say to the two when they returned. Of course she was going to make out it had been a big success, to sow the seeds of more payment in food. Her mouth salivated a little at the thought of four further bags of goodies once they got back. She just had to make what was left last.

The trip continued, Clipsy enjoying every little wobble and jostle her body got from the road. Perhaps if she was even larger, it would be even more enjoyable…

In any case, they were nearly back to the bakery. The first day was approaching the end. Clipsy was wondering what would greet her when they made it back to Upper Crust.

Story 27 - Twilight’s Folly

Another box had been delivered. Twilight had started to lose count of how many she had gone through now. The service from Upper Crust was better than magic, she sent a letter and as if by magic just a few days later a new batch of goodies would arrive. In fact she was starting to build up a small, pre-written batch so that she could get them in the post in series to ensure she would never run out of snacks.

The current box she had open that had arrived just this morning was still half full. Twilight had regrettably still not managed to share any of the baking with her friends. It had been her initial plan. But every time a new box arrived, she just couldn’t resist taking a peek inside to see what it contained. Before long, she was eating it all herself.

She hadn’t left the castle in a week. Not that she really could, she knew that eating a lot of confectionery could have dire effects on your body (being more than familiar with Pinkie’s super sugary baking) but this was something else.

Her body had for lack of a better word, ballooned. Twilight had gone from a rather slender Princess to an extremely chunky, no, obese mare.

It was most noticeable to her, when she went to get more treats out the box. Mainly because she had given up reaching in with her now extremely chubby and chunky forearms to pick the baked goods out, but instead was now onto the stage that most magic users automatically fell back on when they were too big to do anything due to encroaching immobility. She was levitating the food out the box straight to her maw.

As Twilight chewed on another cookie, she mused on the fact that there was some advantage to her new size. She was currently reading a book (Magical Anomalies, Volume Three) and whilst she’d normally hold it in her hooves (out of the question now) or place it magically in front of her via levitation (also impossible, as she was using this to feed herself) she had found that her expanded stomach, forming a nice set of rolls in front of her face, was the perfect place to nestle the book and read from its pages. All she had to do was flip the page, which she could do for a second with her magic before carrying on.

Her hooves now somewhat sat idle at her side. As the morning had gone on, Twilight had found that the bottom of them had less surface contact with the floor as her bulky belly had risen up with her expanding weight. It was forming an extremely soft, extremely large bed beneath her. The Princess dared not try to get into her actual bed from this point on. Last night whenever she moved it had done nothing but creak. She had even heard a crack at one point as one of the wooden slats underneath had finally given up the struggle against the mass bearing down on it. She made a mental note to ask Spike to just drop an extra large blanket to her door so at night she could cover herself, although she wasn’t completely sure it was needed. Her body was now lovely and warm all the time, her fat folds seemingly keeping in the warmth for her.

Another cookie vanished between her lips. She was already preparing the next letter whilst reading her book. Thoughts of what to ask for next occupied her mind. Perhaps she could ask for three boxes this time? It seemed whatever she requested, was sent. Why wouldn’t it? She was paying after all. She also doubted that due to her status, the bakery would stop sending them.

It was a little warm though, Twilight had underestimated somewhat just how hot she was due to her size. Her eyes idly moved downwards as a small bead of sweat rolled along her three chins and vanished somewhere in a lower fold. She took a moment to stop eating and used her magic between treats to open a window. A breeze rolled into the room.

Her body cooled. Generally, she’d be able to tell more easily as her tail would somewhat swish about in the breeze but there was no chance of that now. She could feel it firmly wedged between her large blubbery rear. A quick glance back confirmed it had ridden up a couple of foot above her back, blorpy boulders of cheeks wobbling behind her. The mare wasn’t moving, but they still bounced somewhat. She went back to a snack, not really concerned about her size or the fact that her ass was slowly devouring her tail. She was only really interested in what the next baked good would taste like. Every one of them was as wonderful as the last, but in a different way. She would savour each one for a moment, before gobbling it down and then moving to the next.

Her magic searched for another one to pick up, only finding a final tart at the bottom of the box. She had eaten the entire thing in half a morning already? Oh dear. That was a new record for consumption for her. Usually a box was lasting a day. She’d have to substitute her eating for something else until the next box arrived tomorrow morning.

“Spike!?!”

There was a dutiful knock at the door a few moments later. Spike appeared and walked his way around Twilight to her face, Twilight being unable to really move herself to meet him.

“Can you...Uuuuuurrrrppp!...head down to Sugar Cube Corner and pick up a few boxes of treats for me? I’m really into this book…” Twilight said, not even looking up from the page.

Spike stood silent for a moment. He was really at the stage where he was wondering if he should say anything about the binge eating Twilight was indulging in. He had watched her balloon over the past week or so and was getting quite worried. He kept meaning to go out and fetch her friends, but every time he was about to do so Twilight had some sort of task for her that occupied him...usually it involved getting her more food. The thing was, he didn’t want to upset her either.

“Yes Twilight, I’ll be back soon.” he just replied. Perhaps he could sneak to Rarity and bring her back with him once he had made the trip. It seemed like at the moment, it was the only way he was going to be able to get her some sort of intervention.

Twilight heard the door to her room shut, she didn’t even notice Spike leave but had heard his words. She carried on reading, absentmindedly, her magic continued to search the box for more food but they were only finding crumbs. It was better than nothing, and she swallowed a few between her lips to at least give her something to taste until Spike returned with less fattening food. At least it would mean she wasn’t hungry until the next few boxes arrived tomorrow. She was still conflicted, she had promised to share these with all her friends. But they were just too tasty to pass around. Perhaps for a little longer, it could be her secret.

As she ate the last few crumbs, she felt her hooves completely leave the floor, a satisfied blorp from her stomach as just that little extra had pushed her to immobility.

Story 28 - Clipsy Returns

“What’s...huff...going on?”

Clipsy was just about able to muster the question as she chewed on the final snack she had carefully preserved from bag four. Thank Celestia four more bags were about to come her way. At least they would be if they were actually making their way back to the bakery as planned. The cart had stopped.

“Cart jam ma’am.” came the reply from one of the ponies pulling her. “We’re only a block away though.”

The traffic moved slowly. It wasn’t just ponies, the pavements were rather full of ponies too. They all appeared to be queuing. As they rounded the corner Clipsy could see why. The bakery was inundated with customers. Patronage had dropped off a little since they first opened (it always did, ponies bored of the latest new thing in town quickly once they had tried it a few times) but now there was so many waiting outside and queued up for the side window (even regular ponies trying to avoid cramming inside the store) that there was simply no room to move. The cart stopped once more, unable to get through the crowd.

The mares flabby ears twitched, she heard a yell from inside the store above the hubbub of the crowd. Ponies started to move out back into the street and slowly, carts began to move again and the queue dispersed. She saw Cookie finally emerge from within the crowded store to address the line at the window which was still there.

“MARES AND GENTLECOLTS!” her voice boomed. Clipsy had never heard the mare yell before, but she had a very commanding tone to it. Not nasty or anything like that, but you paid attention. “WE ARE COMPLETELY SOLD OUT OF ALL GOODS. PLEASE COME BACK TOMORROW!”

There was a small sigh and some annoyed grumbles from the queue, but as instructed, everypony turned around and left. Most likely to go home. The only ones left were the ones using the street. The four ponies parked Clipsy up near the bakery and stopped the cart outside. There was a gentle squish as her blubber rolled up against the sides when it came to a halt. Cookie had vanished back inside at this point, when she returned, Pinny was with her.

“Safe to say it was a success then Mr Rolling Pin?” one of the four pulling ponies asked.

Pinny didn’t say anything at first, there was a pause. “Sorry, I needed a moment to collect myself. They started coming around eleven this morning and just did not stop. Everypony mentioned the cart.” he replied. “So yes, I’d say a success.”

“Good. Well we’re heading home. See you tomorrow, and you Clipsy.” another said. The four vanished. Clipsy looked at both Cookie and Pinny. Whilst she had enjoyed a rather relaxing and easy day the two of them looked like they had been involved in a fight having to cater to all those new customers. Clipsy just smiled.

“Oh right, let me get your payment.” Cookie said, going inside to get the four bags she owed her. It was the only thing left that she had hidden out of sight so none of the customers tried to buy it. Cookie returned, and Pinny levitated the bags into folds near her face. “How was it for you?” Cookie asked.

“Can we...puff...talk?” Clipsy asked. She watched as the two looked at each other, suddenly worried.

“Was there a problem?” Pinny asked.

“No problem...huff...easy work, payment is fine...puff...this is a request.” Clipsy managed to say.

“Uh sure, what request?” Cookie said.

“Can I...huff...stay here?” Clipsy responded. “Can’t fit...puff...into my apartment anymore...huff...too big.”

“Oh uh...well, if you can’t fit into your apartment you’re not going to get in the bakery. Uhm…” Cookie started to say.

“No...puff...the cart.” Clipsy said, pointing at it with a fattened hoof that took a mighty amount of effort on her part. The request clicked for Pinny.

“Oh, she can stay in the cart. That means we don’t have to unload her either. Just parked up overnight in the small yard out back? But...the four have already left. I can’t move her on my own.” he said, perplexion crossing his face as he tried to think of a solution that didn’t involve running after them.

“You built...huff...this strong, right?” Clipsy asked.

“Well...I didn’t, but yes I had it strengthened…” Pinny replied.

“Just guide...huff...the wheels.”

Pinny and Cookie grabbed the wheels, with Pinny magically opened the gate to the back of the bakery. It was only a distance of a hundred yards or so. Pinny wondered what Clipsy was about to try.

Gloooorrrrsshhhhh!

Clipsy shifted her weight, forwards, then harder backwards. Her blubber sloshed about in the cart like contained fat waves within the wood, which surprisingly held up against the sudden motion and stress that was being put on it. The mare was using her immense weight like a pendulum to slowly shunt herself backwards slowly. Every time she did this, the cart moved a little. Pinny and Cookie just remained wordless, only guiding the wheels as instructed.

Slooooosshhhhh!

Bloooooorrrrpppp!

They guided her backwards into the yard under a small covered portion where the cart usually sat unloaded. “You can stop! You’re in the right place!” Pinny yelled. Clipsy’s fat sloshed about for another moment before finally coming to a rest. Cookie laid some chocks under the wheels of the cart to stop it rolling, not that it would.

“Um...this is acceptable for you? You’re basically outside.” Cookie asked.

“I’m warm…” Clipsy said, motioning to her folds. “And fed...puff...I can sleep here until...huff...I go out again tomorrow.”

“Very well...goodnight Clipsy.” Pinny said, he ushered Cookie away who was about to protest but decided right now he was too tired to get into a conversation about all this. They needed to turn their attention to cleaning up and prepping for tomorrow. The inside of the bakery looked as if a small bomb had gone off, the three hardly being able to keep up with demand once the customers had started to arrive. Doughy had cleaned up somewhat, but had left at his allotted time. It was just the two of them. The only plus side Pinny thought was that at least today they were certain he wasn’t sneaking any treats. The young stallion was putting on weight, just like the rest of their customers. It was just that neither of them had gotten time to address the issue again since it had first cropped up.

“We made more money today than we did all last week. I can hardly shut the till.” Pinny said, opening it up to reveal stuffed draws full of bits. “We need to restock and order double everything for tomorrow.”

“Agreed.” Cookie replied, wiping down surfaces. “That was...mad.”

“Yes.” Pinny said, starting to feel waves of fatigue hitting him. Before he fell asleep at the counter, he made sure he got the nightly order ready for Stampy to collect so when they came in the morning everything they needed would be waiting for them. He dropped it in the mail collection box outside and returned to cleaning. Thank goodness there wasn’t an order for Princess Twilight tonight, as chance would have it, she had ordered yesterday.

The two did their best to clean up. Neither of them had any real recollection of how they made it home that evening, collapsing into bed and only waking up when their alarm clock beeped.

Story 29 - The (Immobile) Truth

“Is this that important?” Applejack asked Spike who was currently dragging her away from the farm. “Ah’m right in the middle of harvest season, ah know I’ve not seen Twilight in a week but she’s usually buried deep in some book Spike.” the orange mare tried to protest, but she knew Spike. He wouldn’t be dragging her away like this if it wasn’t something urgent.

“Yes, it’s that important.” Spike replied. He was able to let go of Applejack’s hoof as she now willingly trotted alongside him.

“So where are we headin’?”

“To town, the rest are waiting for us near Sugarcube Corner.”

It was a short trip to the bakery. Spike opened the door to go inside with Applejack following. Near the counter, Rarity, Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, Starlight Glimmer and Pinkie Pie were waiting for him. He had sent notes to all of them asking to meet at Sugarcube Corner today at this time. Applejack was the only one who hadn’t responded which is why he had gone to get her personally.

“Hey Spike.” Rainbow said, a half eaten muffin in her mouth. Spike shuddered slightly, it reminded him why he had brought them all together.

“You wanted to see us? Your note didn’t explain…” Rarity started to say, before she was interrupted by Pinkie Pie.

“Well, Twilight’s Birthday is in 311 days! Clearly he wants to be prepared! I’ve already got balloons!” Pinkie chimed in. The rest just frowned. “What? I’m not the only one who prepares for parties!”

“I get the feeling it isn’t that. Why don’t you explain Spike.” Starlight said with a smile.

“Pinkie, can you make up a couple of assorted boxes of treats while I tell everyone?” Spike asked, sitting down at one of the tables while the rest of Twilight’s friends took spots around him.

“Can do Spikey!” Pinkie said, grabbing a few boxes and starting to put a number of pre-baked cookies as well as other treats inside.

“Well, it started when she came back from that trip to Manehattan.” Spike started to explain. “Coincidentally, have any of you seen her since then?”

Everypony shook their heads, giving various reasons as to why they hadn’t seen Twilight, mostly being busy with work or other things.

“Right well...she’s different. Er, how do I explain…” Spike put a claw to his chin.

“Different how, physically? Mentally?” Rarity asked.

“Both.” Spike replied.

“Wait both, usually it’s one or the other.” Applejack queried.

“I’ll just explain what happened when she got back.” Spike started to say. “She was fine for a few days, then a box appeared at the door. It was addressed to her and we get deliveries all the time, so I thought nothing of it and dropped it to her room. She’s been reading a lot of books lately.”

“That isn’t really unusual for Twilight.” Starlight responded.

“No, I know.” Spike replied. “But then another box arrived shortly after. Then more. The same style, they were not marked, they just had a return address on the box. A bakery called Upper Crust in Manehattan. Then it was two boxes and more frequently. She’s been at this for a few weeks now.”

Spike observed Pinkie Pie had stopped what she was doing. “You mean...she’s been ordering treats from ANOTHER BAKERY!?” the pink pony exclaimed. Spike watched her hair deflate as it did when she was upset.

“I don’t know, just because it came from a bakery doesn’t mean she was doing that.” Spike replied. Pinkie snapped back to her normal self, and continued packing the boxes. “But...her size.” Spike said, stopping himself.

“Spike, really, it’s not polite to speak of a mare’s weight. That is what you mean?” Rarity asked.

“Well, it has to be.” Rainbow Dash said. “But I doubt eating some boxes of cookies is gonna do a lot.” she said, dismissing the notion with a hoof wave.

“Uhm, you guys really need to see.” Spike said. Pinkie had finished packing the boxes. Spike hopped down from the table to grab them. “Can you all come to the castle with me? I kept meaning to get away and come get help, I really did. But she kept me occupied with chores and this is the first time in a week I’ve managed to get out.”

The ponies looked at each other and shrugged. They hadn’t seen Twilight in a while. “Might just ah, be a good idea to check in on her just in case.” Applejack said. With that, that seven of them made for the palace.

“She’s in her room.” Spike said, and just motioned down the corridor towards it before walking down with the rest behind. Eventually, they got to the door, which he opened and stood back.

“Oh please Spike, I really doubt it’s gonna be...be...be…” Rainbow started to say, but when the door opened, her jaw hit the floor in shock which she struggled to pick back up.

“Goodness.” was all Fluttershy had to say.

There was silence from the rest of the group as for the first time since seeing Twilight since she got back from the trip the full visual of her ‘change’ that Spike had failed to explain became apparent. Twilight couldn’t see, now being the size she was and facing away from the door, but she had heard Spike open the door.

“Hey Spike! Can you leave the boxes over there…” she asked, magically summoning a small hand to point to where she wanted the treats dropping. “That will be all, thank you.”

Spike did as asked while Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, Applejack, Starlight, Rarity and Pinkie Pie looked on. They observed as Spike dropped the treats and Twilight instantly broke into the boxes and started to devour them, her huge immense body jiggling and wobbling as she did so. All they could see was her flanks, wobbling from side to side. There was little else of her visible from behind, the immense size of them blocking everything else out. Spike returned and closed the door, leaving Twilight to her eating.

“Guys?”

He asked the question, but all of them were somewhat stuck staring at the now closed door. Rainbow was the first to speak.

“Just...refresh my memory. This happened how? She’s HUGE!”

“After her trip, she started ordering boxes from a bakery in Manehattan called Upper Crust. I’ve been dropping them to her and when I collect them once another arrives, the original box is empty.” Spike said. “And since she’s been ordering these boxes of I what I assume is food from a bakery there, she’s put on an incredible amount of weight.”

“Incredible is right...can she move?” Applejack asked.

“Not anymore.” Spike replied. “So, some sort of intervention would be easy. I don’t even know if she has enough magic to teleport her mass at that size.” Spike explained.

“We have to do something, I can’t believe what’s happened to her!” Rarity exclaimed.

“She’ll be okay for tonight, but she’s ordered another couple of boxes for tomorrow. The bakery whoever they are always delivers a day after her order is put in. I’m thinking if you all came back tomorrow when I deliver the box it would be a perfect time to confront her? Then she can’t hide the evidence, it’ll be right with her.” Spike said.

“I suppose that makes the most sense, we can’t really confront her about empty boxes.” Starlight said.

“I can’t believe she’s ordering so much from another bakery...she always loved my baking…” Pinkie said sadly, her mane deflated again. Fluttershy comforted her.

“Don’t worry Pinkie, I’m sure she has her reasons…”

“Yes, there must be something about those treats that’s more than we know. We’ll confront her tomorrow. In the meantime, Spike, have you got one of the empty boxes? I’m going to write to the bakery.” Starlight said.

“Of course, follow me.”

The seven of them continued to talk after Starlight had written and sent her letter on how best to speak to Twilight about this. Clearly, she was so far gone she wasn’t paying attention to her size. It was going to take a lot of effort to bring her around. Her friends stayed in the castle that night so they could confront her when the next delivery of treats arrived first thing. Starlight herself was more curious than the rest of them, hopefully writing to the bakery would yield some answers.

Story 30 - Over Effective Advertising

Stress, panic and lack of sleep were plaguing both Pinny and Cookie. Doughy less so, as he had less to do. Perhaps just stress and panic for him.

The two had barely gotten any sleep. They had got up extra early to ensure they had enough to feed everypony until they closed. On top of that, there was another order from the Princess, the two would be staying late tonight once more.

As they approached opening times, Cookie could already see a large line forming at both the regular entrance and also the window. “Doughy.” she asked, the stallion looking up at her. “Can you just pop outside and make sure that the right sized ponies are in the right line? I really don’t want any getting stuck again like yesterday, we nearly ran out of that awful grease mixture getting them all out.”

“Can do.” Doughy said, hopping off the chair. As he went out, there was a slam from behind that caught Cookie’s attention. Pinny came back in via the rear entrance from making sure Clipsy got out okay.

“All good, I sent her and the four that pull her out for the day.” he said, pulling some more goodies out of the oven. The smell of fresh baking was more intense than usual due to them making so much.

“Are you sure it’s wise to keep sending her out? We’re just about managing as it is.” Cookie said. “Even more customers is going to be an even bigger problem.”

“Well, we’ve paid for a week. I talked to the ponies pulling her that we hired. They said no refunds, so either we use it or lose it.” he replied. “Also we’d have to think about what we wanted to do with Clipsy when she’s not advertising. I don’t think parking her out back every day will be a permanent solution.”

“Might be better to lose it…” she said.

“I’d rather not. I know it’s tougher than usual dear, but think of the money we’ll make. It’s going to help so much.” Pinny said. “About ready to open?”

“I suppose so, sorry, I’m just feeling really worn down and it’s only been one day. I don’t know if I can take a week and it might not even let up after that.”

Pinny gave her a hug. “I’m here for you. We’ve been partners so long that whatever you need I’ll always do my best to lend a helping hoof.”

“Thanks.” was all Cookie said, returning the hug. “Might as well let the hordes in then.”

As predicted, the day did not stop for the three. Customers of all shapes and sizes passed through the doors throughout the day. Regulars were more easy to spot due to their increased heft over the other newer ones who had clearly started coming since yesterday. It was always interesting to the two when one they didn’t know failed to pass through the front door. It was usually resolved by one of them asking Doughy if they’d seen them at their window which was often an affirmative. They had passed the threshold of being able to fit through the front door. By that stage however, they all had a regular order and knew what they wanted so it was no problem.

“S’cuse me! Coming through!”

Pinny looked around his current customer, a pony was pushing their way through the line to get inside but none of the customers seemed to be stopping them. He could only guess it was a pony in some sort of authority position perhaps. He was somewhat right.

“Ah, good morning Stampy. Mail a little late today?” Pinny asked.

“It wouldn’t be if I didn’t have to wade through this line, do you know it goes back two blocks? I hope you’re prepared.” the mailpony replied.

“As much as we can be.” Pinny said. He finished attending to the current customer and then kindly asked the next one to wait while he went to the end of the counter, the only clear space in the bakery, to talk to Stampy.

“Anyhow. Here’s your letters. This one looks important.” Stampy said, passing over a few envelopes. Mostly the run of the mill things but as Stampy pointed out, this one was different. It wasn’t a letter from Princess Twilight, it didn’t have the ornate wax stamp on the back. The envelope was just as nice though. The giveaway it was from somepony else was the hoofwriting on the front was different.

“Hmmm, indeed. I’ll read it in a moment.” Pinny said. “We’re very busy, I’ve got customers to attend to.”

“Are you sure? Could be more business.” Stampy said, he didn’t move. Clearly he was interested in the letter. As a mailpony he usually was when it was customers he knew. He knew Cookie and Pinny well.

“Fine.” Pinny said, quickly grabbing a knife and slicing the top open. A single, folded piece of paper dropped out. Stampy watched as Pinny’s eyes scanned the writing. He then quietly put the letter in a counter drawer and stood for a moment. Stampy could see him pondering.

“Well?” he asked.

“It’s from The Mayor.” Pinny said. “She saw our advertising cart yesterday and is coming Monday next week to see what all the fuss is about, and as the letter put it, ‘What could possibly turn one of her citizens to such immense gluttony’.” Pinny explained.

“You know I have always wondered what’s in your baking. Ponies come here and within a few weeks they’re waiting in line outside. Too big to get in.” Stampy said curiously.

“Maybe someday I’ll tell you Stampy, but now is not the time.” Pinny replied.

Stampy just nodded. “I’ll be off, enjoy your day.” he said, vanishing into the large crowd and eventually out of sight. Pinny pulled the letter out the drawer and slid it across the counter to Cookie, who read it between serving ponies. Eventually, well past closing time once they had finished for the day and gotten Clipsy parked up outside and Doughy had left she was able to talk to him about it.

“I didn’t even have time to panic when you showed that to me.” she confessed. “Too busy.”

“I thought you were unusually calm.” Pinny replied.

The two spoke as they worked, putting together Princess Twilight’s order before they cleaned the equipment down and shut up once more to hobble home for a few hours of sleep. “It doesn’t sound positive.”

“No, I inferred from the tone she’s not exactly pleased, but the wording implied curiosity as well.” Pinny said.

“You think she might shut us down?” Cookie asked.

“With the money we’re currently pulling in for the city from taxes? Unlikely, but she might ask about what it is that we’re doing to get customers to keep coming, especially at their sizes...she’s probably going to ask why so many of them are so gigantic.” Pinny said.

“What do we do?” she asked.

“...It might be time to finally come clean. If we lie to The Mayor, that’s just going to open a whole can of worms. Plus she’s smart, whatever we tell her that isn’t the truth I doubt she’d believe it. We’d probably have ponies who work for the city going through our garbage at three in the morning to figure it out. She’d know eventually.” Pinny mused. “Then we’ll just have to see what she does.”

“Well, we were going to come clean some time. We just kept flip-flopping on it.” Cookie said.

“I know.” Pinny replied. “Let’s deal with it on Monday, I’m too tired.”

The two continued to bake in silence for the rest of what remained of the day. Princess Twilight’s order was sent off as per usual. Neither of them even bothered to stay to make sure it was collected on this occasion, they just left it for Stampy to pick up outside. Tomorrow was another day.

Story 31 - A Request For Help

“Morning you three.”

Stampy had become accustomed now to referring to the bakers as ‘You three’ rather than ‘You two’. Doughy had practically become part of the family at this point. Besides, the young stallion was always there when he walked through the door at the early hours to deliver their mail. Thankfully, today his round got him to the bakery hours before they were due to open so there was no crowd to fight through.

“Good morning Stampy.” Pinny said. He hardly looked up from his prep work as Stampy placed a number of letters on the counter.

“Bills and a special looking one...again.” he said. “What is it you guys are doing to garner all this attention huh?”

“Well I hope this one is at least good news.” Pinny said. He took the letters and sifted through the find the aforementioned one.

“I’d stick around to find out what it is again but I’ve got more mail to deliver. Let me know tomorrow!” Stampy said, the door closing behind him with a familiar click.

“Who’s that one from?” Cookie asked.

“Not sure, it bears the royal seal but a different colour.” Pinny said. “It’s more a sort of purple, pinky colour.”

Cookie stopped what she was doing to take a look, trying to ascertain which part of royalty the seal belonged to. Then she had the thought to look at the return address. “Ponyville Castle.” she said. “But not from Twilight.”

Pinny didn’t even bother to ask this time, he just opened and started to read the letter.

“Dear owners/owner of Upper Crust Bakery in Manehattan.” he began. “Clearly, they don’t know anything about us.” he commented, before continuing on with the letter. “I am writing to you as a concerned friend. My name is Starlight Glimmer, Counselor at The School of Friendship and more importantly, Twilight’s Sparkle’s student. As of the past few weeks, I have watched my friend grow to a size of what seems utterly impossible proportions. She has gained more weight than I thought it possible to gain for a pony. This only came to light recently as she has locked herself away in a room in the castle since her return from her trip to Manehattan. I am telling you this because she has become distant also which worries me greatly. The only thing getting through to her at the moment are almost daily boxes of your treats that appear to be delivered from your bakery. Therefore, I am asking you to come to Ponyville to explain what has happened to my good friend before I send for some of the Royal Guard to fetch you and bring you here. I hope you can make the trip soon and tell us why our friend now competes with an elephant for her size. Yours, Starlight Glimmer.”

Pinny took a moment to pause. “The letter ends there. I’d say that was rather calm considering what she’s witnessed, but also rather definite and obvious what she wants.”

“Oh gosh...this is awful. I knew something was happening to Twilight back in Ponyville. We’ve been sending her so many boxes…” Cookie started to say. “And a trip to Ponyville!? We’ll have to shut the bakery. Plus with The Mayor coming this is the worst timing.” she said, starting to panic. “And what do we even say!?”

“The truth. We said yesterday that when The Mayor visits we’d tell the truth. So we go to Ponyville and tell them the same thing.” Pinny said.

“Well, at least we should send them a letter back saying we will be on the way as soon as possible. Tell them The Mayor of the city is visiting us shortly and we’ll head to Ponyville as soon as the visit is over.” Cookie said. “That should at least buy us some time.”

“Do we keep sending Princess Twilight boxes in the meantime?” Pinny asked.

“I don’t think we can stop doing that, she might suspect something if we do.” Cookie mused. “Better keep sending them. We can send tonight’s batch with the letter. Just address it to Starlight Glimmer.”

Pinny found a quiet spot in the back of the store, he hoped as Cookie said it would buy them some time.

Meanwhile, back in Ponyville, as per normal the next morning there was a knock at the castle door and two boxes of treats from Upper Crust Bakery waiting outside when Spike opened the door. Curiously however, there was a letter also addressed to Starlight. The mare had not left the castle along with the rest of Twilight's friends who still intended to confront her. Spike brought the letter and the boxes to her.

“You’ve got a little time, Twilight won’t expect the delivery for another thirty minutes or so.” Spike said. “There’s a letter.” which he handed to Starlight.

“Thank you Spike.” the rest crowded around her as she started to read to listen.

“Dear Starlight Glimmer. We understand why you have gotten in contact with us. We thought it best to send another delivery today along with this letter, hoping it would be intercepted by castle staff and brought to you. Your concern is not unwarranted. There is something special about our baking but as requested, we will explain all when we visit Ponyville as soon as we can. We are expecting a visit from The Mayor of Manehattan any day now and we must attend to that first, but rest assured once this is dealt with, we shall shut our bakery (at great expense to ourselves) and heed your summons to Ponyville. We will send another letter the day before we are due to travel. Yours, Rolling Pin and Cookie Crumble of Upper Crust Bakery, Manehattan.” Starlight read.

“Hah! Oldest trick in the book, they’re just trying to buy time.” Rainbow Dash said. “Did you really ask them to come here?”

“Yes, I thought best we could show them what their baking has done to Twilight.” Starlight said. “I was maybe a little forceful, I did say if they didn’t we’d send Guards to get them…”

“That might have been a little too far Starlight. These ponies may not even know what they’ve done wrong. Besides it sounded sincere, I think they’ll come.” Rarity said.

“I think they know very well what they’re doing wrong.” Starlight said. “Here.” the mare said, she pulled out a copy of The Ponyville Gazette, which had been delivered before the bakery delivery. None of the others had wanted to read it.

“Mayor Mare elected for another term in office…” Pinkie Pie read. “Well, that’s not unusual silly! We voted for her!”

“No not that, go to ‘International’ further in.” Starlight said, Rarity flicking the pages to get there. Not many ponies read this part of the paper, it was always very small print to cram as much in about what was happening in the wider world. Starlight pointed to the Manehattan section.

“Baking Business. Upper Crust Bakery today unveiled rather unorthodox advertising by hauling an unnamed pony of extreme weight around the city to market their products. More to follow as this develops.” Applejack read.

“See. I only spotted it because I was looking to see if anything of note was happening in the city. I think this is all on purpose and Twilight has gotten wrapped up in it.” Starlight said.

“You think they’re gonna ask to mount Twilight on a cart and haul her around Ponyville?” Rainbow Dash said with a dismissive rasp. “Come on Starlight, they’re in Manehattan. Twilight did have that visit, maybe she just stopped there for lunch.”

“I don’t know, that’s why I’ve asked them here. We need to find out what’s going on. I think best to let them get here and explain.” Starlight said.

“But Starlight, if we stop giving Twilight the deliveries, she’ll get suspicious before we can confront her.” Spike said. The rest nodded their heads in agreement.

“As much as it pains me to say it, Spike, keep giving her the boxes. She’ll just have to gain a little more weight before those two get here. Come fetch us all as soon as you get the follow up letter saying they are heading to Ponyville. I will meet them at the train station personally.” Starlight said. “For now, let's all go home. Spike, if Twilight gets much larger...I may have to intervene before they arrive.”

The six left the castle, worried but at least reassured they’d know what was happening to Twilight, eventually.

Back at Upper Crust, the impending official visit was the first problem to deal with. Monday would roll around quickly.

Story 33 - A Trip To Ponyville

The train slowly pulled into Ponyville station, the two had been dreading this moment the entire ride, which had mostly passed in silent worry.

‘There’s a guard on the platform.’ Pinny observed.

‘Well, he might just be posted there. That’s not so unusual.’ Cookie replied. She grabbed her small travel bag and placed it over her back, the two exciting the train. As they did so, the guard took a few steps towards them, looking at a piece of paper he had in hoof before speaking.

‘You are Cookie Crumble and Rolling Pin?’ he asked the pair of them.

‘Uhm, yes. We weren’t expecting a reception.’ Pinny replied.

‘I was posted here to observe arriving trains so you could be brought to the castle immediately. Follow me.’ he said, a rather gruff tone in his voice as he started to head into town. Cookie and Pinny followed suit, whispering under their breaths as the guard walked in front of them.

‘This is either a good thing or a bad thing, I am going to choose it is a good thing.’ Pinny said to Cookie.

‘A guard escort? That is hardly good.’ Cookie replied.

‘Well, at least we know we’ll make it to the castle without issue. This is a rather pleasant town, quite different from the city…’ Pinny said.

It was true, the two were noticing the quieter surroundings, the more slow and subdued way of life the ponies around them seemed to move with as they went about their day. Nobody rushed like in the city, everything moved slowly. Even the guard walked at a rather relaxed trot. When they reached the castle however, which was a rather impressive sight, the guard came to an abrupt stop.

‘Wait here.’ he instructed, opening the front door and vanishing inside. He returned a moment later with a pink pony following him.

‘Ah the bakers. Thank you for coming on such short notice. I am Starlight Glimmer, pupil of Twilight Sparkle. This way please.’ Starlight said. ‘I trust your journey here was okay?’

She seemed to be making small talk to ease the pairs obvious nervousness, so Cookie decided to speak up. ‘Yes, fine thank you. We’re obviously concerned, we just had another matter to deal with first.’

‘I was aware yes, how was the visit?’ Starlight asked.

‘Stressful.’ Pinny replied.

‘Well, I can’t promise you any less stress unfortunately. Please come in.’ Starlight carried on, she had led the pair to a large room with a number of other ponies in. Neither of them were much for the upper echelons of society but they did somewhat recognise the ponies and dragon occupying the room. At this point the guard left them as Starlight dismissed him with a hoof wave. ‘This is Applejack, Rainbow Dash, Rarity, Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy and Spike. Everyone, this is Cookie Crumble and Rolling Pin.’

There was a general smattering of greetings from all, except Pinkie Pie who sidled herself over to Cookie. ‘You must be an amazing baker to get Twilight so addicted to all your goodies! You’ll have to share your secret!’ she enthusiastically exclaimed.

‘Actually, that’s what we’ve come here to do and try to make amends.’ Cookie replied, suddenly she realised she had the attention of the entire room on her. ‘We already told The Mayor of the city, so there is no harm telling all of you. The sugar in our baking is not only highly addicted but highly fattening, your letter mentioned that part.’ Cookie said, looking over at Starlight.

‘Yes, the change in Twilight is more than noticeable, come with me.’ she said, the whole lot of them leaving the room. They made their way through the castle, eventually coming to a door that looked similar to the rest. Starlight opened it. There was a silent murmuring as they all stared at the large purple blob within.

‘By Celestia she’s even larger than when we were last here, I feel like we should have been keeping tabs…’ Rarity said.

‘We agreed not to remember? In case she became suspicious.’ Applejack said.

Starlight shut the door again, leaving Twilight to her continued studies. ‘She has about two days worth of goodies left by my guess, your last package arrived a day ago. You can see our dilemma.’ Starlight said, looking at the two of them.

‘Indeed...she’s about on par for size as one of our largest customers, impressive since she’s not been eating it anywhere near as long, although she is eating a lot more…’ Pinny said.

‘You mean there are other ponies in Manehattan as big or bigger than her?’ Rainbow Dash asked. ‘That’s crazy.’

‘Well, yes. It was what caused the visit from The Mayor.’ Cookie replied. ‘Can we talk about this away from the door? Just in case she hears us.’

‘Of course, we’ll head back to the room you were brought to.’ Starlight said. Once they returned, they settled in for a small discussion.

‘We...have a plan.’ Cookie started to say.

‘Oh? Well, do explain.’ Starlight said, curious.

‘We discussed it on the train, assuming we’d see her at a large size. The problem is, she’s addicted. Going cold turkey on the treats will likely not only make her extremely upset and angry, but she’d just notice immediately.’ Cookie explained. ‘This may sound slightly crazy but...what if we could supply the entire of Ponyville with treats? Set up another bakery here. We’ve been thinking of expanding the business.’

Starlight blinked, not quite sure what she had just heard. ‘I’m sorry, did you just suggest that rather than fix the problem with one pony, we instead make it a problem for the entire town? Do you know how absurd that is?’ she almost spat the final words with venom. ‘You cannot be serious.’

‘Actually, I am quite serious. You’d agree she seems more content yes? She’s also focused on her work?’ Cookie asked.

‘Well the latter yes, but that might just be because due to her size, she can’t leave.’ Starlight replied.

‘Well then surely it’s a good thing? I know the size is an issue but that being an issue would pass, especially if the town enjoys our baking too. Since we’re staying a little while, could we make you some treats? Perhaps try to convince you? At least before you outright dismiss the idea.’ Cookie carried on.

‘I suppose it would not be completely mad to just try some baking...but this doesn’t fix the issue.’ Starlight said.

‘If everypony is content, I’d say it’s fixed.’ Pinny said. ‘We’re only missing the sugar. Miss Pie, do you know where to procure some Chit Chat cane sugar? Extra refined?’

‘Ohhhhhh, the good stuff. Sure do!’ the mare said, happily bouncing on the spot. ‘Should be able to get a bag tomorrow!’

‘Pinkie how come you’ve never mentioned this sugar before?’ Rainbow Dash asked.

‘Well when was the last time you asked me about my ingredients?’ Pinkie replied.

‘Touché…’ was all Rainbow said, sinking into the sofa, feeling a little defeated.

‘We just want you to see what the baking is like with it, perhaps then you’ll understand why Twilight keeps ordering it from us.’ Cookie explained.

‘Very well...tomorrow you can make use of the castle kitchen. For now, I’ll show you both to your room.’ Starlight said. From her body language the pair could tell she was not exactly happy about their solution, stiff, thoughtful struts dominating her movements. She simply said ‘Goodnight.’ and left the two to the room.

‘Is this crazy?’ Cookie asked.

‘A little, but we can’t make her go cold turkey as we said. She’d notice immediately.’ Pinny replied.

‘Yes, but we’re talking about addicting an entire town.’ Cookie said.

‘Much less ponies than a whole city.’ Pinny responded.

‘It still doesn’t feel right, but I honestly can’t think of what else to do. I wasn’t particularly going for addicting somewhere else to the sugar but well...maybe, if we can swing them around the town might follow? Then who knows, all of Equestria…’ Cookie pondered.

‘I think we might be getting in over our heads with that many. I never had world domination on my agenda.’ Pinny chuckled, Cookie just frowned.

‘Me either. One hoof at a time though, tomorrow we bake.’

The two settled in, the stop in Ponyville was looking like it might take longer than first planned.

Story 34 - The Beginning Of The End

The kitchen in The Castle of Friendship was probably ten times the size of their little bakery back in Manehattan and it only had to cater for probably one tenth of the ponies. Cookie wondered why they needed so much equipment for basically one permanent resident of the castle. ‘Entertaining guests and dignitaries.’ was what Starlight had replied. She had just accepted the answer.

Pinkie had managed to track down a bag of the sugar as promised and had brought it to the castle first thing, the two had made sure it was right and then got on with baking. Pinkie initially had wanted to help out, but Pinny had managed to convince her that it was best she perhaps go and ensure her friends were alright and with that, the two had been left alone.

‘Okay, so lets say they like it? Which they will. Then what?’ Cookie asked as she pulled a batch of cookies from the oven to cool.

‘Then they’ll be easy to convince that we can open up a new place here to feed the town. I was thinking the bouncy one who is eager to help would be the perfect choice, she is already a baker.’ Pinny replied.

‘True. I’m still not sure about all this. I have my reservations.’ Cookie said.

‘Me too, but if we can get Ponyville on board, with a Princess at the helm it will be so much easier to convince everypony else.’ Pinny carried on. ‘I know that The Mayor likes to keep royal ties with Ponyville so if Twilight tells her its good, I am sure she’ll be back at our door wanting us to open more branches in the city.’

‘Perhaps. Anyhow this batch is done. What about you?’ Cookie asked him.

‘Five minutes and it’ll be ready.’ he said. Out the corner of his eye at the kitchen door he saw the small purple dragon appear, waving a claw. ‘Yes?’ he asked.

‘I’ve been asked to come check on progress and make sure you’re not up to any...funny business.’ Spike said.

‘We’re nearly done actually. You can go and tell the rest of them that we’ll be up in five with a selection of baking for them to try.’ Pinny replied. Spike just turned and vanished. The two loaded up a small trolley with everything they had made.

‘You’d think they’d have help to move food around.’ Cookie commented.

‘Well, at least this way we can just get it to them.’ Pinny said. It was a short trip from the kitchens back up to the small meeting room where Starlight Glimmer, Rainbow Dash, Applejack, Rarity, Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie were waiting accompanied by Spike. Rather unceremoniously, Pinny wheeled the cart into the middle of the room and parked it.

‘Here you are, a selection of our baking. I suppose really it only matters what you prefer to eat as they all contain the same sugar.’ he said, sitting down on a spare seat with Cookie joining him on an adjacent one. There was a moment's hesitation, before he saw Pinkie Pie lean forward and grab a cookie whilst the rest watched on as she chewed.

‘Well?’ Rarity asked.

‘Just as they said! Super scrummy! The sugar really makes it sweet! Try something Rarity!’ Pinkie jovially exclaimed, with Rarity and then the rest of the ponies (as well as Spike) digging into various offerings on the cart.

The room was filled with ‘Mmmmm’s!’ and ‘Ohhhhhhhhh’s.’ as all the ponies ate and discovered the sweet and delicious taste of the sugar laden treats. It only took one cookie or cake, the effect of just how addicting it was meant that immediately after consuming it already they were going back for more. The entire trolley, which had taken several hours to fill with all their baking was consumed within about ten minutes. Cookie smiled to herself as she watched Rainbow Dash scan the now bare surface for crumbs before looking disappointed and retreating to the chair she was sat on, letting out a small belch as she sat down.

‘Okay, I have to admit that was all extremely tasty and I want more.’ Starlight said. ‘So what did you want to do going forward?’

Cookie was a bit shocked at her sudden change of heart, but she decided not to quibble and laid out their thoughts. ‘We were thinking we could teach Pinkie Pie how to bake with the sugar and perhaps she could start selling it on our behalf here in Ponyville. She could also keep Twilight supplied rather than her having to order from us constantly.’ Cookie said.

‘That seems like the easiest and most obvious solution, what with Pinkie already having knowledge of baking.’ Starlight said before she was interrupted by Pinkie, now bouncing in her chair.

‘Of course! We could even get the Cakes on board! I’m sure they’d love to be able to sell more! Ohh errr, did you want the bakery to carry your name though? Ponies have known it as Sugarcube Corner forever…’ she said.

‘No I think just as long as we can work out some sort of deal for a cut of the profits that’s all. And you know, just let ponies know it’s down to us.’ Pinny said.

‘Can do!’ Pinkie replied. ‘I’ll talk to them later, oh can you bake some more treats! Best for them to try it just to see how good it all is!’ Pinkie replied.

‘Of course, we’ll make some more up soon.’ Cookie said.

‘Now then, I think we-’ Starlight began to speak, but was interrupted by a loud Zap!

Twilight had teleported herself right into the middle of the room, the poor cart that the pair had used to bring the baked goods in with was immediately crushed beneath her flab. Having been confined to her room, her flab was no longer pressing against walls and squished into a space. It was now free to spread and there were several whumps as what was previously squished rolls found new space and flopped onto the floor. There was silence in the room, her entrance had been unexpected.

‘I was getting a little jammed in that room, what with my size and all. I didn’t know we had visitors…’ she said, seeing the two bakers out the corner of her eye and turning to Starlight. ‘I assume you asked them to come Starlight?’

‘Twilight! Er, yes! I did, we were concerned…’ the mare stammered.

‘Don’t be! I haven’t felt this good in years!’ Twilight replied, giving her vast belly a little wobble for emphasis. It seemed her somewhat comatose state and previously inattentive nature had vanished. Starlight was perplexed.

‘Spike said you were somewhat buried in studies?’ she asked.

‘Oh yes! Oh sorry if I came across as somewhat inattentive. You know how I get when I am engrossed in a book! Now then, you two are responsible for all this?’ Twilight asked, turning her attention to Pinny and Cookie and once more jostling her huge rolls to get her point across.

‘Well yes, we already explained to everypony here Princess. Our goodies are laden with…’ Cookie started to say, but was cut off by Twilight.

‘Highly addictive sugar. I know. I figured that out as soon as I bought a bag from you on my visit. I just didn’t know how fattening it was.’ Twilight said.

‘Yes, well we were planning to keep you supplied and well, the town as well…’ Pinny said.

‘Good! Good!’ Twilight said. ‘Seriously you guys, have you ever been this large? The feeling is…’ Twilight trailed off. ‘You’ll just have to experience it. Whatever plans you have to supply the town, I approve.’ Twilight said.

‘Ya sure Twilight? This is all awfully sudden…’ Applejack said.

‘Yes, as good as these treats are darling, you’re gigantic! I can’t see myself that size. I’d have to let out my entire wardrobe several times over!’ Rarity replied.

‘And what about me!? I doubt I could even fly!’ Dash said.

‘It will be hard to tend to the animals…’ Fluttershy said.

‘Look it’s not something I can explain, it’s something you need to feel.’ Twilight said. ‘But it sounds like you’ve all already tried some of their baking and have agreed how good it is. I think we can get everypony else on board too. Maybe best they discover it for themselves too rather than seeing me. I’m sure it would be a shock!’ Twilight laughed, her rolls jiggling in response to her deep belly laughs. ‘Anyhow back to studying, I’m going to find a larger room though. Spike when they’ve finished baking me another batch, come find me.’ Twilight said, there was another Zap! and Twilight was gone, only leaving the now flattened and crumpled remains of the cart behind.

Starlight just eyed the two bakers.

‘Go on then, get to baking. You’ve got the Cakes and the rest of Ponyville to convince before you can go.’ she said. ‘...And bring us some more too. Pinkie Pie can help, seeing as she needs to learn how to make this stuff.’

Cookie and Pinny, along with Pinkie Pie, went back to the castle kitchens to bake.

Story 35 - Heading Home

Cookie slumped down onto the seat of the passenger car of the train. The old, worn seating had never felt so comfortable.

It had been an utterly exhausting few weeks. Non-stop baking and sorting out how to get the town supplied as well as working out some sort of deal with towns ponies to set up shop there. All in all, she was actually a little surprised everything had only taken two weeks. It was mostly lucky that Pinkie Pie was such a good baker and she picked everything up so quickly that they were able to move onto other important tasks to get it all sorted out.

Pinny had taken the seat opposite her. He looked just as tired out.

‘How do you think things are going back in Manehattan?’ she asked.

‘I assume okay seeing as the bakery has been shut, I had a message from Doughy a few days ago. He said whilst a lot of customers were upset at first they understood, in most cases anyway. Apparently one tried to get inside but were too wide for the door, one of the regulars.’ he said with a small chuckle. ‘Police had to grease them out.’

‘I suppose it could have been worse.’ Cookie replied. ‘Do you think Ponyville will be okay?’

‘Well, we’ve just addicted a town to treats laden with the sugar to make things easier for us. If I was being moral I’d say absolutely not, but I think my morals left me a few months ago.’ Pinny replied with a sigh. ‘In the long run, everypony in Equestria is going to get fat. You know it as well as I know it.’

‘Yeah. I know.’ Cookie said. She had a look out the window, the train had been moving for a little while and the landscape was rolling by. She spotted Canterlot off in the distance. ‘Princess approval would be a real boon too, seeing as we already have one on board.’

Pinny saw where on the landscape her eyes were connecting to. ‘I see your morals have made an escape also. Yes it would, it would certainly make accepting eating the treats much easier. I think Ponyville is going to have some resistance once a lot of the townsponies realise what is going on.’ he said.

‘I’m sure eventually they’ll come around. I actually feel bad for Pinkie Pie, she has a lot of baking to do.’ Cookie said.

‘She was already looking into help before we left, didn’t you know?’ Pinny replied.

‘No I didn’t. The Cakes?’ she asked

‘And a few others I think. She’s more passionate about baking than you are.’ Pinny retorted. He watched Cookie’s nose scrunch and smiled.

‘Don’t compare me to that cotton-candy mess. By Celestia it was like trying to teach a hyperactive child, on steroids, having a good time! If you know what I mean.’ she finished.

‘I do know, what did you think to the rest of them?’ Pinny asked her.

‘Well, we hardly saw them except when they wanted to pick up orders. Starlight was the one around the most. She was quite officious. I think she is eager to make her own stamp on things with her mentor Twilight looking over her, not that Twilight did much of that as she was mostly eating.’ Cookie replied.

‘Mmmm true. The rest were certainly unique in their own way.’ Pinny said.

‘Quite. I’m just glad to be going home. I want to get back to our normal routine and re-open. I’m fed up with Royalty, or official visits from senior members of the city.’ Cookie said. ‘Sometimes I wish we’d never found that damn sugar.’

‘But we did, and we’re where we are now so we have to deal with it, which we are doing. There’s always that option to drop it you know.’ Pinny replied. ‘We could get rid of it at any time you like.’

‘That brings a bigger problem though, the fallout of when we do. No, we’ve chosen this path and I’m sticking with it, come hell or high water.’ Cookie firmly stated.

‘Suit yourself. Probably for the best what with everything we have done.’ Pinny replied.

It was a long ride back to Manehattan and Pinny was just about to shut his eyes for a couple of hours when he spied the ticket mare coming down the carriage. ‘Oh, tickets.’ he said, watching Cookie start to root around in her saddlebags before producing a pair. The ticket mare approached and simply asked ‘Tickets please.’ which Cookie hoofed over to her. The mare stamped them but stood for a moment watching the pair.

‘Is there something else? A problem with the tickets?’ Pinny asked.

‘No...you two just look familiar.’ The mare said, continuing to look at them. ‘You live in Manehattan?’ she asked.

‘Yes we run a bakery.’ Cookie replied.

‘THAT’S where I know you from! Upper Crust!’ the mare blurted out. ‘My sister has been just non-stop recommending your place to eat. She showed me a picture of the two of you in the paper from that review you got a while back.’

‘Oh well, that’s good to know. I’d give you something but we don’t exactly carry cookies on demand. Your sister likes our baking?’ Pinny asked.

‘Likes it? She’s one of your regulars. Although she’s kinda unrecognisable now to me, put on quite a few pounds. But as long as she’s happy I suppose. The extra weight makes for nice hugs.’ The ticket mare smiled. ‘Anyhow, I need to check more tickets. Nice to meet you both!’ she said, vanishing down the carriage to check on more ponies.

‘That was...odd.’ Cookie said.

‘I suppose it’s to be a little expected, we’re becoming celebrities in our own right. Ponies know of the bakery and what we’re doing.’ Pinny replied.

‘Yeah...I’ve just never had a pony approach us and talk to us like that before. It feels kinda weird getting attention for baking.’ Cookie said.

Pinny laughed a little. ‘As opposed to all the other attention we’ve been getting over the months?’

‘Well, you know what I mean. That was different attention. It was almost like fan attention. Wait, do we have fans?’ she asked.

‘I mean I suppose. Clipsy is our biggest one.’ Pinny mused. ‘Just don’t be surprised if that happens again in the future.

‘Alright, anyway I am going to...yawn...try to sleep a little. How long until we arrive back in Manehattan?’ Cookie asked.

‘Couple of hours at least.’ Pinny replied.

‘Just enough time for a nap then.’ Cookie said, shutting her eyes. Pinny joined her. It was good to rest. He did hope that it would be easy for Pinkie Pie to get Ponyville on board with the treats. Once that was accomplished, all they had to worry about then was well, moving forward. He was quite interested to see what the future would bring once they got home.

Epilogue

The rest of the story of Upper Crust is as remarkable as the events leading up to their big break.

The special sugar was never dropped, despite over the years it constantly came up as a point of contention between Cookie and Pinny. With the events in Ponyville they couldn’t ever find a way of removing it from their baking. It was core to the success of their business. Over the years they’d try substitutes, other types of sugars but it never worked out. Customers always immediately noticed the difference, sales would drop and they’d have to switch back. This became particularly problematic as the business grew.

With the opening of a bakery in Ponyville as well as their already wildly successful one in Manehattan, the two quickly paid off the debts. The Mayor of Manehattan was not entirely happy with the final arrangement but they were somewhat forced into it by a letter sent by Twilight Sparkle. Begrudgingly, she had to accept that the ponies of her city were going to get bigger and that was exactly what they did.

Once Pinny and Cookie paid off their debts, they decided with all the money coming in to continue opening further branches. Upper Crust became a chain of bakeries. Whilst the Ponyville branch had effectively been free, investment was needed into further establishments. They started local, opening more stores in Bronclyn before expanding out into the rest of the city. In the short span of three years, there was an Upper Crust on the corner of at least every district. In five years, you could barely waddle a block without finding one. The quality of course suffered without the two personally at the helm, but the sugar kept everypony coming back. Once they had established themselves in Manehattan, the brand spread to Canterlot, Griffonstone, Yakyakistan and just about everywhere you could think of across the globe.

The size of everycreature ballooned of course, as a side effect of the excessive consumption of baked goods. The already big ones just got even bigger. Eventually they had to be moved out of the cities to take up the surrounding landscape as they simply grew too large to be kept anywhere their bulk could topple buildings over. This was particularly true of Clipsy, who after having become the official advertising mascot for the bakery still had to somehow do her job. With the cart creaking they hauled her out to a large field on the city edge. The advertising hoarding on her body grew as she did until it was visible from miles around, the cart long buried under a mountain of pony flab.

And so it carried on for years, everypony growing to immobile, super gigantic blobs that took up most of the landscape. Eventually all too big to even visit the bakeries anymore. A stroke of genius meant that a delivery service was introduced, bringing the baking straight to the gigantic blobs that dotted the landscape of Equestria, Twilight being the most addicted and a Princess eventually overtook Clipsy, covering the entirety of Ponyville.

Pinny and Clipsy always wondered if what they did was right...there was forever an unshakeable feeling that they had somehow doomed the world. The thing was, it caused a boom of technology to handle the immense weight that everycreature had gained. Things began to advance at a rapid pace. By the time the two were an old couple, the world was almost unrecognisable to them. The pair kept baking though, in their original store until they couldn’t anymore, rich beyond their wildest dreams and probably the only pair of thin ponies left on Equestria. Upper Crust had turned into something they couldn’t have dreamed of when they started all those years ago.

The future of Equestria looked increasingly blorpy.

Story 9 - A Second Chance

“Well, we’ve been waiting. Here it is.”

Pinny put the paper down on the counter top and took his saddle bags off. The slightly crumpled copy of The Manehattan Gazette lightly that had gotten a little bit of a bumping about in his bags now teased Cookie as she picked it up and started flipping through to try to find the reviews.

“It’ll be the same place as before darling.” Pinny said with a sigh. “I assume you want to read it this time?”

“This time, yes.” was all Cookie said. “Oh my…”

Unlike before, where they had gotten a review placed on a page with quite a few others this time there was an entire spread. It made Cookie’s eyes go wide as she internally panicked slightly. “That’s um...a good sign right?” she asked.

“I mean I assume so, unless he’s decided to take an entire page just to lambaste us.” Pinny replied. “It looks larger than the previous review. You might want to make a start seeing as we open soon.” he advised.

“Oh right, of course.” the mare replied, clearing her throat. “There’s a large title, it just says ‘A Bakery of Sweet Delights.” Cookie read, immediately this perked her up somewhat. “Well that seems to be good anyway…”

“Dear, the review?”

“Yes…” Cookie said, finally getting to the actual review on the page. “You may recall a short while ago if you are a regular reader of my column that I visited a bakery called Upper Crust. A new establishment in Bronclyn. They did fairly well, I gave them four out of five stars. Their offerings at the time were reasonable. Nothing out of the ordinary if you recall and I gave them a fair tip on how to improve. As many of you know in this city readers, in the food industry in Manehattan it is very much do or die and I urged them to do rather than die.” Cookie kept reading the words, taking a short breath.

“Often I don’t give an establishment like this another visit for six months or more at least, as can be the case during this time either they have innovated or closed up shop and I get the experience of somewhere new. Well, it seems they had been innovating. Usually word about somewhere amazing reaches my ears but I didn’t expect it to reach my ears so soon about somewhere I had practically just set hoof in. Like the rest of the customers my day started by waiting outside for a short time before the bakery opened. One thing I did notice was the size of one customer who I’d get to know a little more, but more on that later. Once I did get in, owing to the large mare who got slightly stuck on her entrance inside, the interior looked the same as ever. However the food on display looked a little different to before. In any case, as I was about to order I decided to ask for some recommendations. That pony I mentioned earlier? The portly one? She was the one who it turns out had been making word reach my ear to revisit so soon. Apparently a one miss Lunar Eclipse is a regular to the bakery and rather than actually having me pick out desserts, she offered me her own bag of already put together goodies saying that it would guarantee I’d write a five star review.” Cookie read out, she took another breath.

“Needless to say I took it straight home, making sure I could get out before she got herself wedged again and hampered my day even further.” Cookie laughed. “Rather than waiting this time until the end of my day and possibly having my appetite spoiled by other eateries I decided to dig in to the small variety of confectionery I had been given. I will just say readers to make this review completely unbiased that in this pre-picked bag that was somewhat thrust upon me there was no bread included so unfortunately I can’t comment on that. I may have to head back and write a smaller bread based review soon.” Cookie continued, looking over at Pinny and coming off the review text to ask him a question. “Oh yeah, I forgot her bag doesn’t have bread. Just sweet treats…”

“Don’t worry about that, like he said he might be back for them. Just keep reading.” Pinny urged.

“Firstly, I’d like to applaud the two ponies of Upper Crust for heeding my advice. Whilst the baked goods I was given didn’t look much different to before, looks can indeed be deceiving. The first thing I tried was a small macaroon. It looked rather innocent in nature and as standard as the next one from any other bakery, what shocked me was when I put it in my mouth. The taste was absolutely sensational, baked goods are sweet but this was on a different level. It wasn’t just sweet, the flavors danced in my mouth and pulled a tug of war between my taste buds. For a moment I was actually slightly stunned and had to stare at the remaining two thirds of the macaroon which very rapidly vanished, each bite just as good and if not better than the last. I then moved onto an innocent looking cookie, which had the same effect. The taste was indeed different as it was permeated by lovely chunky chocolate chips but I felt the same wonderful taste as I had experienced with the macaroon. It is safe to say readers that the entire contents of the bag vanished within the next five minutes and I was left a little bit of a mess as I recovered from all the food. Clearly I ate a little too fast as I noticed a bit of extra pudge in my belly, but obviously that’s to be expected for one who eats as often as me.” Cookie stopped after the last sentence.

“Seems it had an effect on him too.” Pinny said, seeing the concern on her face. “I suppose it’s good that at least he expects to be somewhat overweight in his position…” Cookie didn’t respond, she just kept reading.

“In any case, if I didn’t have so many new and exciting places to visit as part of my job I would now be making Upper Crust a regular stop for myself. I can safely say without a shadow of a doubt that they really have not only innovated, but they’ve taken that innovation and then given it an extra pinch of sugar. Please give them a visit at your earliest convenience and if you run into a pony called Lunar Eclipse there give her a thank you for championing this new and exciting bakery. Oh and don’t forget to thank the bakers themselves, it is them after all that put their hearts and souls into this food. I am happy to write that Upper Crust gets five out of five stars.” Cookie finished, putting the paper down and staring at Pinny for a moment to try to take in all the writing on the page.

“Well, talk about a glowing review. I did wonder why the line was longer today than normal.” Pinny said, peering out towards the front of the store. “In fact I can’t actually see the end, Clipsy still seems to be at the front though.” he said with a smile. “I swear that mare makes sure she gets there first every day.” he carried on, not noticing that Cookie was getting more and more flustered as she sat there digesting the words.

“This is a disaster!” she suddenly yelled out, almost knocking the paper off the counter top and making Pinny jump, which he hardly ever did.

“What!? What on Equestria are you talking about. A disaster!? This is exactly what we wanted!? We wanted a great review and we’ve got it right there in black and white!” he replied utterly exasperated. “For once, I’m confused.”

“No, no - not a disaster, I mean just today. Today will be a disaster if we don’t get our flanks in gear!” Cookie carried on, making her way to the preparation area and starting to hastily cram together dough for extra cookies. “You just said it yourself! The line is longer than usual! We’re going to run out of everything and everypony will be mad!” Cookie said, she felt a hoof stop her as Pinny in his usual role of her personal calmer stopped her from rushing into baking a batch of hastily put together and terrible treats.

“Dear, be calm. Yes. We are going to run out, but that is okay. All those ponies out there are standing in the same line. They’ll see we’re swamped, they can either wait until we bake up a fresh batch of whatever it is they want or come back tomorrow when we’re more prepared. It is very easy in this situation to say we were unprepared for getting such a glowing review so soon after the first one. They will understand, and if they don’t, that’s why I am here.” he said, watching as the mare stopped her small shakes and shudders and came to a more calm posture, giving him a hug.

“You’re right...sorry for uh, doing what I usually do.” she said.

“Don’t mention it, for now let’s just open. Will you fetch Clipsy’s bag for her? She’ll want it as per usual.”

“Of course…” Cookie said, going to get the bag of pre-prepared goodies. She hadn’t been expecting the second review to be so good, of course she had hoped it would be but there was always that doubting feeling it just wouldn’t be. But now they had and they had to face a very, very busy day indeed. She’d open the doors and her and Pinny would tackle it head on, together.

Story 21 - The Delivery

There was a knock at the castle door.

“Sign here.” the pony said, thrusting the pad at Spike. The small dragon was no stranger to getting deliveries to the castle. He wordlessly signed the pad and pulled the box inside, watching the delivery pony vanish.

“Spike!?”

The familiar yell of Twilight with one of her many lines of inquiry always started with his name. It always seemed to make him turn around and answer her though.

“Yes Twilight?”

“Can you get a letter to...wait, what is this?” she asked, seeing the small wooden case that had been dropped off just moments ago.

“Well, it's a package. It’s marked as being sent from Manehattan to you. Nothing else. It smells good though.” he said, sniffing the air near the box with his nostrils as Twilight flew near and landed besides him.

“Oh, well it’s not gems Spike. I came across a bakery there and asked me to send me something for the girls as I didn’t have time to bring it back myself.” Twilight explained.

“Oh, no gems? Shame. Pony bakeries should really cater for dragons.” he said, huffing and vanishing off into the castle to do some other task. As far as he was concerned he had done his job.

Twilight giggled to herself. ‘They actually sent a package! Quickly too!’ she thought to herself, pleased that the bakery had come through. But a question was now playing on her mind. Would she share with her friends like she intended, or keep it all to herself? She prised open the box and looked inside, her own nostrils being assaulted by the delicious aroma now the lid was off.

There was ten times the amount of food she had bought for herself. Clearly the owners had wanted to make sure there was more than enough for seven ponies. Twilight looked at the goodies, pondering her options. There was more variety too. If it was as good as what she had bought that day her selfishness was taking over a little. She was sure they’d send another box, besides she had better make sure what they had actually sent was fit for her friends. Quick delivery too, if she sent another letter she could probably have another box sent to her within a week. She’d just have to explain to Spike the original delivery wasn’t quite up to standard…

The mare took the box to her room, hiding it. It would be a nice treat to look forward to at the end of the day...but she couldn’t help but take a few snacks from it for herself now.

It had been a few days since sending off the box. Business had been so-so, in that it was the same as usual. Cookie and Pinny were not expecting another royal letter so soon.

“Do we open it again? It can’t be another order.” Cookie said, looking at that rather perfectly stamped wax seal on the back.

“Who knows, maybe she’s just thanking us for it. In any case, we’d better open it.” Pinny said, breaking the seal and opening the letter. It was heavier than the last one. When he opened it, he removed a number of bits from inside. Not the safest way to pay ponies, but he assumed being a royal letter nopony dared open it to get at the money. It appeared to be the bits to cover the last delivery and a small tip.

“Well?”

“It’s both.” he replied.

“Both what?”

“A thank you, and another order by the looks of it.” Pinny carried on saying to Cookie, who saw her face fall a bit.

“Already?” she asked.

“I guess she and her friends really liked them, it’s not hard to see why.” Pinny said. “Look I’ll just read it to you.”

Cookie Crumble and Rolling Pin,

Once more I would like to thank you for the amazing treats you baked. They went down wonderfully at Ponyville Castle. To that end, I’d like to make another request.

At your earliest convenience, please can you prepare another batch for the castle? This time I’d like to request two cases, or double the amount from last time. I’d also like to request if you have more treats for us to try that was not included in this batch? We are excited to see what else you offer. Payment will once again be sent via letter.

Twilight Sparkle

Princess of Friendship

“Oh dear.” Cookie said. She saw Pinny raise an eyebrow already.

“Oh dear because…?” he asked.

“Because clearly, we’ve now addicted her to the goodies. As well as her friends! She asked for two boxes this time and even more treats.” Cookie replied.

“But she’s paid us, and now is going to pay us twice as much for another order.” Pinny countered.

“Yes Pinny, but if we keep sending them our baking, it’s going to have an affect.” Cookie replied.

“It already has, she’s asked for more. Besides, we said we need the money and were hoping she’d ask for more, so what’s the problem?” he asked.

“Because of who she is, Pinny, we went over this. What are we going to do in six months when she’s as big as a house and they find out it's all our doing?” Cookie asked.

“Maybe...maybe this might be how it is okay.” Pinny pondered.

“What?”

“Well, what if she loves it so much she actually venerates us instead? You know, thanks us for introducing her to all this good stuff?” Pinny asked.

“Are you KIDDING?” Cookie blurted out, lowering her voice so the other customers in the bakery didn’t pay attention to their conversation almost immediately. “Why on Equestria would that happen!?”

“Well, we can’t not send her the goodies Cookie. She’s a Princess. Plus I imagine now she’d just get some of her staff to come down here if we don’t send it anyway. We’re kinda stuck and just have to hope that it turns out okay when it’s all over.” he explained.

“Oh...damn you and your logic!” Cookie said. “We’re talking about this at home tonight, I can’t go over it in detail now.” she huffed, heading to the back to bake more goodies.

“Very well dear.” Pinny sighed. As much as he loved Cookie, sometimes she didn’t always see how things may turn out. To Pinny, it was obvious. Twilight was going to get fat. Massive even, in fact. But by then, other ponies would be too. It wasn’t going to be so bad as Cookie was making it out in her head. They hadn’t even discussed the idea again of bringing the sugar content back down. It seemed now, it was here to stay, for better or for worse.

Story 32 - The Visit, The Truth

Word has spread about the visit from The Mayor. Upper Crust was even more packed than normal.

Most ponies were waiting outside on the street, there were a number of paparazzi ponies outside armed with cameras, waiting for the arrival.

‘Why are there so many? I thought that letter was just for us.’ Cookie said, making sure there was a batch of baking put aside for The Mayor to sample.

‘I don’t know, perhaps they were told some other way. Word spreads around Manehattan dear, especially involving official business. You should know.’ Pinny replied.

‘I do, oh well. Just make sure this batch.’ Cookie pointed a hoof towards the bag near the counter. ‘Only gets given to The Mayor.’

‘Of course.’ Pinny said.

The Mayor arrived mid-morning just after the rush, a number of ponies were still hanging around. Cookie noticed the large carriage pull up outside, hauled by eight stallions.

‘She’s not exactly one for subtlety.’ Pinny commented as he watched one of the ponies unhitch themselves and then open the door for whoever was inside. Three of the others unhitched themselves too, whilst the remaining four stood around the cart. The three that entered ushered any lingering customers out and then made their way to the counter, with one speaking.

‘You are aware of who you are about to have visit?’ one asked.

‘Yes.’ Pinny said.

‘Good.’ the stallion replied, just nodding a hoof toward the cart, at that point, The Mayor trotted out.

She was a rather regular looking pony, by most respects. Only her official garb really gave her away as something special. She was a pegasus, but with all the jewelry and thick state robes Cookie guessed that she would have a hard time doing any flying. She made her way inside, official state robes being now held by two of the ponies previously guarding the wagon. Pinny and Cookie stood silent as she observed the premises.

‘Cookie Crumble and Rolling Pin?’ The Mayor asked.

‘Yes, madam mayor.’ Cookie replied.

‘Please, call me Shady Palms. I am not one for titles.’ she replied. ‘So then, are we going to play games or are you two going to tell me what it is about your baking that’s making the ponies of my city so incredibly large?’ she asked.

There was hesitation, the two had resolved to come clean but there was still a pause. Eventually however, Cookie spoke up.

‘It’s the sugar.’ she said.

‘The sugar?’ Shady Palms asked.

‘It’s...special. Addictive but also fattening. That’s what does it.’ Cookie said, almost trembling at revealing the secret. ‘Here...I have a batch, you can sample it, or one of your guards, taste the sweetness in it.’ Cookie said, gently but carefully picking the bag up from under the counter and placing it on top.

The Mayor eyed it for a moment, before nodding to one of her guards. The stallion stepped forward and opened the bag, peering inside. ‘Just full of treats ma’am.’ he said.

‘Sample one.’ she replied.

The stallion did as instructed, taking one of the cookies and chewing on it. He ate the entire thing as the whole shop watched as if they were expecting him to explode blubber any second.

‘Very sweet, better than any baking I’ve ever had. I definitely want more.’ he replied, he almost went in for a second cookie, but remembered his training and stepped back.

‘They’re well trained, it would seem you’re telling the truth.’ Shady Palms said. ‘Now here’s my problem. This has all been very successful, for you two. Other bakeries, even chain ones, are struggling. The city is a delicate balance and I like to maintain that. Currently, at the rate you two are going, you’ll end up with a total monopoly over all the bakeries in the city. This is unacceptable.’

‘Hmmm, well that wasn’t our goal...we just want to pay off our debt and bake. This has just...helped.’ Pinny said.

‘Of course, I know businesses look for any edge they can get. So I am going to cut you a deal.’ The Mayor said with a smile. ‘Give me your supplier of this illegal sugar, which if it isn’t, it should be. Then switch to making regular baked goods with regular sugar.’ she said, pausing. ‘For correcting the balance, the city will pay off any outstanding debt you had from setting up your bakery.’

Cookie turned to Pinny. ‘That...that was always our goal, just to bake and be debt free. How can we refuse? I miss baking things I liked to make, without all this special sugar…’ Cookie said, burying her head in his chest. He could feel a few wet tears tumble down her face.

‘I don’t see how we can refuse. You have a deal Shady Palms. Here.’ Pinny said, sliding a small piece of paper across the counter top. ‘That is our supplier.’

One of the guard ponies took it and secreted it away on his person. ‘Perfect, with that, I’ll be taking my leave.’ she said, she was about to turn tail, but Pinny spoke up.

‘There are however...complications. I told you the sugar is addictive. We have a number of large ponies who are regulars that will notice the change, there is also Princess Twilight.’

‘Princess Twilight? What does she possibly have to do with any of this? I doubt she’s even ever heard of your bakery.’ Shady Palms sputtered.

‘Actually, she’s a regular customer, we don’t know her physical state but we’ve been asked to go to Ponyville to answer some questions. We think she’s addicted too. We’ve been sending her boxes of treats daily.’

‘I see.’ The Mayor said, she remained calm. ‘What happens outside Manehattan is usually no concern of mine. However this is Royalty. You must visit, then pass along the outcome to my office. Good day.’ and with those instructions, she was gone. The carriage door shut and as she left, Pinny closed the door and flipped the sign to closed, instructing Doughy to close the hatch.

‘Well...that was less painful than I expected. The secret is out now.’ Pinny said.

‘Yes...we have to make that trip. We need a new sugar supplier...we have to tell Clipsy and worst of all, Princess Twilight.’ Cookie replied.

‘One thing at a time dear, tomorrow we shut and make the trip. Doughy, we will be out a few days at least, just make a daily check on the shop until we’re back and send a letter if anything is wrong, okay?’ Pinny asked.

‘Of course, I can do that, what about Clipsy?’ the young stallion said.

‘Oh right...of course, we’ll have to use the remaining sugar up to keep her fed. I’ll let the stallions who haul her know the advertising is off, we’ll just lose the money. I suppose it doesn’t matter now the debt is going to be paid.’ Pinny said.

‘No it doesn’t...we can deal with her once we’re back, I’ll make enough to keep her fed for a week.’ Cookie said. ‘This is...a lot to take in.’

‘I know, I know. It’s not going to get easier until this is all sorted out, so let's sort it out, okay?’ Pinny said.

‘Yes, let's sort it out.’ Cookie replied.

Upper Crust was closed for the rest of the day. The two went home to pack their bags. The trip to Ponyville was next on the list.