Sand Castle was at home, playing with the kittens while taking a break from her project, a taser she had bought. She had removed the taser battery and put in wires on the grip that would take the place of the battery, using her own electrical talent to power the device. She watched Freckles and Starshine doing some rough-and-tumble play on the floor, relaxing. Putting the wires in and gluing them in place made her hands and shoulders cramp. Kicking back relieved the tension that had built up.
Wave Rider’s birthday was coming up, and Sand Castle wanted to get her brother something special, something meaningful, something she would be sure he would like. She looked up at the living room wall, where Wave’s championship surfboard was mounted. An idea came to mind, putting foot braces on a surfboard so Wave could stand and ride the waves again, but she soon dismissed the idea. “He would have trouble getting on the board from the water, then standing up. Nice idea, but he’s just not good enough yet with his walking suit. What else can I do?” she asked herself.
About that time, Freckles and Starshine stopped their play and came up to Sand’s feet, musically mewing for attention. She picked them up and cuddled them, the happy mews changing to contented purrs. “Music. He loved the rock camp with Rainbow Dash. Maybe I can contact her and see if I can get the two together for an hour or so on his birthday? I got her email, website and phone number, so why not? If she says no, I’m no worse off than I am now,” she said, feeling the kittens purr against her legs. “Once these two go to sleep, I’ll check and see if she’s free that day.”
It took about ten minutes before Sand was able to get up and go to her computer. She sent off an email to Rainbow Dash, with her idea. After that, she sent emails to Rip Current, Blaise Arrow, and Twilight Sparkle asking if they would be free on Wave’s birthday (which fell on a Sunday that year) for a party. She insisted on using emails, so Wave would not know she was planning something. Knowing the three were at work, she did not expect a fast response.
To Sand Castle’s surprise, the first to respond was Rainbow Dash. She said in her email that not only would she be happy to appear, she had some suggestions, they being that Sand Castle should practice some, to join in with the music, and to call on a party planner friend of hers, someone named Pinkie Pie. When she saw the name, her memories flashed back to Canterlot High and some of the events that were held her freshman and sophomore years, the ones that Pinkie Pie had a hand in. Sending Rainbow Dash a thank-you reply, she called Pinkie Pie to set up the party. “I can be there in half an hour to check out the house, so I can tell what to plan for!” Pinkie squealed into the phone.
Before Pinkie arrived, Blaise responded to the email, saying that he would consider it an honor to attend the party, his written language skills being far better than his spoken skills. Sand Castle respected the scarred Eastern veteran, and accepted his apparent emotionlessness, feeling there was a softer side to him.
Pinkie Pie showed up right on time, gave Sand Castle a hug, saying she remembered her from Canterlot High, and insisted on catching up while checking the house over. She squeed happily over the kittens, who looked at Pinkie with confusion before scampering into the recesses of Wave’s recliner. Undaunted, Pinkie did her evaluation, made some suggestions, quoted the price and produced a contract, which Sand Castle agreed to and signed, feeling a bit numb. When Pinkie left, Sand collapsed on the sofa, Freckles and Starshine coming out of hiding and cuddling up to her. “She’s so exhausting to be around!” she panted, holding her purring buzz balls gently.
After getting positive responses from Rip Current and Twilight Sparkle, Sand sent out some more invitations, to people she knew were friends of Wave’s. On Twilight Sparkle’s suggestion, Sand sent an invitation to Rarity Belle, which was returned that evening, saying she would be delighted to attend.
One problem Sand faced was how to get Wave out of the house before the party, so Pinkie could set up. That took some brainstorming with Rip, Blaise and Twilight to arrange, accepting Blaise’s suggestion that they show up early to treat Wave to a men’s only celebratory birthday brunch, with Rip and Blaise paying for it. Both Sand and Rip were surprised Blaise would even suggest something like that, but Blaise just said, “Rip I let pick place for brunch. Need him out of house you do, this way not be suspicious. Wave need not to know suggestion be mine, ja? Besides, it is right thing to do to help you, Sand. You friend to me, like Wave is.”
Sand could only smile at Blaise’s words. “I knew there was something wonderful behind that face of yours, Blaise. Thank you very much. It’s an excellent idea!”
“I know just the place to take him,” Rip said. “It’s having him meet us there, then keeping him there long enough for the setup to occur before he heads home. Blaise, you are going to have to pick me up, so we can outrace him back to his house and be there for the surprise party.” They were having this discussion over lunch at Rare Innovations, Wave being purposely ‘held up’ by Twilight so the three could plan and plot unobserved.
“Can that I do, ja. Where plan you take him to?” Blaise asked.
“The Twisted Knicker, over on Seventy-Third and Hammerhead. I think we can keep him busy for a couple of hours there!” Rip said with a small laugh.
Sand joined in with the snicker, while Blaise remained impassive, as usual. “Good idea, Rip!”
On birthday Sunday, Wave had been out of the house for five minutes before Pinkie showed up to get the house set up for the rock and roll party. Sand was amazed that Pinkie could get the setup done so fast, and by herself. One thing Pinkie did was to take down the hanging straps Wave used to get around without his wheelchair in both the living room and dining room. “Can’t have these in the way! Too many people are gonna be here!” Pinkie said as she took the straps down, piling them in the spare bedroom.
“I just hope Wave won’t be too upset about it. You will put them back up after the party, right?” Sand asked.
“Sure! Part of the service! After the party, you won’t be able to tell we even held a party here!”
Guests started arriving an hour after setup, using a parking lot at the nearby strip mall and walking a tenth of a mile, to not give away anything by having cars in front. Sand managed to have a pleasant chat with Rarity before the party, having heard of her, but never truly meeting her before this. “Darling, I’m pleased to honor Wave Rider on his birthday this way! He’s been doing wonders for me on his projects. Plus, you doing all this for him shows what sort of a person you are,” she told Sand between sips of an exotic mixed drink Sand had made for her.
“You being here also shows what sort of a person you are, Miss Belle. It’s so good to meet a celebrity who is just like her image,” Sand said in reply, blushing a little at Rarity’s words.
Before Rarity could reply, Sand’s phone beeped with a message. Reading it, she called out to the crowd, “Okay! Wave has left the restaurant and should be here within fifteen minutes! Everyone get ready to duck and hide!”
With a minimum of fuss, everyone took up their hiding positions, Pinkie ‘escorting’ Rainbow up to the spare bedroom before coming out to cover up the cake and other goodies with paper tablecloths. Blaise and Rip came in ten minutes after the text, parking in the alley behind the house and hurrying in the back door just before Wave pulled in to the driveway. Sand Castle and a couple of the guests pulled down the back blinds, the front ones she had pulled down earlier.
Everyone was in position when the front door opened. “Sand? Why is the house so dark?” Wave called out as he came in, the door closing behind him.
From the darkness, Sand called out, “So we can do this, brother!” At that instant, the lights came on, the window blinds were pulled up, and everyone in the house shouted, “SURPRISE!”
Wave rocked back in his chair, thoroughly surprised. He looked over the crowd as Pinkie uncovered the cake, and the music gear became visible. “You’ve got to be kidding me!” he exclaimed.
“Not with this, darling!” Rarity said from where she was standing.
“Heck, no! When I heard about this, I said why not make this as awesome as you are, Wave!” Rainbow called out as she made her way out of the hall.
“We would have not done all this if we didn’t think a lot of you, Wave!” Rip said. “Besides, thank Sand for setting this up!”
Wave ‘glared’ at Rip and Blaise. “You two were in on this!” he shouted, waving a finger at the two men. “I didn’t even smell a set up!”
“Setting you up was right thing to do, ja?” Blaise said as he walked out of the shadows.
Sand walked up to her big brother and kissed him on the cheek. “Happy birthday, brother. You deserve this,” she said in his ear.
“Well, come on! Let’s get this party started!” Pinkie called out.
For the next hour and a half, there was fun, music and merriment to be had at the house of Wave Rider and Sand Castle. Wave got to meet some friends he had not met since leaving Tiara Technologies, got serenaded by Rainbow Dash doing a sultry version of ‘Happy Birthday’, enjoyed a perfectly wonderful chocolate cake, and picked confetti out of his hair, having a grand time. He got to jam with his sister, Rainbow Dash, and to his surprise, Rarity, who admitted she had not played in years. Rip got together with Pinkie Pie, who confirmed she was on the Total Wasteland forum, he gave his i.d., and the two of them spent time in the kitchen, utterly lost in Total Wasteland chat.
Then, a beeping noise cut through the merriment, coming from Rarity’s phone. “Someone’s trying to break in to my car!” she called out as she read the message.
“Where did you park?” Wave asked.
“I had everyone park behind the Star Market, so you wouldn’t see the cars in front of the house, Wave,” Sand explained.
“Come on! Let’s go see what’s going on!” Rip called out before sprinting for the door. All his exercise was beginning to pay dividends. Yes, he still had a big spare tire around his middle, but his strength, stamina and speed have all improved since his surgery. He was followed by Blaise and four other guests.
In the parking lot, two people had finished breaking the glass out of the driver’s side window of Rarity’s luxury car and got the door open. “Will you look at all this!” the gaunt red-skinned man wearing a blue tank top exclaimed as he looked inside.
“I’m looking, but let’s get taking!” said his partner, a girl with bone-white skin, black and silver striped hair, and a cadaverous appearance. “I got the bag!” She held out a cloth bag that has seen better days.
The boy quickly ducked under the dash, expertly disconnecting the very high-end stereo. “Check the console!” he called out. “There could be cash in there!”
“I hope so! We need another fix!” the girl said as she opened the console and started stuffing whatever was in there into the bag, without looking.
“What, you two again?” said a voice from behind the girl. “Bag Lady and Strungout. Choosing a new neighborhood?”
The pair stopped in mid-action. “Split Second!” they said together before Strungout added, “What are you doing here?”
“Oh, just visiting friends. You know whose car you’re breaking into, right?”
“Somebody with more money than sense,” Bag Lady said, still having not moved.
“Somebody with friends,” came a voice from the roof of the store.
“Shadowstrike?” Bag Lady said, looking up. “How did we get so unlucky?” as several more people came through the gap in the wall surrounding the parking lot, led by Rip and Blaise.
“It’s just not your day!” Split Second said gleefully. “Don’t you go stuffing anyone or anything into your bag, or else you’ll REALLY have a bad day!”
“Same with you, Strungout!” Shadowstrike said, gracefully leaping down from the roof. “You got caught and stringing out to escape will just make things worse for you!” When Shadowstrike reached the ground, Rip started staring at her, in lovestruck admiration.
“Yeah! Try anything and I’ll tie you in knots!” Split Second said warningly. “Just stay right where you are until the police get here and get you back to Purgatory, where you belong! You’re surrounded!”
Bag Lady zipped up her bag and let it slip off her shoulder. “How did you find us so fast?” she asked.
“The license plate of the car is ‘SWEETIE9’,” Shadowstrike said casually. “She can afford the best car alarms.”
Strungout and Bag Lady looked at each other as sirens made themselves heard, closing rapidly. “This is Rarity’s car? No wonder…” Strungout groaned.
“Yes, it is my car,” Rarity said severely, surrounded by some of the partygoers, who were busy snapping pictures of the two thieves, the open car door and the smashed window glass scattered in the lot. “I doubt you two will be seeing the light of day any time soon.”
What with police issues, getting a tow truck, and calling the insurance company, it was about an hour before everyone got back to the party, Shadowstrike and Split Second departing just after the first police car arrived, Pinkie Pie and Rainbow Dash arriving about ten minutes later to watch over matters from the back of the crowd. At the party, the merriment resumed and lasted another hour before people had to start leaving, Rainbow Dash calling a taxi and Wave Rider bringing Rarity and Twilight Sparkle back to Rarity Tower.
“Thank you so much for coming to my party, Miss Rarity and Doctor Sparkle. You helped make my birthday truly memorable,” Wave told the ladies as he pulled up to the executive entrance.
“Think nothing of it, darling! I had a perfectly wonderful time there! Other than the car, that is. You showed me I really should get back into playing a keytar again,” Rarity told Wave, squeezing his hand.
“I’m sure Wave will give you lessons, if you feel the need,” Twilight said from a back seat.
“Yes, I would be happy to, Miss Rarity. Kindness should be returned with kindness, laughter with laughter,” Wave said in reply. “It’s so nice to see you smile. I’ll help you smile again, if you wish.”
“We’ll see about making time, Doctor Rider. Until next we meet!” Rarity told him before opening the door and getting out.
“I’ll see you tomorrow morning, Wave. We have final tests due, and I need reports on the Mark Two armor,” Twilight said as she got out of the van, the doors closing automatically.
“Will do, Twilight! See you tomorrow!” Wave called out before departing.
In the elevator heading up to her apartment, Rarity said to Twilight, “Thank you for suggesting I accept the invitation. He really is a wonderful fellow.”
“Hey, you needed some friendship time, no pressures, no worries. I’m just glad you listened.”
“Believe me, I’m glad, too.”
Back at home, Wave and Sand sat side by side, each with a purring kitten on their lap. “Sister, thank you for today. It was awesome.”
“Just as awesome as you are, big brother.”