"Eggs?" Blueberry Pie asked.
"Check," Raspberry said, checking the item off the list.
"Toast?"
"Check."
"One glass of orange juice?"
"Check."
"One glass of pineapple juice?"
"Check."
"Muffins? Blueberry, banana nut and poppy-seed?"
"Check, check and check!"
"Don't forget the special surprise!" Cherry exclaimed, peeking under the covered dish.
Raspberry nodded. "Special surprise, check."
"Party cannons ready to go!" Blueberry declared, proudly patting their three miniature cannons. "You got the card, Cherry?"
The red filly dragged the five-foot tall card into view. "Check!"
"Ooh!" Raspberry piped. "Flowers! Let's not forget the flowers!"
"I got it!"
Cherry zipped down the stairs and returned a few seconds later with a bouquet of freshly pulled daisies.
"You forgot a vase," Raspberry said as she took the flowers in her hoof.
"Oh! Right!"
Cherry zoomed downstairs again and came back with a vase. After placing the bouquet into the vase, the triplets gathered outside the door to their parents' bedroom. Blueberry put her hoof to her lips as she slowly opened the door. The three crept towards the couple snoring in the bed, Blueberry leading the way, Raspberry gently pushing the food cart and Cherry pushing the tiny blue, red and pink cannons.
Blueberry nodded to Raspberry, who nodded in return and rushed to the window. She pulled on the cord of the shade, rolling it upwards.
"Wh-wha...?" their father moaned as the sunlight came streaming into the room.
"SUR-PIES!" the triplets cheered. "HAPPY ANNIVERSARY!"
The girls fired their cannons simultaneously, shooting confetti in their parents' faces. Red Shoes rubbed his eyes wearily while Pinkie Pie bolted up in bed excitedly.
"Aw, girls!" she exclaimed, noticing the cart of food. "You made us breakfast in bed?"
"And we made you a card!" Cherry piped as she dragged in the giant card.
The card was bright pink with a pop-up heart reading, "Happy 10th Anniversary!" The triplets opened the card to reveal a pop-up drawing of the five of them and a message on the left side saying, "To the best parents in all of Equestria!"
"Aw!" Pinkie said again. "You girls are such sweetie pies!"
"Though did it have to be so early?" Red Shoes asked tiredly as he glanced at the clock that read six a.m. "And on a Sunday too."
"We wanted you guys to have as much fun on your anniversary as possible!" Blueberry declared.
"And to do that, you have to wake up extra, extra early!" Cherry chimed, bouncing on the bed.
"After all, your anniversary is the most important day of your lives!" Raspberry insisted. "Next to your birthdays, of course. But if you guys hadn't gotten married, we wouldn't exist! So it's like...the birthday of our birthday!"
The light orange stallion with red hair shook his head with smile. "They really take after you, honey." He yawned. "Can't we do this in a couple hours though?"
He laid his head back on his pillow, only to be reawakened by a sharp blow to his shoulder.
"Get up, Sleepy Head!" Pinkie commanded. "This is no time for naps! Our girls worked hard on this! Besides, it's our anniversary! We should enjoy it, not sleep through it!"
"Okay, okay!" Red Shoes cried, sitting up. "What have you got to eat, girls?"
The Tri-Pies squealed as they rushed to the cart.
"We made you eggs," Blueberry said, "sunny-side-up, the way you like them."
"And toast," Raspberry continued, "with butter!"
"And your favorite juices! Orange for Daddy, pineapple for Mommy!"
"We got you blueberry muffins," Cherry listed, "poppy-seed muffins, banana nut muffins..."
"What's under there?" Red Shoes asked, pointing to the covered dish.
"Raspberry!" Blueberry exclaimed. "Drum roll, please!"
The magenta filly rapidly tapped her sticks on her snare drum (which seemed to have magically appeared in the room) as Cherry lifted the lid off the dish. Pinkie and Red gasped.
"You made Baked Alaska?!" the latter exclaimed.
"Uh-huh!" the three nodded at once.
"Found the recipe in one of Mom's cookbooks," Blueberry explained.
"We thought it would make your super special surprise anniversary breakfast extra super special!" said Raspberry.
"Hand me a plate of that, please!" Red Shoes insisted.
"Me too!" Pinkie exclaimed. "It looks delicious!"
Cherry cut them each a piece and set the plates and the two glasses of juice on a tray. They each took a bite. After a few chews, Red smiled in satisfaction while Pinkie Pie pressed her plate against her face and scarfed the rest of the dish down her throat. Her husband could not help but laugh.
"So what are you guys gonna do for your anniversary?" Blueberry inquired.
"Tell me you're gonna give Mom a gift, Dad!" Raspberry said. "You have to give her a gift!"
"Relax, cutie," said Red. "Your mother and I have dinner plans at Sugar Cube Corner."
Cherry groaned. "You guys go there every year! Mommy's going to get bored if you keep taking her to the same place all the time!"
"Nuh-uh!" Pinkie piped as she licked the eggs off her face. "Sugar Cube Corner is the most romantic place in the world to us!"
"It's where we had our first date," Red explained as he put his hoof around his wife.
"I thought your first date was at Daddy's magic show," Raspberry said.
"That's where we first met. I didn't ask her out until a few days later, a decision that would change my life forever."
He gave Pinkie a quick peck on the cheek before returning to his meal.
"This is really good, girls," he complimented. "I wouldn't be surprised if you got cutie marks in cooking."
The Tri-Pies gasped and eagerly looked at their flanks. They waited for a few seconds before hanging their heads in sadness.
"Aw, bummer!" Raspberry exclaimed.
"Don't feel bad, girls," their father said. "You still have plenty of time before..."
"Maybe we didn't try enough recipes!" Cherry screeched.
"Let's bake some pies!" Blueberry suggested.
"Which flavor?" Raspberry asked.
"All of them!"
The triplets zipped out of the room, leaving their parents flabbergasted. Pinkie Pie chuckled.
"Don't we have such wonderful children, Red?"
"Indeed," her husband agreed. "Though did they have to be triplets?"
"You're right." She grinned slyly at him. "We should have more of them!"
She slid her hoof around him, only for him to pull away in panic.
"Never mind! Three's enough!"
"How's the blueberry pie?" Raspberry asked.
Blueberry took a nibble of her pie and grinned. "Yummy! And the raspberry?"
"Yummy in my tummy!"
"How about you, Cherry?"
"See previous answer!" Cherry chimed.
"And our flanks?"
They glanced at their rumps and, much to their disappointment, found that they were still blank.
"Hey!" Cherry exclaimed. "What if our talents aren't in pie making, but pie eating?"
"Pie eating contest!" Blueberry shouted, folding her hooves behind her back. "No hooves! Go!"
They dunked their heads in their pies and started munching. In less than a minute, they simultaneously lifted their messy faces up.
"Who won?" Raspberry asked.
"I think we're tied," Blueberry said with a sigh. "Again."
"But do we have our cutie marks?" Cherry wondered.
They looked at their behinds and groaned.
"I don't get it!" Cherry exclaimed. "Why don't we have our cutie marks yet? I mean we're good at cooking, eating, throwing parties, roller skating, skateboarding..."
"Maybe that's the problem," Blueberry suggested.
"What do you mean?" asked Raspberry.
"Maybe because we have so many talents, our cutie marks can't decide on just one."
Red Shoes then entered the room and glanced around at the messy kitchen.
"Now what happened in here?"
Raspberry sighed. "We were baking pies."
"And then we tied for a pie-eating contest," Blueberry grumbled.
"And we still don't have our cutie marks," Cherry groaned.
"Oh, girls," Red chuckled. "I told you. You still have plenty of time to get your cutie marks. You'll find your special talents eventually."
"But we already have so many talents as it is!" Blueberry insisted. "You've tasted our cooking, you've seen us throw parties, you've seen us battle changelings with confetti cannons! If those aren't special talents, I don't know what is!"
"Ooh!" Pinkie Pie squeaked, bouncing into the room. "Maybe your special talent is breaking the fourth wall!"
The triplets scrunched their noses and said, "What?"
"Here, I'll show you!"
Their mother turned to an empty space. "Hey, you! Yes, you on the computer! I'm talking to you, Brony! Or Pegasister, depending on whether you're a boy or girl. That's right! I know you're reading this!"
She tapped on a wall that did not appear to be there. The Tri-Pies looked at each other in confusion.
"Mom, who are you talking to?" Raspberry asked.
"The readers!" Pinkie replied. "Our audience! The people reading every single detail of our daily lives! Can't you see them on their little computers, reading the words describing everything we say and do?"
The triplets raised their eyebrows.
"You feeling alright, Mom?" Blueberry inquired.
Cherry moved her hoof in a circular motion beside her head. Their mother sighed sadly.
"Oh, well. I guess you three don't have the gift. Too bad."
"Daddy, what's she talking about?" Blueberry asked their father.
"Don't question it, girls," Red Shoes replied. "Now back to your cutie marks. I'm glad you're all enthusiastic about them, but what makes you think you'll get your cutie marks in the same thing?"
"Why wouldn't we?" Raspberry inquired.
"I mean we're triplets!" Cherry exclaimed. "We're exactly the same! Well, except for our colors and names. Why shouldn't we have the same talents?"
"Girls, girls, girls," their father said, shaking his head. "Just because you're triplets, doesn't mean you're exactly alike. For instance, Blueberry, you..."
Blueberry gasped as she glanced at the calendar. "It's Sunday! Our library books are due today!"
Cherry and Raspberry let out equally dramatic gasps and the three of them zoomed out of their seats. Red Shoes stared at the empty chairs and sighed.
"They never let me finish."
"Next time, you should mention frosting," Pinkie suggested. "That always keeps my attention!" She licked her lips and sighed dreamily. "Creamy, delicious frosting..."
Gemstone squinted at the words on the page, trying to decipher their meaning. After a while, she slammed her hoof on the desk.
"Auntie Twilight!" she called. "I can't figure out what this word is!"
Twilight put down her books for a moment and went over to the unicorn filly.
"Which one?"
"All of them!" She buried her face in her hooves. "Isn't there a spell that can just cure dyslexia?"
The alicorn shook her head. "I'm afraid not, Gem. However, I did just find a spell that is designed to help ponies with dyslexia. It temporarily translates all the words on the page into pictures, but only you will be able to see them, so you must tell me if it works. Do you want to try it?"
"Yes, please!" Gemstone begged.
Twilight glanced back at the spell book and then aimed her horn at Gemstone's History book. She shot a beam at it and the unicorn gasped as a moving image appeared above the book. She saw Princess Luna, who had just transformed into Nightmare Moon, and Princess Celestia battling for the throne.
"Oh, wow!" she marveled, leaning on the desk to watch. "Thanks, Auntie Twilight! Now I can get my homework done much quicker!"
The princess smiled. She knew that eventually, Gemstone would have to get around her inability to read, but until then, she needed another way of learning her lessons in order to pass her class.
The two of them jumped as the library door flung open and the Tri-Pies burst into the room.
"Are we late?" Blueberry asked.
Twilight chuckled. "Nope. You're right on time. Do you have your books with you?"
The triplets nodded and pulled their books out of their saddle bags.
"Did you enjoy them?" Twilight asked as she used her magic to place the books on their respective shelves.
"Uh-huh!" they nodded excitedly.
"Nancy Horseshoe is awesome!" Blueberry declared.
"I think Emma and Eadric are the cutest couple ever!" Raspberry exclaimed.
"And I can't stop laughing at Bitsie and Vanilla!" Cherry chimed.
"Then would you like to read more?" Twilight inquired.
They gasped. "There's more?!"
"Of course! The Secret of the Old Clock and The Frog Princess are the first books in their series, and I have lots more issues of Bitsie and Vanilla. Just one second."
Twilight levitated several books off the shelves and searched through them.
"Ugh," she groaned. "Things were so much easier when Spike was here twenty-four-seven! Ah! Here we go!"
She put the other books away, laying three out in front of the triplets.
"Nancy Horseshoe and the Hidden Staircase, Dragon's Breath and the second issue of Bitsie and Vanilla. Enjoy!"
"Thanks, Auntie Twilight!" the triplets said before turning to the unicorn filly. "See you tomorrow, Gem!"
They squealed as they carried their books out of the library.
"I swear," Gemstone said, "those three might as well be one pony!"
On their way to Sugar Cube Corner, the Tri-Pies bumped into Fluttershy.
"Oh!" she exclaimed. "I'm sorry, girls! I didn't see you there!"
"That's okay, Auntie Fluttershy," Cherry said. "We weren't watching where we were going."
"Auntie Fluttershy," said Blueberry, "what do you think our special talents are?"
The pegasus blinked at them. "What a question! I think you three are all talented, adorable young fillies."
Raspberry gasped. "That's it! Maybe that's our special talent! Being adorable!"
Cherry rolled her eyes. "That's silly, Raspberry!"
"Yeah," Blueberry agreed. "What would some pony's cutie mark whose talent is being adorable even look like?"
"Us, of course!" Raspberry said, putting her hooves around her sisters.
"But we already know we're adorable! If that was our talent, we would've gotten our cutie marks ages ago!"
"I wouldn't worry about your cutie marks now," Fluttershy said. "You're only eight years old. I didn't get my cutie mark until I was a few years older than you. You just need to be patient."
Blueberry tilted her head in thought. "That's right. You were patient, and you turned out great."
"And you're adorable!" Raspberry added.
Fluttershy beamed. "See? Your cutie marks will come in time. For now, just enjoy being young."
They kept their smiles on until the pegasus was out of sight.
"Why does every pony keep saying that?" Raspberry groaned.
"Cutie mark idea!" Cherry chimed. "Maybe our special talent is hoof racing! Last one to Sugar Cube Corner is a squished tomato!"
"You're on!" Blueberry exclaimed.
They formed a horizontal line and crouched down.
"On the count of three," Blueberry said. "One!"
"Two!" said Raspberry.
"THREE!" Cherry shouted.
The three were off like rockets. Ponies had to hold onto something as the energetic triplets whizzed by. Pumpkin Cake nearly dropped the milkshake she had been carrying as they burst into the store and skidded to a halt.
"I won!" Cherry announced.
"As if!" Raspberry snapped. "I was way faster than you!"
"No, I was!"
"No, I was!"
"Girls, stop!" Blueberry shouted. "We tied! Again!"
"But did we get our cutie marks?" Raspberry asked.
They turned their heads around, only to see the same blank flanks. Meanwhile, Pumpkin Cake had regained her balance and set the large milkshake down between the pink, spiral-eyed mare wearing a propeller hat and the male changeling with blue cobweb-like hair.
"Sorry, about that," the waitress said.
"No problem," Screwball said with a shrug. "It's just the Tri-Pies being the Tri-Pies."
"So what is this?" the changeling asked.
"It's a chocolate milkshake. Sheesh, Mothball! Did you ever really get out of the hive?"
On the other side of the room, the Tri-Pies sat themselves down. Pumpkin Cake was about to take their order when she saw the sad expressions on their faces.
"Why so glum, chums?"
They simultaneously let out exasperated sighs.
"We can do a lot of things," Cherry declared.
"And we still don't have our cutie marks," said Raspberry.
"Well, what have you tried?" Pumpkin inquired.
"Baking, skateboarding..." Raspberry listed.
"Rollerblading, hoof racing..." Cherry continued.
"Break dancing, lawn mowing..." Blueberry added. "Lots of things! And we're good at them! So how come we don't have our cutie marks?"
"Wait," Pumpkin said. "Were you all expecting to get the exact same cutie marks?"
"Mmm-hmm," they nodded.
The unicorn giggled. "Oh, girls! The chances of that happening are pretty slim."
"But we're triplets!" Cherry insisted. "We're exactly the same! So we gotta have the same special talents!"
"Don't be silly. Just because you're triplets doesn't mean you're exactly the same."
"That's what Daddy said this morning!" said Raspberry.
"And he's right. Siblings are never exactly alike, not even twins or triplets. Take Pound Cake and me, for instance. He's a pegasus and I'm a unicorn. I like pumpkin cake, he likes pound cake. I prefer to wait tables, he prefers to stay in the kitchen. I played with dolls, he played with toy carts."
"That's different!" Cherry declared. "You two are boy and girl! We're all girls! And we're exactly alike!"
"It may seem that way now. You may be inseparable now, but when you grow up, your interests might change and you might take different paths."
"Nuh-uh!" they all insisted, shaking their heads.
Pumpkin Cake shrugged. "Okay then. Can I get you three anything?"
"Milkshakes!" they shouted.
"Alright. What flavors?"
"Cherry!"
"Raspberry!"
"Blueberry!"
The unicorn chuckled to herself. "Exactly the same, huh?"
As they exited Sugar Cube Corner, Raspberry looked sincerely at her sisters.
"Hey, guys," she said, "do you think Pumpkin Cake might be right about us...having different talents?"
"It can't be true," Cherry insisted.
"But what if it is? What if we do have different careers? What if we...drift apart?"
"That'll never happen," said Blueberry as she put a hoof around each of her sisters. "We're the Tri-Pies! Sisters for life!"
"Best friends forever!" Cherry exclaimed.
"Three of a kind!"
"Exactly the same!"
Raspberry smiled. "You're right. I don't know what I was thinking. There's no difference between us whatsoever."
The triplets hugged each other and then continued on their way home.
"Oh, I can't wait to read Nancy Horseshoe's next mystery!" Blueberry declared. "I wonder what that hidden staircase is all about? Maybe she'll find an ancient treasure or an escaped convict hiding out underneath..."
"Well, I can't wait to see what happens to Emma and Eadric!" Raspberry exclaimed while Blueberry continued to talk. "I hope they get married in this one! Ooh! What if they break the spell that was put on...?"
"I wanna see if Orange Top will finally choose between Bitsie and Vanilla!" Cherry chimed, talking over the others. "It's gotta be Bitsie, because she's a lot nicer than Vanilla..."
"Or maybe she'll uncover the stolen crown jewels or something!"
"It's called Dragon's Breath! So there's gotta be dragons in it! Ooh! I hope Emma and Eadric kiss again!"
"I mean sure, Vanilla's rich, but she totally takes Orange Top for granted! Then again, she's a lot funnier than Bitsie!"
"Well, whatever happens, it's going to be so exciting!"
"It's going to be so romantic!"
"It's going to be so hilarious!"
They stopped in their tracks, confusion spread across their faces.
"What were we talking about?" Cherry wondered.
Raspberry scratched her head in thought. "I'm not sure."
"Me neither," Blueberry admitted. "Well, I don't know about you girls, but I wanna get home and read my book!"
"Me too!"
"Me three!" Cherry said, crouching down low. "Last one home is a stuffed banana!"
The other two stooped to her level.
"On the count of three," Blueberry said. "One!"
"Two!" said Raspberry.
"THREE!" Cherry shouted.