The Big Birthday Bash
When morning dawned upon her long awaited birthday, Flurry Heart sprang out of bed, and immediately began to get herself ready for the party. She been so excited to celebrate her special day that she barely got any sleep, and instead, laid in bed, waiting till she could finally get up. That time was now. And Flurry Heart was just bursting with enthusiasm over her special day. She went up to the large wardrobe and flung open its doors. At the bottom, there sat a box done up in curling bows and ribbons. The package had come to the castle from Carousel Boutique in Ponyville, with a note from Rarity.
It read:
Dear Flurry Heart,
The girls and I are delighted to be attending your sixteenth birthday party (especially Pinkie Pie who helped with most of the setup), and look forward to seeing you again. Here's and early birthday present from yours truly. Sincerely,
-Rarity
Flurry Heart smiled as she reread the note. Knowing Rarity, she had a pretty good idea that the present inside was lovely outfit that she designed. She set the box onto the vanity table, undid the ribbons, and lifted off the lid. She gasped as she lifted out the outfit inside.
It was a beautiful birthday ballgown, fit for any princess, made with shimmering jewel-tone fabrics. The gown had twos layers, first layer of the dress was made of a rich sapphire blue chiffon, and the second layer was shorter, made out of amethyst purple netting with silver patterns of delicate snowflakes. The bodice was also amethyst purple, with sapphire blue curlicues wrapping all around it, forming into little hearts and more snowflakes.
Flurry Heart pressed the dress up against her chest. "Thank you, Rarity." she whispered to herself. She put on the gown and studied her reflection in a full-length mirror. The gown was beyond perfect on her. She picked up the skirts, and twirled them around from side to side, laughing as she watched the fabric swish. But she wasn't done yet, there was still more left to do. At the vanity, Flurry Heart brushed out her mane and styled it into a large, beautiful bun high atop her head. Then, she lightly dusted her eyes with some white eye shadow and her lashes with a touch of mascara. And for the finishing touch, she placed her crown on, having it carefully nestled in front of her bun.
She grinned widely. Now, Flurry Heart was ready to kickoff her birthday on a good start.
* * *
After breakfast, Flurry Heart peeked into the kitchens to get a glimpse at the preparations for her birthday dinner, and finished packing up her suitcase, as she waited for the guests to arrive. And at long last, after what seemed like forever, one of the servants announced that Princess Twilight her friends had arrived. Flurry Heart immediately rushed out of the castle and saw her aunt and her friends, riding in a deep purple carriage with golden wheels, that pulled up a few feet away from where she was standing.
"Aunt Twilight!!" she cried joyfully. Flurry Heart jumped into her aunt's open arms and the two hugged each other tightly.
"Oh Flurry, I missed you so much." said Twilight. "Now let's have a look at you." The purple Alicorn pulled away and rested a hoof on Flurry's cheek, smiling warmly. "You've grown so much! It seems like only yesterday you were only a baby."
Flurry Heart smiled, her cheeks turning a light pink.
"Hey! Don't I get a hug too?" asked a low, teen-aged voice teasingly.
Flurry Heart and Twilight turned back to the carriage, where Spike had stepped off, grinning at the them.
"Of course, I would never forget you. uncle Spike!" said Flurry, hugging him as well.
Now that he was a teenager, Spike had entered a bit of a growth spurt, becoming a little taller and longer, but other than that, he was still the same old Spike that everypony knew and loved. "It's good to see you, Flurry." he said.
"Same here, I hope aunt Twilight hasn't been keeping you too busy back in Ponyville."
Spike scoffed. "Please, there's nothing a number one assistant like me can't handle." He folded his arms and puffed out his chest to show off, which couldn't help but make Twilight and Flurry giggle.
The rest of Twilight's friends stepped out of the carriage and went over to greet Flurry Heart.
"Oh,my!" said Fluttershy softly. "You look lovely, Flurry."
"She does, doesn't she?" said Rarity, looking Flurry Heart up and down approvingly. "I just knew that that dress would look simply ravishing on her! The perfect thing to wear to one's sixteenth birthday, whether a princess or not."
"You did a wonderful job, Rarity." said Flurry graciously.
Rarity smiled at her praise and batted a hoof. "It's a gift."
"Pfft! You think that dress is good, wait till you see what else we got you for your birthday." said Rainbow Dash.
Pinkie Pie suddenly jumped out seemingly from out of nowhere and added, "Yeah! And wait until you see all the super funtastic things that I've got lined up for today." She pulled out her trademark party cannon and showered everypony with a blast of confetti for emphasis.
Everypony couldn't help but laugh.
"Easy there, sugar cube." said Applejack to Pinkie. "There'll be plenty of time for all that, but first, do you mind helping me with some of these bags?"
"Okiee dokie!' sing-songed Pinkie Pie, as she went to help Applejack carry their bags and the presents they'd brought.
"Spike," said Rarity, fluttering her thick lashes at him. "Would you be a dear and kindly take my things inside?"
"Sure, no problem, Rarity." Spike reached inside the carriage and lifted out a trunk that Rarity had brought.
Twilight shook her head. "I still don't know why you had to bring that here." she said.
"Why, for emergency outfit changes, of course." said Rarity matter-of-factly. "One may never know when they'll need to change their attire. And I for one like to come prepared."
Some of the girls rolled their eyes while Flurry giggled. It was good to see some friendly and familiar faces again, and she couldn't wait to introduce them later to her new friends.
"Almost...got it...and, there!" cried Razzaroo victoriously. She'd been hard at work putting the finishing touches on her present to Flurry Heart, and now, it was complete. All that was left now was to wrap it. She'd gone through all her wrapping paper to pick out the right one to use, and had settled on light blue paper with a navy blue bow. As she finished tying off the bow on top, a knock sounded on the door.
"It's open!" she called.
The door opened, and in came Harmony and Kimono.
"Hey Razz, are you ready to--" Harmony paused as she and Kimono looked into Razzaroo's living room with wide eyes. The floor was littered with scraps of paper and glitter, the coffee table was covered in various art supplies, and the couch were Razzaroo was sitting was full of tape, ribbons, and wrapping paper. It was a big artsy mess.
"What happened here?" Harmony finally said.
Razzaroo grinned sheepishly. "Nothing, I was just...doing a bit of extra work on my present for Flurry." She lifted up the now wrapped present for the girls to see. "Do you think she'll like it?" she asked.
"I'm sure she will." assured Kimono. "Now, are you all set to go?"
"Yep!"
"Then let's get a move on." said Harmony. "We don't want to end up late to our new friend's party."
The girls nodded in agreement, and followed Harmony out and into the street, galloping toward Canterlot Castle. It seemed like they were going to make it as the girls approached the castle gates, until they were immediately halted by a pair of white Pegasus guards.
"Halt! Who goes there?" asked the guard on the left.
Harmony stepped forward and said, "My name's Harmony, these are my friends Kimono and Razzaroo." Kimono and Razzaroo gave friendly little waves to the guards as Harmony said their names.
"What business do you have here?" asked the guard on the right.
"We were invited to Princess Flurry Heart's birthday party."
"Oh really? Then show us the invitations."
The girls all pulled out their invites and handed them to the guards. The guards squinted at them, scrutinizing every detail on it.
"They appear to be authentic." said the left guard.
"But how did you come by these invitations?" asked the right guard.
"Flurry Heart herself gave them to us." said Razzaroo.
"Is that so? A likely story, how do we know you're not lying?"
"Um, well...the invitations! Doesn't that prove something?"
The right guard scoffed. "It proves that you're either good forgerers, or good thieves."
"Or that we're telling the truth." said Harmony pointedly.
"Then how come the guest doesn't mention you three?" questioned the left guard.
"Uh...last minute change?" said Razzaroo with a shrug.
The guards remained firm, not looking like they were going to let the girls in anytime soon. Harmony was starting to get a little annoyed.
"Look, Flurry herself invited us here, so why not go and ask her yourself if she invited us?" said Harmony.
"Now see here miss--"
"What's going on here?" All heads turned, as Princess Celestia began approached the guards.
"N-nothing, your highness." said the right guard bowing. "There girls here claim to have been invited to Princess Flurry Heart's birthday."
Celestia stepped closer to the gate, she looked at the girls intently, then asked politely, "What are your names?"
Harmony went through introductions again and explained how they'd given their invitations to the guards but they still wouldn't let them in.
"I see." said Celestia. She turned to the guards. "It's alright, let them in."
"Are you sure, princess?" asked the left guard.
Celestia nodded. "Yes, Flurry Heart told me that she invited her three new friends. They may enter."
The guards bowed once more and said to her, "As you wish, princess." The opened up the gates, and let the girls come through.
"Told you so!" said Razzaroo as she passed by the guards.
Celestia smiled graciously at them. "Welcome, to Canterlot Castle. It's a pleasure to meet you all." she said politely. Her eyes fell on Harmony, and there was a look in her eye that Harmony couldn't quite place. She shrugged it off. It was probably nothing. "Here, let me show you inside, everypony is assembled in the ball room. The party will take place there and outside in the garden."
And so, the three friends followed Princess Celestia, as she led them into the castle, not noticing her eyes occasionally flicking back to them.
The castle ballroom had been splendidly decorated for the party. High up near the ceiling, golden ribbons and streamers interwove with one another to form a canopy. Groups of pale pink, purple, and blue balloons had been tied to the backs of chairs, or set up as the centerpieces of the table that had been laid out. And on a separate table, there was a stack of presents wrapped in colorful paper and tied with big bows on top. Flurry Heart felt her heart bursting with happiness as she took in every detail of the room.
"It's...it's..."
"Super spectacular?" finished Pinkie Pie.
Flurry Heart nodded. "Yes." she said. "The only thing that would make this is even better is--"
The ballroom doors opened, Flurry Heart whirled around, and saw her parents, Princess Cadence and Shining Armor enter. Flurry Heart ran to them, crying out ecstatically, "Mom! Dad!" Cadence and Shining Armor opened their arms wide, and took Flurry Heart into a tight and loving embrace." Cadence laid a kiss on Flurry's head, while Shining Armor did his best to hold back joyful tears.
"How's my little princess?" he asked.
"I'm fine, dad." said Flurry. "I had a great time in Canterlot!"
Her mother let out a melodious laugh. "We can't wait to hear all about it. But first, there's a little something we brought you from home."
"Really? What is it?"
Her parents stepped aside to reveal their surprise. Flurry Heart let out a joyful and surprised gasp, as she saw her best friend standing there before her.
"Sparks!" she cried. The two hugged each other. "I missed you so much!"
Same here." said Sparks.
Sparkle Shine, or Sparks as she was mostly called, was a red-violet Unicorn, with an explosion of glitter for her cutie mark, and a flaming orange mane cut into an edgy pixie cut style, with her bangs brushing just over the top of her eyes. Even her tail had been cropped short.
"You didn't get too lonely without me, did ya?" asked Sparks.
"Well...maybe a little." admitted Flurry Heart. "Canterlot was fun and all, but it wasn't the same without you here."
Sparks smiled. "Aw, thanks Flurry."
"Hey, you're not starting the party without us, are you?"
Also entering the ballroom was a Unicorn family of three. Flurry Heart's crystaler, Sunburst, his wife and foalhood friend Starlight Glimmer, and their daughter, Morning Star. Morning Star had a light amber coat, a wavy crimson mane that parted around her horn, Prussian blue eyes, and a cutie mark of a golden six-pointed star (not unlike Twilight's) with a red circle in its center. She was younger than Flurry Heart by only a couple of years, but the two had known each other for as long as they could both remember.
Twilight chuckled at her old pupil, and said, "Of course not. We're glad that you could make it."
"Hey, Morning!" Flurry Heart greeted cheerfully. "How've you been?"
Morning didn't answer, she didn't even smile. Instead, she just walked right past Flurry as if she wasn't even there. But then again, it wasn't anything new. For some reason, Morning seemed a little "apprehensive" when Flurry was around. She assumed it must have something to do with the teasing at her school or something like that.
Twilight called upon eveyponys' attention and said clearly. "Now that it looks like everypony is here, let's get started on the festivities, shall we?" Spike took out a long to do list scroll and handed it to Twilight. "Flurry Heart and the girls will begin by playing some of the games Pinkie Pie has set up while--"
"Wait!" cried Flurry, interrupting her aunt.
"What is it, Flurry?" asked her mother with concern. "Is something wrong?"
"We can't start the party yet, my friends aren't--"
"Friends?" asked Shining Armor, looking a little confused.
"I made some new friends during my stay here." explained Flurry. "They've been so nice to me, and we've had a lot of fun together, I decided to invite them to my party. I wonder where they could be now."
"I think I mat be able to help answer that." said Princess Celestia, stepping into the ballroom, and with her were Harmony, Kimono, and Razzaroo.
"Girls!" cried Flurry relieved.
"We're not too late, are we?" asked Kimono.
"No, you all made it just in time." Flurry Heart ushered the girls inside and introduced them to everypony in the ballroom.
They bowed to the royal family and said politely, "It's good to meet you, your highnesses."
"The pleasure is all ours." replied Cadence.
Twilight cleared her throat. "Alright, now that everypony is here and accounted for," she gave and acknowledging nod in the threesome's direction. "Let's--"
"Let's get this party started!" shouted Pinkie Pie. Her party cannon let out an explosion of confetti that littered onto the ballroom floor, providing further decoration.
"I gotta get me on of those." Razzaroo whispered to Harmony and Kimono, who giggled when she told them.
"Come on girls, follow me." Pinkie Pie ushered the girls to follow her outside into the garden.
Twilight let out a groan and tossed her list aside. "Better luck next time, Twilight." said Spike, giving Twilight a pat on the back.
"Thanks Spike." sighed Twilight.
"Twilight," said Princess Celestia, stepping toward her, looking quite serious.
"Yes?" asked Twilight. "What is it, Celestia?"
"There's something I'd like to talk to you, Cadence, and Shining Armor about, in private."
Twilight gave a nod. "I understand, princess." Twilight excused herself from the ballroom, and went with her old mentor, her brother, and sister-in-law.
The castle garden had also been decorated with a few streamers and balloons here and there, but the girls were focusing most of their attention on Pinkie Pie than on them. The perky pink pony popped up in different places as she pointed to the plethora of party games she'd set up throughout the garden. Games like musical chairs, limbo, pin the tail on the pony, a pinata shaped like the Crystal Heart, balloon toss, and dozens of board games. Harmony chuckled to herself as she saw Razzaroo taking in every detail, no doubt formulating her own ideas to use for future parties.
"And since Flurry is the birthday filly," said Pinkie, winking at Flurry Heart. "She gets to pick the first game."
"Let's see..." mused Flurry. She looked from one game to the next, till she finally picked one. "How about we start with musical chairs?"
"Sounds good to me." said Sparks.
The rest of the girls, except Morning Star, clamored in agreement. They all went to stand around the chairs while Pinkie Pie manned the record player.
"Everypony ready?" The girls nodded. "Then...GO!" She fired up the record player, and the girls ran around the chairs. When the music stopped, Kimono was the first one out. She shrugged and went to sit on the sidelines. After a few more rounds, the winner ended up being Sparks.
"Great game, Sparks." said Flurry, shaking her best friend's hoof.
"Ah, it was nothing." replied Sparks.
"As the winner of musical chairs." said Pinkie cheerfully. "You get to pick the next game."
Sparks picked whack the pinata, which was won by Kimono, who used some very impressive stick-weilding skills.
"I learned a thing or two from big sis." Kimono had said shyly.
The next game that she chose was pin the tail on the pony, and it was won by Razzaroo. The game she picked was balloon toss, where you have to keep a balloon from touching the ground and passing it back and forth to the other players. The only other rule besides not letting the balloon fall to the ground, was that you couldn't use your hooves, only your head or muzzle. Harmony was about to join the girls when she stopped and looked over at Morning Star. The young mare was sitting on the sidelines, looking down at the ground and looking a little left out and lonely.
"Are you coming Harmony?" asked Razzaroo.
"I think I'm gonna sit this one out." said Harmony, turning and heading toward Morning.
"Suit yourself." And the new game began.
"Hey." said Harmony, crouching down beside Morning. "Are you okay."
Morning looked up in surprise. She then glanced back down at the ground and muttered, "I'm fine."
Harmony arched an eyebrow, not really convinced. "It must be pretty boring just sitting here by yourself, why don't you join us?"
Morning looked Harmony in the eye, she could tell that the Unicorn wanted to accept her offer, but when she gazed over Harmony's shoulder at Flurry Heart laughing and having fun, she frowned and said, "No thank you, I'm perfectly fine without needing to hang out with her."
"Then, do you mind if you and I play something?" asked Harmony.
Morning's frown faltered. "You want to play...with me?"
"Sure." said Harmony. "You can even pick out the game."
Slowly, a smile began to work its way onto Morning's face. "O-okay. How about, Magic and Monsters?"
"What's that?"
"It's this really great board game that my dad and I play sometimes."
"Sounds interesting."
From the pile of board games, Morning pulled out Magic and Monsters and explained how the game worked to Harmony before they began playing. Morning rolled the dice and moved her piece five spaces, and picked up a card. "You give a kindly hag a loaf of bread, earn 100 points." she read.
Harmony rolled and moved her piece. She picked up a card and read, "Lost in the enchanted forest, lose one turn."
"Better luck next time." said Morning, now on her turn. As they played, the girls began to laugh and enjoy themselves, making jokes about the different fates the cards gave them. Like when Morning's card read that a wood nymph cast a hex on her piece and that she had to move back three spaces, she said, "Pfft! Like I'd ever actually let a wood nymph hex me. It'd be foal play to just use a simple shied spell to deflect it, and a paralysis spell to keep the nymph busy."
"You sound pretty confident." remarked Harmony, moving her piece.
"Of course I'm confident. I'm at the top of my class in both practical and oral magic use, so it'd be easy to know how to subdue a mischievous wood nymph."
"Wow. That sounds pretty impressive."
Morning smiled smugly. "It is, you should see how impressed my teachers are whenever I ace my exams. The tell me that I've got a lot of potential in the field of magic."
"Your parents must be very proud."
Morning's smile dropped and she let out a sigh. "They would," she said. "If they ever bothered to notice."
"What do you mean?" asked Harmony.
Morning Star shot a hardened look at Flurry Heart, who was playing mouse trap with the girls. "That's what I mean." she said sharply, pointing a hoof at her.
"Flurry? What about her?"
"My dad was her crystaler, so he helped out in raising Flurry Heart, until I came along. Since then, we grew up together, she even tried to become friends with me...but that didn't work out well for me." Morning's voice took on a hardened tone. "You have no idea what it was like growing up with her! Everypony would fawn over her and talk about how wonderful she was. Ponies even tried to pretend to be my friend just so that I could introduce them to Flurry! Whenever she's around, everypony forgets about me, like I'm not even there." she sniffed and then looked away. "Even my own parents don't even notice me."
Harmony stared at Morning Star, taking in every word she said. "I'm sure that's not true." she said. "You're their daughter, and I'm sure that they love you more than anything."
"Sure, when you say it like that it sounds obvious." scoffed Morning. "Flurry Heart still tries to be my friend and is nice to me, but it's all out of sympathy. She knows that I can't compete with a princess like her and that being her friend will make everything okay."
"You mean, you don't have any friends?" asked Harmony.
"What's the point? For all I know, they'd probably just be pretending because they want something."
Harmony couldn't believe what she was hearing. She knew that she had to fix this, that she had to do something. "Then why not let me be your friend?"
Morning's head shot up and she looked at Harmony, wondering if she heard right.
"Huh?"
"You look like you could use one, so how about it?"
Morning eyed her skeptically. "I don't know." she said. "How do I know you're not joking or something?"
"Well, for one thing I'm already friends with Flurry, I don't really have much of an interest in magic, and you seem like a nice enough pony."
Morning was silent, not able to think of what else to say. Harmony extended her hoof and said, "So what do you say?"
Reaching her hoof out slowly, Morning took Harmony's hoof and the two shook hooves.
"Harmony, you gotta come over here!" Razzaroo called out from the other end of the garden. "Flurry Heart's gonna tell us about some of the things she did during her trip!"
"I'll be there in a minute!" Harmony called back. She turned to Morning Star. "You wanna come?"
Morning Star blinked in surprise. "Well...okay...I guess."
"Then come on."
Harmony and Morning Star went over to where the girls were sitting around in a circle, and listened as Flurry Heart began to tell them about everything that happened to her in Canterlot, pausing here and there to answer questions or to let the girls add their own comments about the story. Soon, the garden was filled with laughter and friendly chatting, as the girls relaxed and enjoyed each others company. And this time, Morning Star joined in.
Meanwhile, the Mane 6 (minus Twilight and Pinkie Pie), were having there own conversation, chatting and catching up on all that was going on in their lives back in Ponyville.
"One of my younger relatives is going to be coming to stay with me." said Applejack. "I can't remember if she's my cousin once removed or my niece twice removed."
"How wonderful!" cooed Fluttershy. "What's her name?"
"Apple Dumpling." answered Applejack. "Her parents thought it'd be a good idea to have her come to Sweet Apple Acres to learn the tricks of the trade, seeing how the farm's been mighty successful lately."
"Well, she's certainly going to be taught by the right pony." said Rarity.
"That's nothing." said Rainbow Dash. "I've been coaching this Pegasus colt, Lightning Blitz. He wants to become a Wonderbolt when he's older, so I've been helping him with his training."
"You mean the one Scootaloo introduced you to?" asked Fluttershy.
Rainbow nodded. "Yep! The kid's nice, and he's got a lot of potential. Pretty soon, he'll be wowing everypony in no time."
"What about you, Fluttershy? What have you been up to?" asked Rarity.
"Well--"
Fluttershy was cut off as the ballroom doors opened, and in came Twilight, Cadence, and Shining Armor.
"Twilight, you're back." said Spike. "What did Princess Celestia want?"
"I'll tell you later, Spike." said Twilight, seeming a bit anxious.
"Are you okay, Twilight?" asked Spike, concerned.
"Huh? Yeah, I'm fine. I'm just fine."
Spike knew that something was obviously bothering Twilight, but before he could keep pressing the subject, Pinkie Pie, Flurry Heart, and the girls all came in, excitedly talking to one another.
"Time to move onto the presents!" Pinkie Pie trilled.
Flurry Heart sat down at the table that held all her presents, with everypony else gathered around her. She picked up present after present, admiring each gift she received and thanking the pony who'd given it to her. After a while, there were only two gifts left on the table. Flurry picked up the smallest present, which was from Kimono, and tore off the paper. Inside there sat a silvery hair pin shaped like a snowflake, with two white tassels attached to it.
"Oh Kimono, you shouldn't have!" she squealed. "It's beautiful."
Kimono lowered her head respectfully in Flurry's direction. "I am honored you think so." she said.
Flurry set the hairpin gently aside, and opened up the last present, from Razzaroo. It was a thick book, when Flurry Heart opened it, she saw that it was a scrap book, filled with all kinds of pictures, from the girls baking together, to them hanging out at the theater, and even of them barreling down the street.
"This is amazing, Razzaroo." complemented Flurry. Then a thought hit her and she looked at the pony. "When and how'd you get all these pictures?"
Instead of answering, Razzaroo pointed a hoof down at the scrap book, and showed how it had a ton of blank pages for her to fill. "I make scraps books for all my friends, and for all the memories we make together."
"Thank you very much." said Flurry Heart politely. Her eyes scanned over the table and down to the floor. "But, where's Harmony's present?"
"My gift, is a little different." said Harmony, smiling at her. "After you complemented on my singing the other day, I thought it'd be nice to give you a song for your birthday."
"Ooh, a song!" squealed Pinkie Pie, clapping her hooves excitedly.
"Go on." urged Sparks. "Let's hear it!"
Harmony cleared her throat. And then, began to sing out in a clear, mellifluous voice. "Waves crashing down, splashes and ripples resound. Oh-whoa-oh. Where the flow ends what shall there be? A present is found down by the shore of the sea. Unlock the dooooor, you have the key. Oh nami oh! Oh nami oh! Nami oh! Que! Que! Que! Oh nami oh mi oh mi oh! Oh nami oh! Oh nami oh! Mi que que. Oh nami oh naaaa! Mi mi oh que que!"
Everypony began to sway in time to Harmony's singing, lost in its soothing sound. "Out past the door, opposite side, thrills are in store. Worthwhile and engaging, in that same way, the happiness which, just maybe, exactly what you are creating!"
Harmony's voice gained more volume as she began to sing the last verse. "Waves crashing down, splashes and ripples resound. Oh-whoa-oh. When the flow ends what shall there be? A present is found down by the shore of the sea, it's calling ouuuut! It's time to go see."
There was a moment of silence before everypony broke out into wild, enthusiastic applause.
"That was awesome!" declared Sparks.
Harmony smiled and blushed. "Thanks, it's my favorite song. I used to sing it all the time when I was little."
Flurry Heart was practically bursting at the seams, as she looked at her friends and family and smiled at them. "Everypony's gifts were so wonderful!" she said. "I can't thank you all enough. So far, this has been the best birthday ever!"
The party guests all clamored in agreement, the day truly felt like it was the best. And Flurry Heart felt like she couldn't be any happier than she was now.
However, unbeknownst to the party guests, they were being watched by two royal guards. "Looks like they're having a good time." said one of them."
The other nodded. "Yes, a shame we have to ruin such a festive occasion."
They both grinned wickedly at one another. "Oh well."