With Applejack and Rainbow Dash's help, not to mention the insane efficiency of the fabled 'party cannon', Pinkie Pie manages to get the upstairs to Sugar Cube Corner decorated for a friendly party in just under an hour.  The clock strikes seven and the earth pony glances around for any last-minute changes.  Since there's so much time left, Pinkie Pie resolves to bake a large batch of fresh cupcakes and make some more punch just to add a little extra to this party.  

"Rainbow, AJ, thank you so much for your help, you really made this whole thing a ton easier."  Pinkie states as she wipes her forehead with her foreleg, glancing around her disorganized kitchen cabinets for the necessary ingredients.

"Aw shucks, Pinkie, it's the least we can do.  You're throwing us this party after all."  Applejack helps clean up some loose packaging from the dozens of balloons and streamers cast around the room.

"Yeah, we wouldn't be very good friends if we let you do all this completely on your own would we?"  Rainbow Dash, using an old towel to polish the scorch marks off of the wall near where the party cannon had misfired, actually shows her loyal side for a short time.

"Well it still means a lot, thank you.  If you want to you can help yourselves to some of the food downstairs that I didn't sell."

"Wull thanks, Pinkie.  You want us to bring you up something from down there?"  Applejack tosses her arm around Rainbow's withers as the two of them head over to join their pink friend.

"Yeah, if there are any danishes left I'd love one."

"We'll be sure and grab you one."

The two head downstairs and into the store, spotting a trio of earth ponies looking into the window.  Applejack walks over to greet them and let them know that the shop is closed for the evening, while Rainbow wastes no time digging into the pastries.  Applejack opens the door a crack and sees Roseluck, Lilly and Daisy all standing together eager to get in.

"Hey you three, uhm, shop's been closed up for a while now, sorry for any uhm, inconvenience."  Applejack tries to act professional just to keep Mr. and Mrs. Cake and Pinkie Pie's reputation for picking good help in tact.  

"Oh, well we're actually here for the party."  Lilly states as she shivers and sloughs off the winter cold.

"Oh really?  Well... That's not for another hour, then.  Sorry... again."  

"Told you it was at eight, Lilly."  Daisy snips, blowing some warm air into her hooves and rubbing them together.

"And I told you to shut the hay up!"  Lilly doesn't hesitate to defend herself, prompting Applejack to close\ the door and back away in order to avoid getting caught up in the tussle.  The muffled sounds of their fading voices can easily be heard as the earth pony steps back upstairs.

"Uhm, Pinkie?"  Applejack calls out into what appears to be an empty upstairs room.  

"Yeah?"  Pinkie's voice comes from above her, so Applejack tilts her chin up to see the pink pony dangling by what appears to be a bungee cord attached to the rafters above, setting balloons into the wall as she falls and retracts.  

"Ehm, just how many ponies did you invite to this party, Pinkie?"  In probably one of the better decisions of her life, Applejack refrains from asking her just how she managed to do that (or for that matter, how she plans to get down from there) and simply inquires about the expected head count for the evening.

"Oh..." Each of her statements are spoken at the height of her drop, and cut short just before she flies back up.  "I... invited... everypony that... came into... the store... today!"

"No kidding..."  Applejack tries to act nonchalant but secretly feels a heavy sense of nervousness.  She walks back down to go see Rainbow, who has finished annihilating Pinkie's supply of day-old baked goods, and sits next to her.  "Pinkie didn't tell you just how many ponies she invited to this thing, did she Rainbow?"

"Nope...  I figured it'd just be the six of us."  She answers and sits back; her eyes droop a little from gorging herself after the unusual day of physical activity.

"Well... Turns out it might be everypony that walked into the store today, that's assumin' they all show up on the invitation..."

Rainbow opens her eyes wide and looks at Applejack, immediately thinking about how Fluttershy and Twilight are going to react to such a crowd.  "Holy shit."

"Couldn't'a said it better mahself..."

"You think Twilight and Fluttershy will flip?"

"I don't imagine they'll be all too comfortable..."

"Well...  Let's just sit back and enjoy the fireworks then... not much we can do about it."

"Good point..."

Fluttershy and Twilight hold each other in a deep embrace, hovering via Fluttershy's wings just a few feet above her bed.  The happy couple shares a kiss, legs entwined with each other with the earth-bound pony clinging onto Fluttershy as she flaps her hardest to keep them aloft.  The pegasus can only stand to keep herself and Twilight airborne for a couple of minutes, unfortunately, and so drops them both onto the bed with a resounding thud.  

"Sorry about that...  I'm not a very strong flier..."  Fluttershy looks down, a little embarrassed at the fact that she couldn't keep afloat too long.  

"That's alright, I'll just have to take your word for it that mid-flight tomfoolery is great fun."  Twilight strokes her hoof through the pegasus's mane, brushing it out of her face and kissing her nose.

"Well...  I've never done it before, so I don't actually know...  but it's supposed to be much better... a-at least according to Rainbow."

"She told you?"

"She tells me a lot of things...  back in Flight school I think she made a game about how many times a day she could make me blush and hide my face."

Twilight giggles and wraps her forelegs around the pegasus.  "Can ya blame her?  You're adorable when you're blushing."

"Oh c'mon, it can't be that cute...  Can it?"

"Well, technically it sends a mixed message...  Blushing does denote embarrassment, but shyness is also attractive based on empirical tests on the matter, so for hotheads like Rainbow who tend to take chances it's--"  Fluttershy interrupts Twilight by pressing her hoof up against the lavender unicorn's muzzle.

"It was a rhetorical question, Twilight."

"Sorry."  The unicorn smiles and blushes a bit, happy to be in her marefriend's arms once more.  "We've still got a little bit before we have to leave for that party...  Might you want to share a shower with me?"  

Fluttershy hesitates to answer right away, looking around just out of reflex and feeling another small sting in her cheeks.  "Definitely."  

Twilight pushes Fluttershy onto her back and crawls over her, being sure to show off her body to the pegasus as she watches 'helplessly' from her position on the bed.  Twilight blushes and giggles, unable to believe what she's doing; she doesn't drag any of her weight over the mare's face, but lifts herself up, hopping off of the bed and offering her hoof to help the pegasus up with her.  They slowly walk to the bathroom together, not wanting to be apart for more than a second if they can help it.  Fluttershy shuts the door behind her as they step inside while Twilight flicks the lights on.  They share a shy, but still suggestive smile and move together for a warm kiss, holding each other close and falling deeper and deeper into the moment.  Fluttershy extends her wing and uses it to open the curtain around her shower, stepping backward into it and beckoning Twilight to join her with a tilt of the hoof.  The unicorn happily grins and steps inside, magically closing up the curtain and turning the water on to a nice, warm temperature.  Twilight gets the first hit of water, letting her mane out as it rapidly gets soaked all the way through.  She moves her hair out of her eyes and uses her magic to point the shower head at Fluttershy, bringing her mane down in the water as well and making the pegasus blush just a little bit from the excitement.  They kiss one more time, though, this time with slightly more emotion and force than before, knowing exactly where this is going to take them.

Applejack cracks her neck in a very un-lady-like manner after setting down a few chairs from upstairs that she had to move.  Pinkie decided at the last minute to strip away most of the seating in the party area, so the two ponies who so selflessly offered to help are now working their flanks off to please the ruthless and unquenchable thirst of Pinkie's orders for party perfection.  Rainbow, having heard the unattractive crunching of bone, steps up behind Applejack and places her hooves firmly on the earth pony's withers.  She slowly kneads her tired muscles in firm but still gentle circles, giving her a back rub that could soothe even the most tired and stressed of farm workers.  

"Nnnghh...  You're way too darn good at that..."  Applejack can't stop herself from leaning down and accepting the back rub.  Rainbow knows just the right places after years of experience, and so could easily make anypony in town melt just with the touch of her hooves.  Had she been slightly less inclined to wile away her days and fly whenever she wanted, Aloe and Lotus at the spa would hire her as a masseuse faster than the blink of an eye.

"Thank you, thank you.  You're lucky I'm not chargin' you for these."  Rainbow adds a little extra kiss to the back of Applejack's neck as she brings her hooves lower on her body, eventually reaching her lower back and causing the earth pony to sit up a little more straight.  

"And you're lucky I'm even lettin' ya put yer hooves on me.  Ask the last fella that tried that and he'll tell ya that mah orchard ain't got the only apples I'll kick."

"I'll bet his voice is squeakier than Fluttershy's when she's scared."

"Hah, well I didn't hear him say much after that, but I'd be willin' to wager you're probably right."

"I'd sure hate to ever have to be on the business end of your legs, AJ."

"Much prefer the pleasure end don't ya?"

"Very much so."

Applejack turns her head and presses her muzzle against Rainbow's, who happily accepts the gesture.  She continues to rub her hooves up and down Applejack's back, although can't keep her coordination quite as perfect as it was.  The earth pony pulls away and grins at the pegasus, hiding her slight blushing with a smug look on her face and another series of short kisses.  Their moment is shattered by a high pitched clearing of the throat from a giggling pink pony at the bottom of the stairs.

"Uhm, I don't have anything against you two doing that or anything, but if you don't mind at least moving it someplace private... that'd be just great."  She giggles and trots over to them, handing Rainbow Dash a small, brass key.  "This is the key to my bedroom, try not to knock anything over while you're in there..."

"R-Really?"  Rainbow seems a bit shocked from the earth pony's offer to use her bedroom.  Pinkie just shrugs and steps away, continuing to decorate the upstairs with various finishing touches.  The two lovers check the clock on the far wall and see that it's only 7:20, plenty of time to fool around before the party.  

"I'm game if you are, Dashie."  Applejack prods the pegasus's ribs just beneath her wings, grabbing her attention before she spaces out too much.

"Do you even have to ask?"

"First one to finish buys dinner tomorrow?"

"Ooh makin' a game out of it, eh?  Challenge accepted, Biscuit."

Pinkie just giggles softly and shakes her head as the two lovers disappear behind her door.  Hanging up a streamer from one wall to the other and softly humming to herself.  She tries to think whether she hid that vibrator that she bought from Rarity well enough; knowing that Rainbow might be slightly less honor-bound than Applejack and take it for a spin.  Pinkie steps down and trots to the middle of the room, looking around and finding herself satisfied with the fruits of her labor.  She heads downstairs and picks up a leftover danish that Rainbow and Applejack forgot to bring up for her, messily chomping it down.  She looks around at the empty store, sitting on a chair in the corner and taking a minute of calm for herself.  Feeling alone isn't something that Pinkie is used to, but from time to time she doesn't mind just sitting back and enjoying the waning light of the disappearing sun as it pours in through her windows.  She tilts her head back and rests her forelegs over her eyes and forehead, groaning a little bit and speaking up just to herself.

"I need a coltfriend..."

"But I'm not even tired!"  Sweetie Belle complains as Rarity tucks her into bed.  Rarity kneels next to her small bed and looks at her with a very soft countenance.  

"I know you're not, I can tell...  But frankly you've got school tomorrow and I've got... well... 'dinner' tonight, so I can't be around to watch you...  I really just need you to get to sleep, please?"  Rarity begs the filly to just try and get to sleep, knowing that she'll undoubtedly get into some kind of trouble if she's up while the older unicorn isn't present to watch her.

"Aww c'mon sis, why don't you ever trust me?"  Sweetie Belle manages to always put on a pathetic face any time she wants to guilt trip Rarity out of something; time and time again it works.

"Please don't give me that look... you're not in trouble or anything, and it's not that I don't trust you, per se..."  Rarity hesitates to come up with a slightly less offensive way of saying it, even though she truly and deeply does not trust the filly.  

"Then why are you makin' me go to bed before you leave?"  

"Well...  It's because I do trust you, Sweetie..."  Rarity does her best to distort the truth for her younger sister.

"That doesn't make any sense...  If you trusted me why don't you let me stay awake?"

"Well...  Because you're young, and since you're as young as you are I'm technically not supposed to leave you alone at all... understand?"  

"I think so...  But that doesn't explain why I need to go to bed."

"Well...  If you're awake then something could happen, and even if it's not your fault, it still happened while you were awake, and alone, so I could get in trouble, and so can you.  If you're asleep and something happens then there's no way it can possibly be your fault, so I'm trusting you to be a good girl and get your beauty rest while I go off to dinner and then come back to a safe home, and a safe filly."

The truth-stretching works insofar as to confuse Sweetie Belle, which is all Rarity ever really set out to do.  "So... by going to bed, I'm making sure everything will be okay for when you get back, and that means you're trusting me to make sure everything's okay?"  

"Almost...  By going to sleep, you're ensuring that nothing that happens in this place can be your fault, so I'm asking you to take care of yourself while I'm gone...  It just so happens that taking care of yourself means going to bed... quietly... understand?"  Rarity has to paste a fake grin on her face and fights herself from rubbing the back of her neck.  She knows how good the filly is at telling when she's lying, and so focuses intently on her every single movement.  

"Alright, big sister...  I guess you're right, and I'm feeling kinda sleepy anyhow."  In Rarity's mind she's doing a very happy dance, but has to filter it through good judgment in the form of a kiss on the forehead.  

"You're a good little sister, Sweetie Belle.  I'll see you tomorrow; sleep tight, and just remember: when you go to bed early, good dreams are more likely to happen!"

Sweetie Belle smiles and snuggles her head into the pillow.  "Alright.  I love you, Rarity."

"I love you too, Sweetie Belle."  This last comment strikes the unicorn extra hard since she has just lied her sister into bed, but knows it's for the greater good.  For as much as the little one gets on her nerves, Rarity really does love her with all her heart.  

Rarity steps downstairs and looks at her clock; 7:35, too early to head over to the party, but too late to actually get anything accomplished.  She thinks to herself about how boring this next twenty minutes will probably be.  She can't just go wake Sweetie Belle up for some kind of game, that would counteract everything she had just worked for...  But she also can't just sit there or she'll be bored to tears.  The unicorn rubs her legs together a little as she paces around the living room, feeling a familiar thought prod its way into her mind.  

It certainly has been a while since I've...  She tosses the idea around in her head: she sold a 'toy' almost identical to her favorite one to Pinkie Pie just a few months ago.  With work and the filly to watch she hasn't had much time to herself, so it's definitely been a while since she's had any fun, and even longer since she's had a colt with her.  After a few seconds of tapping her hooves on the floor she resolves to just go make it quick and quiet.  The unicorn silently steps back upstairs and into her room, digging the small horseshoebox from under her bed and opening it up to examine her medium-sized, pink vibrator.

"So...  We meet again, Mr. Beauregard."