//------------------------------//
// Favor Five 
// Story: Pinkie Pie's Bass 
// by MegaTJ 
//------------------------------//


Favor Five


Exactly eleven days had followed the spectacular night of the meteor shower. Having no memory of what happened, Strings disappointed everypony by leaving their questions completely unanswered. Other than that, everything was going just fine. He was adapting to Ponyville life comfortably, and exchanged letters with his mother regularly. He learned more about baking the more he taught Pinkie Pie the ways of the bass. The pay he was getting from the Cakes for his part-time service helped him get a place to stay. Roseluck had rented out one of her one-bedrooms and adjusted the monthly rent so that he could meet it. Despite the new, small distance between him and Pinkie Pie, their friendship didn't falter one bit; they constantly visited each other and often times had sleepovers.

Pinkie Pie was currently on her fifth day of planning for her love confession. She wanted it to be just like her parties: loud, flashy, and unforgettable. The only thing about her want of perfection was just that. It had to be perfect. Unfortunately, there was something she feared would mess up the big reveal and would have to take five steps backwards, losing the original two she would manage to gain before. Twilight had tried several times to reassure her that just telling the colt would be just as memorable and effective as a flashy party, but the pink mare would have none of it. She just had to make sure that she did everything she could to ensure that he would have the same feelings.

Today, however, was proving to be one of those days where she couldn't think of a single thing to move the plan along. Instead of frying her brains like an egg, she decided to go check on Strings, who she hadn't seen all day. Both were currently free from the Corner, and they usually met up at the crack of dawn to hang out. Today was a little different. She was too busy planning for the morning to go see him at the usual time, so he was probably still sleeping in.

She had no idea that Strings was busy planning something of his own. Inside his house, he was busy moving all of the furniture that came included when he signed the lease. He had been working endlessly since four in the morning, leaving him already tired in spite of the sleep he had gotten. No pony was around to lend a helping hoof, which is exactly the way he wanted it. A returning favor didn't count if he didn't do it alone. Well, the important part that is. He had the Elements of Harmony assisting him with keeping Pinkie away until it was finished, and various other ponies to help him get small things set up.

"Grr…" he grunted as the biggest couch gave way to the pressure his hooves were putting on it. "Magic would make this so much easier…" Regardless of how much strain it put on his body, Strings refused to use any of his magic energy to aid him. Not until he was sure there would be enough left for the most significant part of the plan.

Knock knock…knock knock knock!

The blue stallion froze. Quietly, he crept to the door. If it was Pinkie Pie, then he could pass off ignoring the door as sleeping in. To his relief, he saw Mr. and Mrs. Cake in the peephole. He opened the door to quickly let them in. "Did you bring what I asked for?"

They nodded and dropped off their pans and cookie sheets on the counter in his kitchen. He eyed them to make sure nothing was missing. When he was positive they didn't fail him, he gave the Cakes a thank you hug. "You have no idea how radical this is of you."

"If it's for Pinkie Pie, then we don't mind even a little", Cupcake replied with a smile. "When do you plan to finish? It would be nice to see the look on her face."

"I'm shooting for three this afternoon…if not, I'll be pretty close." He rubbed the back of neck. "There's just a song full of work to sing here…"

"I'm sure you can finish before then, Strings. You have a work horse inside you, for sure!" Mr. Cake gave the colt a pat on the back. "We'll see you later."

He nodded to the backdoor. "Don't want Pink seeing you and asking questions, you know?"

They nodded in comprehension, and once it closed, Strings locked it back. He gazed over the destroyed house. "Sweet Luna, I'm going to be tired later…"


S


Outside, Pinkie Pie was just about to give the red door to Strings's home a knock. Her hoof was just grazing the wood before her name was called out. She turned to see Twilight waving her over from the library.

"Pinkie Pie! Over here!"

Knowing how groggy Strings could be in the morning, Pinkie decided to let him sleep in a little longer to find out exactly why her favorite librarian was getting her attention. She bounced happily to the unicorn. "Hey, Twilight, great morning, huh? I was just about to wake Strings up, but then you called my name, so what's up?"

"I was just wondering", Twilight said. "If you were almost done planning to tell Strings."

She shook her head. "Not yet. I'm so close, but I just can't get it perfect."

"Would you like some help?"

Another shake of Pinkie's head. "I hafta do this by myself Twilight. It's my heart's feelings remember?"

Twilight nodded. "I remember. Well, in that case do you want a book to help? I just got some new arrivals." She brought a mental hoof to her face. Great plan, Twilight. A book will definitely distract her from Strings.

"No thanks, Twilight, but I do have to return those cookbooks before they're overdo! I need to go get them before I have a fine and a bad reputation for checking out books. What if I get put on a list? Then I'll never get to check out another book again without signing a contract or something!"

She figured an explanation about the paranoid hypothesis would only undermine her original plan to stall Pinkie Pie for seven hours, so she didn't say a word. She expected her friend to bounce back to her room in Sugarcube Corner, but should've known better. She watched in irritated amazement Pinkie Pie reach around and pull her books from a place she couldn't see.

"Here ya go, Twilight!" She presented the three books out to the librarian, who took them inside, leaving the door open for Pinkie Pie in hopes she would follow her. Twilight was relieved to hear the door close followed by a trailing set of hoofsteps. Twilight guided Pinkie Pie to the desk in the back of the foyer. She took her time signing out the cards in the books' pockets. Pinkie Pie left her to go find another book to check out. That was probably the best thing she could have done for Twilight. "That's one hour down", she sighed. "It's a good thing Pinkie Pie is always indecisive about which books she wants."

She could hear Pinkie's bounces echo from the fiction wing. They traveled from one end to the other and back again. Twilight had just finished the end of her initials on the first card when she heard Pinkie Pie comment on a book she had found. The bouncing continued through the room. Twilight yawned. She wasn't used to waking up so early on a Sunday.

It was a good thing Pinkie Pie overlooked the fact that the library was supposed to be closed. She would've been instantly suspicious. Twilight heard another comment, followed by more bouncing. "And now we wait", she half-giggled.

And wait she did. Pinkie Pie always limited herself to three books a library visit, and that last book always managed to find a ton of competitors to fill the spot. Twilight ended up taking a small nap by the time Pinkie Pie found the book that shined above the others. When she found Twilight was no longer at her desk, she bounced to the top floor to the mare's room. To her surprise the unicorn wasn't in her bed. She searched the whole room, even in Dream Runner's bed to make sure Twilight didn't accidently lay down there.

Back downstairs, she heard the distinct sound of a unicorn's snore, and found a passed out Twilight on the cold floor behind her desk. She giggled. Twilight sure was silly for falling asleep so late in the day. Behind her the clock chimed nine in the morning. Regardless, she still picked the mare up and carried her to the empty bed upstairs. Once Twilight was under the star and moon printed blanket, Pinkie Pie left the second story again. She stacked her books on the corner of the desk and happily bounced out into Ponyville.

The sun had just finished its assault on the morning dew, leaving her hooves with the satisfaction of a dry ground. Strings would definitely be awake by now. He always complained at how the sunlight would fill his room every morning, making it difficult for him to sleep in. He would probably be up, and if not, he would be asleep on his couch. She made the short distance to his door and was just making her second attempt to knock when again her name was called.

"Pinkie Pie!"

She turned and was surprised to see Rarity trotting up to the house. "Heya, Rarity! Whatcha doin out?"

Rarity took a deep breath. "I've been looking all over Ponyville for you, Pinkie Pie. When I saw that you weren't present at Sugarcube Corner, I was afraid that you might miss the chance to, er…sample a few new dresses I've just finished."

"That sounds great, Rarity! I'll just get Strings and he can play music like in a fashion show!"

"NO!" Rarity shouted a little louder than intended. "Er, I mean, are you sure you would want to wake him after the performance last night? He should catch up on his rest, don't you think?"

Pinkie Pie mulled it over. He sure did stay up late last night to attend—against his fears— Gummy's birthday party. He played some great songs to commemorate the day the alligator hatched. Then she kinda felt bad for wanting to deprive the stallion of his much needed sleep. Refusing to say anything about it, she merely left the porch to walk with Rarity to the Carousel Boutique. "What kinds of dresses are they?"

As the white unicorn explained to her what she would be trying on, Strings was adding tons of festive ornaments to the walls and furniture. The streamers and confetti pouches lined the ceiling in awesome shapes that he was sure Pinkie Pie would love. Upon taping the last streamer to the corner of the room, he rushed into his kitchen. In the oven, his masterpiece wasn't even close to burning. "I'm so paranoid. But it would be a horrible solo to play if I burned it to a crisp."

Knock knock knock!

He crept to the door and found one Derpy Hooves in the peephole this time. He opened it and she nearly fell in when she leaned in to give the door another series of knocks. "Whoa, gotcha Derpy!" He caught the mare just as she fell forward, saving the floor from a faceplant.

"Thanks, Strings. I gotta letter from your mom!"

"Thanks", he said, levitating it from her.

She saluted him, as always, and flew off to deliver more of the off-schedule Sunday letters. He closed the door, placing the letter on the counter in the kitchen. He checked the oven again, and found that what he was baking made no progress since the last time he checked it. He decided to take a break from the manual labor and read his mother's letter. In her neat hoofwriting, he saw that she had written exactly what he wanted to see.

Dear Strings,

Your father has just finished what you wanted to give Pinkie Pie. We'll send it to you when it is noon in Ponyville. Be sure to keep your magic aura unhidden so we can pinpoint your location. On a side note, we both think you're very sweet for doing this for her. It's too bad we can't travel out to be there, but you have our thoughts with you. As your father would say: rock out, son.

Love, Harp Strings

"Three hours until then. I won't be ready to perform, but that'll be great. I'll be able to wrap it." He placed the letter inside the table drawer with the rest of them. Following the instructions his mother sent, he cast a spell on himself to make his magical presence visible to all magic-using ponies in Equestria. He went on to finish what he started with the house. He thought he was finished decorating, until he saw that there wasn't nearly enough pink hanging from every surface.

While he attempted to finish the decorating, Rarity attempted to keep Pinkie Pie in the Carousel Boutique as long as she could. They were on the third dress, and Pinkie Pie was already beginning to itch with the desire to get out and see Strings. She had never been more than a night away from the stallion, so twelve hours was eating away at her to the point of taking a dress off before Rarity could get a good snapshot with her new camera.

"Pinkie Pie? Is something the matter?"

"Sorry, Rarity, but I have to go see Strings", Pinkie Pie said as the last of the dress was shaken loose. "What if he's looking for me? He could be worried that I'm not at Sugarcube Corner and if he's worried he could go crazy and something might happen to him!"

Even though she knew that Strings was perfectly fine, her love for romance and all things alike just couldn't let Pinkie Pie stay. Especially since this was Pinkie Pie's first time in love. She did nothing to stop the mare from galloping out of the boutique so fast she forgot to say goodbye. "I hope letting her go won't compromise the entire point of keeping her away from Strings's home", she sighed. She glanced at her clock. She had only managed to stall Pinkie Pie for forty-five minutes. "Oh, curse my weak heart!"


S


Pinkie Pie knocked as frantically as she could on the door of the best bass guitarist in Ponyville. She knocked for three full minutes nonstop before her hooves began to sting. Not a sound was made during that time, or even the two minutes she spent giving her hooves a rest. "Oh, he has to be awake now, right? He doesn't sleep in this late, right?"

She kept questioning the invisible pony beside her until a Pegasus came to her mental rescue. "Hey, Pinkie Pie!"

She turned her attention to the sky, where Rainbow Dash was busy waving at her. Pinkie returned the wave, somewhat hoping Rainbow was just passing along and wasn't going to be another distraction from Strings. Unfortunately, the latter rained even more on her parade. "Hey, Pinkie Pie, I came up with some new moves yesterday, and I need somepony to come make sure I don't mess them up before I perform tonight!"

Pinkie Pie glanced at the door, then to her best friend. "Can it wait, Rainbow Dash? I wanna see if Strings will want to come too."

"After last night", Rainbow laughed, "You'll be lucky if he wakes up by the time I fly tonight!"

"He's never slept so late before, though…" Pinkie Pie was beginning to become depressed with worry and guilt. She walked, once again, away from the door she desperately desired to go through.

"Hey, don't worry, Pinks", Rainbow Dash said cheerfully. "You'll get to see him today. Let the guy sleep."

The pink mare mustered a smile for the Pegasus. "O-okay, Rainbow Dash! You're right! Who likes to be woken up before noon after such a hard night, anyway?"

"That's what I'm saying! C'mon, let's go to the usual place!" She flew off to the practice meadow she had used since she first moved to Ponyville, leaving Pinkie Pie to bounce after her.

Before she left the sight of Strings's home, she turned to looked one more time, yearning to go back. A twinge of guilt came back with the thought of returning to the porch, causing her to sigh with sadness. She set off again for the hill, but this time didn't bounce. She just didn't feel like being bubbly without Strings around to see it. Depression was a foreign emotion to Pinkie Pie, only having ever felt it once or twice before. When she looked around, everything didn't look as bright as the sun was making it out to be. The air wasn't crisp or peaceful, nor was the sky blue. Everything could be wrapped up with just one word. "Strings-less…" Pinkie Pie whispered with a pout.

When she got to the hill she normally watched Rainbow Dash practice, the blue mare was already showing off her skills to the clouds and trees. She saw Pinkie down below and instantly her showboating meter skyrocketed. She put everything she had into looping, swooping, zooming, and Sonic Rainbooming through the air.

Pinkie Pie was only barely paying attention to the crazy stunts her crazy friend was doing. She could only think about how the feeling inside of her that usually was warm and fuzzy was now empty and cold without her crush sitting beside her. The want to go see him wasn't even present anymore. He would only be sleeping and not wanting to be disturbed. Eventually, Pinkie Pie's gaze drifted from the sky to the grass at her hooves. She was pretty sure that she was so the opposite of happy that her mane fell in response.

If Rainbow had been keeping an eye on Pinkie Pie, she would have seen the depressed mare stand up and wander off. Her gaze remained on the ground as she walked back into the now fully awake Ponyville. The first few ponies didn't see her walk by, but as she got farther along, some of them were surprised to find she didn't return their greetings or even acknowledge their existence.

"Hey, Pinkie Pie!" chirped Roseluck happily as she walked by. When she didn't get a response, a red flag went up in her mind. She turned and was quickly trotting beside Pinkie Pie. "Hey, Pinkie Pie."

To spare her feelings, Pinkie Pie finally said something. "Hi, Rose…"

"What's up, Hun? You don't look so good", Rose said with concern.

Pinkie Pie turned her head away from her friend. She didn't reply.

Rose sighed. "Hey, if you need to talk about something, you know I'm right here for you."

Pinkie Pie nodded absently, the words barely meaning anything to her. She kept walking, vaguely aware that Rose was still walking beside her. Tears threatened to spill from her eyes, so she hid her face again. No pony should have the displeasure to see Pinkie Pie cry. It was just so wrong in her mind.

Rose knew she had to get Pinkie Pie to talk somehow, but she didn't even know where to start or what could even upset her. This was the first time she had ever seen a legitimately sad frown stuck to the Earth Pony's face. They kept walking until they happened to pass the home to her newest tenant. That's when it clicked. "Guy troubles?" Pinkie jumped. She didn't say anything, but still gave enough reaction for Rose to confirm it. "Did Strings hurt your feelings?"

"No…"

"Did he get a marefriend before you told him you like him?" When she got a confused, "how did you know?" look, she replied, "Pinkie Pie, you would have to be blind not to see it. Almost everypony knows."

"Even him?"

Rose laughed. "Except him! Haha! Strings is one of the densest ponies I've ever met!"

Pinkie Pie cracked a smile for Rose. "R-really?"

"Yep. Well, he's not dumb, but he can't see what's right in front of his nose", she giggled. "Is that why you're upset? He isn't picking up on your hints?"

Pinkie Pie didn't know what these hints were about, but she did know that they weren't the case. She shook her head with a sigh. Rose was actually beginning to cheer the mare up. She was close to regaining the light pink color her coat was meant to be instead of the gray tone it adorned when soaked in stress. "No, it's that after last night, he's just asleep and I—"

"Miss him?"

"Mmmhmm", Pinkie sighed.

"You know", Rose said, "That's one of the downfalls of love. Sometimes you do hafta be apart for a while. Don't worry, Pinkie Pie, you'll see him the second he wakes up."

"How do you know that?"

"Because you two are already as close as can be. He can't stand to stay off your tail even for a second."

Pinkie raised an eyebrow. Rose knew it was about the whole close thing she mentioned.

"You guys always hang out. I can't wait until you guys start dating", Rose explained, "You're so cute together!"

Pinkie Pie's cheeks slowly darkened into a blush. She giggled nervously as they finally came to a stop. "Thanks for cheering me up, Rose! I have to go wait somewhere for Strings to wake up. Maybe I'll go walk through the park or go see what Fluttershy is doing or maybe Applejack!"

"Heheh, you go do that, Pinkie Pie." Rose gave the mare a gentle pat. "I gotta get back to the stand. See ya later!"

They parted ways, leaving both mares with fresh new smiles. Pinkie Pie bounced her way to Fluttershy's cottage. Along the way she took in the bright sunshine and the tunes of the robins and blue jays preparing to head south for the upcoming early winter. Fluttershy's home came into view faster than she thought; it turned out daydreaming about what her first date with Strings was going to be like took a lot of time away from the trip.

In the yard of the animal sanctuary that was Fluttershy's cottage she saw a yellow stallion working diligently to drag a large bag of feed across the yard. "Hey, Day!"

He stopped to greet her in his usual, hesitant way. "…Hi, Pinkie Pie. You'll find Fluttershy inside." And with that, he returned to dragging the bag to wherever it was he was going to drag it.

She bounced on past and found herself inside the cottage just a few seconds later. It was brighter than usual, but that was only because Fluttershy left the windows open to help air the place out while she deep cleaned the inside. Pinkie Pie was just about to call her name when Day's kitsune beat her to it.

"Fluttershy!" the two-tailed ice elemental fox called from the kitchen, "Can I have the last cookie in the jar?!"

"Of course you can, Rime", Fluttershy answered on her way down from her room. She spotted her pink visitor in the living room and remembered what day it was. "Oh, Pinkie Pie! I'm glad you've stopped by. I was so busy getting started that I completely forgot to ask you if you wouldn't mind helping me."

"Helping with what, Fluttershy?"

"Well, since Day's working outside, I need somepony to help clean inside. That is, if you want…" While she waited for a reply, Fluttershy glanced at her clock. She only had to stall her friend for at most three hours. It sure was a good thing she had four hours of work left to do.

"I'm not doing anything right now, anyway, so sure I'll help you out", Pinkie Pie said brightly.

She couldn't see, but the yellow Pegasus sighed with relief. She didn't mess Strings plan up by forgetting to grab Pinkie Pie at daybreak.


S


"Finally!" Strings cheered. He levitated out the fully baked cookies. He carefully arranged them on a plate into a small tower. "Now I just have to wait on the cakes."

He walked through the rooms he was preparing for three. So far, so good…the balloons are ready, steamers are fine, and I just made sure the party ball is rigged right, so yeah, all good…

Just as he was sitting down to take a break, did something force him right back up. A tingle in his horn told him that a surge of magic energy was heading his way. He honed in on it until it was just over his house. He didn't have a chance to give it a Cushion Spell as all at once, it materialized in front of his eyes faster than he could react. Unfortunately, he received a little more than what he asked for when along with Pinkie Pie's surprise, a pink Earth Pony crashed to the floor with it.

"Sise!?" Strings screamed at the top of his lungs, "What the hay are you doing here?!"

When the mare managed to catch her breath, she responded in a daze, "I missed you too, dummy."

Strings facehoofed harder than he ever had before. "You just crashed in on my solo, do you know that?"

"If you had any idea how much I had to beg your parents to get me here you'd be proud", she said with a huff. "Anyway, I'm only staying for a few minutes, so get off my back."

"How do you plan to get back to Melodyville?" Strings asked in anger.

"Look, grouch, I'll get back. Can you at least say, 'Hey, Sise, missed you, how've you been and stuff'?" she retorted.

"You're so lucky we're almost family", Strings said. He left her to go check on the oven and cool his attitude down.

Sise decided to wander around aimlessly, and check out Strings's house. She liked the furniture and color, but didn't see anything remarkable about it compared to his parents' home. She came to a stop when she spotted a peculiar photo booth strip wedged in the frame of a larger picture. The bigger photo featured Strings and the pony that she had to assume was Pinkie Pie. They were smiling from ear to ear, with their hooves over each other's shoulders. The strip merely captured the two exchanging silly faces with the camera, except for the last one, where Pinkie Pie surprised Strings with a hug. The look of embarrassment was clear in the pink that covered his cheeks and nose. "It's about time that dummy moved on", she sighed.

"It is", agreed Strings, standing right behind her.

Sise set the frame down and turned to Strings. "She your fillyfriend yet?"

He showed no signs of embarrassment. Not even the lightest of blushes. "Soon", he said with a smile, "…hopefully."

"Well, getting off that subject, what's going on? Looks like you're throwing a party."

"Today's her birthday", Strings explained. "I'm making sure we celebrate it with a small bang."

"Not with that party ball you aren't", she said knowingly.

He gave the back of his head a good scratch. "Look, I gotta go icing a cake, just, uh…stand here and annoy the floor." He shot into the kitchen to hide his blush, leaving Sise laughing in his wake.


S


Fluttershy watched over the cleaning of her home. It was surprisingly easy to keep Pinkie Pie occupied with the chores. After one job was finished, she got started on another right after. She kept an eye on the time during the whole operation. Strings told them to hold Pinkie Pie until two-thirty. The arms of her clock were just coming around to read that time. It was time for her to hoof everything over to Day and get the blue jay out of dodge while she still could.

She gave him the signal from a second story window, then left through the back door when Pinkie Pie wasn't looking. The stallion trotted into Fluttershy's unusually large utility closet, where he found Pinkie Pie alphabetizing grooming tools on a shelf. He cleared his throat. "…Pinkie Pie. Fluttershy just told me to let you know she saw Strings walking by. She said he was calling your name as if he was looking for you." His lie got the reaction he was looking for. It seemed that she had just remembered Strings after almost three hours of work.

Pinkie Pie dropped everything in her hooves and sprinted out into the yard. She didn't see the stallion anywhere around and assumed he had already moved on to keep searching for her. Her instinct wanted her to go to Strings's, but he was looking for her, and wouldn't be going back there. She left for Sugarcube Corner, and was shocked to find it closed at the busiest time of the day. However, she was on a mission, so investigating why her place of work wasn't in business would have to wait. She took off for Vinyl Scratch's shop, and was disappointed to find he wasn't around. Using her Pinkie Pie Teleport ability, she covered all of Ponyville in just a few minutes. Unfortunately, whatever road Strings was using to look for her, it was one less traveled.

The more time she took to search, the more difficult it got to find him. It seemed that everypony she asked about Strings didn't know where the stallion was. No pony happened to see him despite him looking for her. She kept at it though, and soon found somepony she was sure to have seen Strings. She spotted Twilight walking slowly behind a building. "Hey, Twilight!"

The librarian flinched. She spotted Pinkie Pie trotting up to her from a good distance away, giving her plenty of time to stealthily hide the wrapped gift she was levitating into a bush. "Hi, Pinkie Pie. I had gone ahead and checked those books out for you. They're waiting in your room."

"Thanks, Twilight. Have you seen Strings around? I can't find him anywhere." Pinkie Pie bounced with anticipation, hoping that the mare had some good news for her.

"Have you tried his house?" Twilight asked.

"Why would he be there? He's supposed to be looking for me." Pinkie Pie was becoming impatient. Nothing was making sense to her at all now.

"He might have gone back there to see if you're looking for him." Twilight held her breath. It wasn't her best lie, but hopefully Pinkie's gullibility would fill that hole.

"Oh, what a great idea, Twilight! I'ma go look right now!"

Before Twilight's eyes could complete a single blink, the pink filly disappeared. She panicked, and using a surge of magic energy, teleported herself and the bush containing Pinkie's present to Strings's living room. She hit the floor rather hard, and was immediately helped up by several hooves. "Sh-she's on her way!" Twilight wheezed as her respiratory system recovered from the shock of the landing.

"Everypony hide!" Rainbow Dash commanded, turning out the lights to completely blacken the room.

Several tense seconds went by while they found what few places Strings had left for them after moving all of the furniture in the already small living room. It didn't take long for the echoes of Pinkie Pie's bouncing to come from the porch. She inserted Strings's spare key into the lock and turned it with almost enough force to break it off. She slowly opened the door, wondering why Strings would leave it locked if he was coming back here to look for her.

She flipped the switch and got a lot more than she bargained for when expecting the lights to come on. "SURPRISE!"

Five confetti cannons showered the mare with their payload followed by an earful of party blowers. After the several happy birthdays she saw that all of her closest friends, and her employers were present, but not the one pony she had wanted to see all day. "Where's Strings?" she asked seriously.

"To be honest", Twilight started.

"We don't know", Rainbow Dash finished.

"He jus' told us t' tell you t' pull this rope." Applejack held out the end of the rope connected to the party ball.

"'The party starts with this'", Pinkie Pie read on the note attached to the rope, "'See ya in a sec, Strings'."

"Go ahead Pinkie Pie", urged Twilight, "I can't wait to see what happens."

Putting all of the negativity she almost felt aside, she tugged as hard as she could on the rope. The party ball split in half, releasing a black mist into the room, darkening everything except the ponies waving it from their faces.

Fluttershy screamed and hid behind Applejack while Rainbow Dash took a defensive stance against the assaulting blackness.

"What is this?" Cupcake panicked.

No pony got to answer. The black around them became speckled with stars, planets, and other stellar objects then swirled around them before moving them through the universe. They all stopped hyperventilating to look on in awe.

"Incredible!" Rarity exclaimed, "I've never seen such magic before!"

"Welcome to space", Strings's voice echoed around them, "Beautiful, right?"

"This is a bit much for a surprise party, don't you think?" Twilight asked the space above them.

"You haven't seen anything yet." In an instant, the floor beneath the eight ponies disappeared, leaving them all floating around each other. "You guys ready?"

"Ready for what", Pinkie Pie giggled as she twirled upside down over and over.

The sound of a guitar chord boomed around them followed by his bass. The universe around them lit up brightly and faded with the sounds. "Happy birthday, Pinkie Pie." His voice disappeared only to be replaced with a mad dual solo and light show. The group collectively traveled through the stars and planets as his song went along. It wasn't as long as they would thought it would be before the universe stopped moving by. They quickly came upon an icy planet, where lightning shot from a high mountain. They flew along the surface then up to the top mountain to find Strings shredding alongside a pink pony with a mane and tail that hit the ground. They saw she was wearing a gold star in the direct center of her forehead. The planet moved so that they all landed directly in front of the rocking ponies. The effect of the artificial environment was beginning to wear off. Strings and Sise showed off their musical talents in five more chords before dropping the illusion and landing everypony back in the living room they started in.

They received an explosion of applause from their eight fans. They bowed with large smiles. "Thanks guys", Strings said, "But don't forget about Pinkie Pie, this is her day, remember?"

"You mean you did that just for me?!" Pinkie Pie shouted in disbelief. Her cheeks lit up with red when he nodded.

"Strings, how did you do that?" Twilight asked, "That's incredible magic!"

"Not magic", Strings said with a grin, "It's a little stage trick I learned a long time ago. I just used a little Fantasy Mist and tweaked it to tune into our guitars. Anypony can do it. The only problem is that I didn't use enough, so the tour through space was cut up a little. But we did pull it off, right?"

"Speaking of…" Rarity turned to Sise, "Just who are you? Are you of any relation to Strings?"

She shook her head. "Nope, just old bandmates. I'm Sise, meaning six." She held up her red and silver guitar. "As in a six stringed guitar."

Strings snuck away from the group as they conformed around Sise. "You like what I did for ya, Pink?"

She smiled bashfully and nodded. "Thank you, Strings."

"You're welcome, Pink." He cast a spell on the confetti poppers around the room and they all exploded into colorful shreds of paper. "Party time, everypony!"


S


Strings's plan came together more than perfectly. By the time everypony was tired, Pinkie Pie had opened all of her presents, had gotten to know Sise a little more—and thankfully hadn't got jealous of her—, started several dance offs, and engorged herself on every sweet thing Strings had spent the day baking. Chocolate still covered her mouth and chin from taking out a large slice of the cake. Strings was surprised to find out that he had baked it to perfection and even mixed the icing right for the first time since his baking lessons began.

Everypony but the he and Pinkie Pie had already left, leaving them alone to clean up as was Pinkie Pie's insistence. She just couldn't let him throw her an awesome party and not help clean it up. While he used his magic to vaporize the wrapping paper, she tasked herself with ripping the wrapping paper from the walls, furniture, and ceiling.

They had only partied until eight, but Strings didn't get the chance to catch sleep, so he was pretty beat. "Did you like Sise?" he yawned.

"Mmmhmm! She's so cool!" Pinkie Pie replied. "I can't believe you used to be bandmates!"

"Yeah", he chuckled, "Don't tell her this, but she's the little sister of the band. Back when we all played, we all called her Sis. It made her so mad because she's older than most of us!"

She laughed at his recollection, devising a way to bring it up in conversation with the guitarist later.

He obliterated the final pile of confetti before turning with another yawn. "Hey, Pink."

"Hey, Strings!" she announced, having appeared right into his face.

He flashed her half of his teeth with a smile. "Before I pass out, I got one more present for ya."

Pinkie felt her heart jump to her throat with a backflip. "What is it?"

"Hold out your hooves."

She did as he said and closed her eyes while she waited for her surprise. She wasn't prepared for the weight of what he pushed into her hooves. She almost fell to the floor with it, but quickly adjusted herself upright. She opened her eyes and gasped. Strings gave her a bass guitar. But it wasn't just any guitar. It was personalized just for her. The body and neck were the same pink as her mane. The strings were colored blue, just like her eyes. Her Cutie Mark was printed to the pick guard. Below the bridge was her name, engraved in perfect cursive and dyed with gold.

Strings was well pleased with himself. "I had my dad make it for you", he explained with the biggest of grins. "But the design was all me. It has a direct link to my magic channel, so everytime you use it, it'll be like we're playing together. Always."

Nothing in the world could have prepared him for what Pinkie Pie did next. She gently settled the guitar down on his couch, then immediately after launched herself at him. Her hooves hooked him around the neck, making it easier for her to plant a big kiss on his cheek. He froze, completely, unable to move away from the most wonderful set of lips that had ever landed on his left cheek.

Neither of them even so much as twitched during however long it was for Pinkie Pie to break the contact between them. Strings still stared back at her while she turned around in embarrassed success. It took only one action to give her the perfect opportunity to confess all of the feelings she had for him. She turned slightly, but didn't look at him just yet. "Strings, I wanna let you know that for a really long time I think I like you. And I want you to be my coltfriend!"

When she finally set his eyes on him he was asleep on the floor. The excitement had finally knocked him out. The sight didn't discourage her at all. "Looks like I'ma be telling you tomorrow then", she laughed.

She maneuvered the colt to his couch and threw a blanket over his snoozing body. She locked the door behind her as she took her presents and left for home, unaware that a flash of light had caused the colt to crash to the floor. When he looked up for whatever had just caused his back to hurt, he saw a red envelope fluttering down to him. The hair on the back of his neck stood up. He snatched it open and read threw it as quickly as he could. Then a second time before letting it fall to the floor. "Uh, oh…"