//------------------------------//
// A Birthday Run In 
// Story: The Element of Courage 
// by Banshee531 
//------------------------------//

 A certain little purple filly named Twilight Sparkle skipped down the street as she and her family headed to Restaurant Row. Today was her birthday. The family had just finished at her favourite food joint and were following it up with the even better Donut Joe's.

"Slow down Twily!" said a voice as she turned back to see her brother Shining Armor. Following the young stallion were their parents, Night Light and Twilight Velvet. Her favourite Foalsitter Cadance was also with them, trotting side by side with Shining. Sitting on Shining Armor's back was a small purple dragon named Spike. Spike was a recent addition to their family after Twilight had magically hatched him during her entrance exam into Princess Celestia school. The little guy was fast asleep on the stallion's back, his tail in his mouth.

"The donuts are still going to be there even if you don't run." her mother said with a kind smile.

"But the sooner we get there," Twilight said, jumping up and down in excitement, "the sooner we get to have them!"

"Well you can stop waiting," Cadance said as she pointed to their destination. "We're here."

Restaurant Row was straight ahead as they walked down the street. However, before they got there, they noticed the owners of the stores were definitely not happy about something. "What's up with them?"

"I heard they've been having some kind of pest problem recently." Shining Armor replied as he took the lead.

"I hope it's not rats," Velvet said with a shudder. "I hate those things."

"It'll be okay hon. It's probably just bees," Night told his wife as he got close to her. "Everything will be fine."

"Come on! We're almost there!" Twilight yelled as she ran towards her favourite shop. As she turned the next corner, she found her body slamming into something, only to make her to go flying back and land on her flank. "Ow!" she said as she began rubbing her rear.

"Ow!" said another voice as she turned to see what had tackled her. In front of her was a Pegasus Pony around her age laying on the ground. He had an orange coat, blue mane and lightning shield Cutie Mark.

"Are you okay?" Twilight asked him as she got up and presented her hoof.

"I'm fine." the foal replied, rubbing his head from the blow.

Seeing that he was okay, Twilight returned to her happy-go-lucky attitude, "Hi! I'm Twilight Sparkle, who are you?"

"I'm Flash" he replied as he got up.

"Twily!" the duo turned around, quickly seeing Shining and Cadance galloping up to them. "Are you okay?!"

"I'm fine. Nothing broken." Twilight replied as she rubbed her flank again. "Just a bump."

With that statement, the teenage ponies turned their attention to Flash. Before they could say anything, the parents caught up to them. The two quickly moved past Shining and Cadance as they greeted the colt.

"Hello little one," Velvet said as she crouched down to his eye level, "What's your name?"

"He's Flash." Twilight said as she pointed to the colt. "He ran into me."

"Don't be rude Twilight," Night told his daughter as he looked back at Flash, "So kid, where's your family Flash?"

Flash just sat there, unresponsive. The others looked at each other in confusion as the colt slowly got up, still not talking. He showed an obviously visible frown at the question. They wanted to ask why, but a certain voice interrupted them.

"HEY YOU!" they all turned and saw Donut Joe running towards them, "Somepony get that kid!" he yelled in a full on sprint.

As soon as he heard that, Flash quickly got up. The colt rushed past Shining Armor as Donut Joe tried to tackle him. Flash quickly flapped his wings before leaping into the air. In the blink of an eye, he was already on the nearby rooftop. "Sorry Joe." he said as he stuck out his tongue. "But once again, you're just too slow." with that last remark, he ran off down the roofs, quickly vanishing.

"What was that all about?" Night Light asked as he helped Joe back up.

"That kid's been a pain in the neck for a while." Joe explained as he rubbed his side, "He keeps sneaking into the kitchen and taking whatever he can get his hooves on...stinking thief."

"Wait a minute," Cadance asked as she started to figure something out, "Is he the pest we kept hearing rumours about?"

"Yeah, that's him." Joe said as he started to go back to his restraint. "Caught him trying to steal the special donuts I set aside for your party Twilight."

Twilight quickly frowned at hearing this. She couldn't believe somepony would steal Joe's wonderful donuts. She knew that if she ever met up with that pony again, she would give him a piece of her mind.