Red Svelt sighed. Today was the third day in a row that her shop had gone by without any visitors. If the rest of the week went by like this, she'd have to close up her cake shop, and then what would she do?
The old mare had lived a long and productive life. She had spent it living her life to the fullest, never a dull moment, never a wasted opportunity. She graduated with honors over forty years ago, learned the bakery trade, and ran her business by herself for many years.
When she married, things changed, but for the better. She got assistance from her husband, they hired another assistant, and they nearly tripled the income. Things had gone so well that Red Svelt and Velvet Thread could kick back for a while, and do the things they wanted to do together. One of these things was to try and have a foal. They tried for such a long time. They tried for so long that the lovers got very upset. Finally, after a year of trying, Red went to the hospital to have herself checked.
It was official. Red Svelt was barren, and she would never have children of her own. She became very depressed. She would sit in her room for hours, idly wasting the day away. Velvet tried to get her to live again, tried to tell her that there were other ways. They could adopt, raise an unfortunate orphan, and give it a good home, raise it to carry on their legacy. Unfortunately, Red was so very depressed and heart-broken that she didn't recover in time.
The shop was suffering due to Svelt's absence, and her melancholy made the shop an unpleasant place to be. Over the next few months, Velvet began showing signs of getting sick. Nothing terrible, really. He took himself to the hospital sometimes to check up, and all signs pointed to a bad head cold.
The doctors were completely unprepared and absolutely in the dark about the blood clot in his neck. It was just too late. When Svelt came down to start tea one morning, she found him in the kitchen, on the floor while the kettle began it's whistle.
The days were dark and lonely after the funeral. Velvet Thread had been a great inspiration to all in Ponyville: an immensely hard worker, a stallion who always took time to say hello and ask how you were doing. He was terrible at math, so he often had to get his wife to help him out at the register, but his admirable social skills more than made up for it.
Red vowed in her husband's memory that she would perk up, that she would persevere, that she would take care of herself since he couldn't do it for her anymore. And so, for ten long years, she did. The shop remained open, and a certain life returned to it as well, making the cakes and treats taste just a little sweeter. Red was a lonely mare, but she had many friends and neighbors to cheer her up among the darkest of days.
But now, in her ripening age of sixy-five, getting around just wasn't easy for her anymore. She'd hire some help if she could, but she was just barely getting along as it was and barely paid the bills each month. The neighbors helped of course, but the old mare's body just couldn't get around fast enough to complete orders. Things were bleak, and she had received a bill of notice: she was behind on her mortgage. Another month like the one before just wouldn't cut it.
One night, after a particularly long day, Red Svelt shuffled around the kitchen, trying to ignore the growing signs of arthritis in her joints. They ached and creaked whenever she moved, and it was getting worse day by day. At last, the kitchen was clean. All the equipment was put away. All the spills had been cleaned up. She started for the stairs when she stopped. Her ears perked, her head tilted. She always did that when it struck: inspiration.
She turned right around, opened her cabinets, got her mixer, some ingredients, and began making her late husband's favorite cake: red velvet cake. For some reason she just felt like making it tonight. It took her a little while, she had to move much slower these days. But the long practiced art of the cake had not left her, and after a good hour and a half, she had a lovely new red velvet cake for her to enjoy.
As she took the first slice and lifted it to her mouth and took in the sweet, sweet taste of the cake, she felt a warm burning in her limbs. The burning feeling intensified, and the feeling turned into a sharp pain that ran along her neck and into her chest. She let out a quiet, pained gasp and dropped the plate of cake on the floor, shattering the glass all over the recently cleaned tiles.
So this is how it ends? she thought. With a single bite of my husband's favorite cake? Not a bad way to go, really...She closed her eyes, her face still stuck in a grimace of pain as she fell forward onto the floor. Her last thoughts before she lost consciousness were fleeting, a final fleeting grasp for the life she was leaving behind. It would've been nice to finish that cake...
Red Svelt sighed and turned over in bed. She smiled as the smell of fresh baked bread and the cool fall air filled her nostrils and made her feel refreshed and hungry at the same time. She'd have to go and thank Velvet Thread for the wonderful-
Svelt shot up in her bed. The sudden recollection of her situation these last few years caught up, she looked around at her surroundings. She was in bed, -upstairs- mind you, in her pj's, in bed. And alive. That was something. As her confused mind began to put things together, she remembered. She was downstairs in the kitchen. She had just baked her husband's favorite cake, and the next thing she knew she was on the floor with terrible pain in her forelegs. So how did she get up here? She hadn't had an assistant in years.
Red Svelt got up and carefully pulled herself from bed. She crept down the stairs that took her nearly thirty seconds climb down every day, the trip today taking a little less time than usual, her curiosity giving her strength. What she saw nearly made that recently familiar pain return. The kitchen was in ruins! Batter everywhere, utensils and bowls all over the floor, and there was some hussy at the refrigerator with her head in the door and her young flank just sticking out where the whole world could...see...
Svelt's train of thought came to a complete standstill as the younger mare turned around and gasped at the sudden presence. The young mare was breathtakingly beautiful. Her body was a deep red, and on her head was a mane of the most beautiful shade of creamy blonde that she had ever seen. She wore a charming black choker around her neck, with a single red gem surrounded by silver at her throat. A single cupcake graced her flanks, a red velvet cupcake, complete with a cherry on top. Just like her husband's cake. Suddenly, Svelt remembered the cake.
She kept a cool glare on the young mare as she shuffled across the sugar-coated floor to find the cake that had been left out. It was nowhere to be found. She rounded once more on the mare, an anger she hadn't felt in years rising at the back of her throat. "Young lady, where is the cake that was left here? Wh...what happened? Why is my kitchen a mess?!"
The mare shook her head, either indicating she didn't know or didn't understand the language Svelt was speaking. Svelt huffed and trudged past the other pony to look in the fridge. No cake there, either. She was getting frustrated. She turned and very nearly yelled at the mare in her loudest voice. She wanted to scream, she wanted to yell and maybe even hit the girl.
But looking at her, with her head tilted down shyly, her chin nearly touching her chest, and her tail tucked neatly between her legs, Svelt could only sigh in defeat. She looked around at her kitchen: the younger mare had been baking. She'd made a mess of everything, but that smell, the smell of great baking, was the only smell reaching her nostrils. A thought came to her: maybe the mare had been given to her anonymously, as a sort of servant girl from a foreign country.
It wasn't an altogether pleasant nor unpleasant thought. She needed the help, and if the girl could bake, then all the better. She still wanted to know what happened to her cake, but first things first - this place needed to be cleaned. "Well, my dear, you've made quite a mess," she told the young mare.
The youthful pony frowned at this information. She seemed to draw in on herself, a look of shame crossing that pretty face. Red Svelt began to wonder if she simply mute; she seemed to understand just fine. "Well, can you clean it up for me, dear? It'd be an immense help if you..." she trailed off as the girl's face lit up. Of course, I can be helpful! her eyes seemed to scream. She immediately went about the proper cleaning protocols: she grabbed paper towels and dabbed it along the surfaces of the counters, the island, and all along the floor. Then she grabbed fresh ones, got them wet, and within a few very short minutes the kitchen was spotless.
The bowls had been picked up and rinsed, then cleaned, then put away, and in less than ten minutes since the mare had started. Svelt was stunned; it usually took her at least an hour to get halfway done at night. As she stared at her beautiful, spotless kitchen, a tear began trailing down her cheek. She hadn't felt this relieved in a long, long time. For once, she wasn't breaking her back just trying to clean the place. Maybe, just maybe...
"Hello! Mrs Thread!" Red gasped with panic. She recognized that voice, emanating from the front. She looked down at herself, she was in no shape for visitors! Still, it had to be done, this was an important guest, and there was only one reason why he was here. She quickly pulled her pajamas off and threw them on the floor, where they were quickly picked up by the young mare. Red had no time for manners as she ambled off from the kitchen and to the counter in the other room, where customers were served.
Standing there at the opposite end of the counter stood the one she knew would be waiting for her, the pony she'd been dreading for a month: Silver Bits. He ran the bank, and he was a stern business-colt that took every last debt very seriously, and Red was deep in it.
"Ah, h-hllo, Mr Bits, how are you today?" Red asked, inclining her head politely. As she did, she looked at the glass display case in front of her with horror: It was empty. No samples. Nothing for sale. She had slept in and forgotten to get the store set up. She started to sweat. "How...can I...help you?" She asked, this time with much less enthusiasm.
Silver Bits frowned at her. The kind of frown you gave a gambler just as he won it all, and had just determined that one more roll of the dice could triple his winnings. "Mrs Thread, we really need to talk. I'm afraid there's-" he took a moment to subtly cover the grumbling of his stomach. "Pardon me, please. I missed breakfast, and those cupcakes look delicious."
"Cupcakes?" Red asked dumbly. There weren't any cup-wait, yes there were. Two trays of twelve cupcakes sat neatly in the display case. She took a quick glance at the kitchen door, and just barely caught a lock of blonde mane disappear into the kitchen. Just when did that mare bake cupcakes?
She looked back at Silver Bits, who was staring at her with a hard-to-read face. Finally, he said, "Mrs Svelt, have you acquired help for your kitchen?"
It wasn't a difficult question to answer. "Yes. Yes I have."
Silver Bits pursed his lips as he stared at the older mare thoughtfully. His gaze trailed down at the cupcakes once again, the tell-tale signs of a shiny droplet of saliva gathering at his lips. "What kind are they?"
What kind are they? Oh, what kind are they? she thought frantically. "They're, um...surprise cupcakes. They're surprise cupcakes, the flavor is a surprise, that's the flavor," she said in a rush.
Silver Bits narrowed his eyes at her suspiciously. She responded with as big a grin as she could muster, but she could feel it faltering, her resolve wavering. Finally, he took a final look at the cupcakes, then reached into his vest and pulled out a bag of bits and dropped it onto the counter. A total of forty eight bits were counted by Svelt's still well-trained eyes.
"I-I don't understand, Mr Bits, If you wanted to buy all these cupcakes, you need only give me half-"
"Consider it an investment, Mrs Thread. I'll take those to go in a box, please."
"A-a box to go? Didn't we have something to discuss?"
Silver Bits shook his head carefully. "Perhaps not today. Another day...maybe. For now, I need to return to work and hand out these cupcakes to my workers. They might get wind of where they came from. Lunch break isn't long, but it's not a long walk from here."
Red Svelt stared at Silver Bits dumbly. Had he really just said what she thought he said? She snapped out of her thoughts quickly, the sense of business pressing at the back of her head. She reached down under the counter and flipped open the collapsible boxes used for cupcakes and other treats and got them ready to go. Silver Bits strode out of the bakery with his treats in tow, and forty eight bits left on the counter.
Red slowly scraped the bits from the counter back into the bag they came in, then took them, bag and all, into the kitchen. For the second time that day, she was stunned, but this time in a good way: the young mare, who looked to be no older than sixteen, had been very, very busy. At least three large cakes were being dressed, and there were half a dozen one-tier cakes in the process of being decorated, and all by one pony.
It became very clear to Red what this young mare's true talent was: multi-tasking. She was busy baking, she was busy applying frosting, she was busy getting cakes out of the oven, and she did it all without stopping to rest. Red remembered when she could do this, years and years and years ago, when she was just starting out. Well, maybe she could again. She plopped those bits down and got to work right alongside the young mare. Neither said a word to each other as years of practice allowed the older mare to at least help the dazzlingly determined young mare.
7pm on the dot. It had been a long, hard day's work, but every second of it this work day had been more satisfying than the last ten years had been. With the help of the mysterious mare, Red Svelt had made an excellent first step in getting out of debt. Thanks to some commercializing by some generous pony at the bank, word had spread and it had seemed as if every single pony that lived in town came to buy a cake or a treat.
As Red Svelt cleaned up the last bit of the front area of all the dropped frosting and occasional knapkin, Mrs Cake leaned down to help her, grabbing bits of frosting with a paper towel and making the tables shining and clean. "I'm so happy to see that your business is booming again, Mrs Thread! I can't tell you how happy I am for you."
Red smiled happily at the younger mare. She took a rest at the table she was closest to, resting her aching bones. "Oh, thank you, Mrs Cake. I honestly couldn't have done it without her help. Her...um..." she paused. She didn't even know her name. She still didn't even know if she could talk. She certainly knew her way around the kitchen, though.
Mrs Cake gave her old friend a smile. "You honestly don't know her name? Or where she even came from? Just...whoosh showed up this morning, baking up a storm?" Red nodded, a tired smile on her face. "Well, maybe you should give her one. Poor thing could be lost, you know. Her mother must be worried sick."
Red's smile turned into a thoughtful frown. What a strange situation the little one was in. Who knew? She'd been trying for years to have a child, and suddenly, out of the blue and - no! Stop that. She's somepony's daughter and we'll get her home, somehow. And then she'll come work for me and we'll all be one big happy family. Red Svelt didn't notice the tears falling from her eyes. Mrs Cake did, and she knew well why Mrs Thread was crying. She was thinking of taking the girl in, adopting her, perhaps. A daughter in place of the husband she lost.
Mrs Cake cleared her throat gently and stood up from her place at the table. She finished cleaning, took the trash out, and took one last look around the front of the store. Spotless. The young Cake stepped close to the elder mare and placed a kiss on her cheek. "Well, I best be heading home, Mrs Thread. Celestia knows Carrot gets upset when I walk home alone."
Red seemed to snap out of her thoughts and returned the embrace. "Oh, thank you so much for your help today, Mrs Cake. Ever so much. Goodnight."
Red Svelt sighed as she slipped into the kitchen, half expecting it to be a disaster. And for the third time today, she was shocked and surprised. It was spotless. And there, in the corner, waiting ever so patiently, was the beautiful red mare. The younger mare got to her hooves immediately and crossed the kitchen floor to her, a gentle smile in her eyes, though she was still silent.
"Well...you've made me a very happy old mare, young'n. I don't really know how to thank you. Can you come again tomorrow?" The mare nodded enthusiastically at first, but quickly became crestfallen. Just as I thought...Red mused. "You don't really have a place to stay, do you?" The young mare affirmatively shook her head.
"Eh, I thought so. It's not really a problem. Why don't you stay with me tonight? We can figure out where to go from here tomorrow."
The red mare smiled patiently, almost like she'd been expecting the offer. She crossed the floor and switched off the lights to the kitchen, and turned on the lights for the stairs. It was apparently time for bed.
"Heh, all right, I'm comin'. Let's go get you set up." The two made it up the stairs after thirty seconds, the younger pony helping her elder smoothly up the stairs. Red showed her guest the guest room, which had once been modeled to be a nursery, a dream in itself that had never been born. The younger mare hopped into bed and grabbed the sheets up to her chin, then buried her face into the soft, fresh-smelling fabrics, as if coming home after a long vacation.
Red chuckled at the sweet sight. She really was just like a child. ...There I go again. She's not your child, Red, she's just...she's...oh, what is she to you?
"You know, girl, if you're going to stay here, you really need a name. I can't just keep calling you little girl, or hey you. Can't you tell me what your name is? Do you even remember it?" The younger mare shook her head. Just her eyes and mane were visible over the covers, and it made for an extremely adorable sight. Red sighed and thought for a moment, thinking of the things the young mare had done for her that day.
The first thing she remembered, of course, was the mare standing at the fridge with her rump in the air, displaying that cutie mark. The cupcake. Red velvet cupcake. Red stared down at the girl as the gears in her head started turning. Red velvet cupcake. Heart attack. Suddenly the cake is gone and the girl was there.
...Pfft! Red Svelt chuckled to herself. A cake turned into a girl to become my personal slave and cake partner? Good one, Red. The elder mare chuckled one last time and kissed the girl on the forehead before turning to get the light. "...How about Red Velvet? How does that sound?"
Red Velvet smiled at that name. She nodded several times to attest that she desired this name. "Heheh. All right...suits ya. Goodnight, Red Velvet, and thank you...you saved me, in more ways than one."
With that, she closed the door, leaving Red Velvet alone in the dark. She snuggled deeper into the blankets. As she did, a small tear slipped down her cheek, that blazing smile still cresting her beautiful face. "No, momma. You saved me," she whispered into the dark, then turned over in her bed and drifted off to sleep.