The Cakes' Special Treats

Pinkie spent her morning lounging on the living room couch. She wasn’t doing anything, but she enjoyed not being in her room or the basement. The sun hadn’t even risen, but the Cakes had already started the day.

It had been a couple of weeks since they freed Pinkie from the basement. And she had fallen into a routine. Around 5 a.m. her door would be unlocked, and she could have free rein of the house, aside from the first floor. She typically listened to the Cakes in the shop or watched ponies from the window. Breakfast was at 7 a.m., then she hung out until 7 p.m. to get dinner. At 10, they would lock her door, she would sleep, and the cycle would restart.

She liked it. The house was enormous, and there were tons of windows to watch ponies go about their day. The Cakes didn’t care what she did as long as it was quiet, so she practiced the skills she’d picked up in the last year. She skipped to the window, but somepony called her name.

'What does he want now? He’s supposed to be baking.'

Pinkie Pie apprehensively walked down the stairs to the first floor.

"Carrot Cake?" She asked, standing on the last step, "You called me?"

His head popped around the corner. "Yeah, do you want to watch us bake? You can help too."

"Really!?" Pinkie hopped off the last step and followed Carrot Cake to the kitchen.

She entered the kitchen to see Cupcake carrying a cake pan in her mouth. She spotted Pinkie and waved to her, then deposited the pan in the oven and turned to her husband.

"That’s the last cake. We just need to wait for the others to cool down," she turned to Pinkie, "Do you want to help decorate them?"

Pinkie nodded.

Cupcake smiled and then pointed to the island. "There’s fruit over there. Could you cut the strawberries into slices, please?"

Pinkie washed her hooves and then made her way to the fruit.

"How do you cut fruit?" Pinkie asked.

The Cakes glanced at each other. "You don’t know?" Carrot asked.

Now it was Pinkie’s turn to look at them questioningly. "We eat rocks and flour was a luxury at home. What made you think we had fruit? I’m sure it’s easy compared to butchering ponies, which I can do with no problem."

Nopony said anything after that, but Cupcake taught Pinkie to slice the strawberries. She cut them for the next twenty minutes but had to stop when Carrot Cake opened the oven. She closed her eyes and smelled the aroma wafting from it. It smelled like vanilla and strawberry.

There were 3 large tins, and each held a pink cake. He put them on a wire rack, then turned to Pinkie. "The strawberries are going on that cake. We just have to wait for them to cool."

Pinkie kept slicing strawberries, but she stole glances at the cake. Even with no decoration, it still looked tasty.

"That should be good," Mr. Cake said, referring to the strawberries.

Pinkie shoved a slice in her mouth, then stuck her tongue at him.

The oven beeped, and Mrs. Cake slide a tray of cookies into it.

Carrot Cake grabbed a bowl filled with vanilla buttercream and multiple cake pans containing a chocolate cake. He put them on the counter. Pinkie stood by, watching silently. He removed the cakes from their tins and cut off their domed tops. He placed the discarded pieces on a plate alongside a dollop of icing. It wasn’t pretty, but it still looked delicious. Mr. Cake slid it over to Pinkie.

"I saw you eyeing the strawberry cake. We can give you the scraps, but not a slice, at least not until the shop closes."

It tasted great. The moist chocolate cake paired well with the buttercream. She finished it quickly, then just looked at her plate.

Mr. Cake was humming a song. She didn’t know it, but it sounded nice. He stacked the cakes on top of each other, using buttercream as an adhesive. Once they were in place, he put a thin layer of buttercream on the cake. Then he put a thick layer and spread it all over the cake. He smoothed it out, then shaved a chocolate bar over it.

Pinkie couldn’t stop staring at it. It looked so good. She hoped there would be some food left in the shop when it closed. Probably not, though. The Cakes always sold out their special treats.

Mr. Cake moved it to the display case. It was the first thing in today.

He moved on to the next cake and repeated the process. Pinkie turned her attention to Cupcake, who placed some pastries on a baking tray.

"Is that what cinnamon rolls look like when they’re raw?"

"Yeah. Are you having fun?"

Pinkie nodded, then paused. "Do you two ever get any sleep?"

Cupcake looked up. "What do you mean?"

"You two get up at like 4, then work in the store until 7 p.m.. After that you have to clean the store, feed me, and possibly foalnap somepony. And you also have to clean, cook, maintain friendships, you know, normal pony stuff. You do you two not faint from exhaustion?"

"Honestly, we are exhausted," Carrot Cake said from the sink. He placed the dirty cake pans into it. The sink was overflowing with dishes and it would only fill up more. Just another thing from them to deal with.

"We’re used to it," Cupcake added, "And you’ve actually helped reduce our workload. We already have to make breakfast and dinner for ourselves, so feeding you isn’t a problem. And now that you help kill ponies and harvest the meat, it’s a big time saver."

"But I don’t help with that a lot. Can I help with something else? Like,"- she looked around- "I can wash the dishes!"

Pinkie hopped to the sink, and Cupcake followed. "This is how you wash them. First- "

"I know how to do the dishes," Pinkie interrupted. “We have dishes at home. I helped my mama with them.”

Mrs. Cake stepped back, "Sorry, it’s just you didn’t know how to do some pretty basic things like use a shower or cut fruit, so it’s hard to gauge what you can and can’t do."

"I sorta feel that way with you two. I learned the difference between slate and limestone when I was a baby, but to you, they're both chalk. We just know different things, and that’s okay!"

Cupcake smiled, "Yeah, it’s okay. You should teach us some of the basic things you know. It can be a learning experience for both of us."