It's time to get baking!
Swapping Recipes
by Dirty Bit
The sun was shining over Equestria, signalling a nice summer afternoon. It was also good traveling weather, as the Friendship Express was moving along the rails across the land. The trip lasted for a couple of hours before it finally made a stop at a train station in the town of Ponyville. Once the doors opened, the many passengers on the train exited their carts with their own destinations and purposes in mind.
One mare in particular had both thoughts waiting for her further inside Ponyville.
Sugar Belle, an expert unicorn baker, had a specific reason for showing up in Ponyville, and she hoped to have come at a good time. Lighting up her horn, she used her magic to reach into her saddlebag and pulled out a mirror to inspect herself, turning her head to one side as she laid a calculating eye into the reflection. Her dark magenta mane, while fluffy, was looking well-groomed, and her cerise coat didn't look bad in her eyes. She smiled contently before storing her mirror back into her saddlebag and made her way into Ponyville.
'Wow, this place is so...colorful...' Sugar Belle thought with a sense of wonder as she looked around the vivid scenery, including some of the town's residents. Compared to her own town back in the northern reaches of Equestria, this place was indeed more colorful to her. If only her friends could see this place for themselves, she thought.
Lost in her wonder, she didn't pay no mind to what was in front of her, and ended up bumping into another pony, knocking her out of her dream-like state as she shook her head and looked over at the other pony she bumped into with a fearful gaze.
"I'm so sorry! I wasn't looking where I was going." Sugar Belle apologized instantly.
"Oh, it's alright. You didn't hurt me at all." Said a familiar looking pegasus yellow mare with a flowing pink mane and turquoise eyes. She smiled warmly after speaking with a soothing voice. Sugar Belle was quick to remember who she bumped into and grinned.
"Fluttershy, is that you?" The unicorn baker saw fit to hug Fluttershy, who was gracious enough to return the hug in kind "It's so nice to see you again!"
"Likewise." Fluttershy said before breaking the embrace "So, what brings you into Ponyville? Are your other friends visiting here, too?" Sugar Belle shook her head.
"No, just me. Actually, you can help me out. Do you happen to know where Pinkie Pie lives, by any chance?" Sugar Belle asked inquisitively, hoping for an answer.
"Of course. She lives over at Sugarcube Corner." Fluttershy said as she looked her right and pointed a hoof "It's easy to find once you go in that direction. Just look for a house that looks like it's made of candy."
"Okay." Sugar Belle said before nodding to Fluttershy in gratitude "Thanks so much for the help. Maybe you can tell Twilight Sparkle and the others I said 'Hi'?"
"Sure. I know they'd be delighted to catch up with you as well." Fluttershy said cheerfully before she cocked her head to the side "But why do you want to visit Pinkie Pie first? If you don't mind me asking, that is." Sugar Belle recoiled slightly before averting her eyes away from Fluttershy.
"Just looking to talk with her about stuff, is all..." She said hesitantly. Her eyes trailed over to her saddlebag "Actually, I'm also looking to see if I can swap some of my recipes with her, since we both enjoy baking and stuff." Fluttershy perked up and smiled brightly at Sugar Belle's answer.
"Oh, Pinkie would definitely like that. I shouldn't keep you if you really want to see here. Are you sure you'll be able to find it?" Fluttershy asked.
"Uh huh. Thanks again, Fluttershy!" Sugar Belle said as she galloped off into the pointed direction.
_____
In no time at all, Sugar Belle managed to find her desired location, and she could not be more surprised at the building's architecture. Much like how Fluttershy described, Sugarcube Corner looked as it if were entirely made of candy.
Staring at the front door to the establishment, the unicorn baker closed her eyes and took a deep breath. She had one shot at this, and she had to make this work now that she had come so far. Sugar Belle approached the door and saw herself inside, welcomed with the sound of a bell jingling as she opened it up.
"Welcome!" Said a blue portly mare with a pink mane that resembled frosting. Sugar Belle stepped further inside and stopped in front of the counter "How can I help you today?"
"Hello, ma'am. Are you Mrs. Cake?" Sugar Belle asked, tilting her head to the side.
"Yes I am. Is there anything you want?" Mrs. Cake replied with her own question.
"Yes, actually. I heard that Pinkie Pie lives in this place." Sugar Belle asked politely "I wish to talk with her. Is she here?" Mrs. Cake looked over at a nearby staircase.
"She should be upstairs in her room. Do you know her at all?" She asked, to which Sugar Belle nodded.
"Oh yes. She basically helped save my town with her friends a couple of weeks back." She replied casually, to which Mrs. Cake stared at Sugar Belle before chuckling.
"Well, now I see that Pinkie Pie gets around a lot, being a heroine to Equestria and all. If you really want to talk to her, I won't keep you." The blue mare said.
"Thank you very much, Mrs. Cake." The unicorn baker said cheerfully.
"No problem, dearie." Mrs. Cake replied "You'll find her room down the hall. Second door on the right." Sugar Belle then decided to go upstairs onto the second floor in hopes of finding the mare that she wished to meet for herself.
As she ascended the flight of stairs, a feeling began to well up in the pit of Sugar Belle's stomach; a rare mixture of nervousness and excitement. She wondered if her intended visit with Pinkie Pie would go exactly as planned, even if it was a good idea to swap recipes with her. She remembered that look of euphoria when Pinkie Pie tried one of her cupcakes as opposed to the stale muffins she ate when the unicorn baker was equalized.
Sugar Belle didn't know where Starlight Glimmer was, but she was at least happy to have reclaimed her talent back, and a pony who appreciated it immensely was icing on the cake. Not to mention the fact that she really liked her cutie mark when she first laid eyes on it. It reminded her of Party Favor's almost, but it was unique in its own way.
When she reached her door, she began to feel conflicted, but Sugar Belle managed to push aside any and all doubt that clouded her from going through with this visit.
'Okay, here goes nothing...' She slowly reached out a hoof towards the door, hoping to rap at it a couple of times to get Pinkie's attention...
"Hello!"
The door instantly opened to reveal a certain pink earth pony with a wild pink mane looking back at Sugar Belle, who stared wide-eyed before she reeled back with a yelp. The pink mare, oblivious to Sugar Belle's reaction, simply stared before she gasped.
"Sugar Belle? You came to visit!" Pinkie said as she instantly seized Sugar Belle in a tight embrace "I had a feeling somepony was gonna visit me, but I never thought it'd be you! How ya been? Are things going well back at your town?" She asked as she hugged Sugar Belle.
Pinkie was entirely oblivious to the fact that Sugar Belle was blushing profusely.
After breaking the embrace, Pinkie grinned at Sugar Belle, who was slightly disoriented from the sudden hug.
"So what brings you here? Did you find Starlight Glimmer yet? Or did she come back to you and your friends and apologized? Oh! Are your other friends here, too?" She asked giddily, to which Sugar Belle regained her composure with a sigh before shaking her head.
"No, it's just me. As a matter of fact, there was a reason I came to see you." Sugar Belle said as she looked into Pinkie's eyes. Such bright blue orbs glistened as they stared back at her expectantly, waiting for her reason. Sugar Belle shuddered for a moment before clearing her throat.
"I actually wanted to come here because I-..." The unicorn baker trailed off, finding the courage leaving her body like when her cutie mark was first plucked off of her flank. She shivered before she shook off her building fear "I came to Ponyville because I wanted to swap recipes with you!" She added instantly, breathing a sigh of relief that she recovered in her speech.
"Really? Cool!" Pinkie cheered as she draped a foreleg on the back of Sugar Belle's neck "I never swapped recipes with other bakers before. This'll be fun!" She then gasped lightly before grinning wider "Hey! Maybe we can spend the day baking some of our swapped recipes and trying them. Wouldn't that be just super-duper amazing?" Pinkie asked Sugar Belle, whose eyes were focused on the hoof hanging across her shoulder "Sugar Belle?"
"Huh!?" Sugar Belle asked, as if she were snapped out of a daze before she grinned in embarrassment "Oh, of course. That would seem like a wonderful experience. You're really the first pony I've ever...swapped recipes with." Once again, Sugar Belle found herself lost in those blue eyes.
"Good! Maybe we can get started if Mr. and Mrs. Cake lets us use the kitchen!" Pinkie Pie cheered.
"B-But would they be okay with you using so much of their ingredients? I wouldn't want to be a bother." Sugar Belle asked. If there was one thing she knew as a baker, it was to value another baker's property.
"Oh, pshaw! They won't mind. We got plenty of ingredients to spare, and business has been kinda slow recently." Pinkie reassured "Besides, I wanna see you bake something tastier." She licked her lips in anticipation, oblivious to the way her friend looked at her.
Sugar Belle cursed herself for not saying anything sooner. Sure, it was a boon to spend more time with her, but she needed to make her true intentions known before it was too late. She forced a grin towards Pinkie.
"Okay. Maybe we can go downstairs then?" Sugar Belle asked hesitantly.
"Sure!" Pinkie said brightly before her smile slowly disappeared "...You're doing it again."
"D-Doing what exactly?" Sugar Belle asked innocently, albeit nervously.
"That smile of your's is fake." Pinkie quickly looked down at Sugar Belle's flanks to inspect her cutie mark "Nope. You seem fine." She then looked back at the unicorn baker "But why are you doing that again?"
"W-Well, it's just..." Sugar Belle stifled a grunt before she said "I'm a bit nervous...and excited." She hoped twisting the truth would drop any unneeded suspicion directed towards her.
"Oooooh~. I get it." Pinkie said knowingly, bringing her foreleg off of her friend's shoulders "It's okay. No shame in feeling nervicited once in a while."
"Nervicited?" Sugar Belle parroted in confusion.
"Yeah. You know Twilight, right? She got nervicited when she was about to be crowned as a princess, but then she had to take it back from some meanie unicorn who stole it from her." Pinkie shook her head "There are too many baddies out there in Equestria, you know?"
"Well, if what you did back in my town was any indication." Sugar Belle chuckled awkwardly, succeeding in having Pinkie joined in. Sugar Belle really liked the sound of Pinkie's laughter. It was somewhat musical to her. She could possibly listen to it all day if it were possible.
"Well, what are we standing around here for? It's baking time!" Pinkie said as she pronked out of her room, beckoning for Sugar Belle to follow her. After closing the door with her magic, the unicorn baker followed her friend downstairs.
'I hope I can at least reach my goal before this is over...' Sugar Belle thought to herself in a mixture of determination and anxiety.
_____
Pinkie brought out the last bag of extra flour and brought it up to the table for her and Sugar Belle to use for their confectionary creations. Sugar Belle didn't realize that she had so much to work with after Pinkie told her how much extra ingredients they had. From frosting to yeast, it was like the bakery had closed early and they could release their creative inhibitions without any problems.
"Well, we got all we need for baking, so why don't we talk recipes before going at it?" Pinkie said.
"Alright. Is it okay if I go first?" Sugar Belle asked, to which Pinkie nodded fervently with an eager grin "Okay. My first recipe is called ABC loaf." She levitated a couple of apples and a cup of blueberries, and a cinnamon shaker "Apples, Blueberries, and Cinnamon are used for it. Their flavor is what makes my loaf so special." Sugar Belle said proudly.
"Cool! So what do we do?" Pinkie asked.
"Well, first we gotta make the batter, which is easy enough, only you gotta add cinnamon to it. Then we just dice the apples like so." Sugar Belle levitated a kitchen knife and proceeded to dice the apples with excellent finesse, making them into tiny pieces and disposing of the cores "Then we simply add them and the blueberries to the cinnamon batter and pour it into a loaf tin."
Pinkie wasted no time in making the proper mixture for the batter and adding cinnamon to it. She then stirred it with a spoon using her mouth. When she felt it was finished she brought the spoon up, but accidentally flung a couple drops of batter onto Sugar Belle's muzzle, making her crane her head back a little. Pinkie noticed and set the spoon down on the table.
"Oopsie!" She giggled "I'll get that for you." Before Sugar Belle could protest, Pinkie approached her and ran her tongue up the unicorn baker's muzzle, cleaning the droplets with ease "There we go. Sorry about that." She then inspected the diced apples and blueberries before adding them into the batter, unaware of Sugar Belle's widened eyes and blush. After she stirring the batter again, Pinkie poured the contents into a loaf tin "This is gonna be so good." She said in excitement as she trotted in place.
"Huh?" Sugar Belle asked before noticing the loaf tin "Oh, right! Allow me." Using her magic, she lifted the tin up and made her way towards the oven, which Pinkie opened up for her to place the tin inside. After closing it, Pinkie set up the oven's heat and clopped her forehooves together in anticipation. Sugar Belle looked over at Pinkie and couldn't help but smile at her gesture.
"I've never seen anypony so excited over baking. I thought that was just me." Sugar Belle said with a giggle.
"Duh! Baking's a great experience!" Pinkie Pie said as she hopped on all fours and trotted up to Sugar Belle, almost near her face "I'm just glad I found somepony who appreciates it as much as I do."
"M-Me, too." Sugar Belle said as she forced another grin and tried hard to fight back yet another blush. Much like last time, she ended up making Pinkie feel uncomfortable as she frowned.
"Seriously, why are you still doing that? Are you sure you aren't equalized again?" Pinkie asked firmly.
"No! No, I'm not. Honest! It's just-...it's just-..." Sugar Belle found herself sweating a little over her own hesitation on letting out the truth. She couldn't bear this burden suddenly thrust upon herself over her slight procrastination, and she knew that it mustn't continue 'It's now or never. C'mon, Suger Belle!' The unicorn baker thought to herself. She gulped before regaining her courage as she faced Pinkie, trying to appear determined despite her anxiety.
"Pinkie, it's time for me to fess up. I'm not just here for swapping recipes, even if it was a good idea at the time." Sugar Belle said, hanging her head in shame.
"Really? Well then, what are you here for, anyways?" Pinkie Pie asked "And why didn't your friends join you?"
"Actually, they insisted on me coming here by myself." Sugar Belle said, looking away from Pinkie Pie and pawing at the ground.
"What? But why? Why would your own friends want you to come to Ponyville all alone?" Pinkie asked, feeling a mix between confusion and shock.
"It's because...you see...Pinkie Pie, I-" Sugar Belle looked at Pinkie Pie, who was not looking happy at all, and gritted her teeth before she closed her eyes, took a deep breath, and hung her head.
"Pinkie,IcameherebecauseIreallylikeyouasmorethanafriend!" Sugar Belle blurted out in one breath with her eyes clenched shut, shivering after she managed to get it all out.
"...Huh?" Pinkie Pie blinked at this sudden news presented to her. Sugar Belle, already realizing she went through with the truth, proceeded to face Pinkie Pie with a saddened gaze.
"I should've come out with it when I finally met you, Pinkie Pie, but...I like you. Not as a friend, but more than that." She took a couple of steps back as she looked away shamefully.
"Ever since you left our town, it was good that we had our own cutie marks back and our talents to go with them, but all I could think about afterwards was you. When you came into our town, when you ate my muffins even knowing they were bad, when I got a glance of your cutie mark after mine was taken from me, when you and your friends stopped Starlight Glimmer." She then looked up at Pinkie Pie with trembling pupils "And that's not to say how much I loved the way you appreciated my treats at our victory party. It really moved me to meet a mare like you, and just watching you leave made me feel bereft of that good feeling you brought to me, my friends, and our town."
Pinkie could only stare at Sugar Belle after her passionate confession, surprised at how she had that much feelings for her to begin with. Not many ponies paid her any mind in the romantic sense, but this changed Pinkie's view on Sugar Belle drastically.
"So it was you..." Pinkie uttered, earning a confused glance from Sugar Belle "When I left your town with my friends, I had this weird feeling on the train. My Pinkie Sense went off, and it told me that somepony was feeling really sad when we left. I wanted to go back there and see which pony would actually feel sad after all that had happened, but I never thought it'd be you." Pinkie smiled "If you really liked me that much, you should've told me sooner, silly."
"You mean...you're not put off by my confession? You aren't weirded out by me at all?" Sugar Belle's questions caused Pinkie Pie to snort.
"Sister, you're talking to a party pony extraordinaire! And besides, I can definitely relate. I had a crush of my own once."
"Really?" Sugar Belle asked in surprise "Who did you have your eyes on?"
"Well, I had my eye on Dashie for a while, but I already knew she was more into Soarin. He's one of the Wonderbolts, if you didn't know." Pinkie added "So I just accepted the fact that we were just gonna be besties for life." She said cheerfully before facing Sugar Belle again, this time with different eyes "But I never really thought I'd catch your eye. I'm pretty flattered." Before the romantic feeling could set in, she then remembered another topic "But wait, what about your friends?" Pinkie asked.
"Oh yeah." Sugar Belle donned an embarrassed smile "They insisted on me coming here after they've noticed how visible my feelings for you were. Double Diamond was all 'You gotta make your feelings known sometime, Sugar Belle!'." She said, in a deep mimicking voice before chuckling in amusement "And personally, I believe he was right. It felt good to let all that out..." The unicorn baker stared into Pinkie's eyes. A ding went off, and both mares looked over at the oven.
"Oh, hey, it's done!" Pinkie said cheerfully.
"Allow me." Sugar Belle said amiably as she used her magic to open the oven and pull out the ABC loaf, which gave off the most pleasant aroma to ever waft into Pinkie's nostrils, causing her to drool. The sight made Sugar Belle giggle as she set the tray on a table "Now we just let it cool off before we can give it a try."
"Oh, I can't wait to try it. And also the other recipes you know." Pinkie Pie then gasped as she got an idea "Oh my gosh. Do you know what we can do?" Sugar Belle tilted her head at Pinkie's question before she was brought into another tight hug "We can have a sleepover! Just the two of us, or maybe we can invite our friends later and see if they'll join us!"
"A sleepover? You're inviting me to stay here with you?" Sugar Belle asked in surprise.
"Of course!" Pinkie broke the embrace to smile at Sugar Belle "We got a lot of recipes to swap after all, so we're gonna be here for a while. Plus, we gotta get to know each other better anyways. That's how relationships work, right?" Pinkie asked innocently. Sugar Belle stared in shock before she grinned at Pinkie again "Right there." Pinkie pointed at the happy baker "Now that's a smile I wanna see." Pinkie said as the two shared another embrace.
Little did they know, five mares were watching them from the kitchen entrance in silence with varied expressions.
"Oh my..." Fluttershy whispered.
"Wow...Never thought I'd see the day where Pinkie starts a relationship." A cyan pegasus whispered.
"Well, if anythin', she made Sugar Belle real happy." An orange earth pony mare whispered in response.
"This is sweeter than the treat they had just baked. The sight is just simply delightful." A white unicorn swooned quietly.
"While this is wrong on our part, I'm with Rarity." A lavender alicorn whispered "Don't you think we should let them know we heard a majority of their conversation together when we got here?"
"Now, Twilight..." Rarity whispered "What Pinkie and Sugar Belle don't know won't hurt them. Besides, we'd be spoiling their precious moment."
Mrs. Cake just stared at how Pinkie's friends were all just peeping in on Pinkie Pie's and Sugar Belle's moment from the entrance, shaking her head in amusement. She then turned to face the entrance when the door opened to reveal a zebracorn wearing a top hat approaching the counter.
"Hey, Mrs. Cake. I'd like a-" The zebracorn looked over at the five mares currently bunched together and blocking the kitchen entrance for a moment before looking at Mrs. Cake again "On second thought, I'll come back later." He then simply turned around and trotted away, exiting Sugarcube Corner.
The End