The bell above the door jingled as Puzzling and her mother stepped inside, the warmth of the restaurant’s interior a stark contrast to the bitter cold outside.
Soon, they were seated and looking at their menus. A pale blue unicorn mare trotted over with a pen and a notepad, smiling.
“Hi, my name’s Moonbeam and I’ll be your server today,” she said. “Can I start you off with some drinks, maybe some appetizers?”
Heart Guardian nodded. “I’ll just have water with lemon.”
Puzzling looked over the drinks before looking up at Moonbeam with a little smile. “If it isn’t too much trouble, I’d like to try the Tipsy Alicorn and I’d also like a glass of water, please.”
“No problem,” Moonbeam said, jotting down the drink orders. “I’ll get those in for you. Oh, and the Tipsy Alicorn is a really good cocktail.” With that, she walked away.
Heart Guardian gave her daughter a knowing look. “You only got the cocktail because you know I’m paying, didn’t you?”
Puzzling smiled nervously and nodded. “Uh… yeah,” she said.
“I thought so,” Heart Guardian said, looking back at her menu. “Ooh, this hayburger looks good.”
“I might try the chicken salad, no dressing,” Puzzling Insanity commented as she looked at her choices.
They chatted until their drinks were put on the table, thanked the young unicorn and placed their orders. As the server went to put their orders in, Puzzling took a sip of the multicolored glittery cocktail.
She smiled as she sipped her drink. Rum and fruit juice danced on her tongue and down her throat, leaving a pleasant taste in her mouth. “Want a sip?”
“No, thank you,” Heart Guardian said. “I don’t drink anymore.”
“I call horse apples on that,” Puzzling laughed, taking another sip.
It seemed like an eternity went by until their food was eventually brought out. Moonbeam set down a hayburger and a chicken salad, smiled and asked, “Is there anything else I can get for you?”
“It is my daughter’s birthday,” Heart Guardian said. “Got any discounts?”
“I’ll see what I can do,” Moonbeam said. “Oh, and happy birthday!”
As Heart Guardian inspected her burger for anything she didn’t like, Puzzling took a look at her salad. Pieces of perfectly-seasoned grilled chicken lay in a bed of iceberg lettuce, shredded carrots and red cabbage, making the fanged mare’s stomach audibly growl. Under her makeup, Puzzling blushed at the sound as she took her first bite of the salad.
Heart Guardian and Puzzling Insanity chatted and ate until the bill came. The older mare looked at the piece of paper, smiling at the words “birthday discount”. She fished out her bit bag and paid for lunch.
Leaving a few extra bits on the table as a tip, the mother and daughter left the restaurant and headed back to Puzzling’s trailer.
“I had your cake custom-made,” Heart Guardian said as the mares made it back to the light blue mobile home. “You’re going to love it.”
Entering the trailer, Puzzling immediately went to the fridge to grab some drinks for herself and her mother as Heart Guardian carefully pulled the box out and placed it on the table. Opening the box, she smiled and motioned for Puzzling to take a look.
Puzzling Insanity gasped when she saw what her mother had ordered.
The cake was round, covered in white frosting and decorated with hearts in varying shades of pink, and written on it in dark pink icing was the number 26.
Immediately, the fanged mare took a picture of the cake and grinned as her mother cut a piece for her, revealing that it was vanilla. She grabbed a fork from her silverware drawer and used the handle to open her drink. Sitting down at the table, her grin grew bigger as her mother set down the piece of cake on a saucer.
Puzzling and Heart Guardian chatted and enjoyed the cake as the younger mare posted the pictures she’d taken that day to her social media. The older mare put the rest of the cake back in the fridge and said, “Don’t eat all of it at one time.”
“I won’t,” Puzzling said as she put her saucer in the sink. “Thank you again for such a good birthday. I love you, Mom.”
“I love you too, sweetie,” Heart Guardian said, hugging her daughter.
Puzzling looked out the kitchen window at the world outside. The sky was a beautiful blend of reds, oranges and purples, the setting sun an orange ball sinking under the horizon. She smiled and turned back to the table as she sat in front of the small LED mirror and carefully removed her makeup with a baby wipe.
Looking at herself in the mirror to check for any makeup she’d missed, she felt something warm brush up against her leg.
She looked down and smiled at her cat, petting him gently and making him purr loudly as he rubbed his furry little body against her.
Her phone was buzzing with notifications. She took a look at them, smiling at the reactions of her friends and any relatives that still spoke to her. She took a picture of the sunset and posted it with a simple three-word caption:
BEST BIRTHDAY EVER!