Popped

Part I - Out Of The Frying Pan

The sweet scent of freshly baked blueberry muffins filled the air as Mrs.Cake opened the oven door. Equipped with her oven mitt, she carefully leaned into the furnace, feeling the hot air against her face as she removed the scalding hot metal tray. She placed it carefully onto the counter top in the middle of the kitchen, returned the oven mitt to its proper place, and called out to her assistant in her usual motherly tone. "Pinkie, dear, could you come here a second? The muffins are ready to be put on display."

She waited patiently for a few seconds, but received no reply.

"Dearie? The muffins are out of the oven." She called in a louder voice, scrunching her nose slightly. "Could you spare a minute?"

She waited for another few seconds, but still failed to hear the response she had hoped for.

With a roll of her eyes, Mrs.Cake removed the oven mitt from the rack and picked up the tray. She trotted towards the bakery's main room, a slight scowl adorning her face. If there was anything Mrs.Cake disliked more than anything, it was being ignored. As soon as she passed through the saloon-style doors, however, her jaw dropped, nearly causing the hot tray of muffins to fall onto the floor.

The bakery was absolutely swarming with ponies. Lacking any kind of organization, they filled every inch of her vision. Today was the day before Hearth's Warming Eve, which meant that Sugarcube Corner was having its annual holiday sale. Mrs.Cake knew that business would be moving much faster than usual, but this was unlike anything she had ever seen. Sure, on particularly busy days the line could sometimes extend out the door, but such a thing would be a luxury at the moment. There were at least four ponies at the counter all trying to order at once, and the mare in charge at the moment was quite visibly stressed out.

A young mare piped up. "Can I get a dozen chocolate cupcakes please?"

"Sure thing! A dozen chocolate cupca-"

Another pony shoved his way up to the counter. "Hey! Can I get, um...half a dozen scones?

"Of course sir, but could you wait a mi-"

The young mare spoke again. "Yes. No, wait. Could you make that a dozen cupcakes and a slice of red velvet please? To go?"

As quickly as she could, Pinkie Pie scribbled down the torrent of orders on a small sheet of yellow lined paper.

Another stallion pushed his way up to the front and placed three bits on the counter. "Two banana bread muffins, please."

Pinkie scribbled down orders at an ever-quickening pace. Her usually cheerful visage transformed into one of frustration, her handwriting becoming more and more illegible as the page filled up.

Taking a step back, Cupcake turned to the mob and raised her voice. "Excuse me?"

Expecting everypony to comply, she scanned her eyes across the crowd. Not a single one of them looked up.

She took another step back and stamped one hoof on the ground as hard as she could. "EXCUSE ME!" She yelled. "Would you all please stop acting like foals and form a single-file line? I swear! The nerve of you ponies!"

An awkward silence hung over the room. With many looks of shame and embarrassment quickly forming among the crowd, everypony hung their heads and formed a somewhat organized line which eventually extended out of the building and down a few blocks. As they did so, Pinkie let out a small sigh of relief. "Oh, thank goodness..."

* * *

The bell of the cash register rang as the final customer collected his food and wished Pinkie and the Cakes a happy Hearth's Warming. As soon as the door shut behind the satisfied customer, Pinkie collapsed onto the counter top.