Shadow went back to her house with Rainbow Dash. Fluttershy stayed behind, because she had to return home to feed her animals.
"So Shaderz, what's the plan to get Pinkie to notice you?" she said.
"I don't know" Shadow lowered her head "I had a hard time getting her to notice me before. How will it work if we're surrounded by a crowd of ponies?”
Rainbow Dash sat down and placed a hoof on her chin, thinking for a bit. There was a brief awkward silence between the two ponies as Shadow stared at the Rainbow pony, who was very deep in thought. "I got it!--" she spoke, getting cut off by a loud knock on the door. Shadow trotted forward and opened it, seeing Charcoal struggling to keep himself up with the thin wooden boards that were casually nailed to the large tree.
"A little help here? How do you even get up here without falling off these dang things?" he grunted.
"You just gotta know where to climb" she chuckled, pulling him up.
Rainbow Dash glared at him and huffed "I just had a sweet idea! Now I forgot because of you!”
Charcoal gave her a bit of a confused look and trotted in "The party is being set up as we speak. Vinyl got a hold of Pinkie for me so everything should fall into place.
Rainbow Dash looks at him a bit oddly "How do you know Vinyl? She's always out and about, and other ponies rarely see her!"
"Details Rainbow, anyway, with that being said, we should start getting ideas for our next plan". Rainbow gave him the same glare and rolled her eyes. Pinkie is bouncing around Sugarcube Corner, placing streamers and balloons while Vinyl is setting up her sound board and other equipment.
"Oh gosh! I can't believe I missed throwing a party for Charcoal!" Pinkie said, placing drapes across the tables "I'm such a silly pony"
"Don't worry about it P." Vinyl chuckles "We all forget things sometimes. Besides, Charcoal isn't a big fan of parties, but I'm sure he'll like it even if it's late"
The pink pony dropped the bag of confetti to the floor, spewing a bit around her. "He doesn't like parties?!" she gasped.
Vinyl was a bit taken back by her sudden surprise "He's not very social. Well, he 'wasn't' social, until he came here. Glad to see things change for him"
"So you know Charcoal?" Pinkie said, looking at Vinyl in awe.
Charcoal and Rainbow nods while Shadow is furiously shaking her head.
"No! I am not doing that!" Shadow yells, flailing her hooves to the floor.
"Come on, is it really that bad to sing in front of other ponies?" Charcoal snickered.
"It'll be for Pinkie! Everyone will know and it will be embarrassing!"
Rainbow Dash waves her hoof and laughs "Ok, ok. How about we just have Vinyl dedicate a song to Pinkie and say it was from an anonymous pony?"
"How will that work? Doesn't she want to be noticed, not hidden even further from her love interest?" Charcoal said sarcastically.
"Let me finish you cog fixin' idiot!" Rainbow Dash growls. The two start to bicker and Shadow facehoofs in disappointment.
Pinkie looks at the thoroughly decorated room in pride. The ceilings are hung with pink, blue, and green streamers accompanied by balls of confetti that are prepped to go off with a push of a button. The walls have the phrase 'Welcome to Ponyville!' from top to bottom. The tables have white drapes, with balloons tied down with small decorative stones, and candies surrounded by it in bundles. Vinyl has her equipment set up behind the counter and smiles at the setup.
"Wow, you sure know how to set things up quickly" Vinyl looks around.
"It's what I do! I'm the perky party perfectionist!" Pinkie giggles. About an hour has passed, and all the invites are sent out. Pinkie sits outside, looking at the clouds above. Vinyl sees the party pony spacing out. This was a first for her, seeing her doing something other than bouncing, baking, or partying.
"Something on your mind Pinkie?" Vinyl said, placing a hoof on her shoulder.
"All the parties, the fun, the excitement. It's great and all..." she smiles, but then looks down, a bit saddened "But it's not as great when you don't have that special somepony to share it with".
"I know how you feel" Vinyl said, looking up "I guess all we can do is wait, right?”
"All right, all right. We'll just stick with the first plan" Rainbow said, sighing after hours of debating and arguing.
"Just dedicate a song, I’ll tell Vinyl, and you tell Pinkie you did that when it's done ok?" Charcoal huffs. Shadow nods and flaps her wings in excitement.
"I hope this works!" The purple pegasus said in glee.
"I hope so too, otherwise this plan was for nothing, and I'll be assed out of a quiet day with Applejack" Charcoal pouts.
"Don't get your tail in a knot" Rainbow slaps his shoulder "She'll be going anyways. It'll be better than sitting on the porch, or under a tree, staring at random things".
"Hey I don't--" Charcoal shuts himself up, realizing that he does do those things with Applejack and hides his face in embarrassment. Shadow is too busy daydreaming about the results of their plan while the hour at hand creeps ever closer.