//------------------------------// // Whipped Cream // Story: A Bridge to Somewhere // by Skywriter //------------------------------// "Whipped cream is just this terrible, terrible thing. "Sounds silly, right? It's delicious on pumpkin pie... in a trifle... a big dollop of it on top of a steamy mug of cocoa. I should know, right? Here's me, proud little heiress of the Silverbelle and Daughters Automagic Bakery Supply Company. I know my whipped cream six ways from Sunday. Did you know that a short, intense burst of heat right before packaging can keep whipping cream fresh for three times longer than conventionally-processed stuff? Makes transit out to the frontier a snap! "Hm? "Oh, I'm... sorry. I thought you knew. Yes, those Belles. The Pies That Tamed the Southwest. "Celestia above, I am so... I'm so tired of being a 'those.' "I used to love whipped cream. I'd put it on everything. I was just... so proud to work for my grandmare, shipping fine flour and pure sugar and fresh cream everywhere in Equestria. Every little thing I baked reminded me of my family, my place in it. "I remember being so excited to finally visit Appleloosa. Me, a full-grown mare, and never so much as a day-trip to see the extended family in Ponyville. Literally never set hoof outside Canterlot. Isn't that crazy? There I was, muzzle plastered to the observation windows in our private train car as we pulled into the station. I couldn't wait to see all those rugged, hardy, salt-of-the-earth frontier ponies cooking with Silverbelle baking products, giving themselves a little taste of home. A little something to remind themselves of Equestria, as they worked night and day to expand our borders. "That night, the buffalo came. "They were... wild. Uncontrollable. Uprooting trees, knocking down buildings. I never figured out why. I didn't ask. I spent all night in the hotel, shaking like a leaf. But it wasn't just the buffalo. That night, I discovered how the Appleloosans were actually using Silverbelle baking products. "They were making war pies. "Something else you should know about our whipping cream: we sprinkle it with a little powdered agar before it goes in the carton. It's the Silverbelle secret. You don't have to wait until you're whipping it, you can just add it to the cream right from the start! It makes our cream pies super-dense and super-rich. Really good heft. For... for, um, throwing. "I'm sorry. Just give me a minute. "You have to understand, buffalo are such proud creatures. A cream pie to the face is funny to us. It's lasting shame for them. You could... you could actually turn aside a stampede with a sustained barrage. That was how ponies were using our supplies. Not to eat or to enjoy; to fight buffalo. What was worse, my family knew about it! They knew what business we were in! And... and they never told me! "I started not sleeping well. I couldn't close my eyes at night without seeing the sad faces of those humiliated buffalo. It got worse and worse. Eventually, I started believing that angry buffalo who'd been on the receiving end of Silverbelle cream pies were sneaking into my house at night and playing mean pranks on me in revenge. So I, um. "This is going to sound silly. "Okay. I built my house up into a maze, full of doors that opened onto walls, stairs that led nowhere. A whole little castle full tricks to keep the imaginary buffalo out and to keep Sugar Belle in. It was the only way I felt safe! For a while, I went out to get groceries and such, but then I started paying for delivery instead and eventually I stopped leaving the house at all. I wouldn't see the sun for weeks. "I... don't know what changed. My family said I 'snapped,' but that's not the word I'd use. 'Snapped' has this sharp, breaking sound to it. It was more like a 'whoosh,' a sudden gust of wind. I had just pulled a nice fresh angel food cake out of the oven and was about to set it upside-down to cool when I realized that I couldn't even think about how delicious it'd taste. All I could see was my cake splattered across the face of some mortified young bull, drying in the desert sun. I realized I never wanted to make, or even see, a dessert, ever again. So I put down everything I was doing, trotted right out of my maze house, started off down the street and... I guess I just didn't stop. "And you know, it tore me up inside. Making ponies happy by cooking delicious desserts, and giving them stuff to do the same, was all that mattered to me! But it all got ruined and now I'm all mixed up inside and I don't even know who I am!" I squeeze my eyes shut and breathe for a little bit. "How awful for you," she says, her voice sweet. "To learn that your 'special talent' causes more harm than good." "My family doesn't even know where I am. I'd like to go back and see them, to tell them where I am, but I can't make myself do it. I just keep walking." "Why do you do that?" she asks, evenly. "What do you think you're searching for?" "I just... I just want to find somewhere safe." "Somewhere where the buffalo won't ever hurt you?" "No," I say. "Somewhere where I won't ever hurt the buffalo." She touches me gently on the shoulder. "I know of just such a place," she says.