Chapter 2: In The Huddle
“All right, Apple family, listen up!” Applejack said, rallying the troops and ready to go to war. The troops, however, did not seem ready for battle. Apple Bloom was scribbling something on a piece of paper, Big Mac was staring out the window, and Granny Smith was in her rocking chair, about ready to fall asleep.
“Dearie,” Granny Smith said, “can ya make it quick so I can take my afternoon nap?”
“Come on, ponies! This is about the bake-off!”
Suddenly the three family members snapped their heads up and gave Applejack their full attention. Applejack smiled.
“Now that’s more like it! As you know, last year we got ourselves, um...disqualified for using the zap apples in our recipe.”
“I still think we got cheated,” Big Mac muttered.
“Same here,” Applejack replied, shaking her hoof in the air. “There was absolutely nothing in the rules saying we couldn’t...but that’s all behind us. This year, we have to win fair and square and give everypony in Ponyville no reason to think we can’t do it without cheating!”
“Here here!” Apple Bloom cried. “So...what are we gonna make?”
“I say we keep it simple,” Applejack said, bringing the family in a huddle. “We knock ’em out with the best apple pie ever baked in Equestria. Warm, flaky crust with hot, sweet apple fillin’, it’ll be enough to knock those judges’ socks off!”
“That’s if they’re wearing socks,” Big Mac commented. Applejack glared at him.
“You’re missin’ the point! What I’m sayin’ is that it’s gonna take all of us to win this competition. We can’t do it on our own. Granny, we’ll use your time-honored recipe and you’ll be makin’ the crust. That’s your specialty.”
“That recipe comes from generations of Apples,” Granny Smith said. “My granny was making it before there was even a Ponyville to host a fair!”
“Exactly. The more traditional, the better. Apple Bloom, you’re in charge of the seasoning. We need that pie caked in powdered sugar and just a hint of spices, and you have a knack for it.”
“I do?” Apple Bloom asked, bouncing up and down. “But last year you said I was gettin’ in the way.”
“You’ve grown a lot since last year, and I expect you’ll be a big help. Now Big Mac and I, we have to harvest the apples. Fuji, golden delicious, pink lady, granny smith. We’re gonna need all of ’em to make this pie special, and we have to pick the best. Think you can help me buck a few trees to make ’em?”
“Eeyup,” Big Mac said. Applejack stared blankly at him.
“Is that all you have to say?” she asked. “You can’t get a little more excited?”
“Applejack, mark my words, we are gonna pick the best apples in the orchard and make the sweetest, cavity-inducin’ pie this side of Equestria!”
“That’s more like it!” Applejack cried. “Now, everypony, hooves in!”
Applejack stuck her hoof out into the middle of the huddle. Granny Smith reached in with her’s, and Apple Bloom had to stretch her hoof upward to reach Applejack’s level. Big Mac rested his hoof on top, and it covered up all of the other ones.
“We all know this is the greatest family in Ponyville, and we’re gonna prove that we’re the best bakers, too. Royalty’s comin’ to judge our pies this year, so we have to put everythin’ into this apple pie to make sure it’s the best. Now, everypony, apples on three! One, two, three…”
“APPLES!” The family of four lifted their hooves in the air and immediately broke to get to work on the pie. They were all just about ready to get started, but then Apple Bloom called out.
“Wait! Ain’t the fair not ’til next week?”
They all looked at each other and smiled. Maybe they had gotten a little overenthusiastic. Applejack considered carefully what they could do.
“Well, Big Mac and I can still harvest the apples, make sure nothin’ bad happens to ’em this comin’ week. Maybe you and Granny Smith can start plannin’ the crust and seasoning.”
“Sounds great, Applejack!” Granny Smith called out from the kitchen. “We’ll make sure to have the absolute best ingredients prepared to bake the pie!”
“Great! We’ll see you when we get all the apples harvested.”
Applejack and Big Mac headed out the door, leaving Apple Bloom and Granny Smith ready to confer.
“All right, Cakes, listen up!” Pinkie called, pacing across the floor of Sugarcube Corner. Carrot and Cup had their game faces on. This was the most important event for the bakery all year. If they won the competition, their store received a huge uptick in customers. “We have to wow the crowd with the best dessert we’ve ever baked! The only thing is...I have no idea what to make!”
“Oh dear,” Cup said. “You usually have a good idea ready to go.”
“I know, I know, but this year I’m totally stumped. We wasted an amazing idea on last year’s bake-off. I mean, I know, how were we supposed to know our biggest competition would get themselves disqualified for cheating? We could have won with something far less ambitious.”
“That’s a shame,” Carrot said. “We could’ve just saved that idea for this year and win for sure!”
“Yeah, well, I’m not giving up that easily!” Pinkie cried. “We need something dramatic. Something bold, daring! Something fifty bajillion times better than the Marzipan Mascarpone Meringue Madness!”
Carrot leaned in towards Cup. “How does she even remember that name?” he whispered.
“Focus, ponies!” Pinkie shouted, and Carrot tensed up as he returned to an upright position. “We need ideas! No, we need a vision! I should get my crystal ball for this.”
“No, no, Pinkie,” Cup advised, “I don’t think that will be necessary. The three of us just need to put our heads together and think.”
Suddenly, the three ponies could hear Pumpkin and Pound Cake crying upstairs. Carrot and Cup were about to leave to check on them, but Pinkie grabbed their shoulders and yanked them back.
“They’ll just have to wait!” she said. “What can we make that’s gonna knock their socks off?”
“That’s if they’re wearing socks,” Cup said.
“That’s not the point!” Pinkie shrieked, and Cup winced.
“Pinkie,” Carrot said, “we know this is important, but I think you’re taking this too seriously. I know we want to win for the store, but isn’t this supposed to be about having fun, too?”
“Not with those no-good, dirty Apples breathing down our necks! Now, what’s the best thing you can think of?”
“Can it be a cake?” Cup suggested.
“From a family named the Cakes?” Pinkie rebutted. “They’ll be expecting that. We need to think outside the box.”
“You sure your Magical Mango...whatever that’s called, won’t cut it?”
“Everypony already knows about that. We can’t use it again. That would be tacky, and guaranteed to make us lose the competition.”
“Well, Pinkie, what’s your idea then?” Cup asked. “You seem to be the one on the ball in this competition, so we want to know what you think.”
“I can’t just pick one thing…” Pinkie said, “so this year, we’re going with everything.”
“Everything?” Carrot asked.
“Yep! It’s gonna be a cookie crust with cake filling topped with ladyfingers, ice cream, and chocolate sauce! I call it...the Pinkie Pie Surprise!”
“Are you sure that’s gonna work?” Cup asked. “Sounds like it’s a bit too much…”
“Are you questioning the pony that came up with last year’s idea and won the competition for us?” Pinkie asked.
“Easy, Pinkie,” Carrot said. “We’re just brainstorming right now. We just think we should go with something...simpler.”
“Simple is what lost us the competition two years ago!” Pinkie exclaimed. “No way we’re going back to that. Now are you on board with the Pinkie Pie Surprise or not?”
Carrot and Cup looked warily at each other.
“Whatever you say, Pinkie,” Cup said.
“Great! Now everypony, huddle up!” she called. The foals were still crying upstairs, and Carrot and Cup were eager to get this over with so they could take care of them.
“We’re gonna blow them away!” Pinkie shouted. “We’re gonna show them a new meaning of baking. We’re gonna take that championship for the second year in a row! And nopony’s gonna stand in our way when we impress the royal princesses! Now, what are we gonna do this year, win or lose?”
“Win!” Carrot and Cup shouted.
“Again!”
“Win!”
“Again!”
“Win!”
“Louder!”
“Win!”
“I can’t hear you!”
“Win!”
“That’s more like it!” Pinkie cried. “Now go take care of your babies while I get this recipe sorted out.”
Carrot and Cup left the huddle and made their way upstairs, whispering to each other.
“Think she’s a little too intense this year?” Carrot asked.
“It’s because the princesses will be judging,” Cup said. “It’s got her on edge. I’m nervous about it, too.”
“Well, we’re gonna have to help her calm down,” Carrot said. “We won’t win if we get too riled up over this.”
They looked over at Pinkie, who was poring over the contents of the cabinets, looking for the perfect ingredients to make sure they’d be ready for the...thing they were making next week.
“Let’s let her blow off some steam first,” Cup said. “It’ll be easier to talk to her when she’s tired.”
“Agreed,” Carrot said, and they finally made their way upstairs to take care of their babies, leaving Pinkie running around the kitchen like a mad pony, her brain whirring to get this recipe down pat.