//------------------------------//
// Happy Birthday! 
// Story: A Day for Sprout 
// by SuperPinkBrony12 
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For Sunny, it was just another fine day in Maretime Bay. With magic having been restored to Equestria for the first time since the days of Princess Twilight, and the three pony tribes getting along again, everything was just the way it should be.

So it was that Sunny was on her way to work with her smoothie cart, towing it along behind her as she roller skated through time with a smile on her face and a spring in her step. It was still funny for her to think that most ponies barely noticed her, unless she happened to transform into an alicorn. But at least they no longer looked down upon her, her smoothie cart was frequently seeing more customers than the earth pony mare knew what to do with. To say nothing of the surprises earth pony magic continued to bestow time after time.

Sunny's mind began to wander, as it often did. Now that things were so peaceful and quiet, maybe it was time to think about expanding her business? Maybe she could get Izzy to help her construct some additional smoothie carts and take her business to Bridlewood or even Zephyr Heights? Surely, the ponies there would be just as eager to try her smoothies as the ponies here in Maretime Bay.

The earth pony mare was so distracted by her thoughts, that she didn't pay any attention to where she was going. She was not snapped out of her contemplation, until she ran smack into another pony with a thud. Fortunately, she and her cart were unharmed (it helped that Sunny hadn't been traveling at a very high rate of speed, as strong as she was she could not travel at high speeds when there was a heavy cart hitched behind her that weighed her down). "Oh, my fault! Totally my fault!" She sheepishly insisted as her cheeks turned a faint shade of red. "I didn't see you there."

"Of course you didn't," A familiar masculine sounding voice replied in an indifferent tone of voice. "Hardly anypony seems to notice me anymore. You stir up one angry mob, and suddenly it's like you're a ghost."

An audible gasp escaped Sunny's lips as she recognized the voice and who it belonged to. Sure enough, an earth pony stallion of medium build and a blazing red coat was starring back at her. A pony Sunny had not seen for quite some time. "Oh my hoofness! I'm so sorry, Sprout! Really! I didn't mean to bump into you."

Sprout just frowned as he turned away from looking at Sunny. "Sure, nopony ever means to do anything to me. They always just bump into me by chance, like they forget I'm even there," Then he sighed. "But I'm used to it, more or less. At least I still have a roof over my head, and a decent paying job. Guess it could be worse."

"Sprout," Sunny began as a pang of guilt began to gnaw at her. "If this is about the whole angry mob thing... you know Hitch and I forgave you already. Nopony got hurt, luckily. Nothing that couldn't be fixed."

Sprout just shook his head as it hung low. "If by fixed you mean you got a completely new house to live in with your new friends, and I had to do community service for months on end. Just get on with your day, don't mind me. I wouldn't keep you from your very important job. Nopony really bothers to say much more than hello to me anyway. I'm not stupid, I can read a room. You have your life and I have mine." And he trotted off with a swish of his tail, his overall posture looking glum and miserable.

The earth pony mare with a sunny orangeish coat couldn't shake the guilty feeling now welling up inside of her. True, she and Sprout had never been the best of friends, they had quarreled countless times since they were foals and Hitch had often been the one playing peacemaker between them. But they had still known each other enough to stay in touch, until recently anyway. Hard as it might seem to believe, they had still been friends once upon a time. And it pained Sunny to see an old friend of hers in such an unhappy state.

As she slowly set off again with her smoothie cart, Sunny Starscout began to think to herself. "I wish there was something I could do to cheer Sprout up. He may have been a bad pony once, but that doesn't mean he deserves to be treated like he doesn't exist." But what could she do?





Sunny was still dwelling on Sprout when she returned to the Crystal Brighthouse later that day. Hitch and all of her new pony friends were there to greet her, just like they always were. It was rare when any of them weren't at the Brighthouse for at least part of the day.

"Hey, you okay, Sunny?" Izzy questioned. "There's something off about your sparkle today. It's kind of... dull."

Knowing that her friends weren't going to be satisfied until they got an answer, Sunny willingly confessed. "I ran into Sprout today."

Hitch frowned. "Sunny, we talked about this. We both agreed it was best to let Sprout work things out on his own," And he snorted. "If you ask me, he's getting off easy. If you hadn't practically begged me, I would've thrown him in jail instead of giving him community service."

Pipp added. "Yeah. Did you forget what he did to your old house? What he tried to do to us when we were trying to find the third crystal?"

Sunny nodded quite slowly, the memories still fresh in her mind. "I'm not defending what he did. It was wrong then and it's wrong now. But he's not the same pony anymore, he's changed. And he is, or at least used to be my friend."

Zipp's eyes narrowed as her wings unfolded to either side. "Funny, from what Hitch has told us, you and Sprout never seemed to get along. You were always fighting, even more than your parents did."

"Maybe," Sunny reluctantly admitted. "But I'm sure Hitch could also tell you that we did sometimes get along. I just feel like he feels like I've forgotten him, like everypony's forgotten him. And I really want to find a way to let him know that that's not the case."

Zipp openly wondered. "Well, what can we possibly do about that? Izzy, Pipp and I don't even know Sprout the way you and Hitch did."

But then Hitch spoke up. "Come to think of it, Sunny, Sprout's birthday is coming up in about a week or so."

Upon hearing the word "birthday", something sparked inside of Sunny and her eyes went wide! "That's it!" She excitedly gasped as an idea came to her!

"What's it?" Hitch pondered in puzzlement.

The earth pony mare happily explained. "We should all throw Sprout a birthday party! A surprise birthday party! It'll be just the thing to cheer him up, to let him know that he's not forgotten after all. I mean, who doesn't love a birthday party, especially when it's their birthday?"

Zipp was rather hesitant about the idea. "I don't know, Sunny."

But Pipp's eyes lit up with wonder as she fluttered and flapped her fluffy wings! "Oh Sunny, you are brilliant! A surprise birthday party is just what the doctor ordered!" And she was quick to volunteer her services. "Count me in! A birthday party will be the perfect opportunity for me to show off my excellent singing voice! I think I'll even write a special song just for the birthday boy, like the llulaby I wrote for Sparky."

Izzy excitedly chimed in. "I wanna help too! I've been longing for a chance to do some more crafting and unicycling!" Then she giggled. "Plus, birthday parties always have cake, and ice cream and party games. Those are always a blast!"

Zipp sighed. "Oh, what the heck? Count me in too. I could use a bit of a break from solving mysteries and gathering information."

Hitch then commented. "I guess I'll join in too, Sunny. Sprout is still our friend, after all. And friends should always be there for friends even when nopony else is. If nothing else, it'll be a good chance to let Sprout know there's no more hard feelings between us," And he added. "Besides, I think Sparky would love the chance to get to meet Sprout face to face."

Sunny smiled as her friends all came close, vocally vouching their support of her idea. "Thanks a bunch, everypony. With all of you pitching in, I'm sure we can pull off this surprise party despite the deadline. It'll be nice to do something together when there's no big issues that need solving."

But Zipp nervously and hesitantly spoke up. "You really think we can put together a surprise party in less than a week?"

Sunny firmly nodded. "It'll be a little tight. But if we all pitch in and do our best, I know we can do it!" She then explained. "Now, I'm thinking it'll be best if we each have our own responsibilities. That way we won't be stepping on each others' hooves," Gesturing a hoof to herself she then declared. "I'll work on baking the cake. I used to help my dad bake cookies all the time when I was a filly. Plus, I know where to go to get all the finest ingredients in Maretime Bay."

Izzy excitedly swished her tail! "You leave the decorating to me, Sunny! Just tell me where we should have the party, and I'll have the place sparkling and shining in no time! It'll be just the thing to bring out Sprout's sparkle."

Hitch cleared his throat, looking down at his polished badge. "I guess I'll be in charge of spreading the word and keeping Sprout from finding out," He then let out a sigh. "But that also means I'm gonna have to have Sparky with me while I'm making my rounds as sheriff."

"You sure you don't want somepony to dragonsit him?" Sunny offered.

Hitch shook his head from side to side. "After that time I thought he got dragonnapped, I'm taking no chances!" He firmly vowed! "As Sparky's dragon dad, it's my responsibility to make sure he stays safe. If it means having to clean up a few messes he makes, then that's what I'll do. That's what any responsible pony parent should do."

Pipp breathed a sigh of relief. "That's good to hear. Seems like every other day now, I'm seeing a video about Sparky running wild and doing something that completes upstages whatever I try to do. It'll be much easier to concentrate on my singing and songwriting if I don't have to worry about him getting into trouble again," She put a hoof to her chin. "Come to think of it, he's been getting into a lot of weird things lately."

Zipp just replied. "He's a baby, he doesn't know any better. Still, it's probably for the best that we don't let him near any of us while we're working on the party preparations, if only so we don't have to worry about him potentially being dragonnapped," Then she declared. "I guess I'll keep an eye on Sprout. Otherwise, I'll just help anypony who needs help."

"Okay, so we all have our assignments," Sunny agreed as she brought her friends in for a huddle. "We'll start first thing tomorrow, and we'll check back in at the end of the week to see how things are coming along. Deal?"

"Deal!" The other four ponies proclaimed all at once! And so, everything was set into motion.

Sprout was about to experience a birthday like none he'd ever had before.





The next day, everypony at the Brighthouse woke bright and early to get started on their designated tasks that they needed to get done in time for the big birthday bash.

Sunny immediately went out into town, her smoothie cart in tow yet again. This time, however, it was merely a cover so nopony would suspect what she was actually doing: Before she could bake a cake, she needed to pick up the ingredients. The Brighthouse's kitchen and pantry didn't come stocked with everything after all. Luckily, Sunny had been saving up the bits she'd earned from selling her smoothies around town, so money wouldn't be an issue.

"Okay, let's see here," Sunny said aloud as her sea green eyes scanned the hastily drawn list she'd made while taking inventory of the kitchen the night before. "First up: Flour. Should be simple enough. Then I just need to pick up eggs, cake mix and frosting. Oh, and maybe a cookbook, just in case I can't find Dad's old recipe book." And she made her way to the store where she knew at least the flour would be easily and readily available to her.

Izzy, meanwhile, was cruising about Maretime Bay on that scooter she had fixed up. Her wagon of crafting supplies followed, its contents rattling about with every bump and sudden turn the unicorn made. As it so happened, the location for the big party was going to be Canterlogic (it was the only place in town big enough to hold all the ponies that Sunny hoped would show up). And Izzy had never been inside of Canterlogic before, so she could only hope her crafting supplies and skills were up to the task of decorating such a large venue.

At last, the large building came into view, and Izzy brought her scooter to a halt. Then she used her magic to slip on her crafting glasses. "Time for a little unicycling magic!" She giddly proclaimed while bouncing and skipping to the beat of a song only she could hear.

As for Pipp, she had stayed behind at the Brighthouse. Its solitude would be the perfect place for her to find inspiration for her latest melody.

The pink pegasus princess then started scribbling down lyrics on a piece of paper, all the while trying to picture the beat and the rhythm in her head. She wanted it to be unique, something that was unlike her other songs, something that was truly one of a kind.

Frustration soon boiled over in Pipp as she scribbled out and erased lyric after lyric, and tossed several balls of crumpled up paper over her shoulder without a second thought. "Urgh! Why is this so hard?!" She grumbled aloud! "I haven't had an artist's block this bad since I was trying to come up with a new song for Sunny's birthday!" She tapped a hoof against her side. "Come on, Pipp. Think! Think! What do I know about Sprout that I can work into a song?"

"Hey, do you mind keeping your complaints to yourself?" Zipp spoke up in an irritable tone of voice from across the room. "I'm trying to wrap up my gift for Sprout. And it would be easier if I could hear myself think."

Pipp sighed, putting down her phone and setting it aside on her desk. She wasn't getting anywhere right now, so the best thing she could do was take a break and try to help her big sis. "Oh, you've already picked out a gift for the birthday boy?" She inquired of Zipp as she flew over to her sister's location. "I was gonna do that once I got my song all worked out. I wanna make sure I have plenty of time to rehearse it. It has to be better than my best if I'm going to perform it at the birthday party."

Zipp allowed her younger sister to take a look at what she was trying to wrap up. It was an old fashioned detective's hat that had clearly seen better days. It was dusty, musty and battered. The color had gone out of it, and a few ripped seams could be seen poking out here and there.

Pipp did her best to hide her displeasure at such an unsightly sight as the one that greeted her bright greenish-gold eyes. "Really? You're gonna get him something like that?"

"What?" Zipp blinked. "I found out it used to belong to his dad. Apparently, his father used to work for the Maretime Bay Sheriff's Office as a freelance private investigator. That is, until he got fed up with his wife's workaholic tendencies and just left out of the blue. Nopony knows where he went or what happened to him, this is all he left behind."

The pink pegasus princess' face flushed with shame. "Oh, I didn't know that. No wonder Sprout's so close to his mother. I guess that's something he and Sunny have in common," Her voice took on a slightly mournful tone as she added. "And they're not the only ones," She was quick to change the subject. "So, what are the others getting him?"

Zipp shrugged her hooves. "Hitch said he had something special for Sprout back at the sheriff's office, and I'm sure Sunny and Izzy will worry about their presents later," Then she looked to Pipp. "You sure you wanna help me instead of working on your song?"

Pipp let out an unhappy sigh. "I'm just not feeling the inspiration. Every time I feel like I'm on the verge of something, poof!" She made a dramatic gesture with her hooves. "It just up and disappears. I'm hoping if I spend some time doing something other than song writing, I'll get my mojo back. Finding inspiration's always easier than turning that inspiration into something workable."





While the mares were all busy with their designated tasks, Hitch found that he had his hooves more than full as it was just keeping Sparky under control. The baby dragon seemed to enjoy nothing more than messing up the papers, posters and other important things around the office.

"Sparky, come on!" Hitch whined as he saw the little dragon trying to put the shiny sheriff's badge in his mouth. "We've been over this. My badge is not food! Put it down right now, mister!"

Sparky only giggled and stuck out his tongue, he was in no mood to listen to his "dragon daddy" as it were.

Hitch groaned as he slowly trotted over. "Where are you being so grabby today, Sparky?" He questioned as he retrieved his badge and wiped it down. "I swear, it's like you don't wanna listen to a word I say. Do dragons age faster than ponies? Are you going through your rebellious phase already? I thought that wouldn't come until years later."

Sparky simply replied with a pout, sitting down and knocking loose some papers on a desk. Apparently finding delight in it, he proceeded to swing his claws around and send papers flying in all directions!

The currently off-duty sheriff groaned anew, narrowing his eyes. "Sparky, if you keep this up, you're going in the time out corner! And you're going to bed without dessert tonight, I mean it this time!" He sighed and put a hoof to his forehead. "Look, I'm sorry I can't drop everything to be with you right now. But I have something very important I need to find, and I would appreciate it if you'd listen to me for once."

The baby dragon looked to his papa, seeing the obviously noticeable signs of discontent registered on his face. Seeing them stirred something deep inside the little one, quelling any further desire he had to cause trouble. He began trying to pick up the papers that lay scattered around him.

A smile slowly crept across Hitch's face as he trotted over and picked Sparky up, letting the little dragon nuzzle into his chest. "Thanks, Sparky. But if you really wanna help your dragon daddy, you can just be quiet and sit still. I promise, after this we can go out for a stroll together while I tell everypony about the surprise party," Then, after carefully placing Sparky into a small nest Izzy had crafted for the dragon, Hitch resumed what he had been doing prior to Sparky swiping his badge. "Alright, now where did I leave that thing?" He asked himself as he began a desperate search.

Sparky, for his part, just lay down in his nest. The little dragon deciding it best to get some rest while he waited for his papa to finish up his task. Suddenly, he felt something cold and metal brush up against his scales. It didn't really hurt, but the sensation was unexpected and caused him to let out a faint yelp!

Hitch came running over in a heartbeat to find out what the source was of Sparky's distress! When he did so, he discovered a well worn, much less shiny badge that had not been touched in ages (or so it seemed). "Hey, whaddya know? That's just what I was looking for!" He smiled as he picked up the object, and then cooed as he nuzzled Sparky. "Thanks for finding it for me, Sparky. You're so smart!"





Izzy was finding it surprisingly easy to get into her crafting and decorating mojo at Canterlogic. The entire interior of the building was like one big blank canvas to her. With the aid of her magic and her nimble hoofwork, she was stringing streamers, banners and ribbons in every nook and cranny. It sure was a good thing Sprout didn't come around here that much anymore, otherwise this surprise wouldn't be much of a surprise.

However, as Izzy went about her delicate decorating, a problem eventually presented itself to her when she made a journey back out to the wagon hitched to her scooter. A frown formed on the unicorn's face when faced with the dilemma that now presented itself to her. "How did I run out of materials to use for decorations? I thought I was doing pretty good at unicycling," She didn't stay mad for long though as she decided. "Oh well, guess it's back to Bridlewood to pick up more supplies." And with that, she jumped onto her scooter and took off. It was going to be a long drive to Bridlewood, best to do it now while it was fresh in her mind.

As for Sunny, she too was running into her own problem in getting things ready. She had picked up all the ingredients she knew she would need for a cake, and was now in the process of trying to bake the cake itself within the Brighthouse kitchen. As she did so, bits of batter would occasionally spill out of her mixing bowl and splatter on her face and mane. And unlike when it was fruit juice that had gotten into her mane, the batter did not taste tasty at all. "Ugh! I knew I should've used more sugar!" She lamented.

A short time later, the oven dinged. And out popped a very flat looking cake that was charred a deep dark black in color. The earth pony frowned at her culinary catastrophe. "What did I do wrong?" She complained to herself as she picked up the tray and examined her poor excuse for a birthday cake. "I followed the recipe from my dad's old recipe book," Just to be sure, she went back and looked over the well worn book with a dusty, faded red spine. When she did so, she squinted as the earth pony mare realized something she had overlooked earlier. "Oh, how could I forget? Of course I need to add yeast!"

Well, it was back to shopping. Good thing Sunny still had plenty of bits to her name. After quickly wiping her face and mane clean with a rag, she rushed out the front door of the Brighthouse with her saddlebags in tow.

Not long after Sunny left, Zipp flew downstairs (so as to give Pipp more room to concentrate and focus) with her mane and tail slightly frazzled. A few bits of wrapping paper were stuck in her mane. Who knew wrapping an old hat could be so difficult to do? When she got near the kitchen, the pegasus princess pony gasped at the horrific mess that greeted her!

A poorly made cake lay sitting out on a tray above an open oven, an overflowing mixing bowl rested on a countertop, eggshells and half emptied sacks of flour lay everywhere. In short, the entire kitchen looked as if some kind of bomb had been set off inside of it.

Well, this simply wouldn't do. Zipp sighed as she went to grab a mop and bucket. "I thought my first attempt at baking was bad," She thought to herself, and then started reflecting on what had gone wrong with her and Pipp. "Sunny, I sure hope you were right about us being to put together a surprise birthday party on such short notice. It's not looking good for us so far."





The rest of the week flew by in a blur for the five friends. Izzy spent nearly an entire day in Bridlewood, gathering crafting supplies both for the party and for future unicycling projects, but also saying hello to old acquaintences.

Sunny, after realizing her mistake, baked a second cake that turned out much better than the first. It still wasn't "perfect" by any stretch, but it looked and tasted so much better than the flat, charred cake she had made the first time.

Zipp and Hitch wrapped their gifts for Sprout, and quickly agreed they should probably help the others with their wrapping jobs, regardless of what Sunny, Pipp and Izzy might be getting Sprout.

Pipp tried again and again to find that spark of inspiration that would translate into a workable song. But the days ticked by with her being unable to think of anything that really clicked with her, much to her frustration. Then, finally, it dawned on her. "Of course! Why didn't I just do this in the first place?!" She exclaimed as she reached for her phone. "Whenever I have a problem, it's always good to reach out to others. And I know just the pony who can help me." She scrolled through her list of contacts, found the one she wanted, and dialed the number.

"Hello?" A familiar female sounding voice spoke up on the other end.

Pipp's smile grew brighter as she answered. "Hi Mom, sorry if this is so sudden. But I have a bit of a problem and I think you could help me solve it."

Queen Haven's voice replied in a sweet tone of voice. "Oh, don't be silly, Pipp. You know I always have time for you, especially since you call me almost every day. I can't remember the last time Zipp called me instead of me calling her."

Pipp giggled a bit. "That's Zipp for you, so independent," Then her tone of voice became more serious as she asked. "Anyway, Mother, do you know of any good birthday songs? I remember you always had the best singing voice when I was little. And you never seemed to be short of songs for Zipp and I."

"Well, it's been such a long time since I've ever had to do any songs at all. Well, except for one, but I'm not sure it's a good fit for a birthday," Queen Haven answered. "Let me think..."

The pink pegasus princess resisted the urge to plead. "No rush, Mom. But, someday time would be appreciated. I could really use the inspiration right about now." And she waited as best she could for a reply.

At last, just when Pipp was ready to give up hope, she heard her mom say. "Hm, you know, I think there is one song I remember that might work. Mind you, I can't guarantee I'll remember the lyrics or the beat exactly."

"That's okay, Mom," Pipp reassured her female parent. "After all, I'll probably end up remixing your song anyway to make it fresh. Izzy helped me to see that sometimes we have to lean on others for support. I'll be sure to credit you for the inspiration, though," She leaned back in her chair and held the phone close to her ears. "Go ahead, I'm listening."





When Sprout woke up on the day of his birthday and crossed off the date on his calendar, he didn't suspect anything would be out of the ordinary. Just another day of work, and then maybe a small celebration would be waiting for him at home.

The stallion was thus very surprised to receive a brightly colored envelope from none other than Sunny while on his way to work. "What do you want from me now, Sunny?" He asked in an indifferent tone of voice.

Sunny seemed to have a, well, "sunny" smile on her face as she cheerfully told her fellow earth pony. "Only to invite you to come to Canterlogic when you get off of work today. Trust me, you'll want to be there. But if I say anymore, I'll spoil everything." And with that, she was off on her skates with her smoothie cart following behind.

Sprout examined the envelope, but thought little of it. It just had a date and time printed on it in large letters. Still, he knew it'd be rude to turn down an invitation like this, so he held onto it as he trotted along.

The day seemed to pass quicker than usual as far as Sprout was concerned, not that he was really paying attention to the passage of time. Even if it was his birthday, he still had to work. And work always helped him to get his mind off of other things.

At last, it was time for the birthday stallion to head over to Canterlogic. He suspected nothing out of the ordinary as he trotted along at a casual pace, in no real hurry.

But when the stallion with a coat a fiery shade of red finally arrived at Canterlogic and pushed his way through the front doors, he was surprised to be hit by a sudden shower of confetti! Party horns blared loudly from every corner as the lights flickered on! And amidst the shock he heard a chorus of voices shout "Surprise!"

Sprout's sap green eyes went wide as he slowly took in his surroundings! The greeting hall for Canterlogic had been completely redecorated from top to bottom! Streamers and banners hung from every balcony and even from the ceiling. A table had been set up that featured a large, colorfully decorated cake with lots of candles, paper plates and of course a punch bowl for refreshment. One corner of the room had been devoted entirely to party games, including staples like Pin the Tail on the Pony and the good old fashioned pinata. Most interestingly of all, though, a small stage had been erected in the center of the room, complete with speakers and a microphone on a stand.

"What's all this?!" Sprout questioned in disbelief! This was all too good to be true!

Izzy just gleefully trotted over, using her magic to deposit a white and green party hat on top of Sprout's forehead. "Isn't it obvious, birthday boy? This party's just for you! It was all Sunny's idea, wasn't that nice of her?"

"It's true," Sunny confessed as she strolled over, holding a hastily wrapped present in her hooves. "I figured this would be just the sort of thing to cheer you up, to let you know that we are still friends. I know I probably haven't been doing the best job of showing that lately, but I promise that will change. Just because I made new friends doesn't mean I have to stop hanging out with one of my old ones," Hoofing the present to Sprout, she sweetly told the stallion. "Happy birthday, Sprout!"

Sprout was speechless! He found himself at a complete loss for words!

The silence was only broken up when there came the sound of hooves tapping against the microphone. All turned to look at the source, and saw Pipp standing on the stage that had been set up. The lights dimmed as a spotlight shone down directly on her, making her the center of attention. "Here's my birthday present to you, Sprout. A brand new song, just for you. Hope you like it." Then, after taking a sip of water and drawing a deep breath, she began to sing in that beautiful singing voice of hers:

Happy, happy, happy,

A happy birthday to you!

Happy, happy, happy,

Happy birthday to you!

Happy, happy, happy,

Pipp, pipp, hooray!

Happy, happy, happy,

Happy birthday to you today!

A chorus of cheers and whistles rang out as ponies clapped and stomped their hooves in approval.

Pipp basked in the glow of the audience. "Oh thank you, thank you. You're all too kind," Then she turned to Sprout. "Well, what did you think? I tweaked an old song my mother used to sing for Zipp and I when we were fillies."

"It's... it's..." The stallion tried to think of what to say, only to find that the words wouldn't come out.

Pipp grinned. "I see how it is. You're speechless! Well, that's a good sign to me. I'll take it!"

Izzy then spoke up. "Enough chit chat, it's time for party games!" And soon, the party unfolded in full swing!





Sprout couldn't remember the last time he'd felt this happy and cheerful. Even his brief time as "Emperor" had never been as enjoyable as this party. He almost didn't want it to end once he got into the full swing of it. Yet the time seemed to fly by: Party games, blowing out the candles on his birthday cake, and even opening up presents (including Sunny and Hitch's gift: A framed photo of the three of them as little ponies on one of the few occasions they'd gotten along, and his old deputy badge respectively).

Alas, all good things must come to an end eventually. And the party was no exception.

"So, how was the party, Sprout?" Sunny asked afterward as things were winding down and cleaning up was underway.

"It was... pretty nice, actually," Sprout sincerely admitted. "You didn't have to go to so much trouble though, Sunny. I know you've got your new friends now, and you're happy with them."

The earth pony mare insisted. "That doesn't mean we have to stop being friends. I'm being sincere, Sprout. I still want you as a friend. I don't like seeing any of my friends feeling left out or ignored."

Sprout sighed, though it was more of a happy sigh than a sad sigh. "Look, Sunny, our friendship was... complicated," He looked down at himself. "It's not easy to realize you were wrong, that everything you ever believed in or were taught was wrong. It's even harder when you're there to witness it firsthoof."

"Sprout..." Sunny began.

The stallion threw up a hoof as he continued. "Things have changed. It's a lot to take in, Sunny. Suddenly, unicorns and pegasi are our friends. And earth ponies have magic too," He demonstrated this by stomping a hoof down, causing a few sparks of glitter to poof out. "See? Just learning how to control that was a lot. So add that to all the other things I have to get used to. I kind of expected to just be ignored for a while. It's easier if I just don't dwell on it," A small smile formed on his face. "Still, it means a lot that you'd do something like this for me. If you really wanna still be friends... well, I could never stop you from doing what you did even when that's what I was supposed to do."

Sunny began to smile anew as she pulled Sprout in for a big hug. "Things may change, but our friendship doesn't have to be one of them. I'm still willing to be your friend if you'll let me. And I think Hitch feels the same way."

The earth pony stallion with a beautiful red coat just replied. "Sure, I guess," Then he nervously questioned. "Uh, I don't have to start singing and dancing like your other friends do, do I?"

A giggle escaped Sunny's lips. "Not if you don't want to, Sprout. But no matter what, I hope you know now that you haven't been forgotten. You'll always have a place in Maretime Bay."

"Believe me, I know that now more than ever." Sprout admitted with a nod of his head.