“Twilight’s Party”
“Come on, come on!” Twilight chirped as she pulled Pinkie Pie down the street by the hoof she held. “I’ve set up a surprise party for your birthday and I want you to see it!”
Pinkie Pie giggled, punctuating it with a snort. “Sillypants, if you tell me about it, it’s not much of a surprise, is it?”
Twilight stopped mid-stride, causing Pinkie Pie to bump into her rump. Twilight didn’t notice; she was lost in thought, her eyes unfocused. “Huh. That hadn’t occurred to me.” She pursed and unpursed her lips, then brightened. “Oh well, now it’s just a regular party! Come on!” She bounded back into motion in the direction of the library, almost pulling Pinkie Pie off her hooves behind her. Pinkie Pie giggled again.
They halted in front of the library door. Twilight sat on her haunches and raised her free hoof to knock on the door in a complex pattern for a full five seconds. She turned to Pinkie and gave her a conspiratorial wink. “Clover’s Constant, expressed in hexadecimal. That way Spike knows it’s me, and that he needs to get ready for the surprise.”
Pinkie Pie covered her mouth with her free hoof to muffle her laughter. “Oh, Eggplant, you’re the cutest pony ever.”
Twilight cocked her head at Pinkie, visibly confused. “Thanks? Um, the surprise should be ready, so let’s go in.” Her horn glowed, and so did the door.
Inside, two presents and a small cake stood on the library’s central table, and Spike was nowhere to be seen. Twilight raised her head and called, over-enunciating each word, “Thanks for coming, Pinkie! Say, isn’t it your birthday?”
With a burst of confetti and a blast of the noisemaker in his lips, Spike leapt from behind the nearest couch. “Surprise! Surprise! Happy birthday, Pinkie!”
Pinkie looked around the otherwise-empty library, and her lips quirked in a grin.
Twilight saw it, and her face fell. “It’s not much of a party, I know. I’m no good at arranging this sort of thing.”
Pinkie sidled a step closer to Twilight and leaned against her. “You sillypants. A party with my two favorite people in the whole world? That sounds like a perfect party to me.” She motioned Spike over and gathered him into a hug. “Thanks, Twilight. Thanks, Spike.”
Twilight smiled and leaned her head against Pinkie’s. “Happy Birthday, Cupcake.”
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A/N: This was originally written as a warm-up exercise shortly after I’d written “Darkly Dreaming Pinkie,” so I still had Twinkie on the brain.