Despite their current multitude of issues that they needed to iron out sooner or later, the first reaction Starlight and Sparkling had to entering the familiar eatery known as Sugarcube Corner was one of surprised bemusement.
For such a big event as a free indoor picnic for fillies and their female parents, you'd have thought they'd be more of an uptake on the offer. The place was virtually deserted, aside from the Cakes with their foals giving them a friendly nod from the counter, and Pinkie gesturing to a centralised table where two chairs were handily positioned.
"Make yourselves at home please, I shall return with your orders post haste." The party pony was truly at her manic best today, whizzing around like a miniature hurricane to seat both Sparkling and her mother before rushing off into the kitchen area, almost blowing the door off it's hinges in her wake.
"W-Well, er... you have to say, the service here is pretty exemplary..." Starlight grimaced slightly at the sound of drinks and cakes no doubt being heaped inelegantly onto a single tray. "...I just hope she doesn't drop the food all over my head like last time I was here. There is one thing that confuses me, though: how can she 'take our orders', when we didn't even say what we wanted yet?"
"That's Pinkie for you, I guess." Sparkling simply shrugged off the older earth pony's behaviour. She might not have known Pinkie as well as Starlight, but her perpetual randomness was legendary to all residents of Ponyville. "I'm more puzzled by the fact that we seem to be the only ones eating here, on a day when such a great promotion is on offer."
"U-um... we didn't have enough time to advertise. I-It was all done at very short notice. Y-Yes that's it, nothing suspicious here at all!" Mr Cake heard this part of the discussion, and for some reason began to act like he was hiding something.
"T-That's right, dearies. We'll probably get a bigger turnout later on." Mrs Cake interjected, somewhat unconvincingly. "So, we'll leave you two alone now to to talk thing ou... I mean, enjoy your time together. The diapers need to have their twins changed... w-well, you know what I'm trying to say. Ta-ta for now!"
You didn't have to be Shadow Spade to figure out something mightily odd was going on as the married couple hastily reversed course to make their way upstairs. Starlight together with her daughter gave each other a skeptical look in recognition of this.
"Do you think that Twilight..."
"Most likely."
"She went to all this trouble..."
"Friendship is kind of her thing, you see."
"I don't know how to feel about this."
"Just do what I do, and go with the flow. Try to stop her, and it'll only lead to bloodshed and ruin in the future."
"R-Really?"
"Well, disappointed glances and long silences actually, which can be even worse. Let's just give it a try, and if it doesn't work out... hey, free food!"
"I-I guess..." Sparkling finally gave into the blatant overtures at reconciliation that had been put in motion by a certain princess, as Pinkie returned at that precise second staggering under a predictably leaning tower of delectables.
"Whoa! This is even more difficult than I ever imagined!" She opined, doing some kind of bizarre shimmy en route just to keep her balance. "Who'd have thought that stacking up half the items on our menu higgledy-piggledy and then carrying them halfway across the restaurant would prove to be so darn hazardous? I don't really think I thought this through. How unusual for me! Never mind, what's done is done. Here comes Delicious in for a smooth landing!!"
"Pinkie, isn't that rather too much for just two ponies to digest?! In case you hadn't noticed, this isn't the Grand Galloping Gala!" Starlight asked with concern of her struggling friend, making sure she moved her chair away from where any potential spillage might occur. "I hope you don't mind being on washing-up duty all night, either."
"Never mind all that..." Sparkling's attention was apparently drawn to something other than Pinkie's usual antics. "T-That's the thing I'm most worried about...!"
The worried filly jabbed her hoof anxiously at a 'JUST MOPPED' sign sitting nearby, which caused instant panic in both of the diners' minds. Without further delay, they scrambled to shelter underneath the table, absolutely sure that any minute now Pinkie would come tumbling down, bringing with her a slurry of food and drink which would mess up their manes and fur something awful.
For Starlight, Pinkie would merely be a repeat offender if the worst should happen, but Sparkling dreaded this looming disaster most of all. She'd already been scrubbed in the tub red raw this morning on account of her 'little accident', and she had no intention of experiencing that again so soon, no sirree.
"What are you both doing cowering under there, you silly billies?" Pinkie found the pair's terrified reactions quite amusing, and continued to lurch forward clutching her huge load with all the poise of a trained tightrope walker. "I'll have you know I practiced this exact scenario more than a hundred times, in the event we got a sudden high volume of orders. Yep, that includes the possibility of there being a wet floor, too. So get out from under there, and ready yourself for an assault on the tastebuds you'll never forget!"
Just as Starlight and Sparkling were somewhat reassured by Pinkie's confident tone and even tentatively poked their heads out from under the furniture however, disaster struck. No, it wasn't the slippery floor that caused mayhem this time, nor was it Pinkie nattering when she should've been concentrating on making sure her unruly mountain of goodies remained upright.
No, it was Gummy who'd somehow materialised right in the middle of her path that did the damage. Pinkie seemed to have no idea her precious pet was there, and as soon as her hind leg made contact with the baby alligator, the next few seconds were inevitable. Here they are in slow-mo for those who wish to preserve the memory:
A loud nnnooooo from Pinkie.... an acrobatic tumble... plates and dishes flying everywhere... Starlight and Sparkling bracing themselves for impact... Gummy blinking once, twice... a mysterious dark shadowy figure watching from outside...
Okay, maybe that's a bit too much detail. Let's skip the rest, and go straight to the outcome of this impending calamity, shall we?
Starlight, with her eyes firmly shut for the best part of a minute afterwards, was most surprised to not hear the telltale sound of smashing glass and crashing china, and so opened them up a scooch. What she saw made her jaw drop, rub her eyes in amazement and nudge a slightly trembling Sparkling next to her, who'd been repeating on an endless refrain "Please not the loofah. Anything, but the loofah again."
Both parent and daughter gazed in awe at the beautifully stacked table in front of them. There was not just the promised ginger beer and cupcakes, but as many different flavours of muffins as you can conceivably imagine, a large array of freshly baked pastries from the oven and even napkins helpfully engraved 'DT' and 'SG' to go along with the feast.
Of course, Sparkling Glimmer now had the same initials as her mother (at least currently) so this might have to be updated for future special occasions, but the filly in question was too relieved right now to be too concerned about such trivialities.
"We're alive! We're safe! And best of all, we're still spotless! Woo-hoo!" Sparkling just couldn't help herself as she dive-bombed Starlight in a spontaneous moment of sincere relief, hugging the older mare's fetlocks tightly as she hysterically laughed with sheer abandon.
Somewhat taken aback, both at Pinkie's 'unique' ability to setting a table perfectly when on the verge of hitting the dirt, and her daughter's unexpected show of affection despite earlier heavy disincentives to the contrary, it was all that Starlight could do to pat the snuggling filly gently whilst staring with wonderment at the delightful banquet sprawled out in front of them.
In the meantime, a pink party-lover and her scaly sidekick had quickly made themselves scarce to retreat into the kitchen, rabidly giggling at the success of their 'plan'. Well, one of them was... the other seemed far more interested in dangling his forked tongue lazily from his mouth for no reason at all.
"We did it, Gummy!" Pinkie announced to her unmoved pet, as she gallivanted around the room in excitement. "I told Twilight that the old 'make 'em think they're about to get immersed in gunk' scheme would be an ideal addition to her strategy to bring them closer together, but did she believe me? Of course not, but look at all the huggles and snuggles that are going on out there! Nothing brings estranged families together better than a staged food-related catastrophe, and there's the proof in the pudding that's about to be eaten. Oh Twi, she of little faith! Now, how's about we have some yummy horsefly ice cream to celebrate? What? A new flavour? Don't be silly Gummy, the horseflies are for you! Unless..."
.......................................................
"BURP! O-Oops sorry, that was a complete accident! It won't happen again, honest!" Sparkling remarked apologetically as she polished off the last of her strawberry sundae from a now much emptier-looking table.
"What? Oh, you don't have to worry about that sort of thing around me, darling." Starlight stated with amusement, as she dabbed a few stray cookie crumbs from her muzzle by use of unicorn magic. "Let's just say my table decorum standards aren't quite on a par with Spoiled's, so feel free to express yourself flatulently to your heart's content. Within reason, of course."
"O-Oh okay, thanks." Sparkling chuckled nervously, remembering with an elevated shiver all the occasions she'd even so much as clear her throat during a meal resulting in Spoiled almost screeching her ears off, whilst Filthy hid behind his newspaper. "So, that was pretty much the most I've eaten all at once in my entire life. I hope Twilight hasn't got anything big in store for lunch. Or even, dinner. I'm stuffed."
"Twilight? Nah. She'll either be too busy reading to eat at the proper time, or she'll just grab a late night snack later." Starlight reclined in her seat with satisfaction, wishing she wore a belt so she could loosen it. "She has this big idea at the moment, for a school? Not quite the same as Miss Cheerilee's class, though. It's a bit impractical right now, but one day she hopes to get one of every species in Equestria and teach them about the ways of friendship to show that universal peace is achievable. Mad I know, but she really has her heart set on it! Whatever next... me as a guidance counsellor?!"
"Y-Yeah... that is pretty funny!" Despite it being a chore to budge an inch right now, Sparkling couldn't help but find the prospect of the often apprehensive mare in front of her giving advice to youngsters most amusing. "But if there's one thing I've learned about Princess Twilight, it's when she really wants something to happen, it tends to work out for her no matter what."
"I suppose. I mean, if anypony told me this time a couple of years ago I'd be sitting here having a casual conversation with my daughter instead of manipulating a bunch of ponies into giving away their Cutie Marks, I'd have probably laughed in their face. I have quite a good 'evil' laugh, you know. Perhaps I ought to demonstrate it to you sometime. Bwhahahaha!!" Starlight winked conspiratorially at her bloated filly, before gradually rising to her feet. "Well, I guess if all this stuff was free, there's no point in paying or even leaving a tip, so shall we see if we can fit through the front door to leave now? Or would you like me to get you a doggy bag, Sparkling... oh dear."
Referencing the unwanted name Starlight had assigned to her daughter was a bit of a mistake on the unicorn's part, as she'd been trying to avoid using it for the better part of the morning since the filly's mini-rant about it outside. She'd hoped to bring up the subject again later, when things were a bit more relaxed between the pair, and they could discuss all the pros and cons rationally like civilised equines.
It was too late for that now though, and the next words to spring forth from her daughter's lips were destined to be ones of condemnation and chastisement, that would almost certainly ruin the wonderful gourmet of sweet treats they'd enjoyed together. The nervous unicorn prepared herself for what she was about to hear next...
"S-Starlight?"
"Y-Yes, dear?"
"C-Can you tell me about the rest of your family at some point, please? I-I-Including perhaps, my birth father?
"H-huh?!"