This is dedicated to tbehartoo on Tumblr, as the first part of their giveaway from last year. Sorry it took me so long.

I had super fun writing this, and planning out all the wackiness, y'all. I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I did writing it.

Thanks go to raijindork for helping me edit!

Erza smiled and waved at the passersby that greeted her in her early morning walk. The people of Magnolia adored the Titania, and her daily excursions (when she was in the town, anyway) were the cause of some fanfare. Not minding particularly much, Erza just accepted it as a part of being from Fairy Tail, as well as an S-class wizard. All of the S-class wizards had more or less the same semi-fanatical followings, regardless of what guild they were a part of. Including Ichiya. Meeting his fan club had been… terrifying for Erza.

The only the notable exception to this phenomenon was Mystogan. While he had been known, it was more quietly so, as he had obsessively kept to himself (not that she blamed him, now that she knew the truth behind why that was). That being said, Erza was pretty sure there was a Sorcerer Weekly column or two devoted entirely to speculating on his "mysteriousness."

Thus far her morning had been pleasant. Team Natsu had wrapped up a job in the afternoon the day prior, only doing relatively minor damage to Fiore's landscape. So she'd gone to bed at a reasonable hour for once, and had woken up early. She'd gotten some practice with her weapons and armor in for a while, but now it was time for her usual calorie bomb: a scrumptious, beautifully decorated cake from her favorite patisserie.

But when she found herself in front of the shop, she suddenly halted, staring in abject horror at the glaring Closed sign hanging in the window. In all of her years of her (very dedicated) patronage, this was the first time she'd seen this happen. They had even been open after all the damage caused by the in-fighting from Laxus's failed takeover attempt!

Peering into the depths of the shop, she can't see a single sweet thing on the shelves, either.

Mouth set in a hard line, Erza decided to try out her second-favorite shop. Maybe they'd know what had happened. If the shop had gone out of business, Erza would have to hold a memorial service in its honor. Although she sincerely doubted that had occurred, given how many Jewels Erza had singlehandedly poured into the shop over the years. Hell, how many she'd poured in this month alone could have kept it in the black for at least a year.

No matter. She would figure this out, get her morning snack, and all would be well in her world once more.

Only to find that her second choice had closed its doors as well, the shelves as barren as at the last place.

Dread filled the pit of Erza's stomach. One shop closing was terrible, two was an unprecedented tragedy. What was going on, here? Without further thought, she took off down the street to another shop that she knew of. Closed as well. And the next one. And the next.

Denegation growing with each closed sweet shop she encountered, Erza frantically searched the entirety of Magnolia for a single available cake. This shouldn't be possible! This couldn't be real! Was there not one sweet thing available in the town for Erza to consume? Was she dreaming, still? Was this all just a horrible nightmare, and when she woke up the cakes would all be safe and sound?

After two hours of fruitless – or rather, sugarless – searching, Erza finally trudged, defeated, to the guild. Maybe Mirajane would have something in stock for her. When she arrived, barely anyone was there – it yet being too early for most of the late risers that comprised the bulk of Fairy Tail's ranks.

Lucy was already seated at the bar, idly flipping pages of Sorcerer Weekly as she sipped coffee. The blonde's caffeine addiction was well known to the guild at large by this point, none daring to approach her until she'd had at least two cups in her. It was an addiction that started only after her induction into the guild, as it turned out. She claimed that she needed it in order to deal with her crazy, chaotic teammates.

Judging from the half-smile on her face, Erza deemed that Lucy was already past her grouchy phase, and therefore safe to interact with. "Good morning, Lucy," she greeted her teammate, taking a seat beside her.

Glancing up, Lucy's smile widened upon seeing Erza. "Good morning, Erza!" she chirped back. Then her face fell, upon seeing Erza's misery. "Or I guess not. Is something wrong? Can I help at all?"

Erza sighed heavily. Sorrow coating her voice, Erza explained the morning's tribulations to the empathetic blonde. If there was something that Lucy could understand, it was not getting her morning fix.

"I'm so sorry, Erza," she consoled. "That has to be horrible."

With a sniff, Erza nodded. "It really is."

"But I'm sure Mira can get you something to make you perk right up!" Lucy stated brightly.

Before Erza could thank her, Mirajane stepped out from the back, with an apologetic look on her face. "Sorry, Erza. I'm afraid I'm going to have to ration what sugar I have for a while. All of Magnolia is undergoing severe sugar rationing, in fact."

"Why?" Erza questioned, floored by this turn of events. "What is going on with this city today?!" She slammed her fist into the countertop, her skin beginning to glow and her hair waving all around as she requipped into her standard armor. "Who do I have to fight to fix this?!"

Mirajane giggled, and held out a flyer to the irate redhead. "Actually, a request about that just came in this morning. Seems that a sea monster has been attacking the sugar shipments lately, so it's been difficult getting any supply in."

Snatching it from the barmaid's hands, Erza's eyes roved furiously over the specifics of the request.

"Master Makarov was going to designate it as an S-Class job," Mirajane continued. "Seems that a few mages from other guilds have tried to defeat it, but didn't have any luck." Topping off Lucy's coffee, she smiled at the girl.

"Good thing I like my coffee black," Lucy commented.

"Indeed."

"Where are the boys?" Erza suddenly asked, turning on Lucy with menace in her gaze that put Lucy into instant survival mode. By this point, she was all-too familiar with the machinations of Erza's mind, so she had an inkling as to what was coming next.

"Natsu and Happy are fishing, I think!" squeaked the celestial mage. "And I haven't seen Gray yet, today. Maybe he went on a job…?"

That had apparently been the wrong thing to say, as Erza's face darkened further. "It'll take too long to get them, and I can't afford to wait that long," she announced, throwing the flyer on the bar in front of Mirajane. "Lucy and I are taking this job." She grabbed Lucy's arm and proceeded to drag the yelping and protesting girl through the guild, towards the doors.

"My coffee!" Lucy's arms flailed, reaching out for her mug left behind on the counter. "I wasn't done, yet!"

Mirajane waved cheerfully at the pair, pointedly ignored the terrified pleading for salvation smeared across Lucy's face. "Have fun, you two! Try not to destroy too much!"

"I will make no guarantees!" Erza snarled in return.

Lucy's ensuing wail of despair echoed throughout the guild hall.