Hyperventilate

by The Isapie

Let Her Bake Cake

Sweet Apple Acres quite lived up to its name. It was sweet, had apples, and stretched for acres and acres by Ponyville and on the edge of the Everfree Forest. It was ever renowned for its amazing apple cider each year, and its related apple products and infamous Zap Apple jam.
So why in tarnation could Applejack not find anything to do with baking a pink velvet cake on its grounds?
Twilight's instructions were simple: just bake a birthday cake for Pinkie. She remembered that on her twenty first birthday, Pinkie went a little outside her comfort level of cakes and cupcakes to bake her a massive apple pie. So naturally, AJ had to go outside her comfort level to bake Pinkie a cake.
First problem: she'd never baked a cake that didn't have anything to do with apples in her life.
Rarity had pointed this out when they'd talked together that morning, back at Twilight's castle.

Earlier that day
"Okay, since we know Rainbow is delivering invitations, I need someone to bake Pinkie a cake, preferably a pink velvet cake, since that's her favourite," said Twilight grimly as she checked off a box on her tiny list with a quill. "Ah guess Ah could try," volunteered Applejack. Rarity stared at her in surprise.
"Really, darling?" Asked the diva skeptically. "You've never baked anything that doesn't have apples in it, as far as I'm concerned. Why, I could have a go at it myself and try out that new recipe that I found while looking for low-calorie foods. Oh, what I'd do for a figure like Fluttershy's."
"You're fine, Rares. I think AJ should bake it, though," pressed Rainbow Dash. "Rares, you don't have as much baking experience as she does. AJ's been baking since she was a little filly!" Applejack nodded. "Ah really can't say that y'all are bad bakers, it's just that Ah was taught by Granny Smith herself. And yall've tasted her pies."
Twilight snorted. "Alright, case closed. Applejack's baking the cake. Rarity, I have a better job for you."
END FLASHBACK

At least if she needed help, she could always visit the Cakes, who were thankfully still in town. But that always brought up her second problem: the embarrassment of having to ask for help with the cake. She was a seasoned baker. She could handle a little cake!
"Let's see...Probably gonna need ta git some cream, and a few eggs. How should Ah decorate the cake, though? Pinkie's got such a great relationship with all the rest of us...We're a durned tight-knit group."
Just like the inspiration Rainbow Dash would have later that day, she suddenly jumped straight up into the air. "That's it!" She gasped as she picked her hat off the floor. "Ah'll make one with lil' apple decorations showing the story of how we found them Elements of Harmony!"
And, just like Rainbow Dash would do later that day, she ran off to grab a cloud.

"Let's see...Ah'm gonna need to bake a mighty massive cake to tell the entire story of the Elements, so Ah'm gonna hafta double this recipe. Oh hey, Apple Bloom!" Greeted Applejack happily as she tore her eyes off her kitchen to look at her flour-covered little sister.
"AJ, before y'all ask, this wasn't mah fault. Mrs. Cake rang the bell for muffins, and Derpy was walking by," defended the red-maned filly. "Ah didn't want this to happen, but we had to hide the muffins somehow. So they gave them to me, and all Ah could do was just stand there as they shoved me into a closet and piled three bags of flour around me."
Applejack smiled. "It's alright, Bloom. Just git yerself washed up and help me git the cloud indoors."
"Why would we get a cloud indoors?!"
"We're baking a cake, Apple Bloom. And it ain't gonna be pretty."

"Gonna need ta add in about a kilo of flour, and pop in that jug of cream. Oh, mighty Princess Celestia, Ah'm plumb tuckered out. Now for them eggs, the ones we beat by hoof, and now the sugar. Lotsa sugar."
"AJ, what about the strawberry sauce you just simmered down?"
"We'll pour that in now. Apple Bloom, pass the cloud, and the spatula."
The sisters were in the kitchen, trying to work out the cake. So far, it had been successful(except for the strawberry sauce, which had exploded, thankfully in the pot) and Applejack was looking forwards to a gorgeous pink velvet cake.
"Pass. The. Cloud," hissed Applejack under her breath as she stirred the massive pot of cake batter with both her front hooves on the spatula. Apple Bloom cautiously placed pieces of the cloud into the pot, so Applejack could stir them in evenly.
"Good. Ah think we're good," sighed Applejack after stirring the clouds in. "What'll we do with the leftover cloud?" Asked Apple Bloom curiously. "Ah dunno, just toss it in the garden or somthin. Ah'm gonna go wash mah hooves."
Apple Bloom waited until her older sister had trotted up the stairs to wash her hooves, then dumped the remaining chunk of cloud in and with expert hooves, managed to fold it into the batter, just in time before Applejack came back downstairs.
"Now let's bake! Two hours should be good!" Exclaimed Applejack. Apple Bloom raised an eyebrow.
"AJ, have y'all read instructions on this?"
"Eh. No need. Granny don't read no cookbook, so why should Ah?"

"What..in...tarnation...happened to it?"
The two of them, along with Big Macintosh and Granny Smith, were standing by the oven and staring at what appeared to be the cake.
Turns out that clouds can collect yeast, and too much cloud can cause a cake to puff up like a mushroom.
"Well, at least it's the right colour!" Tried Apple Bloom. Granny Smith patted Applejack on the back. "You did your best, sonny," soothed the older mare, "But if Ah had ta guess, y'all put in too much cloud. The stuff is amazing, but can be...horrific."
"Speaking of horrific, what's that?" Asked Big Macintosh suddenly, pointing at a rainbow swirl over Ponyville. Applejack's eyes widened.
"She wouldn't," uttered the mare urgently before running off. "AJ!" Yelled Apple Bloom after her sister, almost trotting after her, until her grandmother held her back with a firm hoof. "Apple Bloom, Ah have a feeling we need ta let yer sister handle this 'un."

"Well, at least the town is safe," murmured Applejack as she trotted back to Sweet Apple Acres tiredly. Rainbow Dash was fine, the invitations had been handed out, and Pinkie Pie hadn't jumped out of nowhere because of her Pinkie Sense. Thankfully the citizens weren't harmed at all.
"SURPRISE!"
"WHAT IN TARNATION?!"
Applejack was staring at what used to be her gorgeous mushroom cake. Held by her family.
And trimmed into the fine figure of Pinkie Pie.
"What did y'all do to it?" Gasped Applejack. Granny Smith tilted an eyebrow. "Isn't this what ya wanted, sonny?" Applejack shook her head and tried not to touch the cake.
"Ah was gonna make it into the story of how we met Pinkie and became the El'ments of Harmony!" Whispered Applejack. "But now y'all've gone and ruined that. Thanks a lot."
And with that furious remark, Applejack ran off, leaving her family completely astounded.
As a little filly, whenever she was sad, Applejack would find a place where she could see the sky. It would remind her that there was a way out of every rough corner. When she went to Manehattan, it would be her bedroom window. In Canterlot, it would be Princess Luna's star-gazing tower. In Twilight's castle, it would be the balcony in the branches.
But at home at Sweet Apple Acres, it was the top story of the barn. She could look out the window, seeing the sun on the horizon and knowing that tomorrow was dawning upon her. Or she could lie in the hay and gaze out to enjoy the moon and the constellations appearing in the night sky. Wherever she was, as long as she could see the sky, she knew there would be a way to happiness.
"AJ?"
This, of course, did not go unnoticed by her extremely observant younger sister. "AJ, I'm mighty sorry. It was all mah idea!" Said the filly, breaking in and bursting into tears. "I wanted to help, honest! After ya baked the cake, I took one look at it and thought it was just the colour of Pinkie Pie! Now I've gone and screwed your cake up and Pinkie is gonna hate me and so are you and it's all mah fault!" Wept Apple Bloom into her sister's arms.
"It's alright, Apple Bloom. Just be sure ta tell me next time this happens, or Ah'm gonna be mighty mad at y'all," whispered Applejack. Apple Bloom looked up with teary eyes. "Ya mean it?"
Applejack grinned. "Apple's honour. Now let's go make the icing for Pinkie's mane."

The day of Pinkie's birthday
"HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU!"
"Aw, thanks everypony! This is the best birthday ever!"
As the slices of the incredibly good cake were passed out, Twilight marched over to Applejack and Apple Bloom, a slice hovering in her magic. "This is potentially the best pink velvet cake I've ever tasted! I sure hope you remember the recipe. Wherever you learned it is probably the best bakery ever! I'm going to assume Sugarcube Corner?" Asked the princess, taking another bite. Applejack blushed and took off her hat.
"Actually, Twi', Ah think Ah learned something even better, and Ah think Apple Bloom did too," she admitted. "Ah learned that Ah've got ta be flexible with things that don't go mah way."
Apple Bloom nodded. "And I learned that I should always get permission to do things before doing them, especially if it's not something I'm doing myself," she murmured. Twilight smiled. "Well, it's nice to know that you've taught each other something from this experience," said the princess serenely.
Rarity came over, sporting a clip made from three beautifully cut sapphires. "Hello, girls. I see you're all enjoying Applejack's cake! I've got to put a stop to my munchies," she sighed. "Where've y'all been, Rares?" Asked Applejack. Rarity grimaced. "Suffering in seamstress hell, of course. Where else would I be?"