When one walked into Ponyville's local bakery, Sugarcube Corner, they were immediately hit with the smells of a thousand different cakes and other confectionaries. It was a pleasant environment for virtually everypony who came here, and most always left it with a smile on their faces. As for the owners, the Cakes, they too always worked with their usual sense of pride and enjoyment in their work, serving their customers with the kind of friendliness that had come to be expected from years of service to the community. Such was the case today, as Mrs Cake herself was at the counter, handing a bag of muffins to one customer in particular, giving a smile and a wave as they left. And it was here that she soon heard the sound of the front door's bell, leading to her turning in that direction with an even wider smile.
"Welcome to Sugarcube Corner! How may...I...help...you?"
She slowed down, her expression gradually becoming one of both surprise and disbelief. For the one who now stood at her door was no regular customer, nor was it somepony who had ever set foot in her establishment before. It was none other than Ambassador Rarity, looking as composed and professional as ever. Beside her was one of the guards of the Lunar Embassy, who, after being given a silent command by the Ambassador, gave a salute before taking position outside the door, leaving the latter to enter the place in earnest.
"Greetings. I take it Pinkie Pie is here?"
Mrs Cake blinked slowly, then nodded in silence, gesturing to the door that led to the back rooms of the bakery. Rarity gave a slight bow of her head, then walked in that direction, with the eyes of Mrs Cake and the remaining customers never leaving her. Rarity herself paid them no mind, instead focusing on her destination, which she soon reached. The kitchen back here was littered with virtually every ingredient one would expect of a place like this. Sugar, flour, milk, and everything in between. But, it was who stood at the central counter of this room that truly caught Rarity's attention, for not only was Pinkie Pie here, but also Twilight. Both mares smiled to her, and she, in turn, gave them a nod, entering the room in earnest, prompting Pinkie to break the silence.
"Welcome to the Corner!"
Twilight smiled as well.
"I'm glad you could make it, Ambassador."
Reaching the counter, Rarity glanced at many of the ingredients on display before replying.
"Yes, well, I doubt I'd come here under normal circumstances, but I suppose, in the interest of fostering good relations..."
Pinkie chuckled, raising an eyebrow to that.
"Never mind that! I just thought it'd be good to have company while I worked today!"
Rarity turned to her.
"Fair enough, I suppose. So...you enjoy this work?"
Pinkie nodded, looking down to her counter and starting to pick up a few of the aforementioned ingredients.
"Yep! Best part of my day! Seeing the looks of everypony's faces when they take their first bite of it? I tell ya, there's no better feeling."
Rarity gave a slight nod to that, turning her attention downwards, to the food Pinkie was making. For a while, nopony said anything to anypony else, with the only sound being that of Pinkie herself, who appeared to be humming something as she worked, even muttering the words of that song as she did so.
"Mmm...mmm...cup of flour...mmm...just a pinch..."
Twilight too was starting to become more active, turning around and looking upon the nearby wall, wherein there was a number of picture frames, each one containing a similar image. It was Mrs and Mrs Cake, with Pinkie close by. Each image depicted them with some new food they were introducing, all clearly proud of having made it.
"These things look really good, Pinkie."
Her friend looked to her with a sense of joy.
"Thanks. I remember when I first started working here. The first cake I ever made, everypony enjoyed it so much. They said so many nice things to me about it and..."
Then, to Rarity's utter shock, she saw Pinkie's straight hair suddenly poof up, and when this happened, the pink mare immediately start to speak up in a faster pace than before.
"It was all so great! I'd never made anything like that before! I just knew I'd found my calling, so I worked harder and harder, making new stuff whenever an idea came to me and..."
Realising that she was going off on a tangent, Pinkie stopped, taking a few calming breaths which, again, to Rarity's surprise, caused her hair to go back to its former straightness. At the end of it, the baker let out a long exhale.
"Sorry about that."
She tapped her chin.
"Now...where was I? Oh, right! Sugar!"
And with that, she turned, heading over to a nearby bag of sugar on the shelf behind her. Rarity, still silent, looked to Twilight for clarification, but the latter unicorn, after giggling a little, merely shrugged her shoulders.
"Don't worry. She just does that sometimes."
Rarity blinked slowly, not quite sure of what was going on here. But, at the very least, she seemed willing to accept Twilight's word that this was an okay thing to be around. Instead, the Ambassador tried to focus on what Pinkie had been making, stepping over to look at the still-early cake that was being formed.
"I can't say I eat this kind of thing that often."
Pinkie, having found the sugar, turned back to her cake with the bag in her hoof, walking to Rarity.
"Seriously?"
Rarity shook her head.
"Proper diets are encouraged amongst our people. So do go expecting much in the way of high sugar content in our food."
Pinkie rolled her eyes.
"Pfft! Eat what you like! I know I will!"
The mare set the sugar down, then started to measure out the amount that she was probably going to be putting in later. Rarity grimaced at this.
"My teeth hurt just from looking at that."
Pinkie chuckled.
"You need to cut loose sometimes, Ambassador. In fact..."
She gestured to something behind her.
"...since I knew you'd be coming, I decided to make you a little something."
Raising an eyebrow, Rarity looked over in the direction Pinkie had indicated. Sure enough, there was indeed a tiny cake, just big enough to fit in the palm of one's hoof, resting on a small plate on the counter behind them. Rarity looked to it, then back to Pinkie, then back to the cake, before letting out a long sigh. Whether it was out of genuine interest or a need to appear diplomatic, none could say. Regardless, the Ambassador went over, picking the cake up and, after smelling it briefly, took a small bite. She paused, savouring the taste for a while, before swallowing, giving a brief nod and looking back to Pinkie.
"It's...sweet."
Pinkie smiled.
"Kinda the point. Take the rest home, if you like."
Rarity looked to the remainder of her cake.
"Hmmm...I suppose I could share the rest with Sweetie Belle. I think she'd enjoy it."
Pinkie's smile widened.
"That’s the spirit! Now..."
She stopped, pointing her hoof at the ingredients that had yet to be prepared.
"...wanna help?"
Rarity, while taken aback by that, looked down to said ingredients, considering the offer for a time. Then, after almost a full minute of silence, she started to smirk a little.
"You know...I think I could stand to try, I suppose."
