Rise of the Element Gang, Book 2: Friendship Adventures

by Power of Six


Chapter 25: Party of One

Chapter 25: Party of One

I sat in my home, quietly flicking through the pages of a book on animal care, which I had started reading due to my home's new occupant. She was currently sitting on a perch in the center of my living room, her head folded under her wing, a sign that she was fast asleep. I smiled fondly at her, looking so peaceful and calm, then returned to the feeding habits of owls.

Ophelia had really helped to make a difference in my home. I had named her after a character in a Shakesmare play, mainly because I thought it sounded nice and it had nothing to do with what had eventually happened to her. I’d always felt lonely at home, without any of the girls or the guys to keep me company, especially when I was used to the presence of Twilight and Spike in the library. This white Hoothoot was another source of companionship, as I could talk to her. Of course, I didn't know what she was saying, but I knew what her hoots meant. She just sat and listened, but I knew that she understood me and I her, in our own way. She would bring me something if I asked her to or play with color shapes that I made in the air for her. There was no doubt my home was improved by her presence, though I knew I’d have to be mindful of animal skeletons she’d leave from her meals.

I was bought out of my thoughts by a knock at the door. Ophelia's head shot up from under her wing and her eyes fixed on the door. I crossed over the room and opened it to reveal a pink pony dressed up like a wrapped-up gift, wearing a tin-foil hat, her pet alligator near her feet.

"Oh, good afternoon, Pinkie. How may I…" I didn't get to say the rest as she suddenly burst into song.

This is your singing telegram,
I hope it finds you well!
You’re invited to a party,
'Cause we think you’re really swell!
Gummy’s turning one year old,
So help us celebrate!
The cake will be delicious,
The festivities first-rate!
There will be games and dancing,
Bob for apples, cut a rug,
And when the party’s over,
We’ll gather ʹround for a group hug!
No need to bring a gift,
Being there will be enough!
Birthdays mean having fun with friends,
Not getting lots of stuff!
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!

Once again, I wasn’t sure whether to shake my head in disbelief or laugh out loud at Pinkie’s random tendencies. In the end, I only smiled and nodded.

“I’ll be there prompt and on time, as always.”

“I hoped you’d say that! Or rather, I knew you’d say that ʹcause I'm getting just as psychic as you are, if you know what I mean.” She gave me a knowing wink.

“If you say so.” I gestured to her head. “Why the tin foil?”

“In case you used your psychic powers to tell that I’d be coming. That way I could still surprise you. Did it work?”

“You certainly surprised me.” I chuckled. “Well, I'll see you at the party then.”

“Great!” I blinked and she'd changed into a top hat and suit. “Now I gotta get to Rarity's and deliver her singing telegram.”

“You're doing this with everypony?”

“Yes, indeedy!”

“Won’t that get tiring?”

“Dusk, it’s me, remember?” With that, she bounced off, humming the tune of her telegram as she went, Gummy following close behind.

I chuckled as I returned inside. “Maybe she could’ve gotten some help to do some of them. I swear that girl can overdo things more than anypony.”

Sometimes, friendship was worth it for little moments like that. I was rather surprised to see that Ophelia had vanished from her perch. A quick call brought her tentatively out of hiding from behind my sofa, shivering in fear.

“Aw, did she scare you?” She huddled up close to me as I stroked her gently. “You’ll have to excuse Pinkie. She’s like that… A lot.” I looked down at her. “I don’t suppose you’ll want to come along to the party?” She shook her head. “I didn’t think so. That’s fine.”

On the playdate that I’d brought her along to, Gummy had tried to snap at her constantly. Pinkie explained it was his way of being friendly, but that hadn’t stopped my shy pet from flying well up out of his reach. She’d probably get used to him, but for now, she wasn’t overly keen on the pet reptile. So I knew that I’d be heading out on my own to Pinkie’s party, making time for another commitment afterward.

I checked my calendar pinned up in my kitchen, which had two dates for this month circled in it: May 27th, something I was more nervous than excited about, the Grand Galloping Gala. But before that was May 24th, Pinkie’s birthday, an event that I had been part of the planning for the past month. The others and I would be holding a meeting in the library later this evening, after the party at Pinkie’s, to go over the last-minute details. I just hoped that Pinkie would like it…

For now, I wouldn’t worry about it. A few hours later, I placed on my trilby and necklace, made sure Ophelia was fed, and set off for Sugarcube Corner. I was greeted happily by Pinkie, being told that I was the first to arrive, as I usually was. Gradually, the others all began to arrive and the party was soon in full swing. Mainly due to our constant challenges, I was doing apple bobbing with Shield, Rainbow, Dog, and Applejack. The latter had just successfully pulled out an apple from the watery depths.

“You’re up, Dusk.” Applejack told me as she swallowed the fruit.

“Okay, here goes nothing…” I took a deep breath and plunged my head in. Just when I had to pull up to breathe, I managed to grab an apple and pull it out, my mane and hat soaking wet.

“Nice one! Now, let me show you how it’s really done.” Shield was just about to dunk when Pinkie came over to greet us.

“Hey, girls and guys!” We all returned her cheery hello. “Just wanted to tell you how happy I am that you can make it to Gummy’s party.”

“You know me, always happy to attend.” I said, with an incline of my head.

“Are ya kiddin’? I wouldn’t have missed it for the world." Applejack said.

"Me neither." Rainbow Dash put in. "When Pinkie Pie throws a party, I am there!" At this point, Shield dunked his head in the bucket.

“Ta-da!” Shield said as he pulled out an apple.

“Aw! It’s just a boring old apple.” Pinkie said, making all of us look at her. “Don't worry, there are plenty of other surprises in there.”

“What kind of surprises?” Rainbow asked as Shield spit out his apple at this announcement.

“I can’t tell you that, silly. Then it wouldn’t be a surprise.” While my four friends were re-invigorated to start dunking at this news, I decided to step away. Knowing Pinkie, they would be very interesting surprises and not ones I’d want to sink my teeth into. After a talk with Shield and Dog, they told me they changed their minds dunking for apples after seeing Applejack get a retracting apple and Rainbow get Gummy stuck on her. That last part was so funny that I couldn’t help but laugh.

The rest of the party passed by with as much fun as Pinkie’s parties always did. Rarity ended up doing a spit take in Pinkie’s face after she discovered that Gummy was drinking out of the punch bowl in the punch bowl, I had to help Twilight out of the wall after Pinkie knocked her into it (along with Fluttershy and even Leon) and we all gathered around to dance with the birthday alligator to the tunes coming out of the gramophone. After our promised group hug, all too soon it seemed it was time to leave, just as night was falling. I was exhausted, but at least I’d had fun.

“Hooie! I am beat! I haven’t danced that much since…” Applejack thought for a moment. “Well, since your last party.”

“Eey-yup! Same goes for me.” Dog added. “Thanks again for the invite!”

“See ya later, birthday alligator!” Rainbow Dash called.

“Bravo for hosting yet another delightful soirée.” Rarity praised.

I nodded at that. “I couldn’t have put it better myself.”

“It’s been lovely.” Fluttershy agreed.

“Great party as always, Pinkie.” Leon put in.

Pinkie was peering out of the window, watching them all leave. “You sure you don’t wanna stay? There’s still some cake left.”

Twilight was the one who answered. “Uh, I think I’m gonna pass. Great party though. We should do this again soon.” At that point, we would have all gone home.

Instead, under cover of darkness, we all walked until we were far enough from the Sugarcube Corner. Once everything was confirmed that we were all still present, we hurried to the library, being ushered quickly inside by Spike. He shut the door as the last of the group was inside and joined us at the center of the library.

“Right, let’s get everything ready.” Twilight said, taking the role as leader. “Spike, display the map of Ponyville here. Dusk, I want you standing here directing our movements as I call them. Everypony else, gather around.”

We, the two assistants, did as we were ordered and stood ready as Twilight took on well her other great talent of lecturing.

“Okay, so we all know that tomorrow is Pinkie’s birthday and the day of the surprise party we’ve planned. Let’s just go over our roles one more time so that we’re all ready to act.” She nodded to me, where I conjured up seven colored dots on the map, corresponding to our fur color. “Right, we all have our parts to play in preparation for the party. Applejack, Dog, do you have all the food and drinks ready?”

“It’s all at the farm, just need to set ‘em up.” Dog confirmed.

“Good, that’s what you’ll be doing in the barn then. Spike, you can come along later in the day and help her set everything up.” The dragon nodded and she continued. “The rest of us will be bringing in the rest of the supplies from around town. Rainbow Dash, Shield, you’ll be bringing the balloons and streamers in your saddlebags to the farm from your location.”

“You got it!” Shield saluted.

“Dusk, you will be bringing the banners and the music in yours. Remember, you need to move quickly and discreetly.”

“Yes, ma’am.” I affirmed.

“Meanwhile, I’ll be arranging the transport of the cake.” I moved her dot. “I’ll be collecting it from the bakery at a prearranged time and will then bring it to the Carousel Boutique, where it will be passed on to Rarity.”

“I shall be ready and waiting.” Rarity said.

“Once they have it, they’ll bring it to Fluttershy and Leon at this location near the outskirts of town and give it to them. They’ll then take it to Sweet Apple Acres.”

“We’ll do my best.” Leon promised nervously.

“Once we’ve transported our goods, we’ll remain at the barn and help set everything up. We should be ready by around noon and then we’ll bring Pinkie along to surprise her with the party and the operation will be a success.” She pointed at Sugarcube Corner. “Make sure your route to the farm takes you as far away from here as possible. We can’t risk Pinkie following one of us before we’re ready. Always check that she’s not following you, just in case. Any questions?” We were silent. “Then good luck, everypony. See you all tomorrow. And don’t forget to bring your presents.”


We were all set to bring our own appointed supplies to Sweet Apple Acres at the time that had been set for us. As an extra precaution, I would be having Ophelia fly up above the town to scout out the least populated route possible for me on my travel. The less ponies saw me heading in the direction of the farm, the better. I’d also arranged signals with her in case I ended up being followed by Pinkie. I couldn’t be too careful.

I had only fifteen minutes to go when there was a knock at the door. I went to see who it was. Opening it, I met Pinkie, who was wearing a basket hat filled with pink envelopes.

“Hey! Just dropped by to give you this!” I picked an invitation out, which informed me I’d been invited to Gummy’s After Birthday party, at three ‘o’clock this afternoon. “We had so much fun yesterday, I thought it’d be great to do another!”

I felt my stomach clench. I hadn’t been prepared for this! “This afternoon? As in ‘this afternoon’ this afternoon?”

“Funny, that’s just what Twilight said.” She shrugged this away. “So, can you come?”

“Um… I wish I could, Pinkie, but, er…” I desperately wracked my thoughts for an excuse, figured what Twilight might have said and told her. “I need to be at the library… to help Twilight with her studies. You know how she is, always…studying. Hitting the books, you know.”

“What is it with you library ponies and the mistreatment of those poor books?” She didn’t wait for an answer. “Oh, well, I know how important your work is. That just means more fun for the others! Bye!”

“Yeah, heh… bye.” I let out a sigh of relief as she bounced off. I didn’t like lying to her… it reminded me too much of my old days…

Though I got out those thoughts and focused on the task at hoof. She’d forgive me when she saw the party that we were planning for her. Realizing it was close to the time, I slipped on my saddlebag and I whistled for Ophelia, who soon flew out to meet me.

“You ready?” She nodded her head nervously. “It’s okay, you’ll do great. Remember, two hoots if you spot I’m being followed. Now, off you fly.”

She hooted and took off into the sky, me emerging from my home seconds later and proceeding into an action I had once been an undisputed master at: moving around without being noticed or acknowledged by anypony.

Spying Ophelia from the ground, I made my way through the streets of Ponyville, my route taking me down side passages and alleyways, all of which had little to no ponies in them, just as I had told Ophelia. I moved quickly and quietly, shadows among shadows as I had once been and now I was again. If Shield was there, he'd probably say we were being like shadows in the night, completely unseen. It put me in the mind of those spy novels I’d read, sneaking around undetected. Just too bad I didn’t have any gadgets to help us out… I’d just have to rely on my wits, as always. There was no kind of alerts of being followed until I was close to the outskirts of town. At this point, I heard Ophelia hoot twice and I dived behind a stack of crates.

Peering out, I scanned the area behind me for anything that looked out of place or strange. An applecart, a few houses, a stack of hay… wait, that hadn’t been there when we’d passed through this area. It would have been easy to dismiss it as just something I missed, but if it was Pinkie… I didn’t want to take that chance. I had to draw her off my scent somehow and get her away from here so I could move on. But how…?

That’s when I hatched on an idea. She was far away enough, so maybe this would work. Working quietly, I made as accurate a color puppet of me as I could. I then sent it out of my hiding place, looking shiftily around and sent it down an alleyway nearby. A few seconds later and the haystack grew a set of four pink legs and followed it down the passage. She’d taken the bait! I edged out of my own hiding place, keeping it going as long as possible. Then I cut it off and I ran away as quickly and silently as I could.

Once I was out on a country path, I whistled for Ophelia, who met me at the side of the road.

“Good work, my little Hoothoot. I knew you could do it.” I praised. “I’ll take it from here. You can head off home now. Thanks for the help.” She hooted, gave me an affectionate nip, and took off back home.

I then sprinted for the farm, still keeping to as many hiding places as I could, diving and skidding behind trees and bushes along the way. Soon enough, I saw the comforting sight of Applejack’s barn and made one last run for it. Reaching the door and catching my breath, I knocked out a rhythm of four, the secret code they’d arranged for me. Seconds later Applejack stuck her head out, relaxing when she saw me.

“Lil’ late, sugar cubes.” she whispered. “Run into any trouble?”

“Yeah, Pinkie started following me at one point, but I managed to throw her off and I came as fast as I could.”

“ʹKay, just so long as ya weren’t followed here.” She ushered me quickly inside.

Everypony except Rainbow Dash, Shield, and Spike had already arrived. Pinkie’s vanilla cake was already on a table as were a stack of presents, a gramophone, and a table of food. I deposited my bag on the floor and pulled out the goods I had been told to transport, placing my present for Pinkie on the table with the others. Once I had pulled out the banners, I set to work helping the others set everything up for the party

“Glad to see you made it, Dusk.” Twilight said to me.

“As am I. I almost didn’t though.” I mentioned, lifting the end of a banner up to a rafter.

“Did Pinkie come around to your house with an invite for Gummy’s after-birthday party?” she asked.

“Yes, but I was able to come up with an excuse.” I gave her a knowing smile. “I told her that I was helping you with your studying.”

“How did you know what excuse I made?” she asked, astonished at this.

I tapped the side of my head. “I know you well, Twilight, as you know me. I suppose I was lucky that you did make that excuse in that sense.”

“I suppose it was.” She also offered me a warm look, apparently touched at how well I knew her. “Come on, let’s back to it.”

“Right you are.” I reached for another banner and accidentally touched her hoof as she went for the same one. It was only a brief moment of contact, but I felt a surge up my arm as we both jumped away.

“Sorry!” I cried.

“My fault!”

“I mean… I just…”

"I was, er…just going to…”

“I didn’t mean to… um…”

“Neither did I, but I… I…” We stopped and stared at one another.

It only now just occurred to me how, recently, Twilight had been acting a little differently around me. She had been kinder, more gentle and friendly, nothing too big, but enough that I noticed. Whenever she blushed or seemed to be considering romance, she let herself do it for longer rather than apparently stop herself. That close moment that we’d shared at the telescope, her asking me if I wanted to stargaze with her and just now, my claws and her hooves touching.

Would it be too much to hope that—after all this time, all this waiting—she might be having feelings for me too? It might be too soon to get my hopes up but…it was possible, wasn't it? At first, it seemed like we would allow the contact… then, the moment passed and we lapsed into an embarrassed silence, looking anywhere but at each other. I was just glad when somepony broke the awkward atmosphere.

“Well, at least neither of you had to plunge your heads into garbage cans full of filth to invent a credible excuse.” Rarity put in.

“That sounds horrible.” I sympathized.

“That doesn’t begin to describe it.” Rarity shuddered at the thought. “I can still smell it in my mane. It’ll take weeks to get rid of the stench.”

“What about you, Fluttershy?” Twilight asked.

“Yeah, how’d you and Leon get away?”

The Pegasus paused in the fixing in of the banner. “Oh, me, Leon, Shield, and Rainbow said that we would be house-sitting for a bear away on vacation.”

“Ah, I see.” I paused to think about that. “Sorry, what?”

“Oh, well you see…” She was cut off as Rainbow Dash and Shield suddenly entered the barn, looking quite exhausted and panicked, followed by Applejack who slammed the door behind her. “Rainbow, Shield, are you okay?”

“Shh! She followed us here!” We knew full well what that meant and immediately became deathly silent.

Applejack also mimed us to be quiet. We all held our breath as we heard a fierce hammering on the barn door. “I KNOW YOU’RE IN THERE!”

Applejack opened the door a crack. “Oh! Howdy, partner!”

“Mind if I… take a look inside the barn?” Pinkie asked aggressively.

“No! Uh, I mean, yes, I mean… ya can’t come in here!”

“Rainbow Dash and Shield just went in there.”

“Oh, well, they were just bringin’ in some…” She paused, thinking of an excuse, “supplies! Yup, supplies for the…renovation! Fixin’ up the whole thing, top to bottom…” The next part she said louder, addressed to the rest of us. “Uh, lots of construction goin’ on in there right now!”

“You heard her! Construction!” Rainbow whispered urgently. Getting her message, the others got ready to mimic the sounds of various construction tools, but I stopped them by raising my claw, showing them I had it covered.

I, though I felt foolish doing it, used my metal bending power to turn my claws into construction tools and pretended to do some. Leon yelled in pain and it made it sound like he’d hit his hoof with a real hammer by mistake. I kept this up until we heard the sound of a door slamming and stopped to look up.

“Yup! Construction! That’s my story, and I’m stickin' to it.” Applejack let out a nervous laugh, then there was silence.

Once again we waited with bated breath for the verdict, the tension rising in my chest. Would Pinkie buy our story of construction or would she force her way in? She was doubtless suspicious of our activities, but it was as if she was suspicious enough to investigate further. At first, I thought the whole surprise party would be ruined. Then…

“Okey-dokey-lokey.” We waited a few more seconds after this reluctant affirmation before we cautiously moved to the barn door to look.

Sure enough, Pinkie was heading back down the road, Gummy riding on her back. We all breathed sighs of relief, me taking a few more deep breaths to calm myself down after that close call.

“Whoa, Leon. That was good acting. It actually sounded like you got your hoof hit with a hammer.” Shield said, impressed.

As I looked at Leon with a look of shock, he held his hoof in pain and, with a whimper, said “I did.”

They didn’t know it before, but while I was pounding the floor with the hammer, I accidentally hit Leon’s hoof.

“That was a lil’ too close.” Applejack shut the door and rounded on Rainbow and Shield. “What in the hay were ya thinkin’, leadin’ her back here?”

“We tried to lose her, but she was following us every step of the way!" Rainbow retaliated. “We didn’t have a choice!”

“She could’ve barged her way in here and the whole shebang would’ve been a scuffle!” Dog spoke up.

“Well, obviously she didn’t, so we’re fine.” Shield put in.

“Now, now.” I said, stepping in before this got worse. “We got lucky this time and she didn’t find us, let’s be thankful for that. Let’s just put this behind us, okay?”

They glared at each other for a good few minutes, then Applejack sighed. “You’re right. She didn’t get in and that’s what matters. The surprise is still a surprise.” She opened up the saddlebags and pulled out the balloons. “Come on, let’s get back to work.”

Though there was clearly still some tension in the air from that close call from Pinkie, we all returned to getting things ready for the party. I still got a little scared when I thought how close we were to having our best-laid plans ruined. Anypony else would say it was just a party, but not to me. I still remembered that surprise party the girls had thrown for me, one that Pinkie had played a major role in putting together. In a way, I was helping to pay her back for that. I just hoped that she would like it.

Spike arrived about twenty minutes later, a little later than he should have been. “Yeah, Pinkie pulled me in for questioning.” he told me.

“Questioning?" I realized what that might mean. “Oh, no, tell me you didn’t…”

“Don’t worry. I didn’t tell her a thing.” he said quickly. “Not a thing, not any secrets or habits I’ve kept hidden, nothing at all. Nothing.”

“You didn’t tell her about the party then?” I asked, ignoring his rather shifty attitude.

“Nope, kept quiet about that. The secret is safe, bro.”

“Ah, excellent…” I let myself relax. “Good work, Spike.”

“Hey, you know you can count on me.”

“Don’t I just?” I exchanged a high five with him and picked up a deflated balloon. “Come on, let’s get the rest of these balloons blown up and try not to incinerate them this time.”

“I don’t make promises.” he shrugged, proceeding to blow one of his own.

With all of us working together, it didn’t take long for us to complete the preparations for our soiree, as Rarity would say. The balloons were inflated and floating, the presents were stacked and ready to be opened, music ready to play, and cake good enough to eat.

“Okay, everything’s set.” I said looking at it all. “Now all we need is the guest of honor. Shield, mind giving me a lift to Sugarcube Corner?”

“Thought you said didn’t want to ride on my back again.” Shield said with a raised brow.

“I know, but I think we’re gonna need your speed to get her here.”

“Whatever you say, cap.”

“We’ll be right back with Pinkie.” I told everypony as they got into position and Shield and I left for Sugarcube Corner.

We reached the door of her home and I knocked politely. We waited… But there was no answer. Discovering it was unlocked, I pushed it open and a strange sight met our eyes. The house looked like it was set up with a party, decorated with streamers and balloons like the barn. At the center was a table, laden with food and a cake at the end. Gathered around it, all wearing party hats, were a pile of rocks, a mass of lint, a bag of flour, and a turnip. With these strangely assorted items sat Pinkie, looking a lot less bright and happy, her cotton candy mane sadly deflated and hanging limply.

I couldn’t help but feel wary. Something about this didn’t feel right.

“Hey, Pinkie. I hope you’re well.” I said.

“Oh, yeah, just swell.” she said through gritted teeth. Now I felt even more uneasy. I looked at Shield for a moment to see I wasn’t alone.

“Well…excellent.” I cleared my throat unsurely. “Anyway, we were taking a stroll down to Sweet Apple Acres and was wondering if you would like to accompany us.”

She glared at us angrily. “No thanks. Should have seen that coming, ‘Mr. Psychic Pony’. I’m spending time with my real friends. Isn’t that right, Madame Le Flour?” Affecting a French accent, she gave the bag of flour while doing a voice. “Oui! Zat iz correct, madame.” Now my eyes widened in surprise.

“Dusk, what is going on with her?” Shield whispered to me. “I’ve never seen Pinkie so glum.”

“My guess is that Pinkie is feeling neglected from how we’ve been ignoring her.” I told him at the same volume. “Apparently, it made her delusional and she’s using all these ‘friends’ she made as a sort of comfort mechanism.”

“Crud, what do we do now? There’s no way we’ll get her to Sweet Apple Acres like this.”

“I’m sure there’s a way to move her in her current state. Let’s try to approach her calmly and reasonably.” We slowly began to approach the table. “Look, Pinkie, um… why don’t you, me, and Shield just pop down to the farm for a sec and you can come back…afterwards.”

I tried to come closer but she shoved the turnip in my path and spoke in a high voice. “She’s not going anywhere.” Then, in her normal voice: “I most certainly am not. I’m having a wonderful time right here.”

I was starting to get a little scared now. “Pinkie, please, why don’t you just…?”

“You heard the lady!” she cut in with the stack of rocks. “She ain’t goin’ nowheres, chumps!”

“Hey, who you calling ‘chumps’?” Shield said, taking offense.

“Easy there, Shield.” I told him before whispering. “This is getting nowhere.”

“We got to snap her out of it.” Shield said to me at the same volume.

“Or… we could use it to our advantage.” My quick mind soon came up with a solution, a sort of psychological approach. “Follow my lead.” I then went along with the delusion. “Okay, I apologize, Mister…?”

“Name’s Rocky and don’t you forget it, punk!” the rocks “replied”.

“Right, Rocky… so,” I continued, playing along, “I assume you’re one of Pinkie’s new…friends.”

“You got that right!”

“And she’s told you about us and her old friends?”

“Yeah, she’s said how you were all rude, making excuses to her and avoiding her, she knows what you’re up to.” Pinkie made an effect of Rocky slamming his “fist”. “Well, we’re gonna be better friends to her than you ever were.”

“Exactly.” Pinkie said in her normal voice. “You tell him, Rocky!”

Seeing an opening, I tried playing my game changer. “Well, if that’s the case, wouldn’t it be better to let the others know about you fine gentlemen and ladies first?”

Pinkie stared at me in wide-eyed surprise. “What?”

Figuring out what I was doing, Shield then helped me push things along.

“Yeah, if these you guys are going to make better friends than we did, wouldn’t it be better to tell us about you?” Shield said. “Imagine how jealous they’re gonna be when they hear about what great friends you all are. I know I would, for sure.”

“Monsieur does have a good point.” Madame Le Flour “put in”. “Per’aps zat would be…appropriate.”

“Yeah, that’ll teach them to be rude to our friend.” the turnip “added”.

“Oh, maybe you’re right.” Pinkie agreed.

“But who should tell them?” I asked. “Not us. I don’t think they’d believe us.”

“Yeah, they might think we’re making it all up.” Shield added. “That’s why Pinkie should come with us to tell them about what she did. How does that sound?”

“No!” she screamed at once. “I’m not gonna go see them! Not after how you all treated me!”

I felt guilty at this, but managed to keep up the act. “Really? Are you sure?”

“What do you think?” she answered bitterly. “Now, would you like some more cake, Madame Le Flour?”

“If you say so, we’ll just… go…” I acted out a sigh and we turned to leave, then glanced back. “Mind you, I’d like to see what the rest of you might think about this. I’m just saying, it might be good for her to teach us all a lesson. Bye then.”

We made our way slowly and deliberately towards the exit, keeping an ear open to listen for what Pinkie would be “saying” to her friends. Sure enough, she threw her mind into a state of disarray, emphasized by her “guests”.

“I hate to say, but the chumps might be right.” Rocky “agreed”.

“What? You can’t agree with them, Rocky!” Pinkie ordered.

“Monsieur Rocky is merely saying zat they make a good point, as I did.” Madame Le Flour “put in”.

“I know, Madame, but…”

“Indeed, I think you should go.” the lint mass “suggested”.

“I don’t know, Sir Lintsalot.” Pinkie mumbled.

“Go on, Pinkie. Make zem go green with envy, zat will show zem. Do not worry, we will be right ‘ere when you get back.” Madame Le Flour “assured”.

We glanced back as we reached the door. Pinkie looked like she was thinking it over, then sighed. “Dusk, Shield, wait.” We did so, turning back to look at her and see an expression of defeat on her features. “Fine, I’ll go. But don’t worry, I won’t be gone long. Save me some cake!”

“Good, that’s good. Come on.” I prompted gently as Shield and I were eager to get out of the madhouse and back to reality. I swiftly slammed the door and looked to Pinkie, who still glared at me.

“You may have got into their heads with your powers, Dusky, but I’m not so easy.” She leaned in close. “I’m watching you, no funny business… I’ll know if you’re trying to read my mind.” She placed her tin-foil hat on, keeping her hard stare.

“Right you are… Then let’s go.” I let out a sigh of relief before I grabbed her, got on Shield, and he got us back to the farm. That was no doubt the most disturbing moment of my life. I pray that there wouldn't be any more like that or worse.

We were glad when we arrived there as the journey had been in uncomfortable silence.

“Okay, now I really wish we had the old Pinkie back.” Shield said to me, not liking the sight of the happiest member of our group looking so angry and mistrustful.

“Me too.” I said, feeling much the same. “I also feel bad for lying to her… again. Hopefully what we got for her will get her back to her usual cheery self.”

Unable to keep myself from smiling, I opened the door for her and heard a cry from everypony assembled of:

“Surprise!” I looked at Pinkie, but her only change was that she had become even angrier.

“Uh-oh.” Shield said as we backed away from the pinkie pony in fear, leaving only a moment of silence.

Fluttershy spoke up first. “I really thought she’d be more excited.”

That blew her fuse. “Excited?! EXCITED?! Why would I be excited to attend my own farewell party?!”

“Farewell party?” Twilight asked, puzzled.

“Yes! You don’t like me anymore, so you decided to kick me out of the group and throw a great, big party to celebrate, a ‘Farewell to Pinkie Pie’ party!”

She slumped on the floor in a heap, Applejack crossing over to comfort her. “Why in the world would ya think we didn’t like ya anymore, sugarcube?”

That sparked her rage yet again, literally leaping off her hooves and into the air. “Why? Why?! WHY?! Because you’ve been lying to me and avoiding me all day! That’s why!”

“Uh, yeah! Because we wanted your party to be a surprise.” At Rainbow’s statement, her angry expression faltered.

“We’ve been planning this party for such a long time. We had to make excuses for why we couldn’t attend Gummy’s party, so that we could get everything ready for yours.” Rarity explained.

“If this is a farewell party, why does the cake I picked up from Sugarcube Corner say, ‘Happy Birthday, Pinkie Pie’?” Twilight gestured to the cake on the table.

We followed Pinkie’s gaze, as she looked around all of the assembled decorations and presents that we’d all set up for her. We could see the wheels turning in her head in the form of electrical sparks around her. Then, with a bright smile, a loud squeaking sound, and her whole body surging in electricity for a moment, her mane suddenly inflated again and her pink fur lightened in color. We all smiled to see that Pinkie was back.

“Because it’s my birthday!” She then flew around and pulled us all into a hug. “Ooh! How could I have forgot my own birthday?” Not for the first time today, we all sighed with relief. “And you like me so much, you decided to throw me a surprise party!”

“That’s what we’ve been trying to tell you, darling.” Rarity said.

Pinkie let us go and beamed at us. “You girls and guys are the best friends ever! You too, Dusky.” she added, me inclining my head modestly. She then hung her own head in shame. “How could I have ever doubted you?”

I was the one who moved forward to comfort her. “Think nothing of it, Pinkie. Any of us might have made the same conclusion, I know I would have but…that’s just me.”

“Oh, don’t worry about it." Leon added.

“Yeah, I’m just glad that we weren’t replaced by a pile of rocks or a turnip.” Shield added thoughtfully.

“Aw! You are so better as the rocks, Shield. And a turnip’s nowhere near the same league as you, Dusky.” Pinkie assured with her bright smile.

“Glad to hear it.” I chuckled as I gave her another hug.

“What are you talking about?” Twilight asked.

Me, Shield, and Pinkie exchanged a look. “Um…trust me, it’s best you don’t know.”

“All right, ponies! Enough of this gab. Let’s party!” Dog turned on the music to make the declaration official and I exchanged my trilby for a specialized party hat.

This party was probably just as fun, perhaps even more so, than any other previous Pinkie party I’d been to. The girls and guys all followed each other in a conga line, which I decided to leave myself out of, as it would have been rather inappropriate in my eyes and it made me blush just thinking about it. Though Pinkie did end up pulling me into it. I also danced with Spike and—for the first time in ages—I danced my patented Wobbler Dance, helped myself to punch and cake, and had a good time, something I always did whenever I was with my friends. At one point, Pinkie approached me during the festivities.

“Hey, Dusk.” She came over all ashamed. “I just wanted to say that…I’m sorry for acting all crazy. I know that must have been scary for you.”

“It’s okay, Pinkie.” I assured her. “At least you’re not now and that’s what matters.”

“Yeah and thanks for persuading me to come along to this.” She gave me a rap on the head. “You are a pretty smart cookie.”

“That’s why he’s the captain.” Shield said as he walked by.

“Thanks, but remember, I’m not the only one.” I gestured to Twilight, who was standing across the room.

“Okay, Mr. Modesty.” Her smile brightened. “Hey, Rarity said that she’s been teaching you how to dance.”

“Oh, um…did she?” I was wondering if she “mentioned” anything else, but I decided she didn’t. I trusted her enough not to doubt her.

“Yep. Come on, let’s see what you got!” Without waiting for my affirmation, she grabbed my claw and pulled me into the middle of the dance floor. She was mostly frantic and erratic in her dancing, but that didn’t matter to me as I just laughed along with her.

Now, another date had been crossed off on my calendar. It was rather daunting to think that it was just two nights away, the night that the girls had all been waiting for, the one they would call the “best night ever.”

The night of the Grand Galloping Gala.

I was still considering the moment that Twilight and I had shared before. It was less awkward between us now, but we kept a respectable distance from each other since the incident. I decided that it was perhaps too much to hope that she felt anything like I did for her, as she was still mortified whenever it showed on the surface, or at least that was how it appeared to me. I still remembered that nightmare that I’d had… I didn’t want to risk losing my friendship with her because of a stupid mistake.

Just be patient, Dusk. I told myself. Be patient. You’ll tell her someday when you’re ready. Maybe at the Gala… maybe…