Party of None
The sun was off in the distance, setting slowly and magnificently as Equestria dimmed and changed to night. Six mares and a young dragon were seated on the edge of a lake, enjoying these serene final moments before they would pack up their things and head back home. The picnic had gone well, and they were still smiling from both the view and the hilarity that had brought them to this silent moment.
“We should do this again soon,” Rarity said, breaking the silence.
“I second that!” Spike said from his position next to a tree.
“Maybe next time we can bring our pets. I’m sure they’d like to have some play time too,” Fluttershy said.
“Ooh, let’s do this next week. I need to plan Gummy’s birthday. It’s coming up soon,” Pinkie replied. She took out a small planning book and was making some notes inside.
“Gummy’s birthday? Does that mean your birthday is coming up again?” Twilight asked.
“Yeah, but this time I didn’t forget about it. I’ll start planning that after Gummy’s had the best birthday party ever.
“No need to trouble yourself with that, darling. I’m sure the five of us can plan you a very special party,” Rarity suggested.
“Just like last year. That was pretty great, wasn’t it?” Rainbow Dash said.
“Except for the part where you went a little crazy, but otherwise it turned out great,” Applejack said.
“Really? Thanks, girls. I’ve been worrying that I wouldn’t have the time after Gummy’s party. When they get wild it’s hard to think the next day,” Pinkie responded gleefully.
“It’s the least we could do. You give us these great parties every year so we should return the offer,” Twilight said.
“We’ll make it the best party ever. Even better than last year,” Rainbow Dash said.
“I don’t know about that Dashy, surprise parties are like at the top of the best party list. I can’t wait to see what you girls come up with.
“Well, I’ve got nothing.”
“Rainbow Dash, we need to keep thinking about this. She’s our friend after all,” Twilight said.
“Twilight, I’m agreeing with Rainbow Dash on this one. We’ve spent nearly half the day and we aren’t a bit closer to planning this party. Being her friend and all, we know that her passions are pastries and parties,” Rarity said.
“Party themed birthday? Does that work?” Rainbow Dash said.
“No, we don’t need a theme. Pinkie plans the best parties and they don’t always involve a theme. Let’s start with the basics. Do we have the place for the party?” Twilight asked.
“The party is always at Sugarcube Corner, we should have it at the new castle instead,” Rainbow Dash said.
“Okay, good idea. That means we need to start working on decorations. That’s a lot of area to cover,” Twilight responded.
“Don’t worry Twilight, I’ll have the decorations ready just in time,” Rarity said.
“Good, now we need the cake, invitation list, party games, and catering,” Twilight listed.
“Do we know what her favorite type of cake is?” Applejack asked.
The six of the mares looked at each other, realizing that Pinkie either had no favorite type, or she had not shared that information recently.
“I think we’ll have to ask her,” Twilight decided.
“For the invitation list, should we invite the whole town? How many of her friends should we invite?” Fluttershy asked. She shuddered at the thought of hundreds of ponies gathering in the large castle.
“Well we don’t want too many…” Twilight said to herself.
“Should we ask the Cakes to cater her party? I’m sure they’d love to help,” Spike suggested.
“I think so too, but we have to get the invitation list settled so we know how many ponies are coming,” Twilight said.
“And the party games? There should be a list for how many games she likes,” Applejack said.
“I’m sure a handful of games will be enough, but that also depends on how many and what type of ponies are invited to this party,” Twilight said.
“So what you’re saying is, we need that list ASAP,” Rainbow Dash said.
“Last year, it was just the six of us and Spike. Granny Smith and Big Mac were there too, but even then it wasn’t very many,” Twilight said.
“Listen, if this is gonna be one of the best parties ever, then it needs to be one of the biggest parties ever,” Rainbow Dash said.
“But is that what Pinkie Pie wants? I thought she’d just want to be with all her friends,” Fluttershy said.
“I think that’s the problem, we’re her friends, but she has so many more friends as well,” Rarity said.
“Then we’ll invite them all. I don’t want any of them feeling left out of this party,” Twilight said.
Spike stopped in his tracks upon hearing the creak that the floor made. He listened for a second before continuing his slow but cautious pace. The room was empty, but Pinkie could have been hiding anywhere.
Spike made his way to Pinkie’s bed and looked below it. He could see some strange boxes near the back, but there was a large box that took his interest more. Spike managed to pull out the box, but it was heavy. He pulled the flaps away to reveal a large pink book that was titled ‘FRIENDS’.
Spike pulled out the book, weighing easily a few pounds. It had filled up the majority of the box, but at the bottom Spike found another book. It was a blank titled black book with a small key lock on the front. Having found what he was looking for, Spike carried the heavy book out of the room after having put the box back.
Outside of Sugarcube Corner, Spike found Twilight and Rainbow Dash waiting patiently eating cupcakes.
“Best distraction ever,” Rainbow Dash said, finishing hers.
“How’d you know It was under her bed?” Spike asked.
“I saw her writing in it on the way back from Griffinstone,” Rainbow Dash said. “There’s no way she would be able to hide that anywhere but under her bed.”
“Wow, this is interesting,” Twilight said.
The three of them hovered over the open book of FRIENDS. Inside it contained a list of names on each page, followed by a short description of their encounter and a home address. They were all individually written and the book had only a few empty pages in the back.
Twilight spent the better half of the night writing down the addresses and names on invitation cards that Rarity had made. She would smile when she saw a name she would remember. She would be interested by a name she wouldn’t, and she would feel sad on names that had a thin line struck through them.
Other than the fact that the five of them hadn’t known Pinkie’s favorite cake or just how many friends she had, they had managed to make the party planning work. The Cakes would need a lot of extra help to cater to the hundreds of ponies that were invited, and Twilight had to travel to Canterlot to purchase extra furniture
One thing that had stuck out in Twilight’s mind was that she had not seen her own name in the book, although she was sure she had seen many of the Ponyville residents in her book. After she had painstakingly invited everypony and minotaur Pinkie knew, she had Spike replace the book while she went out to have the mailmare deliver the hundreds of invitations.
Fluttershy had helped Rarity set up the decorations in the huge castle, and Applejack had helped the Cakes organize and plan everything they would need to make over the next few days. Rainbow Dash helped Derpy deliver the mail so they would have time to prepare, and twilight was recovering her eyesight after reading the nearly indistinguishable cursive that Pinkie wrote with.
With only one last day to prepare, Twilight was satisfied that this party will be large, chaotic, but also heartwarming for the friend-loving pony that is Pinkie Pie. Perhaps Fluttershy would not take kindly to the large amounts of ponies, and she had to admit that she felt sheepish as well after having in some way met every pony that she had invited off the list.
“To think, she wrote all of their names into a book,” Twilight said.
“Sounds a lot easier than asking her to remember all the ponies she’s friends with,” Rainbow Dash said, enjoying a smoothie with the others.
“And how big was the book, exactly?” Applejack asked.
“Huge,” Spike replied for her.
“Did you see our names?” Rainbow Dash asked.
“The weird thing is, I didn’t,” Twilight said.
“I’m sure she started that list after she met us,” Rarity said.
“I saw Maud on that list,” Twilight responded with a low voice.
“I thought they were sisters,” Fluttershy asked.
“They are… aren’t they?” Applejack asked.
“That doesn’t really matter, if she’s on that list, and we aren’t, what does that mean?” Rainbow Dash asked.
“I don’t know, maybe we’ll ask her about it tomorrow,” Twilight said.
“Speaking of, I better get some rest for the big day. I heard the train is going to have to work double time for all the ponies that are coming,” Applejack said.
“Yeah we should all get some rest. We’ll see how much she enjoys the party tomorrow,” Twilight said. “Good work everypony.”
The sun was shining beautifully, setting an early morning glow on the town of Ponyville. The jumble of activity had already started, with the train station being the centerpoint for the new arrivals. The five mares and Spike had risen early to bring Pinkie to the designated area. They were outside of Sugarcube Corner, mindful of the busy workers as they shipped out loads of sweets and pastries.
“I’m sorry, Pinkie Pie isn’t here. She told me where she was going, but I must’ve been too busy to hear her,” Mr. Cake said cradling Pound Cake in his hooves.
“She must’ve gone ahead without us,” Twilight said.
“I’m sure she found one of her old friends and she found out about the party’s location,” Rarity said.
“Then we don’t have much time. When she gets inside, she’ll be really busy for most of the day, and I doubt we’ll find her in that crowd,” Twilight said.
“Let’s go, I want to be there when she sees all the ponies we invited,” Rainbow Dash said.
The six of them traveled quickly to the castle, already bustling with activity. At the entrance to the castle a pair of minotaur were waiting. The group attempted to open the door but they were blocked.
“We’re going to need to see those invitations,” The Minotaur asked.
Twilight was stopped in her tracks when she realized her mistake. Their names weren’t in the book, so she hadn’t given thought to get invitations for them all.
“This is my house!” Twilight said.
“The invitation says that the party is in the giant castle in Ponyville, it doesn’t say who it belongs to. You would know that if you had an invitation. I can’t let you in without one,” The Minotaur retorted.
“Listen here you brute-,” Rarity started.
“No, Rarity. Let’s go back and get our invitations. I’m sure Pinkie is already enjoying herself and we shouldn’t make a scene at her party,” Twilight said.
Although Rainbow Dash wanted to argue, she knew there was reasoning behind it. The six of them turned away from their castle, with Twilight already forming a plan in her mind to get an invitation.
“Oh hello, Twilight,” Said a familiar voice.
The six of them looked up to see Celestia and Luna walking up the pathway towards the castle.
“Princesses, I see you got your invitations,” Twilight said.
“So we did, now we hope to see you inside, we heard a rumor that there was a princess living in this castle,” Celestia teased.
“Oh, we’ll be inside all right,” Twilight said, having finalized her plans to sneak inside.
“Very well, enjoy the festivities as well. The games have become a favorite of ours,” Luna said.
Twilight led the group of six away from the castle and towards Sugarcube Corner. They stopped just outside so Twilight could tell them her plan.
“Rarity, I kept the excess invitations with the Cakes. Now we just get inside, write our names on them, and we’ve got ourselves some invitations,” Twilight said.
“Will the Minotaur let us in?” Fluttershy asked.
“He has to, we’ll have invitations,” Twilight said.
Twilight opened the door to Sugarcube Corner.
“Surprise!” Pinkie Pie exclaimed from the inside.
“Pinkie?” the six of them asked in unison.
“Hey girls, glad you could make it,” Pinkie responded.
“What are you doing here, Pinkie? The party is at the castle,” Twilight said.
“Oh, I know. But I couldn’t resist throwing my own party for myself,” Pinkie Pie said.
Inside of Sugarcube Corner was a giant table surrounded by seven empty chairs. In the middle was a medium sized cake with the table set for a meal. The room was decorated with streamers and balloons, as well as boxes of presents on one of the tables.
“Really? You did all of this for yourself?” Rainbow Dash asked.
“Well, no… The truth is, I didn’t want to go to that party in the castle,” Pinkie Pie said.
“Why not?” Applejack asked.
“I know you girls worked hard on it, but I thought this would be a party for just us,” Pinkie Pie said.
“What about all your friends?” Rarity asked.
“I’ll see them later, but I wanted to spend another relaxing day with you girls,” Pinkie Pie said.
“But if they’re your friends too, then why did you write their names in your book and not ours?” Rainbow Dash asked.
“My book…? Oh, that book,” Pinkie Pie said.
“I’m sorry we looked through your book, Pinkie, but our names weren’t there,” Spike said.
“Of course not, that’s my FRIENDS book,” Pinkie said. She ran up stairs and slid down the railing within moments. She held out the black book that didn’t have a title.
“What’s this?” Twilight asked.
“This is my BEST FRIENDS book,” Pinkie said. “This has all of your names in it.”
“Why is it locked?” Rarity asked.
Pinkie sighed. “Sometimes I forget one or two of my friends, and I have to look in the FRIENDS book to remember. But with my BEST FRIENDS book, I’ll never forget you, so I keep it locked.
“Wow, that’s very touching dear,” Rarity said.
“Glad to know we’re the best,” Rainbow Dash said.
“I never knew you cared this much, Pinkie,” Twilight said.
“The others won’t know I’m gone, so how about we sit down and have some cake?” Pinkie asked.
“Yeah!” They all proclaimed before seating themselves in the seven chairs that were laid out.
Author's Note
Wish I was given more than a day to work on this…
Happy Birthday Vidal!