Faux Mark: The Purple Balloon

Faux Mark

The Purple Balloon

Chapter 4: Party Pony Pals

A cart sat outside Pepper’s store. Passersby slowly watched as it filled more and more with what must have been half the contents of Peppermint’s storage room. Well, to those who didn’t know just how much space was devoted to storage at least.

Peppermint herself was positively beaming. “Five days later and I feel great!” She excitedly told herself. “Now I get to set up a nice, simple party for some rich colt without having to worry about anything! Once I get the decorations up, I can just sit back, relax,” she said, licking her lips, “and maybe have a little birthday cake...”

Pepper finally tossed the last streamer onto the back of the cart, then hopped into the harness. Almost as an afterthought, she shut the door with magic and flipped the sign around from “Open” to “Closed”.

“I’ve gotta stop taking time off,” she mused.

— — —

“Oh, umm, Miss?” asked a little colt in the street. Pepper barely heard him over the rumbling cart wheels.

“Hm?” she said without taking her eyes off the road.

“Could we have some of those noisemakers?” he asked, hopping as he walked alongside.

Peppermint shook her head. “Sorry, no-can-do today,” she said.

“Aww.” The colt frowned. “Why not?”

“'Cuz these are for somepony’s birthday,” she explained. “I’m takin’ all this up to the Manor for little Spit Shine.” She stopped and sat down, thinking. “Or was it Shine Spit...”

The colt smiled. “Oh, well uhh,” he stammered, “t-tell him I said Happy Birthday, Miss.”

Peppermint smiled. “Now that I can do,” she said with a wink. When the colt had ran back to his friends, she sighed and shook her head. As much as she couldn’t stand little kids sometimes, she still had a soft spot she couldn’t really get past. Probably, as she expected, due to the Cutie Mark. After all, she needed some way to deal with kids to hold a believable job on this talent.

But now Peppermint saw somepony walking up the street who wasn’t quite paying attention. Sunny had a pair of flowers in either saddlebag as she trotted along, humming an old tune. She was so caught up in the routine that she didn’t even hear Pepper’s cart’s wheels while she trotted a little faster to catch up.

“‘Sup, Sunny?” Pepper asked.

“Wha— w-wha?!” Sunny blurted out.

Pepper snickered. “Victory at last,” she said. “What’re you up to this morning, Sun Flower?”

Sunny shook her head. “Oh, just the usual, Peppermint. Delivering a couple of these to somepony.” She craned her neck back to look into the cart. “You’re not moving, are you?”

“No, no,” Pepper explained. “Big party up—” She turned Sunny’s head with her hoof. “— there.”

Sunny’s jaw dropped. “The Manor?!” she exclaimed. “B-but how?”

Pepper shrugged and smiled. “I dunno, some rich family’s there for a bit. Crazy mother’s gonna pay me way over my normal rate, too!”

“Wow, Pepper,” said Sunny. “Congratulations!” She smirked. “I don’t suppose you’ll have any time for us little folk after you retire, though.”

“Okay, not that much,” Pepper admitted. “But still,” she whispered, “three thousand bits.”

Sunny gasped. “What’re you doing still talking to me then?” she shouted. “Go, Pepper! Earn your small fortune!”

Pepper laughed. “Alright, alright, I will! See ya ‘round, Sunny!” She took off up the road, leaving Sunny waving in the dust.

“And have fun with it!” Sunny added. Pepper was already out of earshot. “Drat,” Sunny grumbled. “I forgot to ask about that cute colt from the other day. So much for the juicy gossip...”

A pair of armored stallions stood at either side of the front gate to the Coltport Seaside Manor’s estate. Peppermint was left dumbstruck by the formality. “It’s like I’m trying to get into Castle Canterlot...” she thought aloud.

“State your business,” one of the guards commanded.

Peppermint nodded. “Delivering and setting up the decorations for the party, sir.”

The guards looked at each other, nodded, then pushed the gate open. Pepper giggled excitedly as she skipped inside. And this was the sight that Simple Summer first saw of her that morning.

“My, my,” she said, startling Pepper. “I must say, I do appreciate a little enthusiasm, but please don’t break anything while you’re here.”

“Oh, uhh, g-good morning, Simpl— Ms. Summer,” Pepper stammered. “S-sorry, I’ll try to calm down.”

Simple chuckled. “It’s fine, dear, just watch where you’re going.”

“So where should I set up shop?” Pepper asked. “Er— Where exactly is the ballroom?”

“Walk with me,” Simple said. She motioned ahead for Pepper to walk alongside around the side of the mansion. “And thank you for coming so early. The cakes arrived just a few minutes ago, so we might be starting earl—”

“Pardon me, but cakes? With an ‘s’?!” Pepper exclaimed.

“Oh, certainly,” said Simple. “Only the best for my boy. All of his favorite flavors. Vanilla, Chocolate, Strawberry, Almond, and Lemon.”

Peppermint caught herself drooling at the list. She shook her head to regain focus. “I know I’m here as the decorator, but y-you wouldn’t happen to mind if I—”

“Help yourself, dear,” said Simple. “Once they’re cut of course. You’re as much our employee as our guest.”

“Thank you,” said Pepper. “Thank you very much.”

The conversation seemed to cut off right there. It took a few minutes for Pepper to work up the courage to speak to her employer again. “This r-really is an honor.”

“You’re welcome, dear,” Simple reassured. She led them around the corner, around a hedge garden, to the one side of the mansion nopony could see from Coltport itself. Pepper stopped cold with her jaw wide open.

“Is this—”

“Yes, this is the ballroom.”

It must have been one hundred feet long and fifty feet wide, with a massive dining table in the middle and a huge chandelier hanging precariously over the middle. The walls were painted with some mural of an old tale, perhaps from before Equestria was officially founded. All of this, with an entire wall of solid window overlooking the gloriously elaborate garden Pepper and Simple stood in now.

“S-so where do I start?” Pepper whimpered.

Simple smirked. “The entrance is in back. I just thought you’d like the view.”

As her words failed her, Pepper simply nodded in response.

The ballroom had so much space to it that Peppermint barely knew where to start. Usually she’d be working from the ceiling down, hanging streamers from where the ceiling and the walls met, but unless she sprouted wings she’d never get high enough.

“This almost begs the question if I should ever try helium on myself,” she muttered under her breath. And even still, she double-checked the room. It was empty except for herself, the table and chairs, and one of the cakes. She missed that first one being brought in, apparently. “Better question,” she said. “How can I get a hold of that baker pony for myself? That cake looks good.”

Distractions aside, Pepper found a point to start working. Between the fancy columns of the room was just enough room to hang a length of streamer, with the help of a little stepladder and a few pins. She hated to admit it, but she did get a sort of creative sense to this kind of thing. She could just envision the arrangement, alternating between blue and yellow, the colors of the birthday colt, combined with a rainbow assortment of balloons “hanging” from every meeting point between the streamers by way of a string tether.

Pepper managed to work with this pattern for about halfway around the room before she noticed a second cake on the table. Shoot, she thought. Okay, gotta listen for ‘em next time.

She paused and looked over the work so far. Something was definitely missing. Perhaps the table was just a little too bare. Well, there was already a tablecloth there, but nothing else. Then it hit Pepper: birthday hats. She trotted back to her cart to get a package or two.

Oh, who am I kidding? she thought after grabbing just two. She grabbed another ten before heading back inside.

And she almost dropped them when she saw the third cake. “How does this keep happening?” she asked herself. She shook her head. “Ugh, I’ll just have to find them during the actual party or something.”

She continued on with the decorations. The cakes, plus birthday hats at every seat, made it feel a bit less formal. Pepper could only hope that’s what Simple would want for her son.

Peppermint got another idea to fill the space after another few streamer ties. It required a bit of magic, but this was a special case. Something that caused her just that right amount of satisfaction and awkwardness to feel like she was getting away with something; the standard, old-fashioned balloon spell. This time would take a little more finesse than usual, however. She had to balance helium and air just right to get them to stay in place without floating off to the ceiling. But this was something she had an unfortunate amount of practice with, to say the least. The only tricky part anymore was remembering how the two gases were cast differently.

In just a few more minutes, Pepper had an almost-perfectly uniform cluster of balloons tied to and hovering off of every chair, and some hovering just a little higher and scattered around the room, with strings hanging just low enough that anypony could grab them if they wanted to. She smiled, proud of herself for once. “Ah, control feels good,” she muttered.

Just then, one of the doors to the room closed. She turned around, only to see what she was afraid of: the fourth cake.

Pepper sighed. “Sneaky baker, I’ll give him that...”

— — —

Finally, after another twenty minutes of streamer hanging, balloon blowing-up, and string tying, Pepper was down to her last streamer, finishing the circle of the room. She squinted as she carefully levitated the last pin through the streamer, right next to the last one. Suddenly she smiled and clapped her hooves together, although the latter was short lived once the step-ladder started wobbling.

“All done!” she announced to nopony else.

Something caught the corner of her eye. She glanced over her shoulder and gasped. “There he— or I guess she, is!” It took her a second, but then her jaw dropped.

This up-until-now-mysterious pink baker pony was literally skipping along, balancing the last cake on her nose and forehead. Pepper bit her lip, just waiting for the inevitable disaster... which never came. With playful grace, the mare bounced the cake box off of her nose and catching it with her front hooves, gently setting it down by the others. “All done!” she announced cheerfully.

Pepper shook her head. “Now that was talent,” she mumbled. She turned back to check the pins, but suddenly snapped back around to look at the baker again. It was so fast, in fact, that she accidentally collapsed the step ladder under her. “Whoa, whoa, whoa!” she yelled just before crashing to the floor.

“Ugh,” she groaned. Even in her daze, she looked around for the baker.

Suddenly that same pony popped up in Pepper’s face. “Whoa, are you okay?” she asked. “That sounded like a nasty fall!”

“Y-yeah, I’m fine,” Pepper said. Come on, come on, turn around already...

“Well if you say so!” The baker offered a hoof to help Pepper stand up.

Pepper smiled. “Thanks.” Even still, she wasn’t quite all focused on the conversation. This pretty much left the two in an awkward moment of silence.

“So, uhh, you must be that other pony they said was helping set up the party, right?” the baker offered.

“Yup,” said Pepper, craning her neck to the side. “Uhh, Peppermint. Nice to meet ya.”

The baker smiled and offered her hoof again. “Nice to meetcha, Pepper! My name’s Pinkie Pie!”

“Pinkie, eh?” Pepper asked, more or less disinterested.

“Yup!” Pinkie answered. After another moment of awkward silence while Pepper tried to see around her, Pinkie shifted her eyes and smiled. “So, uhh, I’ve gotta go back to the kitchen and get the rest of the stuff for the thing, and, uhh—”

“Oh yeah, go!” said Pepper. “I don’t wanna hold you up.” Still, she barely made eye contact.

Pinkie raised an eyebrow. “Well alright... thanks I guess?” She slowly turned around for the door.

Pepper’s eyes widened at the sight. Not of the door, or Pinkie’s expression, but her Cutie Mark. She’s not... I mean, no, she couldn’t possibly...

Pinkie shook her head and started to skip away.

“W-wait!” Pepper blurted out.

Pinkie looked over her shoulder and asked, “Yeees?”

Ms. Rivers mark II, Pepper thought. “You, uhh, you’ll be at the party, right?”

Pinkie smiled and bounced in place. “Of course! I’d never miss out on a party I’ve been invited to, especially not one in such a swanky place like this!”

Pepper grinned back. “Oh, good!” she said. “Maybe we could hang out while we let the kids do their thing?”

“Sure!” said Pinkie. “I’ll find you, kay?”

“Got it,” said Pepper. “See ya later!”

“See ya!” Pinkie skipped out through the swinging kitchen door, then was completely out of sight.

Pepper sighed, shaking in her hooves. “Okay, Pepper, just calm down,” she told herself. “I could be wrong still, but— Oh, I just hope this doesn’t end badly.” She pictured Pinkie’s Cutie Mark in her head vividly.

“But I still sorta hope I really did find somepony else like me.”

The candles were lit, the lights were dimmed, and a crowd of almost fifty colts and fillies gathered around the center of the dining table to watch Spit Shine. He was a little chubby for the average colt. I can only imagine why, thought Pepper. Still, he had a charm about him. If it weren’t for his family’s ludicrous sums of money, she’d have thought there was actually a good reason for him to have so many friends.

Pinkie Pie popped up next to the birthday boy and started, “Alright everypony, a-one, a-two, a—”

“Happy Birthday to you, Happy Birthday to you,” the crowd sang. Even Pepper found herself smiling and mouthing the words. She’d been to enough birthday parties since she was ten to get over most of any bad feelings she got when one came around.

“Happy Birthday, dear Spit Shine, Happy Birthday to you!”

He then blew out the candles, while somepony else turned on the lights. Pepper was surprised it even made a difference with that massive window-wall on the side of the ballroom.

“What’d ya wish for?” Pinkie asked Spit Shine excitedly.

“Huh?” he asked, shying away from her.

“You know!” Pinkie insisted. “When you blow out the candles on your birthday cake, you get to make a wish!” She paused. “Although you might have to keep it a secret for it to come true...”

“Umm—”

Pinkie winked at him. “Oh, I get it! Clever!”

Peppermint snickered at her antics. I stand corrected, she thought. Ms. Rivers with twice the energy and half the creepiness.

“Alright, alright,” said Simple from the far door. “Everypony settle down. Pinkie Pie, be a dear and cut the cake, would you please?”

“Yes, ma’am!” Pinkie replied. Simple smiled and left once more.

Peppermint realized just why her pay was so high by now. Simple never mentioned how little chaperones there would be, or how many children. Zero chaperones, actually, besides Pepper and Pinkie. Simple herself couldn’t even be bothered, it would seem.

“Oh well,” Pepper thought aloud. “At least the pay’s still absurd.”

“And one for you, and one for you,” Pinkie repeated over and over again as she passed out slices of cake. It was a little disorganized, just passing over the table and back, but she was getting the job done.

“Alright, now’s my chance,” Pepper mumbled. She snuck a plate into Pinkie’s way just in time to be passed a slice of the chocolate, then hovered it back over the foals’ heads. “Sorry, cake, no time to enjoy you,” she whispered. Pepper hurried to scarf down the deliciousness while she made her way around the long table. It only struck her halfway down that nopony was looking anyway, so she just squeezed underneath to save time.

Peppermint tapped Pinkie on the shoulder once she made it all the way back around. Pinkie tilted her head back, almost upside down. “Yeees?” she asked again. She smiled and spun around to face Pepper. “Oh, hiya!” she said. “I guess you found me after all.”

“Oh, uhh, I guess I did,” Pepper said. “Say, uhh, could I talk to you for a bit?”

“Sure!” Pinkie responded. “Just lemme get some cake first.” Before Pepper could even say one word, Pinkie slid three slices of cake onto one plate and grabbed the plate in her mouth.

“Uhh, want me to help with that?” Pepper offered. She stared with genuine concern at the precarious slices.

“I got it,” Pinkie insisted through her teeth.

This wasn’t exactly the most reassuring thing for Pepper, but she had no room or time to argue. All Peppermint could do was lead her over towards the side of the room, well out of earshot of the children while they ate. “Sooo—”

Pepper was cut short when Pinkie chomp-ed down loudly on the first piece of cake. She swallowed and blushed. “Uhh, sorry,” she said. “Go on.”

Peppermint snickered. “Alright, I’ll try to be as straightforward as I can be with this,” she said. “I think we uhh, we might have a lot more in common than most ponies would think.”

“What do you mean?” asked Pinkie between bites.

Pepper sighed. “Well you know... sorta why we’re here? At the party?”

Pinkie raised an eyebrow. “We both got invited, right?”

“Well its more than just that,” said Pepper. “I mean, you know, why we got invited?”

“Because Simple heard of us somewhere?” Pinkie was still confused.

“Our talents?” Pepper tried again.

Pinkie snickered. “Well duh, why else would she have heard of us and invite us?”

Pepper groaned. “Okay, I’ll make this real simple,” she whispered. She stood up and turned to the side, pointing at her flank with her front hoof.

Pinkie’s eyes widened. “No way!” she shouted.

Peppermint smiled. “So you do know?!”

Pinkie bounced up to her hooves. “Yup!” she said. “I know exactly what you’re getting at!” She grabbed Peppermint in a tight hug.

“Uhh, just to be clear,” Pepper said, “what am I getting at again?”

Pinkie giggled, then showed her flank just like Pepper had. “We’ve both got party Cutie Marks!” she said. “So it’s like, uhh...” She put her hoof to her chin and frowned. “I guess we’re like... party pals!”

Peppermint smacked her own forehead. “Think more literal, Pinkie.”

Pinkie stared at Pepper’s Mark, then her own. “Oh!” she exclaimed. “Balloons! We’re like... balloon buddies!” This was punctuated with another squeezing hug.

And that was followed by another heavy groan from Peppermint. “I still have no idea if you’re getting me or not,” she mumbled.

Pinkie snickered. “Well then just tell me, silly,” she said. “If we’re not balloon buddies or party pals, what are we?”

Peppermint blushed. “I, uhh, well its— Its sort of a secret,” she stammered. “I can tell you, but only if you already know.”

“Oooh,” said Pinkie. She hopped off Peppermint’s shoulder and bounced in place. “Can I get a hint?”

“Ohh, uhh,” Peppermint mumbled. “Well, how much do you like parties?”

“I love parties,” said Pinkie. “They’re so much fun, you know? Oh wait, of course you kn—”

“Humor me,” Pepper challenged. “What makes ‘em fun?”

Pinkie shrugged. “Well, there’s the sweet, delicious cake and cupcakes and cookies and muffins and all that, all kinds of silly stuff like streamers and confetti and— Oh nice job on that by the way—”

“Thank you!”

“No problem!” Pinkie added with a smile. “And my favorite part,” she continued, “is getting to spend a fun time with friends!”

Peppermint smiled weakly. As simply put as it was, that was perhaps the most beautiful thing she’d heard in years. “What about ponies you don’t know?” she asked.

“Well then a party’s the perfect place to make friends with them, too!” said Pinkie. “And I love making new friends. I’m friends with everypony back in Ponyville, and—” She paused when she noticed Pepper’s expression. “You okay, Pepper?”

“Y-yeah,” she said. “I just never really thought about parties like that before.”

Pinkie tilted her head. “How come? I mean, it’s your job, right? Your special talent?”

Pepper sighed. “Well... sorta.”

Pinkie frowned. “I don’t get it,” she said. “I thought everypony was supposed to love their special talent. Although I guess you can just love it your own way, but—”

Peppermint put her hoof up to Pinkie’s mouth and looked her in the eye. “It’s complicated.”

“Wanna talk about it?” Pinkie offered. Pepper stared back, bewildered. “Well?” Pinkie asked again with a comforting smile.

Peppermint looked left, then right. No one was watching. “Alright,” she said. “But we gotta go somewhere nopony can see or hear us, okay?”

Pinkie Pie hesitated. “W-why?” she asked. “Is it—”

“Its a secret,” Pepper said. “A huge, really important secret.” She sighed and hung her head. “And I just wanna tell somepony I can trust.”

Pinkie put a hoof on her shoulder. “Hey,” she said. “If anypony can keep a secret, it’s me.”

“Are ya sure?” Pepper asked.

Pinkie nodded and mimed “zipping” her lip. That’s all the proof Peppermint needed.

“Thanks, Pinkie,” Pepper said softly.

The two of them found a little nook among the hedge gardens just outside the ballroom to chat. For a while, they did keep it quiet, but Pinkie Pie found it a little harder than most.

“So then you—”

“Yup,” said Peppermint.

“And then Ms. Rivers—”

“Never saw her again.”

Pinkie sniffled. “That’s so sad!” she yelled.

“Shh!” Peppermint insisted. Pinkie shrunk down and quieted herself. “Besides, I’ve gotten past most of that...”

“But you still have her Mark,” Pinkie noted. “So why don’t you just tell somepony what happened? You know, get that creepy meanie in trouble!”

“Well back then, I did try that,” said Peppermint. “And nopony believed me. She skipped town so fast, and then— well, I kinda forgot about it for a little while, let’s put it that way.”

Pinkie tilted her head. “How could you forget about that?”

“You see this Mark?” Peppermint asked. “I think it came with a few... side effects.”

“You mean the party ‘talent’?” Pinkie asked softly. She smiled the faintest of smiles.

Peppermint winced. “That’s just part of it,” she explained. “There is another part... and that part’s why it's such a huge secret.”

Pinkie Pie nodded. “Well, what i—”

“I think I should just show you,” Pepper said. She sighed and braced herself. “Normally I get this ‘itch’ to do something like this, just... well, to other ponies.” Suddenly she took a deep, deep breath. And thanks to magic, retained it all.

“Ahh!” Pinkie yelped. She quickly covered her mouth. “Y-you— w-what?!”

Peppermint winced. “Please don’t get scared,” she said. “I-I’m not like Ms. Rivers, honest! I only did this to somepony else once, a-and I feel terrible over it!”

Pinkie shook in her hooves. Cautiously, she extended a hoof and poked at Peppermint. When her belly gave just a little, just like a balloon, Pinkie’s eyes widened. “Whoa,” she said. “Honestly, I-I didn’t know you were serious...”

“I know, it doesn’t make much sense,” said Pepper. She rolled her eyes as Pinkie continued to poke at her belly. “Can I come down now?”

“Oh, uhh, sorry!” Pinkie stepped back, offering an uneasy smile.

Pepper shut her eyes, focused the magic, then blew the air out straight toward the ground. In just a few seconds she was back from the size of two ponies to one. When her front hooves finally touched the ground again, she swayed a little back and forth.

“Are you okay?” Pinkie asked.

Pepper shook the daze away. “Oh, uhh, yeah,” she said. “More or less, I’m fine.” She smiled awkwardly. “Uhh, ta-da?”

Pinkie Pie averted her eyes. “So,” she said. “You do do that to other ponies?”

“I-It was just the one time, I swear,” Pepper blurted out.

Pinkie shook her head. “One time so far!” she said. “What if you get that ‘itch’ to do it again?”

“It’s not quite like that,” Pepper insisted. “It’s like, over time it builds up— But not that quickly! And I can do stuff like that to calm it down! Or, well, sometimes even a regular balloon is enough.” Pinkie Pie still wouldn’t look at her. “Please, Pinkie, I swear its the truth.” Pepper’s eyes lit up. “Look, you’re my friend, right?”

“Well I guess—”

“Well then,” Pepper said, holding up one hoof. “I promise, I will never blow you up.”

Pinkie finally looked at her, if out the sides of her eyes. “Would you be willing to make that a Pinkie Promise?”

Pepper raised an eyebrow at Pinkie. “A what now?”

Pinkie smiled, then demonstrated the motions. “Cross my heart, hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye!” Pepper just stared at her further. “Well?” asked Pinkie faintly. “Could you please?”

“Well... alright,” said Pepper. She sat down and cleared her throat. “Cross my heart, hope to fly, stick a... cupcake in my eye?” On the last motion, she barely touched her eyelid with her hoof.

Pinkie giggled. “Close enough,” she said. “Alright, Peppermint, I believe you.”

“Thanks, Pinkie,” said Pepper. She smiled and sniffed back a happy tear. “You have no idea what it means to me, having somepony— a friend, who isn’t afraid of this.”

“Does anypony else even know?” Pinkie asked.

“Not besides Ms. Rivers,” Pepper grumbled. “But that’s not important. I uhh... do you happen to live around here?”

Pinkie shook her head. “Sorry, I live back in Ponyville. It took me all last night to get here by train.”

Peppermint shrugged. “Well then we’ll just have to make the most of the party tonight, right?”

“Sure!” said Pinkie. Peppermint offered her hoof, but Pinkie shyed away.

“We are friends, right?” Pepper asked.

“Sure,” said Pinkie. “S-sorry if I’m a little nervous still. It’s just, you know...”

Pepper puffed up her cheeks in jest. Pinkie couldn’t help but giggle at the face. “Let’s just get back to the party, alright?” said Pepper. “Maybe have a little fun while it lasts. And who knows? Maybe I can write you or something once it’s all over.”

“Sounds like fun!” said Pinkie, bouncing up to her hooves. “Last one back’s a rotten egg!”

Pepper barely got to her own four hooves by the time she lost sight of Pinkie. “Hey, wait up!” She smiled, however, giggling with Pinkie as they galloped back inside.

Everyone from the party lined up in front of Peppermint and Pinkie Pie out in the manor’s front yard. Pepper paced back and forth, glancing at the foals’ nervous faces out of the corner of her eye.

“Does everypony understand the rules?” she asked. Nopony objected. “Then I think we’re ready to start.”

Pinkie tapped her on the shoulder. “Are you sure about this?” she asked.

Pepper smirked. “I’ve cleaned up worse messes. With magic, it’s easy,” she whispered back.

Pinkie snickered. “Think we have enough though?” Something landed on her face, splashing water all over her mane. “Gah!” Pinkie yelped, while everypony else giggled at the sight.

“There’s always enough for water balloon wars!” Peppermint announced. She showed the foals three wide buckets full of water balloons of varying sizes and colors. “Now Spit Shine, me, and Pinkie Pie are the team captains. Birthday boy picks first, for blue team,” she explained. She took a long blue balloon from a pack under the buckets and blew into it, using her magic to twist it around into a hat. “Then I’ll pick for green team, and Pinkie gets the red. Once we all have our hats, we get to the count of ten to run and hide with our buckets. After that...”

Pinkie tossed a balloon from one of the buckets at the back of Pepper’s head. “It’s war!”

Everypony giggled. Even Peppermint, once she shook some of the water out of her hair. Pepper nodded toward Spit Shine, and he began to look over his choices. Pinkie pat Peppermint on the back. They exchanged smiles, then giggles. For once, Peppermint wasn’t going to just pretend to be a part of things. She really was enjoying herself.

Now she just had to learn how to dodge.