A Clean Slate

I went to the bathroom to wash up and try to think of something else to take my mind off off Scootaloo. The former was easier than the latter. I went to my room and put on some slacks and a polo shirt. I wanted to look acceptable, it was my party after all. I went downstairs and waited for Sweetie Belle and Rarity to finish getting ready I decided to watch a little t.v. I turned it to the news station to see what was going on. There was word of the Griffon Kingdom passing a new law, something about restriction of trade to other provinces. A circus was coming in a few weeks, and there was going to be a race pretty soon.

The girls came down and to my shock they didn't look any different than before. Their manes were the same and they were wearing no clothes. I wonder what took them so long. I decided not to question it as we made our way to Surgarcube Corner. Keeping with the whole surprise party theme, we strolled up to the shop to see the lights off and no signs of activity, which was very uncharacteristic of the shop at this hour.

We walked up to the door and slowly pushed it open. Each little creak signifying another inch pushed open elicited a few murmurs from the hiding ponies. When I finally opened the door, the lights flicked on and about four dozen ponies jumped out of hiding and shouted 'SURPRISE!!!!!' Even though I knew it was coming it was still a shock to see that many ponies appear at once. I thanked everypony on general and began mingling with the guests. I chatted with each of the elements. Fluttershy was happy with her new roof and swore it was 100 times sturdier and less drafty than her old one. Applejack told me about her new harvest and some new products she would be trying out. Twilight told me about her reports to the Princesses about my getting along in Ponyville. I hoped I would see them today. Spike showed me a little bag he brought. It was filled with gemstones. He had some pure black onyx and some pretty shiny tigers eye. Which I guess were the equivalent of sour candies form Earth considering how his face contorted with each bite. I asked Rainbow if she had heard about the race coming up. She told me she knows about every race and she would take first again for sure. I looked for Pinkie, but couldn't find her anywhere. I guessed she was making some more food for the party and I would get the chance to talk to her later.

I continued to talk and pal around with the guests when I heard a gruff and worn out voice call my name.

"Hey Mike! Get yer ass over here and have a drink with me." Brick shouted across the room.

"Heh, ain't gotta tell me twice." I said as I walked up to him and shook his hoof.

"How was yer little date with that mare Derpy?" Brick asked as he handed me a tankard with what looked like apple juice in it.

"It was nice, we had dinner and saw a movie. It was the Daring Doo one. That movie reminded me so much of a movie series back on Earth. We talked a little about each other. Learned more about where each other was from. Y'know, normal first date stuff." I said just before taking a very large swig form my tankard, which I would immediately regret.

I nearly hacked up the drink. I hadn't expected alcohol and the burn of it told me it was whiskey.

"Eheheh, weren't expectin' that were ye son?" Brick laughed.

"Uh no, not really. It tasted just like the hardest whiskey and someone just put some apple juice in it. Man that stuff burned." I said as I regained my composure.

This time I opted for taking a small sip to test the taste carefully. My suspicions were confirmed as I tasted the burn of the whiskey and the flavor of the apples.

"Mmm, that stuff's pretty good." I said as I took another sip.

"Yep, that's Apple Family Apple Whiskey fer ye. Good stuff." He said as he took a slightly larger sip than me. "So, you gonna see that mare again?"

"I plan on it. She's really nice and friendly and easy to get along with. Besides, her backside is nice to look at." I said as I nudged his side.

We shared a laugh and finished our drinks. I told him thanks for coming and I went to finish greeting everypony. I spotted Derpy trying to make conversation with a group of other mares. They weren't into it and just kept ignoring her. Derpy didn't take notice and continued talking. I decided to go over and save her before they all got angry with her. I was going to just walk up to her and say hi, but I wanted it to be a surprise. I snuck up behind her while she was still talking and put my hand over her eyes and picked her up.

"Guess who?" I whispered in her ear.

All I got in reply was a soft whimper and her shaking nervously. My hand started to feel wet and that's when I realized I had scared her into crying. I immediately spun her around to show her it was me. The look on her face made me feel like I was just punched in the gut. I hugged her to make her stop crying. She wrapped her legs around me so tight I thought she was going to break something.

"Derpy? Are you okay? I'm sorry for scaring you, I just wanted to surprise you." I said as I hugged tighter.

"It's okay, now that I know it's you. It's just that when you did that it reminded me of something very bad that happened to me when I was a filly." She said with a sniffle.

"Is it something you want to talk about? We can go upstairs so we wont be bothered." I said.

"No, it's okay. I want you to have a good time at your party. Tomorrow, you can come over if you want and I'll tell you." She said.

"Okay then, but now? We must party!" I said before I stole a kiss from her.

Everypony was dancing and having a great time. I started to feel a little hungry so I decided to get a slice of a delicious looking cake that seemingly appeared there. I walked up to it and prepared to cut a large slice. Just before I got to cutting it, it exploded into a mess of frosting and crumbs. And in this middle of the mess stood a triumphant looking Pinkie Pie.

"Oh my gosh! Do you like your party? Is it fun? I didn't think it would be fun since I don't know what humans like, but then I thought that if you can eat what we eat then this would be a fun party. I didn't talk to you earlier because I wanted to watch you and see if you were having a good time. And it looked like you were so I decided to surprise you and try to make you happier. Did it work? Huh, huh, huh?" She said with yet again one single breath.

"Yes, Pinkie. I'm having a great time. Thank you for doing this for me. But did you really have to pop out of the cake?" I asked as I pulled caked on cake from myself.

"I told you it was a surprise! Duh!" She said, and with one quick motion she ate what was left of the cake with one very large bite.

The party continued into the late night. Slowly, ponies began to leave, some more sober than others. Soon it was the elements, Sweetie Belle, and Derpy. Apple Bloom was grounded for breaking something on the farm and I knew Scootaloo wouldn't be able to come. We all talked for a while until the never ending wave of yawns was upon us. We all went our separate ways. I took Derpy home, she was a little on the moderately drunk side.

I walked up to Derpy's home, albeit a little wobbly from carrying her and from my own inebriation. I unlocked her door and brought her into her bedroom. I didn't plan on staying the nigh there, but when I stumbled on something in the dark and landed on her bed causing her to wake, that plan changed. As I got up to apologize and leave for the night, she called out to me.

"Mike? Wait, please stay tonight. I feel safe with you..." She whispered.

"Okay, Derpy. I'll stay, but don't try to seduce me in my current state." I said.

We shared a laugh and I climbed into bed with her. We kissed and I wrapped my arms around her and we drifted off to sleep with smiles on our faces. That night I would dream of my childhood and bubbles.

A/N: Okay so after this wait, which was killing me by the way, I have returned. The next chapter won't really count as a story chapter, it will go into the event mentioned in this chapter. And as I promised, a game changer is coming after this next chapter. This is so exciting *clap clap clap*. But seriously, it feels good to get back into the writing game. There will be more to come and quicker this time I hope. Keep an eye out for a chapter on Saturday hopefully. Until then good night.