"Alright, Kids!" Anon shouts to grab all of their attention. "It's the time we've all been waiting for!" With an impressive amount of dexterity, Anon reveals the cake he's been holding behind his back, candles already lit. "~Happy Birthday to you~"
Anon starts while walking over to Faith. Soon all parents and children join in as Faith stands there with a smile so large it makes Anon wonder if she's been taking lessons from Pinkie just for this day. Once the song starts to come to a close, Anon takes a knee and presents the cake to his daughter.
"~Happy birthday to you.~ Make a wish."
In one swift blow, the candles are gone, and everyone applauds. Anon is ready to hand the cake over to Pinkie for cutting, as she's better suited for that. Everyone enjoys themselves a slice of cake, and with that, the party officially has come to a close.
"Thank you for coming today," Anon says to each parent as they escort their kids home.
Soon the house is practically empty, except for the girls, Faith and Flint. Anon turns to the colt who looks up to him somewhat nervous, but that turns into a different kind of nervous when Faith pounces on him.
"Today was great!" She says, hugging the colt who's turning darker by the second.
"I'm happy to hear that." Anon still knows the party is far from over, as there's one crucial gift he has to give Faith. "Faith, can you follow me real quick?" Anon then looks down at Flint. "It won't take long; then we can get you home."
"Of course!" Faith says as Flint simply nods.
Anon looks over to the girls and gives them a knowing nod as he leads Faith upstairs. He can tell she's still blissfully ignorant about where they are but doesn't question it. Soon Anon stops before a door across from his room. He looks down at his daughter and then nods his head at the door.
"Go ahead, open it."
Now Faith looks just as confused as she did earlier before the surprise. Opening the door, she finds a room that's well decorated with flowers, pink walls, and atop the bed, a small pile of presents. Wait... Now that she thinks about it, she didn't open any presents today. Are those hers?
"Why are the presents up here?" She asks, looking up to her father.
"Because I thought they would look better in your room."
Silent fills the air as Anon continues to face his daughter. The confusion slowly morphs into surprise and then overwhelming joy, so much so that tears quickly run down her cheek as she takes a few steady steps inside and looks around.
"T-This is my room? This is our house?"
Anon enters and hugs her from behind.
"Yup. Your aunts helped me move everything while you were at school. I've wanted to get a bigger house so you could have your own room. Happy Birthday, Faith."
She hastily turns in his grasp so she can hug him properly. Which he's more than happy to oblige. This is truly a day he'll never forget for as long as he lives.
It took a moment for Faith to calm down, but after that, Anon wanted her to come with him to drop off Flint. The girls said their goodbyes, and everyone parted ways into the night. On the walk there, Faith told Flint how cool her room looked, which he saw before leaving, but Faith's excitement over it couldn't be contained.
"We should have a sleepover!" Faith offers.
"S-Sleep over?!" Flint is taken by surprise.
"Of course. Right, Daddy?"
"I don't see a reason not to?" Anon can't help but get a kick out of this kid's suffering. Does that make him a terrible person? "As long as his mother is fine with it."
"You should ask her!"
Anon rubs his chin in thought. "I'll ask her next week, alright?"
"Awesome! Maybe we can invite Spring Petal too?"
Flint looks happy to hear someone else will be there, but Anon doesn't intend to make this easy on him.
"How about Flint first as a practice run? You play nice, and we'll invite others to join. Deal?"
"Deal!"
Yeah, Anon feels like a terrible person, a terrible person who's enjoying himself. By the time the conversation is close to ending, they're already at Flint's home. Anon knocks on the door, and after a moment, it's answered by a disheveled Mayor Mare.
"Hello there, Anon. Thank you for bringing Flint back home."
"It was no trouble, Ms. Mare. It wouldn't have been a party without him."
Mayor Mare looks down at her son.
"Did you have fun?"
"Yeah."
She chuckles. "Get ready for bed, and we'll talk all about it."
Flint turns back to face Faith, idly kicking the dirt.
"Bye."
Faith smiles widely at him.
"See you tomorrow!"
He's still blushing like mad as he walks inside, leaving the three of us remaining. Ms. Mare leans against the door with a yawn.
"Sorry I wasn't able to celebrate your birthday, Faith. Something important came up."
"It's no problem, Ms. Mayor! We've learned a lot about how difficult running Ponyville can be in school. I'm just happy Flint was able to join."
Hearing that causes Ms. Mare to give a tired smile.
"It's nice knowing my son has a good friend. Goodnight, you two."
"Goodnight, Ms. Mare."
She chuckles. "You can call me Mary when I'm off the clock, Anon."
"Alright. Goodnight, Mary."
With that said, Anon and Faith are on their way back home.
It was challenging, but Anon managed to get Faith bathed and into bed. For the most part, she would've instead opened all her presents, but they compromised on only opening a few and saving the rest for tomorrow when she gets home from school. Now he's in his bed trying to get some much-needed rest. Today was exhausting but well worth it.
Though he will admit, he's finding it tough to get to sleep. A few hours pass, and he can't shake the sense that something is missing. A knock at his door grabs his attention.
"Come in."
Faith enters the room, looking somewhat scared.
"Can I sleep in here tonight? It's kinda scary being alone in my room."
Yeah, that's about what he expected. They've been sharing a bed for so long it does seem weird not having her here.
"Sure."
Faith smiles as she quickly climbs into bed. Anon knows; eventually, she'll grow out of this and start sleeping in her room, but for now, he'll enjoy these little moments.