Operation: Soufflé Delivery
The holiday season was now underway across the Lego World, and in the special region of the Winter Village, visitors from all over the world had arrived and were beginning to explore the various shops and sights there were in the village. Among many of the buildings in the Winter Village were several cabins where outsiders could reside for their month-long visit to this region. This year, one of these cabins was being rented by a group of best friends from Canterlot City known as the Equestria Girls.
On this afternoon early in the season, most of the girls had gone out to search for anything in the village that might interest them. Sunset had decided to stay behind in the cabin for a little while to set up a gaming system on the cabin’s television so that she and her friends could have something fun to do in case if bad weather forced them to stay inside for an extended period of time. Once she was finished with that, she headed downstairs and saw Pinkie Pie doing some baking in the kitchen.
“Hi, Sunset!” greeted Pinkie cheerfully as she poured the batter into a small pot. “Just about to start baking my special holiday soufflé!” She then opened the preheated oven, tossed the pot of soufflé batter onto the rack inside, then closed the oven. She then turned away from the oven and closed her eyes as she quietly mumbled, “Adagio Dazzle, Apple Bloom, Applejack, Aria Blaze, Benny Blue Junior, Bernie von Beam, Big Macintosh, Bluffbeard…”
Sunset walked over to the kitchen and peered through the oven window. As she watched the soufflé begin to rise, she smiled and remarked, “Wow, Pinkie. You sure know how to bake just about anything.”
Pinkie made no reaction and continued to mumble, “…Chase McCain, Cheerilee, Cheese Sandwich, Chestnut Magnifico, Chumbly-Bonk-Bonk, Cloudy Quartz, Clutch Powers, Cole…”
Sunset raised an eyebrow and asked, “Uh… Pinkie?”
Pinkie seemed to completely ignore Sunset as she continued mumbling, “…Flash Sentry, Fleetfoot, Flim and Flam, Fluttershy, Foreman Frank, Frank Honey, Gail, Gloriosa Daisy, Gordon Zola, Gorilla Suit Guy, Granny Smith…”
Sunset continued staring at Pinkie in confusion for a moment, then shrugged and glanced back at the soufflé baking inside the oven.
Meanwhile, Pinkie kept mumbling, “…Lemon Zest, Lily Pad, Limestone Pie, Lizard Suit Guy, Lloyd Garmadon, Lucy, Luna Playwell, Lyra Heartstrings, Marble Pie, Maud Pie…”
As she watched the soufflé continue to rise, Sunset eventually became curious how much longer it would take to finish baking. She turned her gaze up to a timer on the counter and was shocked to discover that it was currently off. She gasped and exclaimed, “Pinkie! You forgot to set the timer!”
“Shush!” snapped Pinkie abruptly, causing Sunset to flinch. Pinkie then immediately resumed mumbling, “…Scootaloo, Shining Armor, Soarin, Sonata Dusk, Sour Sweet, Spike, Spitfire, Starlight Glimmer…”
Sunset glanced again at the baking soufflé in the oven, now feeling a little concerned. She turned to a clock on the wall at the other side of the cabin. As she then struggled to determine how much time had already passed, she also tried looking around for a cookbook that might specify how long it should take to bake a soufflé.
Pinkie finally turned back towards the oven and slipped on some oven mitts as she continued, “…Zane, Zecora, Zephyr Breeze, Zipporwhill… Done!” With that final declaration, Pinkie opened the oven and pulled out the freshly baked soufflé. As she set the baked good down atop the stove, she explained, “I stopped using the timer after I realized that a soufflé takes the exact same amount of time to bake as it takes for me to say the names of all my friends in alphabetical order.”
Sunset let out a sigh of relief, then chuckled and remarked, “Yeah, probably should’ve expected you’d have your own way of keeping time.” Her smile fell as she then asked, “Wait, you’re friends with some guy named Chumbly-Bonk-Bonk?”
After tossing off her oven mitts, Pinkie shrugged and confessed, “Eh, he’s more of a walk-by-what’s-up acquaintance, but I needed an extra half-second on the list.”
Sunset smirked in amusement. She then gestured at the soufflé and asked, “So what special occasion is this for?”
“It’s a holiday tradition I have with Rarity,” Pinkie cheerfully explained. “Every year, I surprise her with a dessert that’s as elegant as she is.” She then slumped and shamefully mumbled, “And every year, she asks me why it’s all deflated.”
“Huh?” asked Sunset in confusion.
“Soufflés are good for only a little while,” continued Pinkie, “and in all the past years I’ve tried, I’ve never been able to get it to her on time.” She then furrow her brow and spoke up with determination, “But not this year! This year, now that we’re all together in a small village, I intend to finally make my delivery within the time limit. We officially have just seven minutes to get this soufflé into Rarity’s hands before it frumples into a soggy yuck-bucket.”
“Seven minutes?” asked Sunset with concern as she picked up the timer. “Is that longer or shorter than listing the names of your friends?”
Pinkie scoffed and retorted, “How would I know? Just gimme that timer!” She then snatched the timer out of Sunset’s hands and immediately set it to seven minutes. She then grabbed her soufflé and rushed to the door outside as she declared, “C’mon, Sunset! There’s no time to lose!”
“Wait!” Sunset spoke up as she followed after Pinkie. “Do you even know where Rarity is right now?!”
“Of course I do!” replied Pinkie as she and Sunset began quickly throwing on their winter outfits. “I texted her just before I started baking and she said she’s out window shopping. Thanks to all that time I spent studying the map of the Winter Village on the official website, I ran several mental simulations to guesstimate the likelihood of every possible scenario. Now that I know exactly which building she’s at, I’ve got it all figured out. The route, the speed, the exact angle I need to hunch over at to protect this soufflé from the wind. There will be no deflation this year!”
“If you’re really that sure about everything, then I’ll be happy to help out in any way I can,” assured Sunset. Once she and Pinkie had finished putting on the last of their winter clothes, Sunset grabbed the doorknob, then turned back to Pinkie and asked, “You ready?”
“It’s go time!” declared Pinkie with a smile of determination.
Sunset responded with a smile of confidence before she turned forward and opened the door. Almost immediately, she gasped as she saw three white projectiles flying directly at her, so she swiftly shut the door.
Thud-thud-thud.
As soon as the noise of those impacts against the door had passed, Sunset carefully opened the door again. What she and Pinkie saw out in front of the cabin made them both gasp in shock.
“Holy baked ziti!” exclaimed Pinkie. “It’s a warzone out there!”
Along the path leading straight from the cabin, two opposing lines of snow forts and snow berms had been built, and hiding behind them were several minifigs who occasionally exposed themselves as they tossed snowballs at the opposing side. The team on the right was marked with red flags, while the team on the left was marked with blue flags. On the red team, Applejack relentlessly pelted anyone who popped up into view, often hitting them with enough force to throw them back. On the blue team, Twilight breathed heavily as she hid behind the end of a berm with a snowball in hand, then jumped out and prepared to strike, only to be forced to dodge an opposing shot and ended up slipping onto her back.
“I’m not hit!” announced Twilight as she swiftly crawled back to take cover behind the berm again. “I just slipped!”
As snowballs continued to be flung, lobbed, and chucked across the path, Sunset and Pinkie continued staring at the frigid combat from the front door of the cabin. “How are we gonna get past this?!” exclaimed Pinkie in disbelief.
Sunset also stared out at the snowy battlefield in disbelief for a moment, but then she furrowed her brow and clenched her fists. “We’ll just have to run the gauntlet,” she declared with determination. She glanced back and Pinkie and added, “Like you said, it’s go time.”
Pinkie’s expression soon also turned to a look of determination as she smiled and nodded in agreement. She shoved the ticking timer into her pocket, shut the door behind them, then immediately took off down the path, with Sunset swiftly following right behind her.
Pinkie and Sunset made it down only a quarter of the length of the fortified pathway before Applejack suddenly called out, “Ambush!”
Right away, virtually everyone on the red team began a coordinated attack on Pinkie and Sunset. The two girls were suddenly forced to duck, dodge, and leap to avoid being pelted by several snowballs. With the bombardment seemingly endless, the neutral duo was forced to take shelter behind the nearest berm on the blue team, where they suddenly found themselves crouched down beside a terrified Fluttershy.
“The reds have mercilessly pushed us back,” muttered Fluttershy fearfully with a slight shiver. “Without any air support or reinforcements very soon, we’re little more than sitting ducks.”
Quack!
Fluttershy glanced over and saw a duck sitting in the snow beside her. “Aww…” she cooed with a smile as she gently patted that duck. That tender moment didn’t last long before an incoming snowball suddenly splattered right on top of her head. “AHH!! I’m hit! I’m hit!” she cried out as she fell over forward and the duck immediately flew away.
Sunset and Pinkie glanced at each other for a moment before Sunset shook her head and mumbled, “This is ridiculous.” Sunset then climbed up to stand atop the berm and called out, “Hold up, everyone! Pinkie Pie and I are not involved in this game!”
“What game?!” retorted Applejack fiercely. “This here’s total combat!”
“Can’t we at least agree to a ten second truce so the neutral party can pass through unharmed?” begged Sunset.
“There ain’t no neutrality on this battlefield!” argued Applejack as she knelt down and pulled something out of a cooler by her feet. “You’re either with us or against us, an’ seein’ where you’ve taken shelter, Ah think it’s clear which side you’ve chosen.” She then flung her mystery projectile directly at Sunset.
Sunset quickly dove back behind the berm just before the object impacted, which sent slush spraying over her and Pinkie as they hunched forward, resulting in their backs getting damp. Thankfully, the soufflé in Pinkie’s hands remained unscathed, but Sunset knew there was no guarantee that would last long in a situation like this. “Just one hit and that soufflé will be completely ruined,” she stated worriedly.
Pinkie pulled out her timer and saw that it was now just under three minutes left. As she pocketed the timer, she sighed in defeat and muttered, “Oh well… Maybe I’ll have better luck next year…”
Sunset turned around and peeked over the top of the berm to see if perhaps the frosty combat might soon lighten up. Her futile hopes were quickly crushed as she watched what appeared to be a small white dome with a long barrel sticking out the front side scoot across the ground from behind the red team’s fortifications.
“Ha!” gloated Applejack from atop her snow fort not far from the newly arrived weapon. “You bluies are in for it now, ‘cause we got ourselves a snow tank!”
The operator of the snow tank stuck his head out atop that mighty weapon and boasted, “I call this thing the Hammer, and I’m gonna show you why!” The snowy contraption lightly rattled as it swiveled around, took aim at one of the blue team’s fortifications, and shot a large snowball out the barrel. The large snowball pounded the fort with enough force to cause the whole structure to collapse.
The snow tank operator cackled like a maniac as he took aim at another blue team fortress and shot another large snowball, quickly obliterating that frosty structure as well. He laughed again as he then took aim at one of the long berms on the blue team’s side and fired another large snowball. The berm was no match for the large projectile, with clumps of snow flung out in all directions from the impact, covering everyone who had been unfortunate enough to take shelter behind it.
The snow tank continue to lightly rattle as it swiveled around to take aim at another blue team snow berm, and Sunset felt her heart race as she realized it was now pointing directly at her and Pinkie.
Twilight yelped as she suddenly stumbled out from her hiding spot behind a different berm. The snow tank operator apparently decided to instead go after an easy target as he swiveled the barrel away from Sunset’s position and now aimed directly at the completely exposed girl. With another mad cackle, he fired another large snowball.
Twilight screamed as she reflexively flinched and held out her hands. After a few seconds of nothing, she opened her eyes and discovered that she had managed to use her magical powers to halt the large snowball in midair just inches away from her. Realizing she now had the large projectile in her possession, Twilight smiled confidently as she levitated the snowball up, sent it spinning forward faster and faster, and finally lobbed it right back at that snow tank.
The large snowball plunged directly back down the barrel it had originally been shot from. With the barrel now effectively plugged up, the snow tank began to shake and rattle more and more violently. The tank operator looked down at the increasing vibrations of his frigid vehicle and worriedly muttered, “Uh-oh…”
Boom!
The snow tank suddenly exploded, spraying fragments of snow, ice, and bits of machinery all over the nearby red team fortifications. The tank operator was flung straight upwards, then screamed as he fell until he landed head-first into a snowbank, burying himself up to his waist so that only his legs were left exposed. “I’m okay,” he weakly stated, his voice muffled by the surrounding snow.
Applejack turned to Twilight and protested, “Hey! That’s not fair!”
“That’s what you get for trying to fight dirty against a former Shadowbolt agent,” retorted Twilight with a smirk.
“Alright, y’all asked for it!” threatened Applejack as she dropped down from her perch atop the snow fort. A few seconds later, she climbed back up, this time holding over her head a massive snowball that was wider across than the height of her body. And thanks to her magically enhanced strength, she had no trouble at all with holding up that ridiculously oversized snowball.
“Uh, Applejack?” asked Sunset, now feeling very terrified. “Don’t you think this is going too far?”
“As if!” retorted Applejack confidently. “Real life ain’t the same as them silly ol’ video games you play, ain’t that right?”
With that insult, Sunset quickly dropped her fears as she stood atop the berm and glared at Applejack. “Okay, now you just made this personal!” Sunset furiously shot back. She swiftly scooped a handful of snow from the berm under her feet and rolled it into a snowball. “Bring it on!”
With that declaration, Applejack flung the massive snowball up and over towards where Sunset stood.
Sunset was more than ready for the incoming oversized projectile as she jumped to the right, leaped off the side of the nearby snow fort, and bounced off the top of the massive snowball as it arrived. The final jump sent the giant snowball straight down to impact the ground just in front of the berm where it did almost no damage, while Sunset was flung upwards and thus provided with the perfect height from which she could throw her snowball directly at Applejack.
Applejack was so stunned from watching Sunset’s astonishing evasive maneuver that she failed to dodge the retaliating strike, and that regular snowball hit her with enough force to knock her off her perch atop the snow fort and down to the ground on her back.
Sunset landed on her feet atop the berm, and with a stoic look of determination on her face, she glanced back at Pinkie and firmly declared, “Rarity is getting that soufflé, and you’re gonna deliver it to her!” She then turned her gaze towards Fluttershy seated on the ground further along behind the berm and ordered, “Fluttershy! It’s time to call in some air support…”
Over on the red team, members had recovered from the destruction of the snow tank and were hastily making repairs to their snowy fortifications. Just seconds after Applejack was felled by Sunset, they all began to hear an ominous noise.
Quack-quack-quack-quack-quack-quack-quack…
Everyone on the red team paused and looked up to see a flock of ducks flying directly towards them, each of which was carrying a snowball within the grasp of their feet. As those ducks flew across the front line of the wintery battlefield, they began to dive down towards the opposing forces on the ground.
Applejack had just recovered from her hit and sat up on the ground, only to gaze up at the incoming aerial assault. “Ya gotta be kiddin’ me…” she muttered in disbelief.
With their targets in sight, the diving flock of fowls released their payloads, bombarding the entire red team with dozens of snowballs along their entire front line.
As those ducks under Fluttershy’s command unleashed their air attack, Sunset swiftly pulled Pinkie up to her feet and exclaimed, “Go, Pinkie! Now’s our chance!”
Pinkie protectively held her soufflé as she followed Sunset down the path away from the cabin and towards the rest of the village. They were just about to pass the final forts along the battle lines when Sunset was suddenly pelted by a snowball from the side and knocked over onto the ground.
Pinkie immediately stopped as she gasped and exclaimed in horror, “Sunset!”
Sunset grunted as she rolled over onto her back. “Don’t worry about me!” she insisted as sat up. “Keep going! I’ll cover your escape!”
Pinkie hesitated for a brief moment, then nodded in agreement and ran off towards the village.
Sunset stood up and glared out at the red team as she furiously spoke up, “All right, who threw that cheap shot?! Was it you?!” She pointed at one boy who was taking shelter in a small personal fort at the end of the red team’s defensive line.
The nerdy boy hesitantly responded in a squeaky voice, “Uh, I-I’m a conscientious objector.” As he was then suddenly pelted with snowballs from all directions, he shrieked and screamed, “Have mercy!”
Meanwhile, Pinkie began to smile as she cleared the snowy battlefield and made her way down the path towards her destination. Victory was finally within her sight.
RI-I-I-I-I-I-I-ING!
Pinkie gasped in horror as she felt the timer in her pocket ring. The seven minute deadline had just passed. She had failed to deliver the soufflé to Rarity in time. “NOOOOOO!!” she cried out in despair as she fell to her knees. She stared down at the now only slightly fresh dessert in her hands and sobbed, “Oh, my sweet little soufflé! All I ever wanted was for you to be torn apart and digested by my friend Rarity so she could feel the same kind of joy she brings to me!”
“Is that this year’s soufflé?”
Pinkie gasped as she stood up and spun around and was shocked to discover Rarity standing right behind her. “Rarity?!” she asked in astonishment. “Where’d you—?! How did you—?! I mean, why are you right here?! The window shop is over there!” She gestured over her shoulder down the path she had been running along.
Rarity raised an eyebrow and asked, “Why would I be at a window shop?”
“You told me you were window shopping!” exclaimed Pinkie in response.
Rarity just giggled and explained, “Oh, no-no-no, darling, not that kind of window shopping. I meant the kind where I simply browse the display windows of various shops just to see what they have to offer. I even deliberately left my purse back at the cabin so as to avoid the temptation to make any impulse purchases.”
Pinkie just stared blankly at Rarity and muttered, “Oh…” She then shook her head and urgently spoke up, “Never mind any of that! Here! Enjoy it while it’s still fresh!” She held out the soufflé to Rarity.
Rarity had anticipated Pinkie might be preparing the holiday soufflé for her, so she had thought ahead to carry a fork with her. She took that fork out of her pocket, removed its protective wrapper, and used it to take off a bite-sized portion off that soufflé. She stuck that bit of soufflé in her mouth, took a moment to savor it, then smiled and proclaimed, “It’s heavenly!”
“Yes!” cheered Pinkie triumphantly. “I finally did it!”
“I must say, Pinkie, you were certainly right that your soufflés are best enjoyed while fresh,” acknowledged Rarity as she took off another bite-sized portion of that soufflé.
The two girls were startled when a nearby snowman suddenly burst apart, exposing Rainbow Dash with a snowball in her hand and a cocky grin on her face. “Ha! Sneak attack!” she declared excitedly. “Bet you weren’t expecting this!” She then chucked the snowball directly at Rarity.
Rarity just rolled her eyes as she used her magical power to instantly summon a diamond shield that easily blocked the frozen projectile.
Rainbow Dash stared blankly at Rarity for a moment, then groaned in frustration and complained, “No fair! I spent two hours disguised as a snowman for that!”
Rainbow was then suddenly pelted by a snowball from behind and fell over.
“And all I needed was two seconds to do that,” boasted Sunset from behind where Rainbow Dash had stood.
Rarity and Pinkie glanced at each other and shared a friendly laugh together. As Rarity savored the next bite of that soufflé, Pinkie was absolutely satisfied that her efforts for this particular holiday tradition had finally paid off.