Delivery Girl

"Oh, hello again, dear!"

Derpy blinked as the door swung shut behind her. There were several ponies in the shop, most of them browsing display cases and chatting away, but they hadn't spoken to her. The one who had was a portly blue mare who smiled at the new pony from behind a counter, where her front hooves were busy boxing up a bunch of cupcakes. The place smelled of baked heaven, so it was easy for Derpy to match her smile as she waved.

"Hi! I'm Derpy!" she said as she approached the counter. The blue mare giggled.

"And I'm Cup Cake, but we both know that. I'm sorry, just a moment, please." She turned to call towards the room behind her. "Carrot, honey, how long on the cookies for Twist's party?"

"Four minutes!" a masculine voice replied.

"Thank you!" Mrs. Cake turned her attention back to Derpy. "So, what can we get you today?"

Derpy blinked again. What had she come here for? There had been a sign, hadn't there? She looked over her shoulder and spotted another sign by the door.

New in town? Don't leave without your free muffin!

Derpy's face brightened again and she pointed at the sign, then looked back to Mrs. Cake. The mare just giggled. She sure was in a good mood. Success?

"Dear, that's for newcomers. You were just here."

"I was?" Derpy frowned, and felt her ears droop. She didn't remember that. Then again, she had also forgotten why she came in. Still, she was pretty sure the last thing she had done was deliver a pizza, not visit a gingerbread bakery.

"You were," Mrs. Cake confirmed. "Are you alright? You aren't usually this forgetful."

Derpy thought for a moment. So far this afternoon, she had giggled a lot, learned to fly, and gotten a good tip. The hugs had been nice too.

"Yep!" Derpy said. Oh, wait. She had a good tip. Ten bucks was plenty for a muffin!

"It's okay," she added. "I can pay."

"My, you've got an appetite this morning." Cup Cake smiled again and paused in her cake-boxing. "What'll it be, then? Another Blueberry Surprise?"

"Yes please!" Derpy's smile returned, too, and her ears perked up. This was pretty easy. She didn't even have to guess what kinds of muffins were available.

"Lucky for you, we just made another batch," said Mrs. Cake. "Coming right up!"

The blue mare turned around to reach for something, and Derpy struggled with her money, trying not to tear it in the process of extracting it from her hat. Then she remembered she could just take her hat off, giggled, and did so. The folded bill fluttered to the floor, and the hat went back where it belonged.

"Here you are!"

Derpy managed to retrieve her money, and looked up just as Mrs. Cake placed a big blueberry muffin on the counter in front of her. The pegasus's belly rumbled with avarice, and she held up her ten dollar bill. And kept holding it up. After a moment of relative silence, Mrs. Cake took the bill, her eyes shifting between it and her customer.

"Derpy? Where did you get this?" she asked.

"Someone gave it to me for pizza," said Derpy. "He was really nice!"

"Maybe so. This is alien money, dear. It's worth something, I'm sure, but I can't—"

"Hi Mrs. Cake!" Derpy yelled.

Derpy tried to look at her mouth, which didn't work. Weird, hadn't she already said that?

"Oh, good morning, Derpy!" said Cup Cake, turning towards the door. "Can I get you—"

She stopped. Derpy followed her gaze to find a second Derpy walking in, carrying a big brown box on her back. All three of them froze.

Derpy stared at Derpy. The Derpy with a box looked at Mrs. Cake, then slowly turned towards the Derpy by the counter. The blue mare's mouth formed an oh. The Derpys locked gazes. As much as they could, anyway.

Box Derpy grew an enormous smile and set down her cargo. Derpy lifted a hoof and gave her counterpart a nervous little wave. That was a mistake. Box Derpy launched herself across the space between them with a joyful cry. Before she could react, Derpy was tackled into a tumbling mass of hugging, squealing blonde pegasus that only stopped when she hit the back wall of the shop.

Distracted by the sudden appearance of stars, Derpy didn't get up when her double got off of her. Instead, she giggled and batted playfully at the little dancing lights. They were silly. Stars weren't supposed to be inside. Where was her hat? The stars disappeared, though, and now Mrs. Cake stood over her with a look of concern.

"Are you alright, dear?" the blue mare asked.

"My bad," Box Derpy added. She wore a sheepish half-smile, and her hat had gone missing as well.

Derpy thought about it for a moment. Nothing actually hurt, and the other Derpy was very happy to see her for some reason, so everything was alright.

"Yep!" She got up and brushed herself off with her wings, then looked around for her hat.

Everyone was staring at her. Through the fog in her head, it finally occurred to her that maybe there weren't supposed to be two of her, and here she had both gone and made a scene no one could ignore. She opened her mouth to apologize for something, but only stammering came out until Mrs. Cake stepped forward to intervene.

"Okay, everypony, you've all seen Imposter Syndrome before," she said, her Mom Voice rising above the room with absolute authority. "Now mind your own business, and be sure to ask about our sale on pre-decorated cakes!"

The gathered ponies hesitated, then fell to chatting excitedly amongst themselves. Derpy could hear some of them talking about her, but more were discussing the sale. She picked up her hat and gave Mrs. Cake a grateful smile.

"Thank you!"

"Of course," said the blue mare, returning to a casual tone. "Now, I believe this makes your muffin free. Why don’t we get that sorted out?"

"Yes please!" Derpy said, her tail swishing in excitement. She was back in her place at the counter in short order, where Mrs. Cake passed her back the money she had tried to pay with.

"Here's your change," said the blue mare. "I would take that to the bank; it looks particularly ornate, and the Princess's agents should give you plenty for it."

This was super easy, Derpy thought as she tucked the bill behind her left ear. Now she had a muffin and a clear plan.

"And your Blueberry Surprise," said Mrs. Cake, nudging the muffin that was already sitting on Derpy's side of the counter. "Enjoy, dear. Do come back."

"Thank you!” Derpy took her prize from the counter at last and bit off a big chunk.

Sweet and mildly tart blueberry collided with warm, cakey muffin and scattered grains of coarse sugar to play a flavor symphony in yes major in Derpy's mouth. Her body was filled with a pleasant tingling. When she reflexively chewed, the flavor and tingles only intensified, and the rest of the world faded for a moment of focused enjoyment. She closed her eyes and sighed out a note of pure gustatory delight.

Derpy wasn't sure how long it took her to get through that first bite, but when her senses finally cleared, Box Derpy had her wrapped up in another big hug. Mrs. Cake had disappeared, replaced by a yellow-orange stallion who was going through the contents of a large, brown box. The bitten blueberry muffin sat innocently on the counter.

"Um," Derpy said. Her double let go and beamed a smile at her.

"I like you!" Box Derpy let out a giddy laugh. "But I gotta go. Talk to me after work, cutie-muffin!"

Then the other Derpy was out the door and gone, leaving her counterpart blushing, stammering, and unsure what she was even trying to say. The stallion who had picked up counter duty shook his head and chuckled.

"Well, you're not a changeling, so I guess somepony finally got her wish," he said. He pulled his box off the counter. "You be nice, now. She's one of our best customers."

Derpy wasn't sure what a changeling was supposed to be, but it sounded like everything was fine. She had a good day, a good muffin, and pretty ponies who liked her. Success! She pulled herself together enough to nod.

"Yes sir!" she said. Her quick salute knocked her hat off again and she giggled, despite herself. The stallion joined her for a moment.

"Just Mr. Cake to you, Derpy," he said. "Welcome to Ponyville."