Everything was in order. Balloons, confetti, lots of sweet treats, decorations. All her friends had been invited too (which were quite a lot of friends), and although it was on very short notice, most of them would be able to make it tonight.
Only a few more hours now, and then Dashie would finally be home again. She couldn’t wait for that moment, and in the meantime busied herself with important things like making sure at least twice as much confetti as was possibly normal was ready for immediate use, or that every blue balloon was accompanied by a pink one. She really missed Dashie.
There was the occasional customer at Sugarcube Corner, but it being Friday afternoon meant that the shop was fairly quiet, so she had lots and lots of time to prepare for tonight’s big party. While she was always happy if Dashie came home earlier than she originally said, on the other hoof if she did that today, it would mean that she would come home to a party-decorated Sugarcube Corner, but with no guests yet. That would be weird.
Applejack was the first to arrive, being done with her chores for the day. Fluttershy followed not long after, having taken care of the animals all day. They started chatting about little things like the weather of the day, what shenanigans Winona had been up to this time, or whether Angel had eaten his carrot today. Soon, more ponies started to arrive, amongst them the town’s librarian, who took a place with Applejack and Fluttershy.
Rarity had a customer who just wouldn’t leave, and she had to clean up the shop a little bit, so she came in a little later. By that time, the party was in full swing, though Pinkie didn’t partake in it - yet. Dashie was later than she had told her. What if she’d broken a wing or something and was now lying in the hospital super bored with a broken wing and she would miss the party because of that? Oh no, Dash couldn’t miss a party! Nopony should have to miss a Pinkie Pie Party, ever! Though they could always move the party to the hospital if that really happened. Right?
Or, she could just wait a few more minutes. Maybe Dashie wanted to give her a surprise party too and she was flying a bit slower than she normally did because she was carrying a whole party with her! That was a much more logical explanation.
Then, out of the corner of her eye, she saw a blue speck getting larger at a high rate. That could only mean one thing. “Alright everypony! I see Dashie!”
Though, on taking a closer look at the speck, she didn’t seem to have some sort of party attached to her. Which wasn’t really that much of a problem, because a Pinkie Pie Party alone was already about as much as any normal pony could take.
Rainbow Dash was finally flying home. Like the previous days, it had been a long and exhausting day for her, having to get up earlier than usual - something she absolutely hated. It didn’t help that there had been no opportunity for Dash to sneak off and take a quick nap either. Add to that Derpy taking no directions at all (as usual) and Cloud Kicker taking the wrong directions (also as usual), and Dash had been flying all over the place, all day long.
Her wings were sore from all the hard day’s work, and now that it was finally done, she wasn’t so much flying and more gliding, though still at a ridiculous high speed, towards Sugarcube Corner. She was finally done for this week, and was looking forward to relax the weekend with Pinkie. Maybe they could go to the lake, Pinkie playing in it while Dash just lay at the side, napping. Or they could make cupcakes again together. Well, it was more like Pinkie did about all the work, and Dash just watched (and ‘helped’ eating), but neither complained. As long as they were together, it was always fun for both of them. They should probably prank one of their friends too.
As she was nearing the pink pony’s hideout though, she thought she could hear music coming from it. A few moments later, Pinkie came out the front door, presumably to welcome her, and now she could hear the music clearly. It was almost like there was some big party going on. Without Dash.
“Dashie!” shouted Pinkie when Dash came within earshot. “You’re here! Now the party can get really started!” Happily, Pinkie bounced inside again, completely oblivious to Dash’s hope to simply relax, just the two of them. Although, the party did look pretty good, even for a Pinkie Pie Party.
She didn’t follow the pink pony though. It wasn’t that she didn’t like parties, it was just that... why was Pinkie throwing a party in the first place?
Noticing her friend just standing there and not coming inside and join the party, Pinkie walked back to Dash.
“Dashie?” she inquired.
Dash remained silent. She was still trying to come up with possible scenarios of what reason Pinkie could have used this time to throw a party out of nowhere, but couldn’t think of anything.
“Pinkie? Why is there a huge party going on?”
“You mean... you don’t like it?”
“I didn’t say that, I just... Why?”
“Oh Dashie, that easy! You see, I really missed you and I wanted to do something special and I know you like parties so I threw this party just for you! And all your friends are here too!”
“Pinkie...”
“What?”
“I’ve just been doing my job on the weather team today. Just like every other day. You’re acting like I’ve been gone for years and it’s a reunion...”
“So?”
“I love it when you do stuff like this.”
And then they went inside together and had one of the best parties ever.