p style="text-align: center;"It's Annika Approved!br /br / br /br /* * *br /br / br /br /Tommy and her weather patrol have outdone themselves once more this winter in bringing the white beauty of the cold snow. Ostensibly, the icy blanket had appeared overnight without the faintest hint of its arrival, surprising everypony-except those that brought it, of course-when he or she pulled apart their bedroom curtains for sun. The grown mares and stallions were in awe at the sight, only for their trances to be broken by the joyful screeches of their little fillies and colts realizing their freedom from school. It covered the thatch roofs, the ground-everything. From a Pegasus' eye view, the town of S.B., and the surrounding countryside was nothing more than a pile of mashed potatoes with the butter of the sunrise on top in the /br / br /br /Just as punctual as ever, the alarm clock in Pippi's bedroom rang with, depending on who you are, an agitating pompousness that minimized and suffocated all other noises, more specifically Mr. Nelison's /br / br /br /Pippi sat up, her mane a mess, and pounded a hoof against the clock, shutting it up. Then came the traditional awaking: yawning in desire to return to never never land, stretching limbs to ready them for their duties, and then getting out of bed under heavy self-protest. Pippi started for the bureau on the other side of her loft but stopped when the outside world revealed its surprise to her though her /br / br /br /"Oh," she groaned. "No, not snow. I have so much to do today...ugh!" Pippi began silently cursing Tommy and her team of Pegasi as she picked up her hairbrush and straightened out her mane and tail. She then checked on her Number One Assistant still snoring away without a care. How cute he was! After scanning through her duties requiring her attention today in her head, she found no real reason to disturb such a peaceful sight...yet. She could do most of it herself; and with that thought, she walked downstairs to the washroom for what was intended to be short /br / br /br /Sixty minutes later, Pippi dried her coat, mane, and tail in a hurry, leaving many parts of them still damp. Pippi had many abilities, multi-tasking being a prominent one; but rushing herself while being thorough was not something she could manage. And, with a flick of her magic, the towel was flung to the basket containing the other used /br / br /br /"An hour!" Pippi thought, "That was only supposed to last about fifteen minutes, twenty tops!" Pippi continued to curse herself for falling asleep in the bathtub filled with dreamy warm water...oh, good and pleasurable it felt! Rest and relaxation was not a luxury she could afford since she had become a princess, and she expected that the tiresome burden was only part of the territory, or the whole country. Everything was business, scheduled, and on time. Now her schedule was screwed up, and whatever stressed knots the warm soapy water had undone returned tighter than /br / br /br /Pippi didn't have enough time to bother Mr. Nelison and his grogginess. She didn't even eat breakfast. All she did was don her wool scarf and throw her saddlebags over her back before heading out into the wintry world, slamming shut the library's door behind her. Upstairs, a baby dragon stirred in his wicker-and-cotton bed, momentarily lifting open his eyes before heeding the calls of his blankie and of his dreams of delicious diamonds and /br / br /br /From the library, Pippi visited the sofa and quill shop for a few more jars of ink, which was tailed by a trip to the Carousel Boutique for her royal uniform. Pippi was poised to take temporarily over Princess Celestia's duties that are more arbitrary when Her Highness played diplomat next month overseas. Pippi was less than excited for it. Form Rarity's, it was to Applejack for some apples; that cost quite the pretty penny, being winter and all. Pippi rushed to all of her destinations, but still only getting to each place just a little later than she should have. And with each trip, those knots in her back /br / br /br /Pippi eventually reached Sugar Cube Corner for Mr. Nelison's cupcakes. She was supposed to be here an hour ago, but Rarity wanted Pippi to try on her uniform (she looked "marvelous" in it). And there's also that bath. Ugh! That bath...br /br / br /br /Pippi hurried inside, the warmth comforting her flushing cheeks and nose from the cold. She didn't see any of the Cakes, but she did spot Annika Pie gently stirring a pot of something on one of the stove's /br / br /br /"Oh! Hi, Pippi!" Annika Pie greeted after dropping the spoon next to the /br / br /br /"Hey, Annika. Do you have Mr. Nelison's cupcakes?" Pippi replied, trotting in /br / br /br /Annika Pie pulled down the oven door to show a dozen uncooked chocolate cupcakes still baking and flashed a sheepish grin in Pippi's /br / br /br /"Annika! Those cupcakes were supposed to be done an hour ago!"br /br / br /br /"I'm sorry. I forgot. The Cakes went to Canterlot to visit Mrs. Cake's parents, and they left me to do all the baking." Annika Pie paused to stir the pot. Pippi stretched her neck to see what was inside: a creamy white liquid-milk. It was just starting to steam. Annika put back the spoon next to burner. She continued, "First, I burnt some muffins Derpy ordered, and it just went downhill from there. But that's okay! I'm making some delicious hot chocolate to relax into. Want some?"br /br / br /br /Pippi shook her head, "No thanks, Annika. I don't have time for-"br /br / br /br /"Oh, come on! It's going to be a bit for the cupcakes, so you might as well stay and keep me company! Please?" Annika was giving to Pippi the usual puppy-dog stare, glossy eyes and puffed bottom lip. Saying no to that face would be the equivalent of tossing newborn puppies into an industrial-sized meat-grinder...in front of /br / br /br /Pippi sighed. "Fine."br /br / br /br /Annika clopped her hooves together in joy and stirred the milk, now steaming quite vigorously, one final time. She then pulled out two eight-ounce coffee mugs, one was a light blue and the other was a bubblegum color. From some nearby cupboards, Annika pulled out a foreleg-full of ingredients: cocoa, sugar, salt, vanilla, and a bag of miniature marshmallows. She sat them beside the mugs and went to the refrigerator for an aerosol can of whipped cream. Annika took out a couple of teaspoons and a large tablespoon from a drawer. It was time to put together the ingredients!br /br / br /br /Pippi watched as Annika took the tablespoon and dished out two spoonfuls of cocoa into each mug. She took a nearby cloth, wiped the spoon clean, and added the same amount of sugar to each cup. Then followed a dash of salt and half a teaspoon of vanilla to each. Then came the colloid to combine it all. As Annika poured, the milky solvent automatically dissolved the salt, vanilla, and some of the sugar while the rest would require some agitation. Annika stirred until most, if not all, of the solutes were properly dissolved. Usually, there would be a bit of bitter cocoa at the bottom. Then came the real treats. Annika topped each cup with a layer of a few mini-mallows and a swirl of whipped /br / br /br /When she was finished, Annika offered the bubblegum-colored cup to Pippi. "Here! Trust me, you'll love it!"br /br / br /br /Pippi levitated the beverage over to her and, after giving a couple curious looks, took a sip. Oh, what heaven it was! That one sip made Pippi melt in her hooves and sent her tongue into a joyful tizzy-orgasmic, in fact! The bitterness of the cocoa's cacao was not overpowered but was complemented by the sugar, whipped cream, and marshmallows, the last of which had already melted, creating a white barrier between the whipped cream and the hot chocolate. She took another sip. The warmth of the cocoa easily slid its way through her mouth, over her tongue, and down her throat, sending a sensation of pleasure, comfort, and lust throughout not just her mouth but her entire body, horn to tail. It was that morning's bath in a delicious cup; and just like that, the day's stress was /br / br /br /"So, you like it?" Annika unnecessarily asked, for Pippi had shoved her entire muzzle into the cup, moaning for /br / br /br /"Pippi retracted from the cup momentarily to nod with her whipped-cream-frosted nose and reply with an "Mmm-hmm!" She then returned to devour the drink completely before Annika was even halfway done with her own serving. For the first time in her life, Annika Pie was speechless!br /br / br /br /"More please!" Pippi demanded, setting the empty cup on the counter. Annika just smiled and complied, re-heating the milk and making a third cup. Pippi drank this cup more slowly than the last one, savoring every drop. When she was done, so too were Mr. Nelison's cupcakes, frosting and all. Annika sat the boxes of cupcakes on the counter and placed one of those paper-made disposable coffee cups beside /br / br /br /"What's that?" Pippi asked, gesturing over to the /br / br /br /"Hot chocolate to go, for you," Annika /br / br /br /"Oh, Annika, you don't have to do this."br /br / br /br /"Nonsense, Pippi! It's cold out there, and you need something to keep you warm. Go on, take it!"br /br / br /br /Pippi grabbed the cupcakes and the hot chocolate with her magic. "Thanks, Annika." She offered a grateful hoof out to Annika, who gleefully slapped it with her own. Pippi said her good-bye and left, sipping the hot /br / br /br /* * *br /br / br /br /Pippi didn't get home until about seven that night. She took her time, throwing care and timeliness to the wind, and immersed herself into a high of sugar and /br / br /br /Pippi slammed shut the door to the library and dropped her saddlebags, filled with cupcakes, her uniform in a plastic coat, and some fresh packages of cocoa and vanilla she had just bought, onto the large table in the middle of the room. Mr. Nelison emerged from the door leading to Pippi's /br / br /br /"Hey, Pippi. Shouldn't you have gotten home a couple of hours ago?" he asked, watching Pippi walk up the stairs to /br / br /br /"Yeah, but that doesn't matter," she replied in a lax voice. She passed by him, heading for the washroom. Mr. Nelison was shocked by Pippi's reaction and became /br / br /br /"Uh, Pippi? Are you okay? You don't usually seem this, I don't know, relaxed?"br /br / br /br /"Eh. I had some of Annika's homemade hot chocolate." A memory of its taste brought a smile on Pippi's muzzle. "Boy, it's delicious." Pippi reached the washroom. She readied a hoof against the door. "I'm going to be a while. Your cupcakes are in my bags." Pippi then shut the /br / br /br /Mr. Nelison pressed an ear against the door and heard water running into the tub./p
