//------------------------------//
// Party mishaps 
// Story: Sunny Knight: a Pony's Tale 
// by TheothersideofSunny968 
//------------------------------//



Pinkie bounced over to Cranky, ready to help him enjoy his own birthday party. He was hovering over at the punch bowl, pouring himself a small glass when the pink party pony jumped up beside him, startling him, and casing the punch he just poured to fly threw the air.

"Hey Cranky!" She looked down at the spilled punch. "Oh, here! Let me get you a new one!" She began to pour the crotchety old donkey a new glass of punch. "It sure is a good thing that I waxed the floor with a special coat to prevent it from sticking with punch! After the last party we had, I thought it would be a good idea! So are you enjoying your party so far? I mean, you did just get here, but there's lots, lots, lots to do!"

Cranky cleared his throat. "It's, ugh, very nice" the old donkey stretched the last two words, putting some effort to try and be nice to his friend. "But why so many ponies?"

"Oh! It's not just ponies! Steve Magnum said he would be by later after he finished up at the spa! He said he got you an extra special something!" Pinkie added with a bounce.

That made the old donkey start to smile. Cranky and the sea serpent, Steve Magnum, had been good friends for a long time. Pinkie then handed Cranky the cup of punch, he took a small sip, then he spat the punch out all over the pink mare.

"W-what did you do to this punch?!" Cranky asked, disgusted by the red party drink. "It tastes like pure sugar!"

Pinkie pulled a towel out of nowhere and wiped her face off, cleaning off most of the punch, her cheerful expression slightly diminished. "Well.... It's the same amount of sugar I always use."

The grumpy donkey slammed the cup on the table so hard, that if it weren't plastic it would have shattered into a million pieces. He then grumbles as he walked away from the punch table and the slightly damp pink pony muttering "Taste horrible...sugar water....."  

Matilda and Sunny cringed at Cranky's actions, then the donkey mare caught sight of a pile of board games stacked on top of a table and got an idea. She leaned in close to Sunny and whispered "Cranky loves board games! His favorite is shoots and ladders!  Would you mind playing with him?"

Sunny caught sight of the game in the table and smiled back as he whispered to Matilda "Do I have to let him win?"

"If you can make it close, that would be best" Matilda winked at the yellow stallion who gave her a wink back as he tipped his hat and happily trotted over to the game table.

Sunny grabbed the box for 'Shoots and ladders' and walked over to the table where Cranky was sitting. The glum donkey was hunched over in his chair, mumbling as he nibbled on a plate of snacks.  

"Hey! There's the birthday colt!" Sunny said, tip in his hat back a little. Cranky only looked in his direction slightly, then went back to glaring at the wall. Sunny cleared his throat and continued. "Hey, how about a friendly game?"

As Sunny then placed the board game on the table, he was surprised that the elderly donkey managed to crack a smile as his eyes landed on the box. After setting the game up Sunny offered Cranky to go first. Turn after turn, both players equally landing on shoots and ladders, Cranky only needed to roll a seven to win. The donkey had a triumphant smile across his face as he began to roll the dice in his hooves, Sunny watched as Cranky was about to roll the dice when a conga line began to dance right behind him.

Without meaning to, a mare in the line that stood behind Cranky kicked out and light nudged the old donkey. The dice fell out of his hooves, tumbled around the board for a moment's before finally landing on one and two. That put Crabkey's place holder on a ladder that shot him backwards, half way across the board. Both the yellow stallion and elderly donkey stared at the board for a good long moment, then Sunny sheepishly looked up at Crankey as the old stallion's face began to turn red, veins accenting.   

"He he... W-well we can still play out the rest of the game... Or you could have a reroll, I mean-" The yellow pony suggested.

"What's the point?! In two rolls you win!" The donkey certainly lives up to his name. He pushed away from the table, walked angrily I cross the room, shoving several ponies out of his way as he did so, and planed his back side in a chair against the wall and glared at the partying ponies, who were now feeling slightly awkward. 

Thinking quickly, not wanting to crew up his chance at making a friend out to the donkey, Sunny's eyes spotted a muffin on the table of treats and thought it might not be too sweet for the old donkey's taste buds. Thinking a snack might help the older stallion relax, Sunny hopped over and grabbed it. Picking it up on a plate Sunny began to walk with it over to Cranky across the room. The old donkey had been watching some ponies dance from afar and seemed to be cooling off. Sunny was almost to Crankey with the muffin when he tripped over something, sending the muffin flying threw the air, until it landed strait on the muzzle of Cranky himself. 

Sunny was panicking at this point. But before the birthday boy could lose his temper again, Sunny rushed over and began to apologize to him while he wiped the remains of the treat from Cracky's face. But as Sunny brushed the mashed muffin off, he accidentally flipped the golden toupee Cranky had been wearing off his naturally bald head!

Sunny felt his heart sink as the donkey looked from him to the top of his own head. Shock spread across Crankey's face, but before he could flip to anger, Sunny made a mad dash over to where he saw the hair piece on the ground. Just as the yellow stallion made a jump for it, the kongo line reached it first. Ironically enough, the same mare that kicked Cranky moments ago, made another kick into the air without looking, flipping the toupee up and sent it soaring threw the air once more.

'Somepony needs to tell that mare to look where she kicks!' Sunny thought to himself as he followed the air born wig. He could have used some of that advice himself.

Without looking where he he was going, Sunny ran into a table and hit it so hard that he flipped over it,  and landing on the far end of the snack table. Sunny watched in horror as plates, silverware and snacks of all kinds flew threw the air, landing all over the room and hitting several of the party goers. Mares, stallion's and even foals were covered in debris of snacks and dining ware. But the worst part, the punch bowl was sent on a collision course for none other then the birthday boy himself!

Watching in awe, unable to process everything that had happened, Cranky sat in his chair, and watched as a nearly full punch bowl of sugar enriched punch landed on him, dousing him with the sweet red liquid, making him red and sticky from the top of his nails head all the way to his aching hooves.

The entire room fell completely silent. All the party guests were either covered in food or drinks, the dining ware lay bent or broken on the floor, and there stood Sunny with the golden wig in his hooves. It and Sunny had been the only ones undamaged by his little 'accident'.
Thinking this to be the only thing to do, not necessary the wisest thing, Sunny went to go give Cranky his toupee back. 

The yellow stallion pulled his stetson lower over his face to hide his shame as he walked up to the punch soaked donkey, removed the flipped over punch bowl from his head, saw the best deadpan face Cranky ever made, then he put the toupee back atop his bald head. Sunny then staggered back, feeling two inches tall, not knowing what to say, just started at the floor, afraid to look at any pony. 

'So much for making friends.... I'll be lucky if I can ever show my muzzle writhing 10 miles of Ponyville ever again!' Sunny said as he hung his was low and avoided eye contact.

Before anypony 'could' say anything, the entire shop flashed filled with water from nowhere and just as fast as it appeared, the water flooded out. Racing out the front door leaving all the party guests soaked and confused. "I'm here! Now the party can begin!" 

There at the door way stood the top half of a purple sea serpent with golden hair similar, if not the same, as Cranky's toupee. As Sunny got up, rinsed out his Stetson and places it back quickly I top of his head, he turned and looked at the late arrival.

"Sorry we're late everypony!" Pinkie Pie added, popping up out of the sea serpent's mane and jumping down. "Steve here wanted to stop by and get some fresh water"

"Oh one does need to freshen one's tank water when one travels." The purple serpent commented. "Don't need to smell like I've been traveling, and what not." He shuttered, then looked to the rest of the group. "So, what did I miss?"

Sunny just hung his head low and mumbled. "Just me destroying the entire party..."

"Psh" Pinkie replied as she waved a hoof. "The party isn't ruined, it's just begun!" 

The pink party pony then pulled a light blue cannon out of her main and shot it several times across the crowd. Out of the cannon, instead of cannon balls came party supplies! Ones that landed perfectly as if they were set up by hoof! There were new tables with plates and silverware, a new snack table complete with freah backed goods, and yes, another punch bowl already filled with punch! It even shot out more balloons, confetti, and party supplies! 

Sunny stood there, jaw dropped, completely in shock,  as he looked at the room. It was like nothing has ever happened! Everypony, even Cranky, who had been hit with the party snacks had been washed clean by the flood. When the water was released from the shop, it carried away all the debris. And now, in a mere matter of seconds, Pinkie managed to bring everything back. Sunny sat there, dumbfounded and amazed as he looked across the room at the ponies who instantly began to go back to partying like it was no big deal.

"Some wild party, eh?" Octavia's voice rang as she approached Sunny.

"It.... But I...." Sunny couldn't form the right words to even begin a sentence.

Octavia just smiled and handed him a slice of birthday cake. "We've all learned to just go with it. With all that's happened here over the years, a ruined party being washed away and remade in a mere thirty seconds is nothing. Trust me."

As the grey cello player began to take small bites of her own slice of cake, Sunny was able to gather his thoughts and form a few sentences. "But, after what I had done..." He looked over at Crankey who's face had remained unchanged and very emotionless, he felt his guilt return to him. ".... What should I do?"

Octavia rolled we eyes and swallowed the small bite she had taken. "If you still feel bad, the just go apologize."

Sunny took another deep sigh and straitened his hat. "Your right. I'll be back. But if for some reason I don't make it back alive, tell the Apple family I love them..."

With that, the Stetson wearing yellow stallion made his way over to Cranky, once again. This time taking great caution with every step he took, making sure not to slip, trip, or crash into the newly reformed Kongo line. Eventually, he made it to the table where Cranky was sitting, his face still deadpanned as his sea serpent friend talked about shopping in one place or another.

The only indication Cranky gave that he was even remotely not made of stone was when Sunny stood about two feet from him and cleared his throat. The donkey's eyes moved for the first time in what seemed like forever, but his face was still expressionless. 

"H-hey Cranky" Sunny smiles awkwardly as he nervously waved. But the only thing to happen was the purple sea serpent stopped talking and was now watching Sunny, which made him more nervous. Taking a deep breath Sunny gave up on being nervous and just met Crabkey's stone eyes.

"Listen, I'm really sorry about ruining your party, even if Pinkie did somehow miraculously make it all better in a flash. I did make a mess of things, and I just wanted to say-" Sunny was about to apologize again when he was cut off.

"Yeah yeah, I get it kid, don't repeat yourself" Cranky spat out as his wife Matilda returned with a picture of ice tea and some glasses. "Besides, I half expected as much."

Pinkie Pie then popped up behind Sunny to clarify for him before the yellow stallion became more confused. "See, Cranky and Matilda enjoy their quiet and peaceful loves, but also like watching the ponies run around, have fun, get into trouble, and even get out of it, as long as they don't get dragged into the craziness. But when I throw a party, they kinda guess that means that they will get sucked into the craziness anyway."

"So I just deal with it" the male donkey added in as he took a sip of his tea and smiled at his wife, looking upon her with sweet, gentle eyes. She blew him a kiss back.

"And now we can all be friends!" Pinkie shouted as she patted Sunny on the back. "And that reminds me!" She bent down and whispered in Sunny's ear "you know, Crankey, Matilda and Steve have all traveled far across Equestria, seen all kinds of places, things and met all kinds of creatures and ponies!"

This caused the gears in Sunny's head to begin to turn. Taking another deep breath he took a seat at Cranky's table and joined in on the conversation. Even though Sunny had enjoyed making friends with all the ponies in town who were so loud and full of life and energy, this small and quiet crowd seemed ok to him too. He guessed that maybe it's ok to have many different kinds of friends, at least, he hopped Cranky, Matilda and Steve would consider him a friend as easily as Pinkie and Octavia did.

As the sun went down and the last of the guests went home, Sunny stood by his cart and asked if there was anything Pinkie needed help with, feeling bad that she wanted to deal with the clean up all on her own.

"Nah, I can have it cleaned up in a flash" the party pony replied. "I'm sorry that no pony could help you with your whole 'I-don't-remember-who-I-am-or-where-I-came-from' Memory problem, Sunny."

"That's ok Pinkie" the stallion replied, tipping his Stetson at her. "I did manage to make some new friends instead."

"And that's just as great!" Pinkie commented, the bravado reappeared in her voice.

With that, Sunny began to carry his cart full of flour back to the apple farm, feeling like he was going to sleep like a rock tonight.