Market day was usually a fun day for Applejack. She got to get away from the farm and come to town, chat with friends and acquaintances who stopped by her cart in the marketplace, and perhaps most importantly sell her produce and baked goods to support her family and Sweet Apple Acres. It was a day she always looked forward to every week and today had been no different.
“Er... Ah’d really rather not comment if it’s all the same by y’all...”
Well, at least she had been looking forward to it. Now, however, she was regretting even setting hoof in town that day.
“Oh come on,” an Earth pony mare said to her insistently. “Applejack, you’ve got to have some feelings on the matter!”
“This just isn’t something we can agree on,” a Unicorn mare who had been accompanying the Earth pony mare added. “We’ve been over and over this debate too many times, so we wanted to get the story straight from the horse’s mouth, if you would.”
Applejack sighed and tried once again to defer from actually responding to their question. “Look, Ah respect that y’all are curious ‘bout that, but really... it ain’t somethin’ Ah give any thought to.”
“But you’re so competitive in other things,” the Unicorn mare said insistently. “I would be surprised to hear that you aren’t when it comes to this.”
“Well, Ah...”
“And she’s got to be your biggest rival here, right?” The Earth pony mare added a bit excitedly.
“Really, Ah don’t...”
Sweat beaded on Applejack’s forehead as she desperately looked for a way out of this conversation. Her relief came in the form of the pony the two mares had, in fact, been questioning her about. A familiar pink party pony with a poofy mane and tail and a seemingly permanent spring to her step bounced her way over to Applejack’s cart.
“Top ‘o the mornin’ to ya, Applejack!” Pinkie announced upon arrival. “I came straight over to pick up the apples for Sugarcube Corner! Well, not straight over as I do like bouncing, so it was more kind of a bouncy line. And I had to turn a few corners getting here so it was a bouncy, twisty line really.”
“Ah’ve got yet apples all set here, Pinkie!” AJ said rather exuberantly. “Ah’ll just get ‘em all set so’s ya can-”
“Just the mare we were discussing!” the Earth pony mare says with a grin, cutting Applejack off mid-sentence. “Pinkie, maybe you can settle something for us.”
Pinkie turned to look at the other two mares present, canting her head a bit as she looked at them quizzically.
“Indeed! Tell us plainly now, Pinkie,” the Unicorn mare said. “Who is the better baker in Ponyville: You, or Applejack?”
“Now see here-!” Applejack said, whirling around to glare at the Unicorn mare for her question. She was ready to take her to task right then and there for being so rude towards one of her closest friends.
“Oh that’s easy!” Pinkie said with a smile. “Applejack is hooves-down the best baker in town. Nopony holds a candle to her and the goodies she makes.”
“Told you so,” the Earth pony mare said to the Unicorn mare rather self-righteously.
“I suppose you did,” the Unicorn mare replied with a sigh. “Well, thank you for being so candid with us, Pinkie.”
Pinkie just smiled and waved to the two as they turned and headed off, still a bit embroiled in their debate. Applejack stepped over closer to Pinkie once they’d left.
“Ya shouldn’ta done that, Pinkie,” Applejack told her.
“Why not?” Pinkie asked immediately.
“Ya know Ah don’t like takin’ credit where credit ain’t due! ‘Sides, Ah don’t wanna end up competin’ with you ‘n the Cakes over stuff like this...”
“A little competition never hurt anypony. Besides, it could be fun sometime for me to take another shot at your title of Best Baker in Ponyville.”
Applejack blinked a couple times in confusion. “Whadya mean ‘another shot’?”
“Surely you haven’t forgotten that we settled who was the best baker a long time ago,” Pinkie told her with a smile. “In fact, it wasn’t long after we first met.”
All Applejack had needed was to have her memory jogged just that little bit and she chuckled some at Pinkie. “Yeah, Ah reckon we did settle that way back then. Oh, but Pinkie?”
“Yeah?”
“Don’t call me ‘Shirley’.”
Pinkie did her level best to contain her laughter, but it was a futile gesture. She couldn’t help but bust up laughing at what was both a great joke and a callback to their childhood. Applejack couldn’t help but join her in laughing, both because Pinkie’s laugh was just that infectious and because she had fond memories of the joke as well.
“What say Ah help ya bring these here apples back to Sugar Cube Corner, Pinkie?” Applejack offered as she stepped back over to retrieve the produce once again. “There sure are a lot of ‘em after all. Wouldn’t want ya to strain yourself.”
Pinkie just smirked at her. “I’d be happy for the company, Applejack, but I am an Earth pony too after all. Not to mention a former rock farmer. I can handle a load of apples.”
“Oh Ah know, just thought we could both carry some an’ git ‘r done all the quicker.”
“And maybe have a treat or four afterwards!”
“Er, maybe just one fer me.”
“Only one treat?? How do you get through a day on just one?!”
“Heh, Ah manage...”
As the two mares loaded up the apples and got underway to Sugar Cube Corner, their conversation turned to the time Pinkie had referred to many years ago when they “settled” which of them was the better baker.
Many years earlier . . .
With her saddlebags across her back and her breakfast filling her stomach, Applejack bid Granny Smith goodbye and started on her way to school feeling happier than she could ever remember being before. She wasn’t underway for long before she stopped and turned her head to look back at her flank for a reminder of just why she was so happy. Yes, it was still there. Her recently acquired cutie mark of three apples still adorned her flank on both sides. With a small sigh of relief, she resumed her trek to school, eager to show her cutie mark off to her classmates.
Her day immediately took a turn south when, upon arriving at school, just about everyone there was gathered around the resident Miss Prissy Britches herself: Rarity. Apparently, she had also gotten her cutie mark sometime while Applejack had been in Manehattan. Applejack just grumbled as she passed by the mob in silence. Rarity had always been the center of attention in class, and now she was even more popular than ever.
“So much fer that plan,” Applejack muttered to herself as she took her seat. As soon as she sat down, though, she noticed a brand new desk sitting next to hers on the left. No one had ever sat next to her before in class as she had always been the only one in the back row. Before Applejack didn’t get to puzzle about it too much, though. Her teacher, Miss Glory, made her way into the schoolhouse, which immediately commanded the attention of all the kids in the room.
“Alright, everypony, take your seats,” Miss Glory told them, using her magic to levitate the chalk up to the board to begin writing. “We have a big day of learning ahead of us, but first I have a surprise for you all. We have a new filly joining us today! Come on in, dear.”
The murmurs immediately sprang up amongst the class about what the new filly would be like. Applejack immediately figured the new desk was intended for her and leaned over a bit to look down the row to get a good look at who’d be sitting next to her.
In walked a somewhat timid-looking, pink Earth pony with a flat pink mane and a cutie mark of three balloons, two blue and one yellow. She walked up next to Miss Glory and turned to face the class a bit nervously, her light blue eyes trying to avoid eye contact with everyone that sat in front of her..
“I’m, um... Pinkamina Diane Pie,” she said, introducing herself.
“Pinkamina comes to us from her family’s rock farm outside of town,” Miss Glory said as she finished writing the new filly’s name on the board for everyone to see. “Please make her feel welcome and I hope you all become good friends very quickly. Now, Pinkamina, your desk is in the back there. Go have a seat and we’ll begin our lessons for the day.”
Applejack quickly sat back upright as Pinkamina made her way to the back and sat at the new desk. Applejack turned and flashed a smile and small wave to her, but Pinkamina didn’t seem to register the gesture of welcoming, being far too nervous about things to be terribly sociable. Applejack sighed a little and turned to start paying attention to the lesson, resolving to try to get to know her better at lunch.
As lessons went on, Applejack stole a few glances here and there at Pinkamina to check on her. She seemed to settle down well enough, but kept completely silent and never once raised her hoof. Applejack had never met a quieter pony in her life. Getting to know her better at lunch might be more difficult than she anticipated, but someone had to try and reach out to her. With Rarity likely commanding most of the attention at lunchtime just as she had before class, Applejack figured she might be the only one who’d even try to do so. Sure enough, when lunchtime rolled around and everyone headed outside to eat and play, Pinkamina was completely alone sitting under one of the trees next to the school while Rarity was surrounded by most of the class on the playground. Applejack rolled her eyes and made her way over to Pinkamina with her lunch bag.
“Mind if Ah sit here too?” Applejack asked as she stepped up to the pink filly.
“Um... no, I don’t mind.” Pinkamina replied a bit timidly.
Applejack sat down next to her and started to get her lunch out of its bag. “So... yer a farmer too, huh?”
Pinkamina just nodded. “Yeah... rock farm.”
“Well that’s great! Ah live on an apple farm. Sweet Apple Acres, in fact. Ah’m Applejack, by the way.”
“I’m Pinkamina... but, you knew that already I guess...”
“So what’s rock farmin’ like?”
“We get up, we move the rocks that need moving, we eat and sleep. That’s about it. Well, as much as my parents let me and my sisters do.”
“Ah know that feelin’. Granny Smith ‘n Big Macintosh only let me do little things ‘round the farm. Ah know Ah could do more, but they just won’t let me.”
Pinkamina sighed heavily as she nodded at Applejack. “Tell me about it. Sometimes my sisters and I sneak off and practice breaking some bigger rocks on another part of the farm. It’s pretty fun... well, as much fun as we usually have. It is a rock farm after all.”
“Yeah, farm life ain’t always parties ‘n such, but it’s still rewardin’ when ya know ya put in an honest day’s work. Ah mean, surely it’s not all bad fer ya, right?”
“I guess you’re right. But Applejack?”
“Yeah?”
“Don’t call me ‘Shirley’.”
Applejack blinked a few times, not quite understanding the comment until she saw a smile begin to break across Pinkamina’s face. It had been a joke playing off of what she’d just said, and once Applejack figured it out she couldn’t help but laugh some. Her laughter quickly grew and was joined by Pinkamina’s just moments later.
“Well, what can Ah call ya then?” Applejack asked once she was able to stop laughing. “Ya got a nickname or anythin’?”
Pinkamina shook her head some. “No... my family is pretty traditional. My sisters Inkamina and Blinkamina and I always go by our full names at home.”
Applejack hummed a bit as she gave it some thought. “Well, ya ain’t home now, so... let’s see... what about ‘Pinkie’?”
“Pinkie?” Pinkamina repeated, tilting her head a bit. Applejack nodded and smiled at her.
“Yeah. Ah’ll just call ya Pinkie. And you can call me AJ fer short. Y’know, just here at school. A little somethin’ between friends.”
Pinkamina blinked widely and leaned towards Applejack some more. “You... you’d be my friend?”
“Sure would!” Applejack replied with a big smile. “Ya seem mighty nice, Pinkie, and besides... us farm ponies gotta stick together, right?”
The smile that had been on Pinkie’s face spread wider and wider and then, all of a sudden, her flat mane and tail suddenly poofed out and took on a look similar to cotton candy. She threw her forelegs around Applejack in a big hug, her smile practically going from ear to ear.
“ThankyouthankyouTHANKYOU!” Pinkie said, now sounding far more bubbly and energetic. “I was sososososoooooo nervous starting school today because I didn’t know anypony, but now I know somepony and she’s you! And you’re nice and sweet and awesome and smell like apples!”
“Heh, um... thanks?” Applejack couldn’t come up with much more of a response. She didn’t usually get complimented on such qualities, least of all how she smelled. Still, she didn’t really mind it. She’d just made a new friend, after all. That alone was enough to make the day quite a lot better than it had been so far.
The rest of that week of school found Applejack and Pinkie Pie spending whatever free time they had together. They ate lunch together, shared stories from their families and life on their farms, and of course played together as much as possible. By the time Friday rolled around, both were looking forward to getting together for the weekend and furthering their newfound friendship with yet more of the same.
“Now before I dismiss you all for the weekend, there’s one more announcement,” Miss Glory said as she worked to erase the blackboard. “As you all know, our school play was a tremendous success last week thanks to the efforts of our fine arts teacher, Miss Pencil Pusher, as well as the fabulous costumes made by your classmate, Rarity.”
A round of applause struck up in the room as everyone once again focused on Rarity, who simply smiled and waved to her adoring classmates. Applejack rolled her eyes and only barely joined in the adulations being showered on the fashionista Unicorn filly. Pinkie, however, clapped her hooves together furiously despite not knowing just what she was applauding. Miss Glory put a hoof up to get everyone to settle down once again so she could continue.
“As we announced at the end of the play, our Fall Festival is coming up on Sunday. We’ll be having games with prizes, snacks for everypony and their family, and of course a cake walk. Now I need some volunteers to bake some treats for the cake walk. Would anypony like to-”
Pinkie all but rocketed out of her seat to throw her hooves into the air. “Ooo! Ooo! We’ll do it! Applejack and I will bake some of the yummiest treats of all time!”
Applejack suddenly got a horrified look on her face and found herself stammering to try and get Pinkie’s attention, but Miss Glory only giggled and nodded in acknowledgment to Pinkie.
“Very well. Applejack and Pinkamina will handle baking for the cake walk,” Miss Glory said. “Thank you very much, girls. I know we’ll all look forward to seeing just what you make.”
“You can count on me and my bestest friend in the whole wide world, Miss Glory!” Pinkie said as she sat back down with an enormous smile on her face. Applejack could only sigh and hang her head in silence.
As soon as class was dismissed, Pinkie hopped out of her seat and right next to Applejack, bouncing in place some.
“Won’t this be a super-duper fun way to spend the weekend?” Pinkie asked, her excitement knowing no bounds at present.
“Pinkie, Ah... Ah’m not too sure ‘bout this.” Applejack said reluctantly as she got her saddlebags together. “Ah mean, have you ever baked anything before?”
“Hmm... now that you mention it, I haven’t. Mother doesn’t let me or my sisters near the oven. Not even to help making stone soup.”
“Granny Smith lets me watch her in the kitchen, but Ah sure ain’t ever baked anythin’ either. So how’re we gonna make anythin’ all that great for the class if neither of us can bake?”
Pinkie put a forehoof to her chin as she thought for a few moments while Applejack continued packing her bags. All at once she jumped in place as the idea came to her.
“I’ve got it! One of Father’s cousins just opened a new bakery in town. I’m sure we could go see him and ask for his help!”
Applejack looked at her skeptically as she slung her saddlebags across her back. “You sure he won’t mind?”
“Of course he won’t mind! He’s really nice and a really good baker too. Why don’t we go see him tomorrow?”
“Well, Ah reckon it’s worth a try. Where d’ya wanna meet up tomorrow?”
“Let’s just meet here at the schoolhouse and I’ll show you the way to the bakery.”
“All right. Tomorrow, then.”
Before she could turn to head out, Applejack found herself hugged again by Pinkie. She chuckled a bit and hugged her back. Pinkie, it turned out, was certainly big on hugs.
“We’re gonna have loads of fun with this, AJ, I just know it!” Pinkie told her before she let go of her to grab her own saddlebags.
“If nothin’ else, at least we’ll be together.” Applejack added with a smile. “Even if we ain’t got a lick ‘o bakin’ skill between us.”
Pinkie giggled and nodded as they left the schoolhouse, only parting ways when they came to the point in the road where they had to turn towards their respective homes. Applejack couldn’t help but feel somewhat skeptical about the likelihood that the two of them would be able to produce anything even edible for the cake walk, but Pinkie had nothing but confidence as she bounced along home. She was going to do this with her best friend, after all. It couldn’t possibly turn out bad.
Applejack could only stare, mouth agape, at the building in front of which she and Pinkie currently stood. As they’d agreed the previous day, they’d met at the schoolhouse and Pinkie had led the way through town to the new bakery that belonged to her father’s cousin. Applejack had been expecting it to be the same as any other building in town, but upon their arrival she realized that this was one place she would never have to worry about forgetting just where it was in town.
The bakery looked like a gingerbread house that had been made big enough to actually live in. The roof looked like it was made of chocolate cookies, and what looked like icing lined it all the way around. The icing also decorated a few more “cookies” by the entrance to the shop and the chimney that sat to one side of the roof. Atop the roof sat two more small floors that looked like two giant cupcakes had been dropped on top of each other. The effect this had on Applejack was that she didn’t know if “amazing” or “delicious” was a better way to describe how it looked.
“This is yer daddy’s cousin’s bakery?” she asked Pinkie as they approached the building.
“Yessiree!” Pinkie replied with a giggle. “Doesn’t it just look like the best bakery ever? He even gave it a great name: Sugarcube Corner! Oh, but do yourself a favor and don’t lick the walls or try to eat any part of the house. It’s not actually made of sugar. Or cake. Or anything tasty at all.”
“How d’ya know? It sure looks like the real deal t’me.”
“Trust me. I spent two days sick to my stomach in bed after I found out the hard way.”
Deciding to not make Pinkie drudge up further memories about the experience she’d just related, Applejack followed her friend up into Sugarcube Corner. As soon as they were in the door, both fillies couldn’t help but sigh happily as they were greeted by the scents of freshly baked goods and treats of all kinds. It was almost enough to make them both forget about the reason they were there in the first place, but they snapped out of their daze after a few moments of fantasizing about the many goodies that were on display. As they approached the counter, Pinkie got a confused look on her face as standing on the other side wasn’t her father’s cousin, but a teenaged mare she’d never seen before. She had a light blue coat, simple pink earrings, and her two-tone pink mane and tail were styled in such a way that they almost looked like strawberry frosting.
“Hello there,” the mare said in a pleasant, if slightly accented, tone. “What can I do for you two cute little fillies today?”
“Well I was hoping to catch my father’s cousin, Mr. Carrot Cake, here today,” Pinkie said, still not sure what to make of the mare. “Where is he? And who’re you?”
“Oh, Carrot just stepped out for a while,” the mare replied as she made her way around the counter. “The bank is still giving him a hard time about the loan he took out to build and open this place, you see. He asked me to keep an eye on the store for him while he went to try and sort things out. I’m his, uh... well, I’m a friend of his. My name’s Cup Cake.”
“Are ya related to Mr. Cake?” Applejack asked curiously. Cup Cake quickly shook her head at her in response.
“Oh heavens no, I’m originally from around Baltimare. My family moved here when I was just a filly, right about your age. Carrot’s family has lived in Ponyville for generations. I’ve known him a long time and... well, we’re just good friends is all, really.”
“A mare who’s his friend?” Pinkie asked, trading looks with Applejack for a moment. “Would that make you his marefriend?”
“Oh well I er that is um...” Cup Cake fidgeted in place a bit and blushed heavily at the notion. “N-no, I’m not... well, not yet I suppose. I mean he doesn’t seem to mind having me around, and if he asked I guess I wouldn’t mind going on a date or something...”
Cup Cake continued to ramble to herself about the idea of starting to date Carrot Cake, which only made both Pinkie and Applejack make faces of disgust at the idea. To them, colts were quite obviously too dumb and icky to do much of anything with. Even playing with them on the playground at school was iffy.
“Ah think we get the idea, Ms. Cake,” Applejack finally said, which seemed to snap Cup Cake back to reality. “D’ya know when Mr. Cake’ll be back?”
“I’m sorry to say I don’t,” Cup Cake said with a small frown. “Depending on how much he needs to get straightened out at the bank, he could be gone for most of the day.”
Both Pinkie and Applejack sighed heavily and looked down at the floor in disappointment. Cup Cake stepped over, now concerned as she saw the despondent looks on their faces.
“Girls? Is something the matter?” she asked as she looked over them.
“Well, we volunteered to make some treats for our school’s Fall Festival tomorrow.” Pinkie told her. “For the cake walk. But neither of us can bake, and I thought Mr. Cake might be able to help us out.”
“But if he ain’t gonna be here, Ah reckon we’re up a creek without a paddle,” Applejack added. “Both our families are farm families, and they’re mighty busy with farm work so we can’t ask them fer help.”
Cup Cake couldn’t help but grin and giggle a bit at them. “You know, girls, I could help you out instead if you like. I happen to be fairly talented at baking myself, after all.”
Pinkie and Applejack immediately looked up at her, hope restored to them almost instantly.
“Pleeeeeease!!!” they both pleaded in unison. Cup Cake could only giggle some more at how adorable the two of them were.
“I’d be happy to,” she told them cheerily as she turned towards the counter again. “Come on into the kitchen with me and we’ll figure out just what to make.”
Applejack and Pinkie looked at each other with excited grins now and quickly followed Cup Cake behind the counter and into the kitchen of Sugarcube Corner. To them, it was simply huge. Two long counters sat on either side of it with a huge oven at the other end of the room. Atop the counters were all sorts of treats that were still cooling from having just recently come out of the oven. If the smell of the baked goods from outside the kitchen had been only pleasant, inside it was simply heavenly to the fillies.
“Now you girls said this is for a cake walk, right?” Cup Cake asked as she grabbed an apron off of a hook on the wall and started to tie it onto herself. “How many kids are in your class?”
“Countin’ us, lessee there’s... um...” Applejack looked down at her hooves and muttered to herself as she tried to count everyone up that she could remember.
“Don’t forget to carry the one.” Pinkie told her, trying to help her out.
“Don’t use them fancy mathematics with me, Pinkie! Y’know it gets me all confused! Ah ain’t never gonna be good at ‘em!”
Pinkie giggled some at her friend’s reaction. “Oh, right. Sorry, AJ.”
Applejack took a few more moments to count their classmates up in her head and then looked at Cup Cake again. “Countin’ me ‘n Pinkie, there’s fourteen kids in our class.”
“Plus everypony’s parents will be there too,” Pinkie added. “As well as any brothers and sisters.”
“Goodness, girls, that’s quite a lot of ponies to bake for,” Cup Cake said while starting to get measuring cups and ingredients out.
“So maybe we could just make one super-huge-ginormous cake that everyone could win slices from!” Pinkie suggested, bouncing in place as she spoke.
Cup Cake couldn’t help but laugh some at the idea. It wasn’t wrong, of course, but a bit out of reach for two young fillies. “Or you could make lots of little cakes so everyone could win one for themselves,” she suggested.
“Oh yeah! That’d work too!” Pinkie said, bouncing in place giddily again.
“So can ya help us do that, Ms. Cake?” Applejack asked. Cup Cake again couldn’t help but laugh.
“My name isn’t ‘Cup Cake’ because my talent is making pasta, you know,” she told them, spinning a mixing bowl on one forehoof before setting it on the counter. “Now pay close attention, girls. I’m going to show you how to make one of the finest, most fun treats in the whole world.”
Pinkie and Applejack stood back and watched as Cup Cake began working, humming a bit of a tune as she did. Before long, she was practically dancing around the kitchen, and even more surprising was that she broke into song as well.
“All you have to do is take a cup of flour, add it to the mix!”
As she sang, she expertly scooped up the amount of flour in a measuring cup and poured it into the mixing bowl. She twirled and picked up the sugar and salt, then.
“Now just take a little something sweet, not sour! A bit of salt, just a pinch!”
She added the sugar and salt to the flour and began giving them a stir while her tail curled around a bottle of vanilla extract on the counter next to the bowl.
“Baking these treats is such a cinch! Add a teaspoon of vanilla! Add a little more and you count to four and you never get your fill-a!”
Continuing her song, Cup Cake added eggs, butter, and milk to the bowl as well and then began mixing it all up into a batter.
“Cupcakes: so sweet and tasty! Cupcakes: don’t be too hasty! Cupcakes... cupcakes cupcake cupcakes!”
As she finished the song, Cup Cake poured the batter from the bowl into a cupcake tin that she’d prepared before starting to mix things up by inserting cupcake liners into each of the holders in the tin. Each liner got precisely the same amount of batter, and once done she spun the tin on one forehoof as her tail wrapped around the handle of the oven and pulled it open. She then slid the cupcakes into the oven, gave the door a light kick with a hind leg to close it, and then hopped back over in front of Applejack and Pinkie. The two fillies were a bit dumbstruck at how easy she’d made it all look.
“That... was... AMAZING!” Pinkie said exuberantly.
“Sure was!” Applejack added, her eyes and smile both wide. “Ah reckon we’ll have these cupcakes made in a snap!”
“Now girls, this task was given to you, not me.” Cup Cake told them with a smirk on her face. “And it’s for your school. Wouldn’t it be better if you were the ones to make them, then?”
“But... we ain’t ever baked anythin’ before...” Applejack said. “And we’d probably just make a big ol’ mess in here.”
“Not to mention end up with a bunch of burned cupcakes.” Pinkie added. “Can’t you please just make them for us?”
Cup Cake just shook her head at them. “Girls, if I just make them for you, you’ll never learn how to make them yourselves. Besides, you never know. You two might just have a knack for baking.”
“But we both already got our cutie marks.” Applejack noted. “How’re we s’posed to be good at somethin’ we don’t got a cutie mark for?”
“Just because you have a cutie mark and have found your true talent doesn’t mean you can’t be good at other things as well, you know.” Cup Cake told her. “It’s important to be good at a lot of things so when you’re older you more than just a one-trick pony. My passion is cupcake making, but that’s not all I can bake. I’m a pretty good cook as well, and if I do say so I also know a few good moves on the dancefloor.”
Applejack and Pinkie both thought about Cup Cake’s words for a few moments before looking at each other again.
“Well, we did wanna do this t’gether,” Applejack said to her friend.
“And Miss Glory did say everypony would look forward to what we’d make.” Pinkie added. “But... I’m still a little scared of the oven. Mother always warns my sisters and I that it can get really hot.”
“I’ll tell you what, then,” Cup Cake said, sitting down in front of them. “You two handle making the batter and pouring it into the tins, and I’ll take care of putting them into and taking them out of the oven. Then, once they’ve cooled, you can decorate or frost them however you like. Deal?”
Applejack and Pinkie looked at each other and nodded before looking up at Cup Cake again, both of them with big smiles on their faces.
“Deal!” the fillies said in unison.
Cup Cake smiled and stood back, ready to offer advice and encouragement as the two fillies started the task of making their own cupcake batter. They both started humming and trying to sing her cupcake-making song as they worked, and Cup Cake couldn’t help but join in to help them learn the words, and the recipe, properly. It would end up being a long and rather messy process, that much she knew; however, there was no doubt in her mind that their efforts would be rewarded in more ways than one.
The next day, at the Fall Festival for their school, Applejack and Pinkie Pie were showered with praise from classmates and adults alike at the cupcakes they’d made for the cake walk. They weren’t the prettiest cupcakes around, and some were quite a bit bigger than others, but the effort put into them had been evident.
“Girls, those cupcakes are simply a hit,” Miss Glory told them as she finished one of the treats herself. “Which of your parents did the baking?”
“Well, Miss Glory, actually we both—” Applejack started to say, only to be bumped and cut off mid-sentence by Pinkie.
“Applejack made them, Miss Glory!” Pinkie told her. “She’s hooves down the best baker in our class. Maybe even the best in town!”
Applejack couldn’t have looked more confused if she’d tried, but before she could protest she saw a bright, blue ribbon float over to her from Miss Glory.
“Well then I’d say you earned this ribbon for your efforts, Applejack,” Miss Glory told her. “Congratulations on a job well done!”
“Uh... thank ya kindly, ma’am...” Applejack said meekly, a proud smile nonetheless on her face. As soon as Miss Glory moved on to greet more families at the festival, though, Applejack turned to look at Pinkie. “Pinkie, why’d ya go ‘n do that? We both worked so hard on them cupcakes... you deserve this ribbon at least as much as Ah do!”
Pinkie just smiled warmly at her friend and said...
“I just wanted to bring a smile to my best friend’s face. That’s all.”
Applejack and Pinkie had long since put away the apples for Sugarcube Corner and were at a table in the bakery enjoying a couple of cupcakes themselves while reminiscing about their first meeting and the Fall Festival that year.
“Ah appreciate the sentiment, Pinkie, really Ah do.” Applejack told her. “Just like Ah did back then. But it just ain’t right for me to take all that credit fer m’self. ‘Specially since Ah don’t make mah livin’ bakin’ things like you do. And the things you make are a lot fancier than mah stuff. You’re the one who deserves all that praise if ya ask me.”
“It’s not like we don’t get a lot of business anyway, AJ,” Pinkie replies as she finishes off the last bit of her cupcake. “But let me ask you something.”
“What is it?”
“What do you think my special talent is?”
Applejack thought for a moment, looking at Pinkie’s cutie mark as she did. “Well, Ah always reckoned it was throwin’ parties ‘n makin’ fantastic treats.”
“That’s a good guess, but not quite right.” Pinkie told her. “When I first got my cutie mark, I thought the same thing. After all, I got it after I threw a party for my family for the first time. But that wasn’t really it. My talent is making others smile. Whether that’s throwing them a blow-the-roof-off-the-house party, telling them a funny joke, or just sitting down and having a cupcake with them... what I do better than anything is bring smiles to the faces of the ponies around me. And I’ve learned a lot of ways to do just that. It’s kinda like how Mrs. Cake told us way back then how we should learn how to do lots of different things. I mean, your talent isn’t just growing apples, right?”
“Heck no, we do loads more at Sweet Apple Acres than just grow apples. Though that is our specialty, naturally. Ah get a lotta pride ‘n satisfaction outta bein’ a help to mah family and the town.”
“And part of that, for both of us, has been baking things.”
“Sure has. Ah reckon there ain’t a bakin’ recipe around that we can’t make.”
“But for all the recipes we’ve learned and made together, there’s one recipe that we both learned on our own.”
“Which one’s that?”
“The simple recipe for true happiness in life, and all you have to do for that is find a way to make someone else happy.”
Applejack couldn’t help but chuckle at the oddly sage wisdom coming from Pinkie of all ponies.
“Ah reckon that’s a real good way to look at it, Pinkie. But all the same, it’d make me mighty happy to see you get some of the attention sometime.”
“AJ, I’ve helped save Equestria now four times, I’ve attended the Grand Galloping Gala, I’ve planned the reception for a royal wedding which you did the baking for by the way, and I’ve helped put on a fair for the Crystal Empire. How much more attention do I need?”
“Y’know all that stuff happened to me too, Pinkie. As well as our other friends.”
“That just makes those things even more special because we got to enjoy them together!”
As the two friends shared a laugh together after their trip down memory lane and subsequent discussion, Cup Cake entered the room after having finally gotten Pound Cake and Pumpkin Cake put to bed for the night.
“Well, it’s always nice to see two such good friends as you two enjoying a moment together.” she said with a smile. The smile quickly faded as she sighed and looked towards the kitchen. “I wish I had time for a moment, but tomorrow’s cupcakes aren’t going to bake themselves.”
Pinkie and Applejack traded smiles and nods before looking back towards their one time mentor in baking.
“We’d be happy to do that for ya, Mrs. Cake.” Applejack told her.
“Yeah, it’d be our pleasure.” Pinkie added. “And we’ll have it done in no time.”
“You girls are just gems, you know?” Cup Cake told them with a smile. “I’ll leave it to you two, then. You certainly know the recipe for how to do things right, after all.”
Applejack and Pinkie just traded looks and smiles with each other once again. That was one recipe they both certainly knew by heart, better than any other.
