Twilight put her plan into motion the next morning as she picked up a couple apples at Applejack’s street stand for breakfast.
“It’s kinda funny that your birthday is so close to when you came,” Applejack said as she slid the apples in her bag. “Heh. Birthday Pony’s going to be coming to visit you back to back.”
“Mm-hm. I’m counting on it,” Twilight said, the light seemingly coming from beneath her face.
There was a brief pause.
“Well, that wasn’t ominous at all,” Applejack said concernedly.
Twilight nodded, pleased with her work. While she hadn’t found anything about Nightmare Moon yet, she’d laid out plenty of traps. All that was left to do was wait until they were set off. She’d figure out who this ‘Birthday Pony’ was. With a contented huff, she headed up the stairs and back to her bedroom, ready for sleep.
The next morning, Twilight came downstairs and glanced around. None of her traps had been tripped.
But her smile faded slightly as she saw a card sitting on the table. She looked back over her shoulder. “Spike?” she called.
“Hm?”
“Did you touch my traps at all?”
“No?” he said questioningly.
Twilight pursed her lips. She lit her horn and pulled the card over and opened it.
A small pile of multi-colored confetti fell out. On the inside, four words were written in loopy writing.
No birthday? No cake!
And on the other side, there was a drawing of a pony sticking her tongue out.
Twilight snorted. Oh, was that how it was? Alright. Two could play this game. To start with, she’d need some better bait.
Mr. Cake nodded. “Hosting parties is one of the many things we offer here!” he said proudly. “We offer all-in-one packages for birthdays, cuteciñeras, retirement, any event! Our regular party room can host up to fifteen ponies, but our large party room can hold fifty-one.”
Twilight nodded knowingly, but she couldn’t imagine knowing that many ponies, let alone wanting them all to come to a party.
He checked a clipboard under the counter. “It looks like Liza Doolots has her party scheduled for tomorrow, but-”
“Perfect,” Twilight said. Now with the information she’d come for, she spun around and headed out the door, leaving Mr. Cake mid-sentence (and a little confused).
Now that she had a name, she just needed an address. And Mayor Mare was perfectly fine with her poking around the Town Hall Archives. After all, property records were public records.
Not that anypony had been here for a while, judging by the thick layer of dust that coated everything.
“It sure is nice and friendly of you to organize all these records for Mayor Mare,” Spike floated.
“I’m not making friends,” Twilight said insistently. “I’m doing research on the Birthday Pony.”
“Ok,” Spike said slowly, “but you’ve met two new ponies today and you’re helping out here. I think you’re giving the impression that you’re trying to become part of the town.”
“Don’t be silly, Spike,” Twilight said. “It’s not like I’m going to be here very long.” She brightened as she lifted up a paper. “Doolots, Liza. Got it.” She copied the address down. “Now, back to researching more on Nightmare Moon.” She marched out of the room.
Spike watched her go, waiting. He tapped his foot, waiting, knowing what was about to happen.
There was a brief pause.
And as expected, Twilight walked back in. “If I don’t finish organizing these, it’s going to bother me,” she grumbled, lighting her horn and starting to put the records away.
Later that night, as the moon shone overhead, Twilight sat in a bush, leaning against a tree, holding binoculars trained on the house. All she had to do now was wait. Her Nightmare Moon research today had turned up nothing, so she was hoping to put this one to rest here tonight. Her current theory was that it was just the parents doing the birthdays, with a secret network of ponies covering for visitors. Probably some pony with a love of gossip. Maybe multiple ponies.
But as she kept watch, the night seemed to drag on. Her eyelids grew heavy, and though she would try and shake herself awake, the call of sleep was just too strong for the tired unicorn.
She quickly sat up, but it was too late. She’d fallen asleep. To her annoyance, she realized she’d missed it. Through the window, she could see a cake already resting on the table.
She glanced down, snorting… and then her eyes fell on a little cupcake next to her. It was small, chocolate, with purple frosting in a swirl on top.
Her brow furrowed. She sniffed at it, and then hesitantly poked at it with the tip of her hoof. It was clearly fresh, so it must have been left here.
Left for her.
This was an unexpected development.