"PARTY!!!"
Pinkie Pie, as usual, was being her usual exuberant and energetic self, bursting through the front door of Twilight's home with the same manner as a herd of rampaging wildebeest. This outburst, as well as her unexpected arrival in Twilight's home, left the young unicorn greatly startled, knocking her out of her sitting position and falling backwards, letting out a surprised yelp as she did so. All of her friends, Spike included, had also been there at the time Pinkie entered the scene, and now couldn't help but chuckle at Twilight's plight. Now annoyed, Twilight soon got back to her hooves, glaring at Pinkie as the latter fully entered the room.
"Pinkie! What's going...?"
But she, sadly, didn't have the chance to finish, as Pinkie was now, and without warning, mere millimetres away from Twilight's face, wearing a grin that was big even by her standards.
"Party! Mine! Hundredth! Soon! Special!"
The bubble earth pony would have most likely continued on that for a long while, had it not been for the sudden insertion of Twilight's hoof onto her mouth. The still-irritated unicorn then spoke to her in a manner far softer and calmer than one would have expected, given the circumstances.
"Pinkie...take a deep breath...and then explain."
Nodding, Pinkie took a step back from Twilight's hoof before opening her mouth wide and taking a few deep breaths in a comically over-the-top manner, much to the amusement of her friends. After a few such breaths, Pinkie finally exhaled deeply, before speaking in a far slower and calmer way than before.
"Sorry. Kinda got excited there. But can you blame me? I'm about to throw my one-hundredth Birthday party!"
Many of the mares looked to each other with confused looks, a sentiment that Rainbow was more than willing to voice.
"Seriously? I thought you've thrown way more than that."
Pinkie smiled and shook her head before responding to that.
"Nope! I've done loads of parties, but so far only ninety-nine ones for Birthdays! The rest have all been wedding parties, siestas, Hearth's Warming Eve parties, Hearts and Hooves Day parties, parties for new arrivals to Ponyville and..."
However, Pinkie was then met with yet another hoof-to-the-mouth from Twilight.
"Okay, Pinkie, we get it!"
Giggling a little, Pinkie began bouncing around the room.
"It’ll be so awesome, you guys! I have to make sure it's super-duper special!"
Looking at her, Applejack raised an eyebrow.
"Not to criticise or anything, sugar, but y'all say that about all yer parties. Why should this one be any different?"
The pink earth pony stopped dead in her tracks, complete with a screeching sound, before turning to Applejack almost as if she’d just slapped her in the face. Frowning, Pinkie then marched straight towards her, with Applejack seeming more and more nervous as the moments passed. Once Pinkie was right up to her face, she began to speak in a manner far more serious than most would expect of her.
"This is my one hundredth Birthday party, Applejack. This is not like other parties. This is a milestone, and those don't come along every day. They're special, and have to be treated as such. Because once they're gone, they're gone forever, and we'll spend the rest of our lives feeling nothing but deep regret over a lost opportunity!"
Needless to say, both Applejack and the rest of the group were quite taken aback by the deadly serious way in which their pink friend was speaking. The tension was so thick you could have cut it with a knife. Fortunately, it was Pinkie herself who cut it, as she soon smiled again before resuming her bouncing around the room.
"That's why I've gotta work extra hard to make it as memorable as possible!"
Applejack let out a deep exhale of relief after having her friend back away like that, leading to a stifled chuckle from Rainbow, which the former shot her a glare for. Shaking her head at these proceedings, Rarity approached Pinkie and began to speak to her.
"I say, darling, whatever do you have in mind for this event?"
Pinkie suddenly stopped and considered that question for a few minutes, after which she merely shrugged her shoulders.
"Dunno. I was hoping you guys had some ideas!"
The other mares looked to each other with surprise. With Pinkie being such an expert in making parties, this was probably the first time any of them had ever heard her ask for help in making them. Nevertheless, one of their friends had expressed a need to help, and they were going to answer the call. They each began to ponder to themselves over what they themselves might want out of a Birthday, and it wasn't long before they had some idea. Naturally, Rainbow was the first to speak up.
"A hundredth Birthday needs something awesome! Something epic! Something so massive that nopony can fail to notice it! Lots of action, aerial acrobatics, the works!"
Pinkie nodded enthusiastically at that.
"Sounds great! But...who could do the acrobatics?"
Rainbow did her best to assume a pose and facial expression that showed she was trying to be modest and humble. Although, being Rainbow, that failed immediately.
"Well, not that I wanna brag or anything, but..."
Many of the other mares, Applejack especially, rolled their eyes at that. Rainbow didn't even have the chance to finish what she was saying, as Rarity then began to speak up ahead of her.
"Well, I, for one, would absolutely adore a more refined gathering. A day of elegance, perhaps even romance, with a chance for love in the air!"
More rolling of the eyes followed that, except from Spike however, who was busy staring at Rarity with hearts in his eyes as usual. Rarity, seeing the looks her friends were giving, simply gave out a "huff", before turning away in an indignant manner. After that, Applejack began to speak her own piece.
"Well, if it were me, ah'd say a good party should be full of friendly folk, family an such. Maybe a few games like racin an lasso contests an..."
However, it was clear to even Pinkie that Applejack was just describing a small-scale version of her own Apple family reunion. The orange earth pony, after giving a nervous chuckle, simply looked away sheepishly. It was rather appropriate then that it was Fluttershy who spoke up next.
"Um...well...maybe we could arrange for some kind of visit to a zoo for the party. Because...well...there'd be lots of chances to see the animals, and they really like visitors, especially happy visitors, so...you know...if that’s what you want of course."
As usual with Fluttershy, she'd been so quiet and nervous during the whole thing that her words hadn't made much of an impression with anypony. After that, it was inevitably Twilight who began to speak up next.
"I know it's a little unorthodox, but how about some kind of party where we all get involved in philosophical discussions? Maybe swapping theories and ideas about..."
However, much like Applejack, Twilight soon realised that she'd basically just described her ideal fantasy party for herself, and as such had an embarrassed cough before looking away. Pinkie Pie, during all this, was looking more and more down, as it became obvious that none of her friends really had anything in mind that screamed "super-duper special". It was a mood that soon spread to the others, who were now avoiding looking at each other, or at the very least seeming disappointed that they couldn't come up with anything. However, during all this, they began to hear the sound of somepony clearing their throat. Turning, they saw that it was Spike, who then began to speak up himself.
"How about you don't do anything special at all?"
Pinkie looked at his as if she hadn't heard him right, to which he began to explain himself.
"Look, you say it's got to be some big and awesome thing, but I know from my own Birthdays that I just kinda like it if I have a few friends over. Something small and quiet, maybe a few traditional party games, nothing fancy. Maybe...maybe that would do for the party?"
The mares all looked to him, all bearing a look of surprise at his suggestion. However, as the moments passed, they turned to each other, trying to see what they all thought of it. In time, their faces all morphed into smiles, as well as looks of approval. None bore this look more than Pinkie herself, who now walked up to Spike and gave him a friendly pat on the head.
"Something small with a few friends together. Maybe that's all we need."
