Upper Crust

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.