"Wait, what did you say!?" Pinkie asked suddenly, interrupting Cheese from a long spiel about a conversation he had had the day before.
"Hmm? I said I told her that I wonder if anypony remembers what kind of cake is my favorite since I might want one on my birthday next week," he replied in one breath. Pinkie looked stunned. Cheese wondered if he'd said something wrong. "Erm...Pinkie? Is everything o--"
"YOUR BIRTHDAY IS NEXT WEEK!?" Pinkie cried out, looking almost mortified, "Why didn't you tell me? How am I supposed to plant you a birthday party if I don't know it's your birthday? Should it be a surprise party? No, no it can't be since I just said it out loud, because then you would already know anditwouldn'tbeasurpise...." Pinkie began to ramble, her words starting to run together. Cheese listened for a short while before looking around. The way this was going, she would be babbling for hours, unless... Ah ha! The party pony grabbed a cupcake and stuck it in Pinkie's mouth. She stopped talking instantly and instead hummed contentedly at the sweet taste in her mouth.
"Yes, Pinkie, my birthday is next week. Sorry for not telling you, I guess my own party is the one I don't really think about as much..." He shrugged slightly. "If you don't have enough time to plan my party, you don't h--" His sentence was interrupted by a cupcake being shoved into his mouth.
"Oh, no! Don't even suggest that! I am going to plan you a birthday party, mister!" Pinkie giggled, hopping to her feet, " And since this is your birthday party, I'm not gonna make you do any work."
"What?" Cheese asked, "But Pinkie, I'm a party pony! Planning parties is what I do!"
"Well then, you get to take a little vacation. Believe me, I can handle this one." Pinkie smiled, her head already racing with a million ideas that she wanted to incorporate into his party. It had to be perfect! This wasn't just anypony's birthday party, after all. It was Cheese's! Humming happily, Pinkie bounced to SugarCube Corner, ignoring the complaints that the other pony was yelling at her.
"Oh, come on, Pinkie! I just want to help!"
--cheese--pie--
Pinkie was hard at work preparing for the party. Her hair was even more of an unkempt mess than usual, but a determined smile was set on her face. She had to do this. She had to give Cheese Sandwich the best birthday party ever! And speaking of Cheese...
"Pinkie, please! Just let me do something!"
Pinkie thought for a minute before turning to him. "Actually, there is something you can do for me. You can't answer a question."
"A question?" Cheese raised an eyebrow and looked at her, perplexed as to what exactly she might want to ask him.
"Yes, a question!" she affirmed, grinning, "What kind of cake if your favorite?"
"Oh...it's funfetti..."
Pinkie squealed at his answer. "Oh my gosh! That my favorite too! Sure, the other flavors are great, but funfetti..."
"It's like...." Cheese thought for a minute. "It's like a party in itself, but it's inside a cake! And there are so many colors!"
Pinkie agreed wholeheartedly with that statement, and showed that agreement with a vigorous nod that ended abruptly when she realized that she needed to get back to work. She pushed Cheese out of the front door of the bakery and closed the door. "Cheese, you and your adorable flank need to stop distracting me!" she mumbled to herself as she returned to her preparations.
Cheese frowned as the door was shut in his face. He heard Pinkie's muttering on the other side and blushed when he heard 'adorable flank.' However, after a few seconds, he realized that she probably didn't mean for him to hear that and quickly trotted away, making sure to remember that she didn't know he'd heard. Not that he would ever bring up his own... 'adorable flank' in any conversation.
"Well, what am I supposed to do if Pinkie won't let me help with the party?" he asked himself, "Hmm....maybe I should start planning a Thank-You party for her, since she's planning my birthday party for me...." He smiled. "Yep! That's exactly what I'll do!" He ran off to find his giant party canon. He'd need it. After all, if Pinkie was working as hard as she seemed to be, Cheese figured he was going to need to give her an extra special Thank-You party...
--cheese--pie--
By the time his birthday rolled around, Cheese was so immersed in planning the Thank-You party for Pinkie that he didn't realize it was his birthday. He was just finishing stuffing all the things he was having at the party into his party canon when there was a knock on the door. Cheese was staying at Sweet Apple Acres, so there was no way Applejack was going to let him miss his own birthday.
"Cheese Sandwich! Y'all better get your flank over to SugarCube Corner! I expect we're both already late. What have you been doing in there anyway?" Cheese somehow managed to shove the party canon under the bed as Applejack opened the door.
"Oh, you know...party things..." he said, dropping to his low drawl. Applejack quirked an eyebrow at him and shook her head.
"You party folk are a strange bunch..." she muttered, chuckling, "No offense intended, of course."
"None taken, little filly," he replied, grinning playfully, "Now then, we'd better get to that party. I can't wait to see what Pinkie has planned..." He felt a bit of color flow into his cheeks as he said her name.
Applejack noticed and laughed. "You know, I'm glad Pinkie has somepony so much like her to hang out with. Sometimes, I feel that us other folks just can't keep up with her the way you can." She gave him a friendly nudge. "You two really are perfect for each other."
Cheese's face flushed a darker, and he looked away. "Umm.... We have a party to go to, don't we? I wouldn't want to be any later than we already are..." the colt said quickly as he rushed out of the room. Applejack trotted after, a slight smirk set on her face.
"Redder than an apple at harvest time..." she muttered, chuckling.
--cheese--pie--
"Happy birthday, Cheese Sandwich!" Pinkie giggled, hopping up to her fellow party pony. Cheese looked around in awed silence. The pink mare had really outdone herself. There were decorations everywhere. Streamers, balloons, confetti! There was a game of pin the tail on the pony and a huge piñata that was shaped like Cheese's cutie mark.
"Wow, Pinkie...." he said, unable to keep a huge grin from gracing his face, "This is incredible!" Though, in Cheese's opinion, the party wasn't nearly as incredible as the pony who'd thrown it for him. He pulled Pinkie into a tight hug, which she returned. Then, quite unexpectedly, Cheese found himself crying.
"Cheese? Cheese Sandwich, what's wrong?" Pinkie asked. He sniffed softly and gave her a watery smile.
"No one has actually ever thrown me a birthday party before...." he mumbled, and Pinkie gasped in shock.
"That's terrible!" The very idea was horrifying to her.
Cheese shook his head slightly. "It's really not so bad... I'm partying almost all the time anyway, so I definitely haven't missed much..." He blushed slightly. "But this is very special to me. Thank you so much, Pinkie..." He kissed her on the lips, causing a few other ponies to stare at them. "You're my number one party planner."
"And you're mine," she replied, smiling, "No, come on! We have a whole lot of party left!" She dragged Cheese over to the dance floor, where they danced and sang to some of their favorite songs. Then, everypony played games and talked for awhile. Cheese felt honored to know that this amazing party had been planned just for him. All the ponies looked so happy.
"Hey, Cheese!" Pinkie said, smiling, "I have something for you..." Curious, Cheese followed the pink party pony away from the main party.
"You have something for me?" he asked, "What is it?"
Pinkie giggled, "You have to figure that out yourself!" She pulled a box from what looked like thin air and handed it to him. It was decorated with a bright blue bow.
"Wait, you're giving me a present?"
"Uh huh," Pinkie replied, nodding, "After all, it's your birthday! Go ahead and open it!" She waited eagerly and Cheese untied the bow. The box sprang open, and a small cloud of confetti sprang out and rained down on the both of them. Cheese looked into the box and pulled out a tiny little party canon on a string. He looked at her, a little confused.
"It's a personal party canon, just in case you need something to make you smile," she explained, smiling at him.
"Wow, this is amazing, Pinkie. Thank you so much!" He hugged her. "I really can't ever repay you for this party..."
Pinkie giggled, "Oh, Cheese, you don't have to! The necklace and party were gifts! You don't need to give anything in return except a smile." Cheese blushed a bit and thought about the party he had planned. Maybe he should save that for another occasion...
"Hey, Pinkie, when's your birthday...?"