Nick did not have a chance to see Rainbow Dash in a while. Her weather job seemed to leave the Rainbow-maned pony quite tired, especially with the rough weather that had been scheduled for some time. He wanted to see if there was a way to meet her again. But first, he wants to see if he can get himself a little pastry snack for the trip home. He walked down the streets of Ponyville, contemplating all these things.
On the way, Nick found a familiar pastry shop: Sugarcube Corner. A family-owned pastry shop, and oftentimes doubles as a party room. The frequent parties don't seem to affect their business. If anything, it bolsters it. Nick enters the colourful building. Currently, the only pony running the store was a pink pony. Nick recognizes this pony. She was the pony that suddenly broke out into song, singing about smiles. It was Pinkie Pie.
"Hello! Welcome to Sugarcube Corner! How may I help you?" Pinkie Pie said cheerfully.
"Hello. I'd like a cupcake please." Nick said.
"Alright, what kind? We got cranberry, blueberry, redberry, berry-berry, Flower Bouquet Surprise, apple, strawberry, chocolate, Zap Apple, Vanilla, and my personal favourite: Dash-O-Rainbow!" Pinkie Pie said once again.
"I'll have the large chocolate one." Nick said, a bit thrown off by the last one. He had a strange, scary, train of thoughts on that last one, but shrugged it off as nonsense.
"Okie Dokie Lokie!" Pinkie Pie said. "Y'know, it's funny. Only a few chapters ago I was so depressed, and even mad. I think the author made a bit of a plot hole here. And I don't mean the plot-hole on a pony's behind. NO WAY. That would mean that-"
"Wait, what?" Nick said, bemusedly. He was unaware of the fact that Pinkie Pie just broke the 4th wall.
"Oh sorry. Anyways I've met your friend, Ryan. He's a scary guy. I know I've always said to laugh at the face of scary, but this time he was REALLY scary, like he wanted to kill me or something, can you believe that?! Oh right the cupcakes!" Pinkie Pie said.
She quickly checked the display case for any more chocolate cupcakes. There was none. Nick simply stood there, thinking that Pinkie Pie had too much...caffeine? She also seemed a bit...delusional. Chapters, seriously?
"Oh right! I've ran out of chocolate cupcakes again!" Pinkie Pie went into the kitchen and began making another dozen. As she was in the kitchen, she continued to speak.
"Anyways, that was his favourite before he became scary. But I can understand why he was being scary. I mean he had a secret that nopony would understand if it got out."
"Secret?" Nick said.
"Yes. Although I'm not supposed to say it. It's a secret after all!" Pinkie Pie said. Pinkie Pie suddenly changed the topic.
"Oh look! It turns out I already baked a batch before! Oh silly me!" Pinkie Pie said, before bringing back some chocolate cupcakes. "That'll be 2 bits!"
Nick reached for his pocket, and took out two bits, and placed them on the counter. The Bits had an apple tree on one side, and Princess Celestia on the other. Nick thought for a moment, and decided to simply eat at the restaurant, instead of just walking home with the cupcake. Pinkie Pie then got out of her work station, went up to Nick at his table, and left him a little letter.
"Open it! I'm inviting everypony, and even everyhuman, to an upcoming party!" Pinkie Pie said. She was one of few ponies that actually LIKED humans. Most ponies either did not care, or outright hated them. Nick took a look inside the envelope.
"It's a friend's birthday party I'm setting up!" Pinkie Pie said.
You have been invited to Rainbow Dash's Surprise Birthday Party!
Sugarcube Corner!
6:00 PM
Just bring yourself! It's about fun with friends not getting lots of stuff!
See you then!
It was the luckiest day he ever had. For the first time he was invited to Rainbow Dash's birthday party. She was his idol. He had already met Rainbow Dash before, but he'd meet her again. This was the greatest day of his life. Just then, he let out a manly squeal, only to be quickly embarrased shortly after. Pinkie Pie was right next to him, after all.
"Don't worry. Your secret's safe with me." Pinkie Pie said, then she mimed a variety of different actions, all of which apparently spell that she'd keep the secret and never let it out to anypony.
Nick continued to eat his strangely oversized cupcake. Pinkie Pie struggled to put a large banner with the words "HAPPY BIRTHDAY RAINBOW DASH" written on it. Then, by unexplainable methods, she somehow put the banner up on the top. Most ponies would find this to be insanity, breaking the laws of physics. However, the ponies of Ponyville know Pinkie Pie well enough to know she's...Pinkie Pie.
Nick then remembers something.
"Hey, Pinkie..." Nick said.
"Yes Nick?" Pinkie chirped.
"How would you go about helping someone out of the dumps?" Nick said. "Recently my friend Ryan had been acting strangely. It's like he despises ponies more. I mean, yeah, we humans are treated as second class citizens and I hate that, but this is getting too ridiculous."
The usually perky pony was suddenly quiet about this. She knows too much. She also Pinkie Promised the man not to reveal the secret, and only thinking about it suddenly made her feel uncomfortable...in a bad way. In an effort to not reveal the secret, she had to quickly think of a way to change the topic.
DING-A-LING-A-LING-A-LING
"THAT SOUNDS IMPORTANT" Pinkie Pie rushed to the counter. She was serving a random unicorn customer.
Nick simply shrugged, not aware of Pinkie Pie's secrecy. He simply continued to chew down on his cupcakes. He noticed that it was slightly chewier than usual. It felt meaty. WAIT MEATY?! No. Not meaty. More like...oh. Dried berry-berries. Berry-berries were unusual like that. If they were dried, they'd simply be chewy. Ripe berry-berries were simply bland. Because they were grown in the Everfree forest, they too had unusual properties. They'd actually be tasty when dried up.
Nick left Sugarcube Corner, and in the distance was Rainbow Dash, pursuing three other ponies. The three ponies were not gonna make it far. No way.