A Pink Party Pony's Surprise [Part 2 Scene 1]
The sound of a pan clattering against the kitchen floor echoed through the quiet, sweet shop called Sugarcube Corner. The accidental drop was loud enough to wake the young Cake twins, who jolted upright in their beds. Living in a bakery, they knew that awful, loud clang rather well, but weren't used to hearing it at that time of night. They contemplated remaining in bed, rather than run the risk of being caught snooping, but curiosity won out, so the pair quietly scampered down the main staircase towards the kitchen.
Unsurprisingly to the twins, when they peeked around the corner of the kitchen doorway, they found a frazzled-looking Pinkie Pie. She was trying some kind of new balancing act the Cake twins hadn’t seen before. A bag of piping was in Pinkie’s mouth, which she was using to ice something onto a cake, while simultaneously grasping a saucepan in her left hoof, a cupcake tray in her right hoof, and attempting to open the oven with her back hoof. This left only one back hoof on solid ground to maintain her equilibrium. Although the sight would have been amusing to most, the twins exchanged glances of worry, rather than amusement.
“Pinkie Pie?” Pound Cake said, boldly interrupting whatever it was he was witnessing while his sister followed close at his hooves.
“Pound! Pumpkin! I didn’t wake you, did I?” Pinkie said, the words garbled by the piping bag in her mouth. When the twins could only offer a face of confusion in response, she giggled and spit the bag out onto the counter, while sliding the cupcakes into the oven, and setting a timer.
“Oops! I forgot I was doing that! I’m soooo superty-duper triple ripple sorry that I woke you up!” Pinkie exclaimed, picking up the piping bag with her hooves and resuming her icing endeavor.
“Why are you baking? Luna’s moon is still high in the sky.” Pumpkin observed, pointing out the kitchen window to the bright moon shining overhead.
“Welllll….” Pinkie started, then switched tasks yet again by sprinkling flour on the counter, while finishing an icing swirl. Even her normal Pinkie absurdities were multitasking as a rolling pin produced itself from her mane. “I’ve got extra crazy lots to do before the biiiig party tomorrow! Everypony in Equestria is gonna be there, and they’re gonna be HUNGRY! I still have 6 dozen cupcakes, 7 pecan pies, 12 caramel fritters, aaaaand another triple chocolate cookie cake with chocolate frosting and chocolate sprinkles! You know those Canterlot ponies, they looooove their chocolate!”
Initially, the twins didn’t respond, unsure how to answer such a string of absurdities. Eventually, they chose to offer their assistance rather than try to riddle out Pinkie’s logic.
“Want us to help?”
“Aww you silly filly billies should be snoozing in dreamland, not rolling out pie crusts and setting the caramel on the stove to soften!” Pinkie said, doing those exact actions as she spoke them.
“Pinkie Pie? What in Equestria?”
Pinkie and the twins' attention snapped to the matron of the family, Mrs. Cake, when she joined them in the kitchen. She rubbed the sleep from her eyes in disbelief at the sugary array stacked before her.
“Hiya Mrs. Cake!” Pinkie exclaimed with an energy and volume that was unwelcomed at this hour. Mrs. Cake recoiled at the sound as Mr. Cake finally made his appearance, completing the house’s inhabitants.
“Juuuust finishing up those desserts for the big party! The castle ran out of sugar, can you BELIEVE IT? So I thought I would finish up here, I knew you all wouldn’t mind! Sorry about the noise, I can be a taaaad clumsy when I’m quadruple tasking. Ooo I can’t WAIT to try all of these tomorrow! I might just have to make a “Caramel Chocolate Cherry Surprise Pie” just for me! I’m so hungry I could eat a dozen cupcakes all on my own!”
“Pinkie, dearest, don’t you think you could bake some of these things tomorrow after you’ve gotten a good night’s rest?” Mrs. Cake offered. There was a sincerity in her tone, but it was mixed with deep concern.
“Er, yeah, you’ve made plenty of desserts so far, I’m sure a couple cupcakes won’t be missed.” Mr. Cake said, echoing the sentiment while nervously rubbing the back of his neck. “Sometimes it’s easy to lose track of time when you don’t give yourself a break.”
Pinkie laughed, just as loudly as ever, while she slammed the pie dough on the counter and started to flatten it with the roller.
“Don’t you worry! Twilight’s included sleepy time on that big list she gave me of things to do! Soon as I’m done with the baking, I’ll get right on that list, and it’s off to beddy-bye for this pink pooped party prepping pony.” Pinkie said dismissively, unable to pull away from her tasks, even for a moment, to make eye contact.
“Maybe we should get your friends over here to help you in the morning, then.” Mrs. Cake said. “We wouldn’t want a pooped, pink, party-throwing Pinkie Pie, isn’t that right dear?”
Mrs. Cake sharply elbowed Mr. Cake as she gently nudged the twins towards the stairs. They looked back at Pinkie one final time, their brows furrowed in worry, before giving into their mother’s silent command.
“Y-yes! Your friends and… maybe your eccentric sister can come by. She’ll know how to help.” Mr. Cake said nervously, watching his family ascend the steps to their respective rooms.
“Sounds absotuvely-posalutely perfectly perfect to me!” Pinkie said, still not meeting his eye.
“Well, goodnight Pinkie Pie. I… hope you get some rest.” Mr. Cake remarked with a sigh, before he too climbed back towards the comfort of bed.
Pinkie Pie hadn’t noticed if the Cakes’ behaviors and comments had been anything outside of the ordinary. She knew they worried when she worked so late into the night, but this celebration was the most important party of the year, and she couldn’t afford a single slip-up. If even one pony left that party with a frown, she had failed. It would be a failure of Ponyville being able to heal. It would be a failure that would reflect poorly on Twilight, and that would mean more hardships for a friend she loved so dearly. But most importantly of all, it would be a failure to her very nature.
Pinkie took those dark, looming thoughts and buried them beneath her sheer determination to keep moving forward. She had just started cutting the third pie crust from the flattened dough, when the timer on the oven dinged. The party pony delightedly dropped the knife on the counter to grasp an oven mitt in her mouth. It was her favorite part of baking: opening the oven to the initial wave of warmth on her cheeks, and the sweet smells from perfectly golden pastries that followed. There was a comfort in that familiar aromatic embrace, a comfort that her frazzled nerves, and growing anxiety, needed now more than ever. Before her outstretched hoof could reach the handle of the oven door, however, Pinkie thought she heard more hoofsteps approaching. Her delight rapidly melted into annoyance. What had she done this time? She was sure she hadn’t made any additional noises to wake the Cakes. Were they coming back to lecture her again? How long could she continually reassure them that she was okay, before the happy facade would break?
“I see nothing’s changed ‘round here.”
Pinkie froze for a moment. She could have sworn that was Applejack’s voice coming from behind her. She giggled and shook her head.
‘Okay, maaaaaybe I do need some sleep. Now I’m hearing voices.’ Pinkie Pie thought absently to herself, oven mit still clasped tightly between her teeth. She refocused on the task at hoof, and the oven door swung open with ease. A pang of disappointment twinged in Pinkie, when that initial warmth and smell did nothing to ease the tightness in her chest.
“That any way to greet an old friend, Pinkie Pie? I’d have thought better of you, if I didn’t already know what a phony you were.”
Pinkie Pie had never heard voices in her head this clearly before, and the grim curiosity caused her to spin around with the cupcake tray still in mouth. When she stopped, she could barely believe her own eyes. There, standing at the counter with Pinkie’s empty pie tins and baking supplies, was Applejack. Pinkie screamed out and flung the cupcakes into the air, stumbling backwards onto the stove, and narrowly grazing the hot saucepan with her right hoof. The cupcakes went soaring, splattering around the kitchen, while the hot tin came whirling back down onto Pinkie’s back right hoof. She screamed again, but more in shock than in pain, kicking the hot pan away as quickly as possible, before letting her eyes focus on the mare before her.
Her eyes weren’t playing tricks, this wasn’t a dream or a cruel prank, this intruder was undoubtedly Applejack, but she wasn’t quite the Applejack Pinkie remembered. This Applejack looked haggard, like a sun-bleached, worn-out piece of leather. Her fur was matted and unkempt, along with her mane and tail, like a pony who hadn’t had a proper bath in years. Pinkie couldn’t see her eyes from underneath that old, tattered hat, but she could see the hateful grimace; and that’s what had startled her the most. Applejack wasn’t exactly alone either as she leaned against an old, dirt-encrusted shovel, and was wearing a belt with varying old gardening tools. Pinkie immediately recognized them, as the very kind that had once been used as AJ’s instruments of torture.
“Applejack?!” Pinkie said, her voice squeaking more than usual. “Applejack!”
Pinkie flung herself forward, her hooves outstretched like she was welcoming back a friend from an extended vacation. It was all Pinkie could think to do, knowing that her brain would need time to catch up with itself. Despite the innocence of the gesture, Applejack didn’t give her the satisfaction. She didn’t want Pinkie believing, even for a moment, that there was anything good left between them. She shoved Pinkie away, hard, and the pony fell against the sink, her head snapping back and forth so violently it gave her a headache.
“No, you don’t get to touch me like you give a damn.” Applejack snarled.
“But AJ…” Pinkie trailed off. She had a million thoughts buzzing around in her head, competing for a chance to form into words. So many things left unsaid, and so many questions; it only made her head throb harder.
“Don’t you ‘But AJ’ me.” Applejack snapped back, taking her hoof and setting it behind one of the empty pie tins, before rocketing it off the counter. Pinkie jumped and gasped out when the tin hit the adjacent wall. A ringing soon took hold in her ears, and wouldn’t relent. An unsettling feeling of dread was growing steadily in the back of her mind.
“Twilight made sense. She had to keep up that perfect little image of hers. I wouldn’t expect Dash to give a shit, and Fluttershy’ll do whatever the hell the rest of ya’ll tell ‘er to do. Rarity’s another story, but you Pinkie? What’s yer grand excuse?!” Applejack growled, violently flinging another pie tin across the room.
“Excuse?” Pinkie asked, voice shaking as she helplessly covered her ears from the increasingly loud timbre of ringing.
“For ABANDONING ME!” Applejack screamed, taking the shovel in her hooves and knocking every last item: ingredient and pastry, from the counter. Among the disarray, a bag of flour collided into the kitchen window, mere inches from Pinkie Pie’s head, and she had to bite back the urge to sneeze when its contents billowed around her.
“No, no, I didn’t! I swear! When Twilight told me the truth, I went there every day, Applejack, EVERY. DAY. I wanted to see you, but they wouldn't let me! I begged, I pleaded, I even tried to bribe them with cake! Twilight had to drag me away! I-I wasn’t going to give up, so she said I could send you letters and packages. I was writing three, sometimes four letters a day! I didn’t stop until they all came back… they said you’d rejected them.”
Applejack’s unforgiving and unrelenting gaze bore deeper into Pinkie’s.
“And you believed ‘em. Just like that? Some friend you are.”
AJ’s words stung like a thousand bees all attacking Pinkie’s heart at once. She had often wondered if it was truly Applejack who had sent back her countless letters, all unopened and unread. Deep, deep down in the pit of Pinkie’s stomach, she’d always known it was a lie.
“I… I shouldn’t have given up.” Pinkie admitted, strands of shame gripping around her heart like a vice. She hung her head, unable to bite back her tears. There was a brief uncomfortable silence between them while Pinkie succumbed to soft sobs. They were interrupted by the wind whistle of Applejack’s shovel whirling past Pinkie’s head, to land mere inches away, stuck into the wall beside her. She jumped, gaping at the shovel that could very well have implanted itself into her skull.
“Applejack?” Pinkie stammered, unsure how the conversation could have derailed so quickly that her former friend would want to harm her.
“I’m not really feeling very merciful tonight, Pinkie Pie. A lot’s changed since you knew me, and some things I just can’t forgive.” Applejack replied, the dark intonation erasing any doubt of the conviction in her words.
Applejack abruptly jolted towards Pinkie like a madmare, hooves outstretched for the party pony’s neck. Pinkie didn’t even have a chance to scream, she could only squeak in fear and duck out of AJ’s way. She scrambled, crawling towards the stove while Applejack pried the shovel from the wall.
“COME ‘ERE!”
Pinkie could hear the orange mare’s gallop, her rapid heartbeats in sync with AJ’s thunderous hooves. Pinkie jumped up from the floor and grabbed onto the only thing she could reach: the saucepan of caramel that had been melting on the burner. With an outcry of effort, she flung the pot and its contents in AJ’s direction. AJ let out a scream of pain and anger, the garbled sounds of her guttural shriek mixing with the ringing in Pinkie’s ears. The caramel contents spilled out onto the floor, as the saucepan clattered on the ground beside the pair of mares. At first, Pinkie couldn’t believe a pony could take a red-hot pan to the face, and still remain standing. But with grim realization, she remembered Twilight mentioning an aversion to pain as a ‘side effect’ from that accursed sleepless potion.
“You’re…. But…. they said they cured you!” Pinkie stammered. She was backing herself into a corner while the former farmer stalked ever nearer.
“And there you go believin’ them again! Do I look cured to you? You KNEW they were fuckin' lyin’. You KNEW I never got any of those letters, but ya still gave up. Ya gave up on me!”
Pinkie knew if she didn’t act fast she would surely meet her gruesome end. She gathered what courage and stamina she had left and charged into the mare, slamming her head into AJ’s chest and forcing her backwards until she hit the countertop. Pinkie didn’t take the momentary victory for granted. She extended her hooves to gather as many pastries and cupcakes as she could reasonably hold from the carnage on the floor. They would be her arsenal of weaponry. Taking one muffin in hoof, she desperately flung it in Applejack’s direction, following it up without hesitation with the remaining treats, one by one. Pinkie knew her chances of survival, and escape, would increase drastically if she chose to throw something heavier, or sharper. But she couldn’t fully comprehend those consequences. Objects like that could maim, dismember… or kill. Not Applejack, she couldn’t do that to Applejack. She’d already failed her, she couldn’t keep failing her.
The other mare didn’t need to contemplate the severity of such a situation, as Applejack unsheathed a spade from her toolbelt, and hurled it towards Pinkie. Pinkie dodged again, only running on adrenaline now, as she looked for a way out. She saw the back door was a few gallops within reach… but what about the Cakes? If her baking woke them before, what was to stop them from hearing this potential massacre? She knew she needed to get to the stairs and block Applejack from reaching them.
Pinkie veered to the side, choosing to run around the kitchen hoping to confuse Applejack. She made one mistake, though. Pinkie forgot the sticky caramel that was now soaking into the wooden floorboards near the discarded saucepan. Although it wasn’t enough to keep her stuck in place, it was plenty effective in tripping her. Pinkie fell forward, grasping the kitchen curtains as a fruitless effort to soften her fall, and snapping them out of place. She collided hard with the unforgiving floor, brain rattling in her head. A few seconds passed before Pinkie felt an incredible force yank her up by the mane, and press her face towards the still-lit burner.
Pinkie gritted her teeth and pushed back against the hoof that was trying relentlessly to incinerate her. She felt the heat singe the bits of fur on her cheek, but she refused to give up. In a moment of frightened insanity, Pinkie pushed her own face against the burner to shock Applejack enough to remove her hoof. It worked, and the pink pony pulled away from the heat as quickly as she was able. She didn’t want to assess the damage, she just needed to get away.
Maybe it was the final straw having to burn herself just to flee, or maybe it was the thought of the innocent Cakes in danger, but either way, Pinkie found herself with much stronger conviction. If she didn’t kill Applejack, Applejack would kill her. She was a failure, but she wanted to be a live one. Pinkie reached for some of the knives resting in their block on the counter near the sink. She screamed out, thrusting one at a time at the orange mare. She couldn’t be sure, but Applejack seemed to move faster than a pony ought to have been able. Not a single knife was successful in its endeavor. Even more frightening was the sight of AJ picking up the discarded knives like she was calmly collecting a deck of cards. Pinkie’s hoof eventually found nothing but air, and she quickly glanced to the side to see that the knives had all been thrown. In desperation, she grabbed the block of wood they’d been resting in, and threw that at Applejack, while sprinting away from the kitchen. Pinkie’s hooves beat against the ground fervently until she spied two of the very ponies she was trying to protect. Mr. and Mrs. Cake had indeed come downstairs to the horrendous noise, but their timing was deadly. As Pinkie Pie retreated, Applejack had decided to try her luck at knife throwing, and her aim was far superior to the frightened party pony’s. Pinkie collided into the pair of Cakes, thwarting her own retreat. She tumbled roughly to the ground at their hooves.
Screeching, buzzing, and drumming bees whizzed around in Pinkie’s head as a headache exploded from the sudden impact. Their angry noises mixed with the ever-present ringing in her ears. It was so encompassing, that it deafened the world around her. Pinkie only knew she was gasping for air because of the violent expansion and contraction of her chest, and the burning in her lungs. Louder and louder the chaos grew, and not even shaky hooves pressing her ears into her skull could stop its ascension. When Pinkie finally opened her eyes to look up, she saw Mrs. Cake’s face. The odd expression struck a chord in Pinkie; it was unnerving. The pastry shop matron was pale, wide-eyed, and shaking. She was looking down, though not at the pink pony at her hooves. Pinkie’s gaze followed hers until it fell upon the blade protruding from her friend’s chest. Pinkie opened her mouth to scream, but wasn’t sure if anything came out. From where Pinkie laid, it seemed as if Mrs. Cake was playing a macabre game of freeze tag. She didn’t move, her chest didn’t expand for breath, and her fixed expression didn’t change. Then, all at once, Mrs. Cake crumpled to the ground. Pinkie didn’t even see blood until Mr. Cake frantically pried the blade from Mrs. Cake’s chest, spraying Pinkie’s face with his love’s viscera.
Pinkie knew it in her gut, now. Applejack had won. There was no escaping this gruesome end.
Pinkie awkwardly scrambled backwards, wincing from droplets of blood in her eyes, clouding her vision. The sight before her was too much to bear, so she turned back towards the kitchen to face down her demise head-on. Instead of finding a murderous mare, however, Pinkie met the smiling face of what she could only describe as a demon, its figure aglow. It took a few seconds for her to realize that glow wasn’t just an otherworldly sight, but the beginning wisps of flames on the cupboards and counters. Fire had broken out in the kitchen, and Pinkie spied the fallen curtain resting, and burning, on the open stove top. This was her fault. Abandoning AJ, leaving her loved ones in danger, starting the fire from her carelessness, all of it.
Pinkie was ready to give up the fight, and curled into herself in anguish. But just as she was about to squeeze her eyes shut to await her demise, Pinkie caught sight of the twins. Somewhere in the confusion they must have joined everypony downstairs, only to find their mother's lifeless corpse. Their little cheeks were marred with tears as they tried uselessly to shake her back to life.
Pinkie didn’t know what strength she had left, but her hooves responded. She sprang up from the ground and screamed above the roar of the blaze at Mr. Cake.
“Get the twins and get out! Hurry!”
It was odd to feel the words in her throat, but be unable to hear them. The fire, and the damage it was causing, had taken the place of the ringing and humming, but it was still too loud to be heard over. Pinkie grabbed Mr. Cake’s hooves that were still clutched tightly to the body of his wife. He shirked her away from him angrily, but she kept trying to drag him up. Pinkie could see the flames in her peripheral vision. They were seconds from consuming them all. It was then she realized she could no longer see Applejack, and assumed she had fled once the flames overtook the kitchen. It was a small mercy to be able to help her loved ones without a crazed mare simultaneously trying to kill them. As Pinkie struggled to get a response from Mr. Cake, she grew to realize she couldn’t waste more time on a pony that didn’t want to be saved. No, she had the twins to think about now. Pound was closest, and her hooves wrapped around his little waist, prying him from his mother. He thrashed wildly, beat his hooves against Pinkie Pie, and even bit down hard into her foreleg. She couldn’t afford to release him, though, and silently withstood his frenzied resistance. Pinkie and Pound were closest to the back door, and the encroaching blaze had not yet overtaken it. She bolted towards their freedom until shaky, sweaty hooves were forced to fumble with a lock. Pound’s thrashing was only making things more difficult, but Pinkie clasped him tighter to her chest. Finally, the door handle moved, and a rush of fresh air entered the kitchen as the door swung open wildly. The gust of wind it created picked up the powder of flour scattered about the kitchen, and the flames immediately took hold.
A resounding explosion followed after Pinkie’s getaway, sending her and Pound flying into the street behind the bakery. Pound finally had leverage over Pinkie, kicking her away from him as he bolted free of her grasp. Luckily, the foal was wise enough to run away from the fire, rather than attempt any futile effort to save those within it. Pinkie didn’t have the strength or mental capacity to follow after him. All she could do now was lay in the street and stare.
Sugarcube corner was completely alight, burning away all that she loved. Tears stung the burn on her cheek as she helplessly watched the fire’s destructive glow. She kept her eyes locked, transfixed, on the orange mare standing in the window of the bakery’s kitchen. Applejack hadn’t fled at all, she’d remained to watch the fallout. Flames were licking the sides of her fur, but she did not burn. The unholy demon was immune.
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I honestly think Pinkie could take Applejack in a fight. If you think about it, Pinkie comes from a family of rock farmers. And, seeing as Maud can turn a rock into dust relatively quickly, I'd say Pinkie is stronger. Then, there's the possibility of Pinkie being related to the apples, which doubles her strength. We also can't forget that Pinkie is as fast as Rainbow on the ground and as unpredictable as Discord—not including her fourth-wall-breaking toon force powers. So, in normal circumstances, Pinkie beats Applejack.
Geez, what a ungrateful brat! Pinkie was trying to save your damn life from the fire. Too bad Mr Cake just decided to give up on life and not help Pinkie save his kids.
It is tragic that his wife died, but you still have your kids to SAVE, geez!!!
Mrs. Cake will be so disappointed in him when they're in the afterlife.
P.S. So you just let poor Pumpkin to die!? I thought she was getting both of them!?
Okay, I am so confused. How and why the hell does Twilight's Sleepy Magic make Applejack "immune" to pain or seems indestructible!!!??
She is becoming a dark god
11751606
HEY! Fucking back off from Pound Cake. Did it ever occurred to you that he may be scared out of his damn mind?! For Celestia's sake he's just a small colt. What the hell do you expect a kid to do in a fucked up situation like this. He was just minding his own business, probably asleep, when all of suddenly in one fateful night, all that fucked up shit happened in Sugarcube Corner, his home. So he's probably scared and confused as shit at this point!
And when everything is done and over with....he'll have to deal with the grief and pain of losing his whole damn family! Not to mention losting his entire home and everything else. That's a lot for a young child to deal with.
That mad mare Applejack (affected by the portions or not) had took his whole family away from him. She made him an orphan. Considering both she and her siblings lost their parents. Bringing that same pain wouldn've be the last thing she wouldn've done to another. But no....what she had done to him is far the worst.
there goes the food that she prepared.
I'm sorry given the tragic circumstances prior, but this is such a badass scene to perfectly examplifty the transformation Applejack has undergone.
Wait, so Pinkie knew about the potion?What exactly does she know?
Doesn't that make the story even more complicated?
11751481
Well, some details I don't agree with.
Pinkie Pie left the farm when she was very little, Maud has probably worked with rocks all her life, there is a clear difference. In the chapter in which Maud first appears, Pinkie was unable to free one of her hooves from a rock and she was nearly crushed by another rock that Maud had to destroy to save her life.
The fact that she is possibly related to the Apples does not necessarily mean that due to genetics she could be stronger, since their power could be more due to work on the farm and not so much due to genetics. And equally if they were relatives, they would simply be distant relatives and therefore that genetics would not have as much influence.
What I do agree on is that Pinkie has very underrated speed and skills, plus she has even shown that she can handle weapons.
I would say that Pinkie has greater potential, but she is not a combatant nor does she have anywhere near the same brute strength as Applejack, in fact in Magical Mystery Cure it is seen that even Rarity beats her by kicking trees, Pinkie would lose with the first hit, Although of course, I think it would be very difficult to hit her.
On the other hand, I think Maud would beat Applejack without much trouble.