"Aw, c'mon. Trouble can be fun! Have you heard some of Dashie's stories? They can't all be exaggerated." Oz insisted, waiting for her friend to finish her breakfast. "Speaking of, did you see that sign in the square? I think I'm gonna compete."

Angel looked up at her friend for a second, most of the way through her muffin already. She could eat quickly when the situation called for it, but she usually preferred a slightly more decorous speed. "They can't? You're talking about Rainbow Dash. She may be an amazing athlete, but that's a pony well known for her... excessive self-confidence." She snorts softly. "Have fun in the competition. I'll probably be on-hoof in case somepony pulls a leg or something."

Oz smirked. "Just try not to call us 'reckless fools' too loudly, hm? Try to have fun?"

Angel finished off the last of her muffin, now bearing a bit of a smirk. "Oh, I would never do that. Far be it for me to cast such judgments. I'll just be waiting. Watching."

"Judging."

Angel merely gives her friend a knowing smile, not denying it... nor, really, affirming it, but the medical pony clearly finds the idea at least somewhat amusing. She takes a second to clean the last crumbs away from her muzzle, then finally says, "Now, now... judging the competition will be done by somepony other than me, you know that."

"... Well played," Oz replied. "I wonder who will be? Dashie couldn't resist competing in those pet games where she got her tortoise, from what I hear."

Angel Feather shakes her head. "You know, I have no idea. I haven't been involved in any of the steps of planning this contest and although I know of the contest, I haven't read the sign myself."

"Are you done?" Oz asked, her excitement building for reasons totally unrelated to the Dash Competiton. "Let's go explosion-watching!" she suggested, hopping up and down on her back feet while the front ones remained on the table.

Angel watched her friend for a second, silently ondering - which was more hyper, Pinkie Pie or Oz? After a second, she decided Pinkie was probably the more hyper, but then, she didn't spend much time with the pink pony, unlike the crazy mare she was with now.

Finally, she sighed and nodded. "Yes, I'm done. We can go."

"Yay!" Oz said, hopping about a little. "Adventure, ho!"

Exit to Summer Song Café ----->

With a sense of foreboding, Angel walks after her friend.

To: Summer Song Cafe --->

Widget had been frankly mesmerized by the odd conversation between the two younger girls, especially since they were talking about explosions, which were something of his specialty. Zap apples, huh? Perhaps they could be utilized as an energy source of some kind... It hadn't occurred to him before. Well, it would certainly be eco-friendly, wouldn't it?

His train of thought was snapped as the girls left, and he turned back to Mr. Cake with a bit of a sheepish smile, but it was rather normal for Widget to go AWOL in thought, even in the middle of conversations. "I'm meeting Twilight in Whitetail Woods this afternoon for lunch. I need some snacks and sweets that will be sure to please. I'd like two blueberry muffins, two carrot muffins, and two strawberry vanilla cupcakes, please. And I was wondering if you ever made sugar coated flowers? I used to see them in sweet shops in Canterlot when I was a colt, but I haven't actively looked for them since, and I've heard that most girls like them."

Mr. Cake scratched his head over the antics of the odd couple of mares, but laughed it off all the same once they were on their way out.  He returned his attention to Widget and nodded at the order, going about behind the counter to gather the requested goods from their display spots.

"Candied flowers aren't really a regular request, but we can whip some up for you no problem if you don't mind waiting a few minutes." the older stallion nodded, talking around a pair of tongs he had gripped in his mouth.  Assuming he got a positive reply, he'd step along to poke his head into the kitchen and chat for a moment, apparently asking Mrs. Cake to make some for him.  He returned back to the front a moment later to continue bagging the sweets.  "You're really spoiling that girl, y'know.  Ah... you two remind me of before my honey-biscuit and I got together.  I just knew from the first time I tasted one of her bundt cakes that she'd be the mare I wanted to spend my life with..."

Mr. Cake never really seemed the nostalgic sort, but there were some fond memories worth holding on to and appreciating as the years went by.  Of course, the implications of his idle remarks might have been a little much for Widget just then.
This message was last edited by the player at 03:33, Mon 08 Oct 2012.

Widget had quickly nodded in the affirmative when Mr. Cake had said he would be able to whip up a few candied flowers for him. "I don't mind waiting. I'm a little bit early anyway," he said cheerfully as he watched Mr. Cake pop into the back to tell his wife, presumably, that there was an order for sugared flowers, and then come back to begin bagging his order.

"She deserves it," he said in a slightly dreamy tone and with a more than slightly goofy smile as he magicked his bit bag from his pocket, playing with it a bit in a fidgeting sort of way as he thought about Twilight. She really did deserve to be spoiled. She was amazing...

Mr. Cake's last comment, however, startled Widget out of his thought and caused his cheeks to darken significantly with the thought that struck him just then. As head over hooves as he was for Twilight, he was logical enough to know that it was far too early to even think about such a thing, but that didn't stop his more creative thoughts to utterly betray him at that moment and conjure up a mental image of Twilight wearing a white and silver dress, surrounded by a strange white mist, and smiling at him in such a way that she never had before. He was pretty sure that he had never seen anything so beautiful before.

The inventor swallowed hard, and laughed aloud, trying rather valiantly to brush off Mr. Cake's words as nothing but general conversation. "Who knows?" he said in a would-be airy fashion. "Twilight and I are both really new to this dating thing, after all, but it's a bit too soon for us to think about the rest of 'our' lives." In that moment, however, it was hard to hide his envy of Mr. Cake. He and Mrs. Cake just seemed to go so well together, as if they had never not been apart, never not been Mr. and Mrs. Cake. The older stallion sounded as if he had always been so sure of Mrs. Cake, and while Widget was quite firm in his feelings, he wished he knew for certain exactly how deep Twilight felt.

It didn't last, though, as Widget's more logical brain quickly caught up. He and Twilight had all the time in the world to explore the depths of their feelings. The last thing he wanted to do was rush and potentially ruin something great.

"Um... If I might ask... Aside from her cooking, what made you so sure that Mrs. Cake was... well, the Future Mrs. Cake?" Still, a little questioning of his more experienced elders in this regard might not be amiss...

"Well, it's a good idea to take your time.  You both are young, after all.  Enjoy it and don't think there's any need to go galloping into something you're not ready for."  Mr. Cake wisely tempered his nostalgia with some actual wisdom.

"Um... If I might ask... Aside from her cooking, what made you so sure that Mrs. Cake was... well, the Future Mrs. Cake?"

"Baking, son.  There's a difference." the stallion replied curtly, as if it were a matter of pride.  But all the same he relaxed and gave a fond chuckle over the memories.  "Honestly, not many Ponies ask that question.  Most just see the two of us and assume we were always together somehow, like we were made for one another.

I used to be in the military, believe it or not.  A lot of stallions in my generation signed up for at least one tour -- we all felt it was part of our national duty.  That opinion has faded over the years, but it was the thing to do back then.  I looked mighty sharp in uniform too, I might add... and Cup Cake thought so too." it was rare for him to refer to his wife by name, but given the context of the story, seemed proper all the same.  She hadn't been Mrs. Cake or his 'sugar strudel' yet, back then.  "I'm originally from Fillydelphia, you see, and our troop made a marching tour across a lot of Equestria.  I first met her when we made a stop-over in Ponyville for just one night on the way to Canterlot.  She, and a bunch of other mares, had all gotten together to make sure us troops were well-fed and taken care of before we had to march out again.  It was just a courtesy, but home cooking meant the world to a lot of us after being out on the marching routes for so long."

The lanky stallion looked over his shoulder through the viewing ports in the kitchen doors.  Through them, they could see Mrs. Cake bustling about at her work, though she had to pause every once in a while to peer over at where their kids were napping in their playpen.  She glanced up from her task and caught his gaze through the port, then gave him a warm smile before returning to work.  He sighed fondly and grinned as well -- the affection between the two was never in question, but it was rarely so apparent as just then.

"So that first time I tasted her baking, and she smiled at me, I felt like I'd just floated away on a cloud.  We were all off to Canterlot the very next day but I just couldn't get her out of my head, even though I knew she was way out of my league.  But every time there was a chance to go back to Ponyville, I made sure I was the first on the roster." he continued at length.  "Admittedly I wasn't the most dashing of stallions, and she was terribly shy herself, so it took us a long time to even really introduce ourselves properly.  For a while it would just be her serving me cake or pie or cookies at the diner she worked at.  Eventually I found out she'd even come in to work on days where she wasn't scheduled, just because she knew I'd be in town.  Over time we got to talking, bit by bit.  We realized how much we had in common, and how we had the same hopes and dreams... it just sort of fell into place.  We hardly even realized we'd started turning my visits into dates.  It just felt natural... like we were meant for one another.  The very day my tour ended, I grabbed the first train back to Ponyville and here I've stayed ever since."
This message was last edited by the player at 15:10, Mon 08 Oct 2012.

"Sorry," Widget mumbled quickly, recognizing Mr. Cake's pride in his wife's baking, but otherwise said nothing as Mr. Cake explained how he and his wife had met and eventually made the decision to spend their lives together. It was a sweet thing, to see how close the two of them really were, even after all their years together and the stresses of twins and running a business together. As his story progressed, Widget felt his smile becoming bigger and warmer, finding it truly touching how they had fallen in love.

When the story ended, Widget let out a small, warm sigh and nodded. "Well... perhaps you were made for each other," he said with a rather confident tone. Some ponies were just meant to be - he believed that heartily. Otherwise, he couldn't see how his own mother and father even met, much less got married and had him. "Thanks for sharing your story, Mr Cake. I enjoyed it," he added sincerely. He packed up the sweets Mr. Cake had brought to him in his basket while he waited for the candy flowers to be finished, and paid for the sweets with a small and neatly made stack of bits. "I'm trying to think of new ideas for dates for us to go on, too. Any suggestions for next time?" he inquired.

"Actually, thank you, Widget.  My wife and I are close, but sometimes it's good to sit back and remember what brought us together in the first place." Mr. Cake said with a pleasant glance over his shoulder.  Just then, Mrs. Cake emerged with a small tray clenched in her teeth that she set down on the counter top -- on it were an assortment of colorful flower buds and blossoms, laid out into an attractive arrangement.  The lot of them were lightly glazed and crystallized with a fine sugared coating that almost made them look like little gemstones.

"Here you go, sugar cookie." she said as she set down the tray and turned to hurry back to the kitchen all the same.

"Thanks snicker-doodle~!" the stallion called back.  His smile didn't seem to be going anywhere as he set about wrapping and boxing the edible bouquet for transport.  When Widget asked about future date ideas for himself and Twilight, Mr. Cake mulled quietly for a moment before replying.  "Hm... well, Twilight's really the bookish sort; I've seen her be perfectly happy just sitting in the park all day with her nose buried in some pages.  I imagine you two could always do something like that if you're absolutely strapped for ideas." he suggested.  "Though you might want to play at the intellectual angle anyway.  There are some great museums and art galleries in Canterlot and Manehatten."

The inventor couldn't help his smile when Mr. Cake thanked him, bowing his head softly as he accepted the thanks graciously and wordlessly. He looked over the beautiful jeweled flowers, ears perking sharply in pleasure at how well they had turned out. "They look fantastic! Not that I had any doubt," he commented happily as he watched the sunlight that streamed in through the windows glimmer on the glassy sugar coating.

His comment on what to do with Twilight brought a nod from the inventor. He hadn't thought much about art galleries, but maybe Twilight would like that sort of thing - he certainly did. "I bought tickets to go see Octavia in Canterlot Royal Gardens for a charity event later this month. I thought she'd like to go see that. I haven't been back to Canterlot since I moved away. That feels like a lifetime ago now, not just five years... It'll be nice to go back, I think." That wasn't entirely true for Widget, but no need to let anyone else know that. "Thank you, for the suggestions, Mr. Cake, and to Mrs. Cake for taking the time to make these for me. I appreciate it a lot."

"That sounds like something you'd both enjoy.  Just be sure to watch out for her older brother.  If you haven't met him yet, you're probably in for quite the interrogation." Mr. Cake was only half-joking on that matter.  Twilight's family lived in Canterlot, so the odds of her and Widget running into them one way or another were pretty high given the situation.  The yellow stallion nodded his head politely to Widget's gratitude and returned it with a smile.

"My pleasure, Widget.  Was there anything I could do for you?" he asked as he glanced up at the clock on the wall.  It was almost time for the lunch rush to start coming in, so best to get such a request out of the way quickly.

"I actually look forward to meeting her family, brother included. He may be protective, but the way Twilight talks about him, he sounds like a great stallion," he chuckled as he packed the box neatly away and magicked the basket back onto his back for safe travel. "I want to take an early train so we can meet them for lunch beforehand, but I'll have to discuss it with Twilight, of course. For now, though, that's everything. Thank you again, Mr. Cake. I'll see you soon." With that, he waved to Mrs. Cake in the back, smiled his farewell to them both, and left Sugarcube Corner to let them prepare for their lunch rush, and to make his way to Whitetail Woods before he was late.

>>> TO: Whitetail Woods

"Have fun~!" Mr. Cake called in Widget's wake as he left, then turned to head on into the kitchen a moment later.  His wife looked up from a batch of figs she was prepping to become a tasty filling at his approach, setting aside the spoon she had in her jaws for a second.

"Oh, good.  I need your help with these fruit pastrie~~eeemm!" the plump Earth Pony began, but she was quickly caught up in a twirl as her husband reached out and snagged her foreleg with his, spinning her about to him to dip her to the side and plant a firm, adoring kiss right on her lips.  Surprise was swiftly replaced by affectionate pleasure and, by the time he drew back, she was flushed and breathless.  "Oh my... Carrot, what's gotten into you...?"

The stallion chuckled over his wife's somewhat goofy smile and nuzzled her cheek with his.  "I just wanted to remind you that you're the most gorgeous mare around, and that you have made me the luckiest, happiest stallion in the kingdom." his praise was admittedly bias, but entirely sincere as well.  "How about we get a sitter for the foals tonight and go have an evening just to ourselves?"

"I love you, sugar cookie." Mrs. Cake cooed over both the affection and suggestion, thoroughly charmed off her hooves just then.

"I love you too, honey bun." Mr. Cake replied with a quick stolen kiss.  "Now then, what about those fruit pastries?  Let's get to work~!"

From Dash's Contest Event --->

"Closed? Closed?! How... but... they're never closed," Oz said, the affronted fire in her voice rapidly dwindling to just more of an awful day by the end of her brief monologue.

With an heavy sigh and an heavier heart, she turned around and decided to try to find a drink in the only place guaranteed to have one, day or night (And maybe chocolate, too).

To Summer Song Café --->
This message was last edited by the player at 04:41, Tue 01 Jan 2013.

---> Business District

"Good morning!" Rarity called cheerily, masking her slightly depressed attitude from a few moments ago, "Oh, the shop smells absolutely ravishing this morning!"

There was something about sweets that was able to turn Rarity right around! It was a shame she didn't enter the shop more often! Of course, if she did, her figure would be absolutely ruined. Chocolates, cupcakes, candy, it all went straight to her flank. She had a hard enough time keeping it off besides.

Rarity cantered up to the counter and smiles, inclining for Luna to follow her inside with a gesture of her head.

The regal mare joined Rarity smoothly and happily trotted up to the counter with Rarity, inhaling deeply. Oh, it really did. So many good and amazing flavors, all right here. Luna glanced eagerly at Rarity, and noticed her expression. Most striking wasn't that she seemed  a bit distracted - it was the opposite. She almost seemed too content and cheerful after how she'd been a moment ago.

"Good morning, everypony~" Luna chimed happily, and turned back to the delicious treats, though she was slightly less enthused as her thoughts turned to hoping Rarity was alright. She really did seem troubled - and she seemed keen to keep it to herself.