September 25th, 1000 Domina Solaria
“I still can’t believe she chose the flipping turtle,” Doug says as he hammers together another birdhouse. He selects another small square piece of wood for a roof; once this one is done he’ll have a nice line of houses waiting for Hedge to paint and he’ll finally be able to take a break.
“Tortoise,” Fluttershy corrects as she grabs the birdhouse Hedge just finished, flying it up to the rafters of her cottage to join several others in a more out-of-the-way location.
“Whatever,” Doug replies as he grabs a few nails.
“Believe it,” Trixie says as she lounges on a chair, grabbing a few grapes from a bowl next to her.
“Plus, I don’t think he likes flipping himself over.” Fluttershy comes back down, landing next to Doug. “He always just sat there whenever he managed to get on his shell, staring at me with those large, mournful eyes of his. I would hold out as long as I could, about half a second, until I gave in and helped him out.” Fluttershy smiles as she shakes her head just a little, “I think he would still be trying to figure out what happened.”
Doug leans back into Fluttershy, nestling against her, his work complete. He pokes Trixie with his hammer. “So, enjoying your break?”
“It is not a break, Trixie won that bet fair and square. She is basking in her glorious winnings.” Trixie levitates the bowl over to Doug, “Besides, Trixie is tired of feeding herself. Hop to it, pet!”
Doug rolls his eyes, crossing his arms in front of him and glaring at Trixie as the bowl of grapes dangles in front of him. It awkwardly presses against his head, bumping into him from first one side and then the other. He finally huffs, grabbing the bowl and pulling off a single grape, popping it into his own mouth.
“Hey! Those were meant for the Great and Powerful Trixie, not her pet!” Trixie glances over as Frixie hisses, a hoof coming up to stroke the ferret. “Trixie did not mean you, of course,” she reassures with a pleasant smile. “She would always feed-”
That smile is quickly ruined as Trixie’s nose scrunches up, a grape bouncing off of it. She crosses her eyes to stare at her nose, her muzzle quickly deepening to a scowl. She glares at Doug and Fluttershy, the pegasus whistling innocently as Doug smirks, another grape finding its way into his maddening mouth.
“Trixie does not think you know who you are messing with,” she states as she searches around for the offending grape, confusion spreading as she can’t find it. The squish of liquid to her side gets her to turn her head, Frixie cramming the grape into her mouth. Her eyes narrow, “Hey! That was-”
Another grape bounces off Trixie’s nose, getting her to scrunch up and cross her eyes.
“It. Is. On!” Trixie fumes as her horn lights, another two bowls of grapes from the kitchen levitating over. She pulls grape after grape from the bunch, flinging them at Doug and Fluttershy with casual disregard for collateral damage. Fluttershy ends up catching most of them in her mouth, the agile pegasus darting this way and that. Doug grabs a few wayward shots from midair, launching them back at her and invariably thunking her nose or, if she is watching, her own open mouth.
In the center of all of this, Hedge continues painting, not quite oblivious to what is going on, or where this is leading.
A loud knock at the door interrupts the game before Trixie needs to refresh her ammunition. They all stop; Fluttershy slowly goes to the door, asking nopony in particular, “I wonder who that could be?” She opens the door, revealing Pinkie Pie.
The pooped party pony hunches close to the ground, wobbling on her hooves, a single tear streaming from her exhausted eyes. She wears two cakes, one a hat on her head and the other the replacement for a full-body dress, completely covering her barrel. Both have candles lit with actual flames, though the authenticity of the cakes is questionable. Gummy is sitting between the two cakes on her back, staring at them blankly. She forces a smile to her muzzle as she looks up at Fluttershy, shuffling around to a silent beat.
Pinkie Pie sings in a tired voice, “It won’t be the same without you, So we hope that you say yes! So please, oh please R. S. V. P. And come, and be our guest!” Pinkie Pie weakly smiles up at Fluttershy before she glances inside the house, seeing Doug and Trixie. She tacks on, almost as an afterthought, “You’re all invited!”
Fluttershy beams at Pinkie Pie, trying to imbue the earth pony with just a little bit of her own energy. “Of course we’ll come! I just have a few questions.”
“Sure,” Pinkie Pie groans out as she slumps over, resting on the ground, her cake costume only slightly contorted. Gummy flops over, his snout resting on Pinkie’s head.
“What day is it, what time, where, should I bring anything, and is there a theme?” Fluttershy grins apologetically.
Pinkie Pie staggers to her hooves, about to reply until Trixie steps up to the doorway.
“Does Trixie warrant her own invitation?”
Pinkie Pie’s tongue lolls out of her mouth as she pants, shaking her head. “No. Everypony gets their own invitation. Let’s see.” Pinkie Pie takes a deep breath, her already muted dancing even more subdued. “It’s today in just an hour, so come down to my place. Just bring yourself, nothing else, I’d love to see your face!” Pinkie Pie grins at Trixie before her smile breaks, replaced by fast, shallow breaths.
Doug walks up to the doorway, hunching over to peek down at Pinkie Pie. “Am I included in everypony?”
Pinkie Pie slumps down, soft sobs escaping.
Doug sighs. He steps outside, softly singing, “I’d be happy to come out there, I just want to hear you sing! So let’s all go to the party and the happy times it will bring!”
Pinkie Pie jolts up as if struck by lightning, fully innervated. “Woohoo!” she cheers, shaking the alligator on her back. “Gummy is going to be sooooo happy you came!” She pronks away, leaving Fluttershy, Trixie and Doug to mill around, staring at each other.
“So,” Trixie says with a sly grin, levitating a few grapes. “Where were we?”
An hour later Fluttershy, Trixie, and Doug arrive upstairs at Sugarcube Corner, greeted by the merry blast of a trumpet. The party is in full effect, with hordes of decorations, a massive cake, and, for some reason, a bobbing for apples game. Applejack and Rainbow Dash are hard at play, both diving past the surface apples as deep as they can.
Pinkie Pie pronks over, her face lighting up as she gulps in even more air for her next performance. “Oh, I’m so happy you were all able to make it! Welcome to Gummy’s Birthday party!”
“Is it really his birthday?” Doug asks, walking over to a few of the refreshments. He grabs a glass and a scoop of the punch, a slice of cake, and a few alligator themed pastries, no sight of the alligator in question.
“Well, it’s more like the anniversary of when Fluttershy and I rescued him from a gruesome fate, so that’s pretty much a birthday.” Pinkie Pie shrugs. “Besides, I never get to throw birthday parties in the fall! It’s so much fun, and I wish I could do it more often!”
Applejack comes up with an apple in her mouth attached a spring. She grits her teeth as the spring tries to pull her back under, bracing herself against the floor. She holds firm, a slight grin starting to spread across her muzzle as she gradually pulls the apple farther and farther away. Her eyebrows scrunch as the pressure against her lips slowly lessens, eyes trying to spot what is going on under the water. They quickly go wide as she uncorks a bottle under the water, the cork flying out and pelting her with foam snakes!
Rainbow Dash comes up, Gummy solidly attached to her face. Rainbow sighs, resigned to the gums slowly clamping harder and harder. At least until Fluttershy walks over, fixing the alligator with a stare. Well, it takes a while for his eyes to focus on Fluttershy, but as soon as he does his grip lessens, Rainbow able to peel him off her face and toss him away, landing with a splash.
Rarity walks over to Doug, getting a nuzzle, as she grabs some punch of her own, though she is slightly taken aback by the stain around the punch bowl. They clink glasses against each other, both taking sips. Doug smiles at the taste as Rarity notices Gummy in the punch. Her large grin quickly turns to a grimace, eyeing the contents of her glass as she spits out the offending liquid.
“So, do you like it?” Pinkie Pie asks as she appears next to Doug and Rarity, her face covered with the remains of Rarity’s drink. Her grin spreads wide, eagerly awaiting their response.
“Very good!” Doug says with a grin. “New flavor?”
“I was about to ask the same thing,” Rarity says, with a gulp. Pinkie Pie stares at Rarity, her smile waiting for her to take another sip. Rarity quickly swaps glasses with Doug, taking another sip and swallowing. “Oh, yes, it is certainly divine!” Pinkie Pie smiles, pronking off to get the music starting.
Doug takes a sip of his newly acquired glass. He smirks as Rarity raises her eyebrows and gapes at him, draining the rest of the glass before joining the mares in their dancing. At least, what passes for dancing, his shuffling around while Pinkie Pie break dances and Rainbow performs flipping tricks in the air.
Hours later, the party wraps up, much to everypony’s disappointment. Pinkie Pie waves from the upper story of Sugarcube Corner as the remainder of the herd walks outside, shutting the window as she goes to get some shuteye of her own. What a fabulous party!
The herd waits until Pinkie Pie shuts the window before they gather up. “So,” Twilight Sparkle leads, looking at Applejack. “Everything on for tomorrow?”
“Eeyup!” Applejack says with a grin, though her voice is lowered. “It’ll be over at my place, after the work is done. Just, remember, not a word to Pinkie Pie about it. It’s got to be a surprise.”
“How is she going to be surprised that there is a party on her birthday?” Doug asks. “She throws a party for everypony on their birthday. Although that just ends up being a week of parties for new foals, too.”
“Yeah, the pitfall of having estrus spring up on ya.” Applejack shrugs, “Although, Ah’d still have that than getting pregnant any time of the year. Now that’s gotta be a nightmare.”
Doug shrugs, “Yeah, pretty much. How did Pinkie Pie get born this late, then?”
“Same way I did,” Rainbow Dash says. “Her parents are all isolated, like, on a rock farm or something. Her dam probably just has a shorter cycle that got off sync, or something. Pegasi aren’t nearly as synced up, even in Cloudsdale, but you get around an earth pony town like this and all those hormones in the air and whatever and they kinda line up.”
“Well,” Twilight Sparkle pipes up, “It’s really more likely that-”
Twilight is interrupted by a loud yawn from Rainbow Dash, Applejack, Rarity, and Fluttershy. She huffs; at least Doug looks interested. “Fine. Be that way.”
“Aww, Twilight, I’ll listen to your explanation, but it’s late.” Doug reaches down, a firm stroke to Twilight’s ears, the mare looking up at him happily. “See you all tomorrow!”
They wave as the herd splits up, Doug and Trixie following Fluttershy as everypony returns to their homes.