"Well, here we are again, Boneless Two," Cheese Sandwich commented to himself, the party pony once again donned in his familiar cowpony attire as he overlooked the town of Ponyville. "Ponyville, the place where it all began."
The rubber chicken didn't say a word, it just slumped against Cheese's shoulder. "Yes, I know, we technically saw her at the Friendship Festival in Canterlot. But that was just a quick little 'Hello', hardly time to find out how life's been treating her. And when you're a traveling party pony like me, time has a funny habit of slipping by you."
Cheese made his way into Ponyville a few seconds later but he didn't take off his hat or his poncho. He wanted to surprise Pinkie. He'd kept in touch with her via letters like they'd promised when starting their relationship, but this had been an unexpected time off. His 'Cheesie Sense' hadn't been active for a while now and he hoped it wouldn't suddenly flare up again.
It wasn't long before the party planning stallion found himself looking up at the familiar roof of Sugarcube Corner, designed to look just like cupcake frosting. If Pinkie was anywhere, she was usually here. It took every ounce of determination Cheese had not to burst through the door and make his presence known to his special somepony. He'd never been so nervecited in all his life. Well, except for when Pinkie had finally confronted him about his odd behavior when planning her birthday party, but that was an occasion that was hard to top.
Knocking on the front door, Cheese was soon greeted not by Pinkie but by Mr. Cake. "Oh, Cheese Sandwich!" Mr. Cake commented in surprise. "Long time no see."
Cheese nodded. "It's certainly been quite a while, hasn't it, Mr. Cake?" He politely tipped his hat in response and let Mr. Cake usher him inside. "Sorry if this a bit sudden, but I wanted to surprise Pinkie Pie."
"Oh, that's right," Mr. Cake realized. "The anniversary of when you two entered in your relationship," A smile formed on the earth pony's face as he fondly sighed. "You two remind me a lot of Cup Cake and myself when we were your age."
"That's very lovely, really. And I'd be more than happy to stay with you two and Pinkie for however long this party planning break lasts," Cheese offered. "Speaking of Pinkie, I need to see her right away. I really wanna surprise her and find out what she wants to for our anniversary. Have you seen her anywhere?"
But just then the familiar plump figure of Mrs. Cake appeared, and when she saw Cheese Sandwich she could only gasp in surprise! "Why, Cheese Sandwich! If I'd known you were gonna be coming back to Ponyville, I would've told Pinkie."
"She's not here right now?" Cheese asked as he fought back the urge to frown.
Mrs. Cake reluctantly nodded. "I'm afraid so. She's very busy nowadays. There are days where she's gone from sun up to sun down, yet somehow she never seems to run out of energy," Just then a pair of familiar giggles caught the baker's attention. "Speaking of energy, it seems the twins are really taking after their big sister. I have to wonder if they've gotten into Pinkie's secret cupcake stash again."
Crawling out from behind their mother's legs, Pound Cake and Pumpkin Cake's wandering eyes soon fell upon the familiar form of Cheese Sandwich. They didn't know much about him but they did remember that Pinkie always seemed to be in a better mood when he was around. And anyone that could make their big sister smile was a-okay in their book. They toddled up to him as the party pony took them into his hooves. "My, oh my!" He fondly exclaimed. "Just look how big you two are getting. You're growing up so fast, you know that? Seems like only yesterday you barely came up to my legs."
"Tell me about it. I feel so old now." Mrs. Cake exclaimed with a sigh.
Mr. Cake gave his wife a kiss and lovingly cooed. "Nonsense, sugar plum, you don't look a day over thirty. In fact, you seem to look younger and younger all the time."
Mrs. Cake playfully shoved back. "Oh stop it, you. Not in front of our guest. Besides, our anniversary isn't for several weeks still. So save the sweet talk for then."
"Mrs. Cake," A voice unfamiliar to Cheese Sandwich called out. "Is everything okay out there? Do you want me to-" Trotting out into the dining area of Sugarcube Corner, was a unicorn mare Cheese had never seen before. She had a beautiful coat of light pinkish-purple, a moderate magenta colored mane and tail done up in a lovely set of curls and held together by two blueish-green beads, moderate purple eyes, and a cutie mark depicting a cherry topped cupcake and four jellybeans. "Um, who are you?" The mare questioned as she locked eyes with Cheese.
Cheese Sandwich took off his hat and bowed his head. "Cheese Sandwich, ma'am," He politely replied. "And who are you? I don't remember seeing you before, and I know I never forget a face."
"Oh, that's Sugar Belle, she's my baking student," Mrs. Cake explained. "She comes here at least three times a week to learn how to bake. Mostly so she can be closer to her special somepony, Big Mac."
Sugar Belle offered a hoof to Cheese, who gladly shook it in return. ""It's nice to finally meet you, Cheese Sandwich. Pinkie Pie's mentioned you a few times, and she only ever has nice things to say about you."
Trying not to blush, Cheese replied. "Speaking of Pinkie Pie, you wouldn't happen to know where I could find her, do you?"
At that Sugar Belle giggled. "Oh, didn't she tell you? She's a teacher at Twilight's School of Friendship now, and she has been for over half a year."
"Oh, is that all? Well in that case..." Cheese began, before suddenly he gasped and his entire body started to shake and wiggle, moving like an accordion. "Whoa, that was a heck of a doozy! I wasn't expecting something like that at all! Pinkie Pie a teacher?! This, I have got to see!" Donning his cowpony attire once again, he asked Sugar Belle. "So, where can I find this... School of Friendship?"
"Oh, you can't miss it. It's inside a mountain just across from Twilight's castle," Sugar Belle explained. "Just be careful not to-" But her words were forever cut off when Cheese bolted out the door a second later.
It was near the end of laughter class for Pinkie Pie, and she was busy doing what she always did, reiterating the day's lesson. "So, what did we learn about the elements of a good party today, students?" She asked.
Ocellus' front left appendage shot up almost immediately. "The party has always to be for a good cause." She explained.
"Good," Pinkie nodded. "Anything else?"
Silverstream eagerly proclaimed! "And different parties work for different occasions! Like sometimes a surprise party is the best thing ever, and other times just a simple celebration is fine!"
"And how do we tell what sort of party to throw and who to invite?" Pinkie questioned. "Anyone?"
Yona slowly raised her hoof and nervously answered. "Um, we stalk them?"
The pink party pony shook her head. "No, not quite like that, Yona. Stalking is a big no no."
"We pay attention to their likes and dislikes and make a file on them," Sandbar explained. "Like you do in your secret party planning cave."
Pinkie flashed a bright smile. "Correctamundo, Sandbar! You just earned yourself a free cupcake. And if you promise to share it with a fellow student, you can have another." She reached into her desk and the party pony pulled out a box of cupcakes she always kept on hoof in the classroom.
Just then, her 'Pinkie Sense' started to kick in with one of its combos. The pink party pony froze in her tracks as her body started to twitch, and she recited the motions. "Ear flop, then eye flutter, then knee twitch." She resisted the urge to gasp. "That always means my 'Pinkie Sense' is telling me to watch out for opening doors, but nopony near's them. But why would a door be about to open?" She thought to herself.
Her pondering would soon be rewarded with an answer, for without warning the classroom door flung open and before Pinkie had a chance to react she was tackled into a full body hug as a male voice happily exclaimed! "Surprise!"
Pinkie blinked, finding herself snout to snout with the familiar gamboge coat of Cheese Sandwich, her special somepony. "Cheese Sandwich?!" She all but gasped.
"The one and only!" Cheese Sandwich happily proclaimed and then he blushed a bit. "Sorry if I startled you, Pinkie. I just really wanted to surprise you, and I could think of any other way."
"Um, I'm totally confused over here," Gallus spoke up as he and the rest of the class found themselves eyeing the newcomer in their midst. "Is this part of the lesson?"
Pinkie and Cheese looked across to each other, then both laughed together. "Oh no no no, silly," Pinkie explained in between giggles. "The lesson plan's done for the day. Students, I'd like you to meet Cheese Sandwich, my special somepony."
"Great, mushy romantic junk," Smolder gagged. "Like I don't get enough of that in Professor Rarity's classes."
Ocellus just smiled. "Well, I think it's nice."
"Of course you'd say that, Ocellus," Smolder snorted in retort. "Your kind used to feed off of love. This stuff is probably like an all-you-can-eat buffet for changelings."
"But we don't feed on love anymore, Smolder, you know that," Ocellus defensively replied. "Besides, I don't need to feed on love to find romance between two creatures nice. I think anyone can see it for themselves."
Gallus just gagged too. "If they start kissing, I'm out of here!"
"But we can't leave yet," Sandbar chuckled to Gallus. "Class isn't done, the bell hasn't rung. Hey, that rhymed."
Cheese couldn't help but tease Pinkie as her students chatted among themselves. "Look at you, Pinkie. Teaching and everything. And here I am, just a traveling party pony."
"Stop it, Cheese, you're making me blush!" Pinkie pleaded with an innocent giggle. "And not in front of the students!"
"Oh come now, can't your special somepony give you a kiss?" The party planning stallion cheerfully retorted as he leaned in to do just that.
"H-hey!" His special somepony protested. "At least wait until the students leave if you're gonna do that!"
But Cheese wouldn't take no for an answer, he leaned in and carefully planted a quick kiss on Pinkie's cheek, making her blush anew. "Consider that a down payment on the number of hugs and kisses you owe me. You can pay me back in full later." He told her as he pulled back.
Taking a moment to get her blush under control and regain her composure, Pinkie told the handsome stallion. "Well, I look forward to collecting the rest," And then she turned to her students. "You can go ahead and leave now, class is dismissed. Yes, I know the bell hasn't rung yet, but you can leave early just this once. Don't tell anypony I did though, I don't wanna get in trouble with Headmare Twilight."
"Come on, you guys!" Silverstream encouraged as she joined her friends in leaving the classroom. "I wanna go check out that plumbing book again, it's so fascinating!"
Now alone in the classroom, Cheese didn't hesitate to pull Pinkie close to him once again. "Ooh, you don't know how long I've been waiting to see you again, Pinkie!"
"The feeling's mutual, Cheese!" Pinkie grinned. "And there's so much you've missed out on. So many things I haven't been able to tell you because I've been so busy teaching. For example, did I tell you that Maud has a boyfriend now?"
"What?! Your sister has a boyfriend?!" Cheese exclaimed and nearly shot up into the sky in surprise! "Is he a rock? It would make total sense if he was, not that I'm judging Maud on that."
But Pinkie giggled. "Don't be silly, Cheese, he's not a rock. He's Mudbriar, and while he can be a bit of a stick in the mud he's actually kind of nice once you get to know him. I'll totally have to introduce you to him while you're helping me plan his and Maud's halfaversary."
"As in, the half year anniversary of when they became a couple?" Cheese pondered.
The pink party pony nodded. "Yes indeedy! And you can also help me plan something big for this school Twilight built, it's gonna be celebrate its one yearversary in a couple of weeks."
"Whoa! Looks like I picked the perfect time to come back and see you, Pinkie!" Cheese realized. "You're most definitely gonna need my help to plan all those parties. And I hope you haven't forgotten your birthday party either."
Pinkie grinned anew. "Of course not, Cheese. And with you planning it, I know it'll be uncredible!"
"Unbelievable and incredible, right?" Cheese inquired. "You and I need to work on a dictionary for all those special terms we use."
The pink coated earth pony just smiled. "All in due time, Cheese. But for now, whaddya say we talk about us? Our anniversary's coming up, and I wanna do something special just for the two of us. Something that's truly fitting for party ponies such as you and I."
"How about a picnic dinner for two outside Ponyville?" Cheese suggested. "We can eat, watch the sun set, and play games until we're too pooped to party."
"You had me at picnic dinner!" Pinkie proudly beamed. And now, confident that she and Cheese were alone and no one would bother them, she leaned in close to her special somepony. "Now, about those overdue hugs and kisses."