“So, I was wondering if you’d like to do something different next week.”

“No.”

“You don’t even know what it is!”

Sunset rolled her eyes. “Twilight, we’re very close to making the Enchanter work properly. Why would I want to be distracted from it?”

“Because you haven’t done anything besides working on the arrays for months. No, don’t say it, I’m well aware that I can’t help you with it. But you still need to take a break. You know it’ll help you.”

Letting out a sigh, Sunset leaned back on the chair, narrowing her eyes as she studied Twilight. After almost two years of working together, Sunset had started picking up on Twilight’s mannerisms. The way she bit the left side of her lower lip and how her eyes seemed to look everywhere, or how she shifted her weight from foot to foot. She was hiding something.

“And the real reason?”

Twilight’s eyes widened as she let out a soft whimper. “W-What makes you…”

“Out with it,” Sunset said. “Or this conversation is over.”

Frowning, Twilight took two seconds to think. “I want us to go to the amusement park. I already asked Shining and he’s willing to take us there.”

“Why?”

“Miss Celestia said you really like roller coasters.”

Sunset crossed her arms. “Seriously, why?”

Twilight huffed. “Fine. Next week is your birthday and—”

“No,” Sunset interrupted her. “I don’t celebrate my birthday. Didn’t I tell you this before?”

“Yes, but you didn’t say you don’t like celebrating it. So I figured that I’d take you to a place you like, to do things you like, on a day that just so happens to coincide with your birthday. And uh… maybe get you a slice of cake.”

Sunset closed her eyes for a moment. She wanted to be angry, but all she could feel was a certain sense of amusement at the thought that Twilight -subtle-as-a-punch- Sparkle had even attempted to manipulate her into having a birthday party. The very idea was so ludicrous it actually made her chuckle.

“Is… Is laughter a good thing?” Twilight asked. “I can never tell with you.”

“That’s got to be the lamest invitation ever,” Sunset said, letting out another snicker at Twilight’s scrunched up nose. “Ok, alright, I’ll go.”

Twilight gasped, then squeed. “Really?”

“Yes, really. You’re right that I need a break, and I’ll at least enjoy the roller coasters if nothing else.”

“Alright! I’ll go tell Shining!” Twilight said before dashing out of the room.

Sunset shook her head with another chuckle and returned to work.

~~~~~~~~

Shining Armor let out a long, suffering groan as he finally managed to find an empty parking slot. Cadence patted him on the shoulder.

Sunset observed the pink skinned woman as she unbuckled her seatbelt. After so much time of having to interact with her, Sunset had finally managed to stop seeing the pony princess in her. This Cadence had not become a princess and moved to the palace to rub it in. No, this Cadence was a genuine, if nosy, woman who only wanted everyone to get along.

“So, where to first?” Shining asked as they entered the park. It was a lot more crowded than Sunset remembered from the few times Celestia had taken them there.

“I think we should let Sunset decide,” Cadence said, shooting a smile at Sunset. “She’s the birthday girl, after all.”

Sunset looked around, already familiar with the general direction of her favorite rides. “Let’s go to The Rainboom.” In Equestria, it was no more than an old filly bedtime story. In this world, it was the largest, fastest, and twistiest roller coaster to have ever been conceived by human technology.

Twilight whimpered. “A-Are you sure about that? Don’t you want to try the tamest ones first and slowly build your excitement up?”

“The best way to start and end a trip to the amusement park is with the best ride. I’m supposed to be amused, right? That’s the whole point of this.”

They arrived at the hour-long line for the ride, then kept walking towards the fifteen minute-long one, for which Shining had purchased special tickets. She had been about to use some of the money Celestia had given her, but he’d insisted on covering the costs since he was technically the one inviting her. Sunset didn’t try to argue, since it meant she could use that money to get better materials for the Enchanter.

“I don’t take well to roller coasters,” Cadence announced. “I’ll wait at the exit.”

“I’ll be with Cadence,” Shining said. “You girls have fun.”

“Wa-” Twilight squeaked, hand raised, as she looked at the adults disappear in the crowd. She groaned, pressing both hands onto her chest.

Sunset raised an eyebrow. “Are you scared?”

“Sca-no!” Twilight said, offering Sunset a forced smile. “I mean, logically, I know that this ride has been tested and undergoes regular maintenance, and the G forces involved are nowhere near what astronauts go through. That’s not to say I want to be an astronaut! I wouldn’t be able to, anyway, thanks to my poor sight. Well, my sight and the fact I’m not in good enough physical condition, though of course that could be remedied, but then again, why bother when my sight can’t—”

Sunset shoved her hand to cover Twilight’s mouth. “Stop talking.” She lowered her hand. “You don’t have to get in if you don’t want to. Go wait with Shining and Cadence.”

“No, I… I want to go,” Twilight said, though her eyes betrayed her apprehension.

Sunset rolled her eyes. “Alright, then.”

For a minute Twilight remained silent. Then Sunset discovered that when Twilight was extremely nervous, she talked. Not like her sugar rush energy talk, but a kind of hissy, whispery avalanche of words about random trivia and scientific facts about anything and everything that crossed her eyes or her mind.

“... so getting that specific shade of purple was so tedious and time consuming that the dye became so expensive that only the wealthiest people could buy it, and so it became a status symbol.”

The people around them gave them funny looks as Twilight kept jumping from idea to idea, torn between mild interest and just wanting her to shut up. Sunset found it all quite entertaining.

“... that’s why, despite popular belief, shaving doesn’t actually make beards grow faster…”

“Twilight,” Sunset said, shaking the girl by the shoulder. “It’s our turn now.”

Twilight flinched and turned around just as the car stopped. The people still inside grinned and giggled and told each other just how much fun they just had. Sunset had thought that seeing that would have eased Twilight’s nerves, but the girl didn’t seem to notice the people, and instead just glared at the car as it emptied.

“Excuse me, uh, miss?” said one of the staff members, stepping close to Twilight. “I’m sorry, but you should take off your glasses and store them away. Otherwise they will fall off.”

“Oh, uhm, right,” Twilight said. She reached into the waist bag she’d brought and pulled a case where she put her glasses, then saved them back into the bag. She squinted as she got in the car right beside Sunset.

“For a moment there I thought you’d take the chance to flee,” Sunset said.

Twilight gripped the lap bar with shaking hands. “I-I said I wanted to get on,” she said in a high pitched voice. “At least seeing everything blurry will make it easier.”

“Twilight, seriously, you can still get off,” Sunset insisted. Why was Twilight forcing herself? Did she think she’d offend Sunset somehow?

“No, I’m fine!” The nervous twitch of her eyes wasn’t very reassuring. “This is just a big, dumb piece of steel that uses inertia and centripetal acceleration to produce sensations which the human body was not built for! You hear that, The Rainboom?! You don’t scare me!”

Fortunately, she didn’t seem to hear the giggles from the other passengers.

The car hissed and shook, finally starting the ride. Twilight let out a short meep as her hands locked pale fingers on the lap bar. She became deadly silent as the car took a soft turn to the right and began its very, very long ascent. It probably didn’t help Twilight’s anxiety that they were at the very front of the car.

With every metallic click the car made as the chain pulled it up the ramp, Twilight’s body became more and more rigid, to the point that Sunset started to worry that she might pass out or worse.

“Sunset,” Twilight half-whispered half-hissed when the car was only a few meters away from the top. “I know this is just the adrenaline talking but if we die I want you to know that you are my very best friend.”

Sunset blinked. Hadn’t it been obvious before that Twilight considered her as such? She shook the thought off and looked forward, the car already turning over the ramp and looking down at the path ahead. Sunset felt herself smile widely and shot her hands up. The car picked up speed, the wind howled, Twilight screamed, Sunset cheered.

The ride was every bit as exciting and thrilling as Sunset remembered it. Never in her life had she ever envied pegasi as much as she did when the roller coaster ride came to an end and she was forced out of the exhilarating feeling of pseudo flight. With a sigh of disappointment, she turned to her side to see if Twilight had indeed fainted, then blinked in surprise.

Twilight was smiling from ear to ear.

“I cannot believe it! It was so much fun! I don’t even know why I was scared in the first place.”

Sunset snickered. “I thought you said you weren’t scared?”

Twilight blushed. The lap bar raised, and she quickly fished into her hip bag to retrieve her glasses. “Yes, well… I propose we don’t talk about that, and instead go to the next ride.”

With the agreement made, they did just that. Sunset felt a strange glee growing in her chest as she showed Twilight all her favorite rides in the amusement park. She had thought Twilight would faint or at least refuse to go on any more rides after The Rainboom, so the fact she not only liked it but actually wanted to experience more made Sunset smile for a reason she didn’t understand.

Most of the rides she took Twilight to were roller coasters, but Sunset liked all those that had her feeling the air in her face and cheering at the top of her lungs, her favorite being a ride called The Hurricane, which was an unassuming rectangle-shaped contraption that turned and twisted, up and down and right and left, and even diagonally.

“I think it’s time we take a lunch break,” Shining said as they walked out of their latest ride.

There was a rather large area with picnic tables scattered around a building which served refreshments and light snacks. It was relatively crowded, but they managed to secure a table a little far away.

Sunset took a bite of her sandwich and looked up. The sky was a beautiful blue, practically cloudless, and the sun shined with comfortable warmth. Sunset was still feeling the excitement of the rides, and this moment of rest was definitely going to make her enjoy the rides a lot more afterwards. The cold soda definitely helped restore her energy.

With a content sigh, Sunset allowed herself to just enjoy the moment. Tomorrow she’d be back to fixing the arrays and worry about the next steps. But for now, she was going to enjoy her break.

“So, Sunset,” Cadence said. “Are you enjoying yourself?”

Sunset shrugged. “Yeah. Thanks for inviting me.” She could admit to being glad that she had accepted.

“Twilight said you don’t usually celebrate your birthday, but we’re happy you let us do it anyway. You don’t turn fifteen every day, after all.”

Sunset replied with another shrug and a bite to her sandwich.

Cadence seemed to hesitate for a moment, but her smile seemed to settle down. “I must admit, we wanted to give you some presents, but we don’t really know what you’d like.”

“I do,” Shining said with a smirk. “You got some more quartz waiting for you in the garage.”

“Rocks do not make good birthday presents,” Cadence argued.

“Well, my big sister would disagree.”

Sunset flinched as the new voice spoke from behind her. The newcomer rounded the table so that everyone could look at her. She was somehow pinker than Cadence. Pink skin and pink curly hair, though her eyes were an intense blue. Her shirt was pink with drawings of blue and yellow balloons, and her skirt, also pink, ended in frills past her knees.

“She loves rocks! Also stones. And pebbles. And boulders!”

There was silence as everyone stared at the girl. For some reason, Sunset felt like she recognized her, but she couldn’t put her hoof on it. Before she could tell her to leave, Sunset felt the strong vibrations of a Resonance, and she could already hear the soft beat of a song coming from the girl.

“Hi! My name is Pinkie Pie!” the girl said, looking directly at Sunset with a smile that was very close to being creepy for how wide it was. “Little birdie told me today’s your birthday, and I, as the professional party planner in training, offered to throw you a big, impromptu birthday party, right here, right now!” Without waiting for a response, she twirled on her heels and shot a finger towards the restaurant building. “Hit it!”

On cue, the speakers at the sides of the building started playing music. Pinkie Pie stepped back and started sort-of-dancing to the beat.

Get your hands up, party’s starting out right now!
Everybody, everybody get down!

The Harmonic Resonance seemed to have reached the other guests, and they all started cheering along with Pinkie’s song. That was all Sunset noticed of them before Pinkie strolled next to her. She produced a rather large slice of chocolate cake out of… somewhere, and placed it right in front of Sunset. There were two lit candles on top of the slice which together took the shape of the number fifteen.

Time to make a wish, better make it right now!
It’s been a year and today is your birthday party!

Pinkie dashed around the table, tying balloons to it.

Make a wish, it’s your birthday!

Another dash, and a large banner, tied between two trees, suddenly appeared right above the table. It said ‘Happy Birthday, Sunset’. How on Equestria…

Make a wish, it’s your birthday party!

Before Sunset could finish her thought, the pink blur of a girl passed through, and a single, small box wrapped in shiny orange paper and tied with a sparkly red ribbon appeared right next to the slice of cake.

Make a wish, it’s your birthday!

Finally, Pinkie once again appeared at the head of the table, a shower of streamers bursting from her as she struck a pose.

Make a wish, it’s your birthday party!

The Resonance continued in a low hum, expectantly waiting for Sunset to do or say something. She didn’t feel any compulsion to join in the song, which was a relief.

A look around showed that Shining, Cadence, and Twilight were all glaring expectantly at her. Sunset rolled her eyes and lowered her gaze to her cake slice. She had never believed in that silly tradition of making a wish and blowing a candle so that it’d become true, but she supposed there was no harm in pretending.

She blew the candles, which was followed by a round of applause. Pinkie cheered loudly, and Sunset realized that the people at the other tables were clapping politely. Fortunately, the Resonance did end at that point.

“Yay!” Pinkie exclaimed. “I’m sorry this wasn’t a proper party, but I promise next time I’ll throw you the most amazing, incredible, tremendous, super fun, wonderful, terrific, humongous birthday party ever!” Without waiting for an answer, Pinkie bowed, her puffy hair bobbing and dropping candy, of all things, onto the table, then dashed away and out of sight.

Sunset blinked, then glared at Cadence and Shining. “This is why you two refused to come to the rides with us, isn’t it?”

Shining shrugged. “Not really, no. It was only after you girls got into the third ride that we saw her holding a sign promoting her party planning services. I only asked out of curiosity, since I didn’t want to pressure her into planning a party so soon, but she seemed to take it as a challenge.”

“And I think she delivered,” Cadence said as she eyed the sudden decorations. “I must say, she’s quite something. If this is what she can do unprepared, I can only wonder what she’d be capable of with time.”

Sunset let out a snort. She removed the candles from the slice of cake and used a plastic fork to give it a bite. It was incredibly delicious.

“That looks really good,” Twilight muttered, then blushed when Sunset looked at her.

With a chuckle, Sunset grabbed a second fork Pinkie had included for some reason and handed it to Twilight, who happily dug into the cake.

The rest of the day would be very much the same as the first half, but Sunset would find herself enjoying the rides a lot more. Despite her general jadedness over her birthday, Sunset had to admit that the little celebration, but mainly the cake, had really improved her already good mood.

Sunset picked the little gift box Pinkie had thrown beside the cake and opened it, finding a gift card from a retail store valid for one brooch. She’d be able to take it to the store in question and get a customized brooch in the shape of any design she’d want, like her Cutie Mark. She closed the box and set it aside for the moment, deciding to give priority to her quickly vanishing cake.

Maybe celebrating her birthday wasn’t all that bad. It only happened once a year, after all.

Author's Note

Ponka never disappoints.

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