“Well? What do you think?”

The look that was now plastered all over Pinkie Pie’s face was one of sheer joy. As Sunny watched her, it would not have been unreasonable for the girl to be worried that her bubbly companion’s smile was so wide that it may well pop off her face entirely. And yet, knowing Pinkie as she did at this point, she knew she wasn’t going to get away without giving some kind of response. So, letting out a sigh, the Crystal Prep girl turned and looked upon the central workspace of Pinkie’s kitchen, which had been covered in all manner of items used for baking. Flour, yeast, jugs of water, it was all here, ready to be put into whatever Pinkie had in mind. Placing a hand upon her hip, Sunny had been wracking her brain for something to say, but in the end, she said perhaps the only thing she could have said under the circumstances.

“It’s very…comprehensive.”

Pinkie, thankfully, allowed her smile to shrink a little, though she looked no less happy for doing so. Turning from her guest, she instead walked over to the baking materials on display, picking up a particularly large bag of flour and just smiling sweetly at it.

“It sure is! I can’t tell you how much I enjoy this kinda stuff! I mean, I can tell you, because that’s what I was planning, but you get my drift.”

Sunny nodded.

“Oh, sure, I get your drift alright.”

Pinkie, apparently not having picked up on the girl’s sarcasm, simply squealed at it all.

“It’s just so nice to come home and do some backing! And what we make? It can be some of the tastiest stuff you can ever know!”

Sunny folded her arms and raised her eyebrow a little.

“Yeah…but you could always go to a professional baker or something if all you want is a cake or the like.”

To that, Pinkie merely rolled her eyes.

“Well duh! But that’s no fun! I mean, sure, I could go to Mr and Mrs Cakes and buy a cake from them, but it just wouldn’t be the same!”

As soon as the words were out of her mouth, Pinkie’s expression became one of worry.

“Oh! I mean, I love their cakes, and they’re great bakers, and I really really don’t want to upset them or anything, but…”

But, she was stopped from saying anything further, as Sunny raised a hand, looking slightly annoyed at Pinkie’s sudden divergence.

“No problem. I get it.”

Pinkie nodded at that, apparently having got out of her funk in record time, at least by Sunny’s standards. And so, as before, a massive smile crept onto the girl’s face.

“But oh! What sweetness our own cakes can have! The feeling of having made it yourself is just…oooh! I can’t even say!”

In spite of her earlier sense of annoyance, Sunny now found herself chuckling a little.

“I can tell you like this kinda thing, Pinkie. And I know you’re good at it too.”

To that, Pinkie raised an eyebrow.

“Really? How?”

Looking to her, Sunny took on a slightly confused look before starting to explain herself.

“Um…the Games, remember? Your cake beat ours by miles.”

Hearing that, a look of realisation crossed Pinkie’s face, resulting in yet another smile erupting from her.

“Oh yeah! I remember that! That was such a good cake!"

For a moment, a look of pride crossed the pink girl's face.

"But then, when you spend as much time practising at Sugar Cube Corner as I do, I guess you pick up a few things."

And as soon as that look had come, it left, replaced instead by one of concern.

"Oh, but I hope you guys weren’t too unhappy about it.”

To that, Sunny simply shrugged her shoulders.

“Meh, it happens. You can’t win em all, right?”

However, those words, rather than putting Pinkie at ease, actually led to a degree of confusion on her part.

“Really? Wow, Sunny. I didn’t expect you to be all live-and-let-live about it.”

Raising an eyebrow of her own, Sunny’s smile faded a little.

“Oh? You think me…the uptight sort?”

As soon as she heard that, Pinkie regained her guilt-ridden look from earlier, waving her hand about in a frantic manner, almost like she was trying to put out a fire.

“Oh! I’m sorry! It’s just, well, I was kinda expecting you to be more bitter about it what with it being your team who lost and all, and the fact that you Crystal Prep kids are always so gung-ho about winning and being perfect and…”

But, yet again, it was Sunny who stopped her from going on, looking to her with a softer expression as she let out a sigh.

“Don’t worry about it. If anything…you kinda have a point. We’ve spent so long being taught to do better than others that…well…it can be hard to take a loss sometimes. Besides…it was a bakery segment in an inter-school sports contest. Not the kind of thing to get enraged over.”

Pinkie smiled at the prospect of not being in trouble again.

“Well, that's good. For a moment, I was afraid I’d…”

However, almost as if the universe itself wanted her to stop talking, what should happen at that exact moment but Sunny’s cell-phone starting to buzz in her skirt pocket. Although annoyed by this, the girl soon took it out, and her expression became a somewhat sour one as she saw that there, flashing on the screen of the thing, was the word “Mother” in bold letters. Frowning slightly, Sunny raised a finger at Pinkie, and the latter got the silent message, making a “zipping” motion on her mouth to let her know she’d be quiet. Chuckling slightly at this, Sunny moved away from her, putting her phone to her ear, which soon led to hearing her side of the oncoming conversation. A conversation which, rather swiftly, led to the girl’s smile disappearing.

“Mother? Yes, it’s me. No…no I’m not at the library. I finished my work there about half an hour ago. I’m…over with a friend.”

A few moments passed, during which, Sunny’s expression became less comfortable than it had been before.

“Yes…yes I am with one of them. Pinkie. Yes…the one with the cake.”

Pinkie glanced over in her direction for a few moments, but the way in which Sunny was tapping on the side of the table made it clear that she shouldn’t try to speak up right now, and so she remained quiet for the time being, listening instead to the conversation that carried on.

“Yes, Mother, I understand. I will. Five at the latest. Alright. I’ll be there as soon as I can.”

There were a few more moments of silence, and after it was done, Sunny pressed a button on the phone, ending the call. Pinkie stayed where she was, waiting patiently for her visitor to be the one to speak up first. Fortunately, she didn’t have to wait very long, as Sunny took a sharp intake of breath before looking to her.

“So…I’ve got a few hours to kill before I leave, so…what do we do first? In the baking I mean?”

Although her baser instincts would have wanted her to enquire as to just how bad a conversation that was, Pinkie simply buried that urge for the time being, forcing a small smile as she turned to the ingredients on the table.

“Well…first we take a cup of flour and add it to the mix.”

Sunny nodded, turning around and getting a reasonably-sized cup from the nearby closet, after which she brought it back and began measuring out the proper amount of flour. Seeing that, Pinkie gave a short nod before making her way to some of the other ingredients and starting to prepare them. As she did this, Sunny regarded her carefully, and after a few moments of awkward silence, she spoke.

“Pinkie…your parents are…well…they’re pretty strict, right?”

Turning to her, Pinkie put on a small smile.

“Sure! But I love them all the same!”

Sunny nodded.

“Yeah…I know you do, but…how can you be so…you?”

Pinkie took on a look of confusion at that, prompting Sunny to explain herself.

“It’s just…you’re always so happy and carefree and…and nothing gets you down. Given that you’re parents seem, and I mean no offense by this, stick-in-the-muds…how have you ended up this way?”

Thankfully for Sunny, Pinkie was far from offended by those words, and regained her earlier smile before shrugging her shoulders.

“Easy! I know they love me, so I just let them know the kind of person I am!”

Sunny raised an eyebrow at that.

“You just…told them? Just like that?”

Pinkie nodded.

“Just like that! I mean…we’re family! There’s nothing we can’t get past if we just talk to each other!”

Hearing that, Sunny watched as Pinkie got back to her work, leaving her to think hard on what had been said to her. And all the while, her expression shifted from hesitation, to fear, to uncertainty, and back again.

“Just…talk.”