Contains processing jealousy, conversation about stalker/harassment behavior.

It was the next day, with Mr. Cake walking towards the front door with the stroller holding the Cake Twins as he had planned on taking them to a proper daddy-foal time that was much needed given how busy the Cakes had been. Raza had spent the night in a sleeping bag in the lobby while Dusty flew back to his place, raising questions in Mrs. Cake’s mind as to the audacity the young zebra stallion had doing so. Was he hoping to patch everything up the next morning? Regardless, Raza was no longer sleeping, busy cleaning all the tables with the bakery open but before anypony had come in yet. Mrs. Cake felt seething hot red anger rushing through her body, not at her husband who gave a gentle smile, but at the kindhearted Raza for breaking…what exactly did he break again?

“He’s your friend, and I wouldn’t want you saying anything to him that you’ll regret later,” Mr. Cake explained. “It’s not that bad, honey, I know how different everything was back when we met each other, but young ponies just do it whenever and wherever. It’s a different time now, though I’d understand if you need to tell them to cool off till after work. I’m pretty sure Pinkie already said that, too!”

Mrs. Cake stared at him, her glare softening as it wasn’t her husband’s fault what was happening, but her own. Though her frown didn’t disappear, her anger towards Raza didn’t relent. But she shook her head as she placed her forehoof on Mr. Cake’s shoulder.

“It’s just disrespectful,” Mrs. Cake spat out the words, not wanting to blow and accidentally slip information that she was carefully keeping secret. Mr. Cake sighed, relenting as he briefly hugged his wife with one foreleg before turning away and pushing the stroller out the door.

“Just give yourself a breather and everything will be clear, hun, I’ll see you in a few hours,” Mr. Cake reassured his wife, leaving the bakery as Mrs. Cake was eerily alone in the front room of Sugarcube Corner.

It was already difficult enough that Mrs. Cake had to deal with Femi breaking into her room, especially with no evidence to prove such, but Raza hooking up with Pinkie in a spur-of-the-moment passion only made her more uncomfortable about everything. But what did happen exactly for the chubby blue mare to even feel reasonably mad about? Her and Raza were certainly not exclusive in any sense of the word, quite the contrary, she practically demanded that he look for younger mares than her to pursue! All Raza was doing was exactly what she had asked of him! So why was she so red-faced and heated to the point of shaking when she thought about it? She was considering talking to Raza about Femi directly, aware that he would believe her above anypony else, but the whole situation left her even more unsure about how she felt about him. Should she tell him to be with Femi, since the zebra mare already didn’t love her husband and they had nothing to hold onto? She definitely should, at least the athletic zebra lover was undoubtedly passionate about Raza, even if her methods were unorthodox. Maybe Pinkie? If Mrs. Cake felt as though Femi was toxic for Raza, she could push the zebra stallion to pursue somepony who was one of his heroes. Either way, shouldn’t she make a choice on one of them to vouch for since this was all part of the deal? Even though it was everything she thought she wanted Raza to experience, it had grown into a very complicated situation that she didn’t know how to move forward with.

Raza stepped out of the kitchen, seeing Mrs. Cake with her butt turned to him as she was shaking and unaware of the young zebra stallion’s presence. It was all too evident that something was wrong with Mrs. Cake, and he could only assume that it was because Raza flaked out on helping them with work to have sex. Surely that was it? Walking up to her side, Raza looked at Mrs. Cake and avoided touching her just in case.

“I’m so sorry about skipping work,” Raza frowned, his heart hurting at Mrs. Cake’s expression almost made him completely forget about Femi and how she had been acting at his house. “I would’ve turned to you but Femi’s advances have been so much that I felt afraid to even touch you. It’s been terrible.”

“Oh my Celestia, that’s awful,” Mrs. Cake whispered, before shaking her head. “I forgive you, I don’t want to be angry at something so silly. May I ask something? What is Femi like normally, what was your history with her and your family?”

“Well to be honest, I’d only seen Femi and Jabari a hoofful of times together before my brother announced that they were engaged,” Raza admitted with a shrug. “She’s never acted this way up until now, that quiet robotic mare you met was how she always was up until I had sex with her. Now she won’t leave me alone, my parents initially were concerned but decided to stay out of it as no physical altercation had occurred yet. I’m pretty sure they just wanted us to talk it out as adults…why are you curious about how she is? On top of that, you don’t seem all too shocked that she is making moves on me. Did you already know somehow?”

“Yes, unfortunately,” Mrs. Cake gulped as she readied herself. “I haven’t been able to talk to anyone about it, not even Dusty, because I’m not sure if anyone else will believe me. But Femi had been stalking me at work and showed up in my bedroom, demanding that I relinquish you to her so that she could be with the brother she’d prefer to be with.”

“What does that mean?” Raza asked.

And that’s when they talked about everything that had happened in regards to Femi the past few days, Mrs. Cake opening up about what Femi said in regards to her grandmother’s wishes, and Raza venting about every little thing the psychotic zebra mare had done to try and win him over. Raza even mentioned Femi and Jabari’s arguments making him feel unsafe in his home. Before this conversation, Raza seemed somewhat assured about kicking Femi out of his home, but now that she appeared to have some mystical sorcery to stalk Mrs. Cake with ease? Nothing short of getting a royal alicorn involved would be a surefire solution. Raza felt the cold fear of Femi’s capabilities, both certain and uncertain, creep up on his rising pelt like spiders. His shoulders slouching, Raza looked down at the floor and sighed.

“I’m really sorry for bringing this problem into your life, I’d understand if you’d want me to go to keep your family safe,” Raza groaned.

“Raza, we can tackle this problem together,” Mrs. Cake insisted, her heart fluttering at how much was expressed with her willingness to try for something that wasn’t even technically her own. She could feel a twinge of knowing, deep down why she was upset that Raza and Pinkie had sex, though she pushed it down. This was just helping out a friend in need, Mrs. Cake told herself before she spoke aloud again. “Femi’s actions aren’t your fault, not when all four of us agreed to what happened that day. This has all been a lot today, hasn’t it? I’m going to let Pinkie and Sugar Belle know to hold the fort together, and you and I can get a drink or two. That sound like a good idea?”

“That sounds wonderful,” Raza looked into Mrs. Cake’s eyes again, excitement renewed in his heart as he anticipated spending time with the perfect mare uninterrupted more than anything else. Mrs. Cake nodded as she trotted to the kitchen door and pushed it open, letting Pinkie and Sugar Belle know that she and Raza were heading out and would be right back. As Mrs. Cake stared into Pinkie’s wide eyes, she considered assuring the pink mare that she wasn’t mad at her, but thought against it. With the whole Femi situation becoming bigger than the both of them, Mrs. Cake intended on speaking to Pinkie at a different time.

While Mrs. Cake and Raza trotted out of the bakery, a shadowy hoof stepped forward towards the sugary-looking building.