A New Kind Of Party

by Wolfie 03

XVII - General Raisin's advice

First week of July, 1005 A.D. (After Discord)

The sun was shining, birds were singing and there was a scent of sweets and sugar in the air. It overrode the smell of the garden where the contest was taking place. Solar guards patrolled around the circumference and mixed with the bakers who stood with their friends who were also invited. The judges, lead by the sun princess herself, walked to the last remaining contestants to taste test their creation.

The group of friends from Ponyville, their part over and their masterpiece eaten, explored the garden event. Pinkie and Twilight walked side by side, their fur brushing gently against each other. The unicorn was currently teasing the earth pony for having eaten the whole cake they had just worked on putting together.

“Would you like a taste then my little star?” Pinkie fluttered her eyelashes, inching closer to the other who laughed as she leaned back.

“No, I think you should keep it where it is.” Twilight turned away with a bright grin which turned wider when she noticed a specific guard trotting along the party goers. “Oh! Look, it’s Honor Guard. We should go say hi.”

As the unicorn turned away, smile firmly in place, Pinkie felt her own smile dissolve into a concerned frown. Her ears tipped back as she tried to keep her usual hop going. The pink limbs felt extra weighted, even as they tried to leave the ground in their usual flair.

The crowd murmur dropped away while Twilight’s words sharpened to almost painful. The gray stallion’s response to the greeting was deep and came out as an intelligible rumble. Sky blue eyes squinted, flashing dangerously. The guard’s gaze, floating away from the lavender mare, did a double take at the hostile glare waiting over the unicorn’s shoulder. The sharp crackle of Twilight’s voice broke off with a confused tone.

The air seemed to brighten when the purple orbs connected with blue. Pinkie felt her face reflectively stretched to a beaming grin. The world around the duo was marred only by the looming presence that continued to tug at the earth pony’s attention. Her voice, sounding oddly echo-y in the pink ears, came out naturally even as she couldn’t feel her jaw move.

“Hey Twilight! Why don’t you go see if the others’ want to do something?”

Twilight’s face lightened at the suggestion. “Sure! Be right back!”

Pinkie’s smile followed the lavender mare even while her focus and sharp gaze was on the stallion. His face attempted a smile only to falter as the world turned red in the earth pony’s eyes.

“Pre-emptive strike, now soldier now!” A brisk voice cut through the haze, startling the mare into action.

Hooves flying, Pinkie Pie tipped over a nearby table, allowing the platters of cupcakes (made for the just the guests) to fall around her. “You’ll never get us!”

“That’s the spirit soldier! Now, return fire!”

Pinkie stiffly turned to look to where the gruff voice came from. Beside her was a muffin hidden in colorful cousins. The raisin oatmeal creation hopped up and down, wrapper unraveling just a little in front as he spoke further. “What’re ya looking at me for!? Grab these soldiers and send them to the enemy!”

Following the raisin eyes, the earth pony found he looked at the various cupcakes that now littered the ground. She snapped a hoof to her forehead and saluted the treat.

“Sir yes Sir, General Raisin!” Pinkie scooped up the treats and started to throw them at the gray spot in the world of red hues.

A gray line rose up, followed by a cautionary shout of “watch out!” from the general beside her. The limb covered the top portion of the form, though it did little against the onslaught of confectionaries. The pink forehoof started to go numb, turning more robotic in its constant swing, and kept going even as she had to hop over for a new stack of supplies. The General came along with her, hanging on by a wrapper, continuously shouting advice.

“That’s it lass, aim for the head!”

“Sir yes Sir!”

“No no, we’re almost out ya ninny! Quick, move move move!”

“Sir yes Sir!”

“We got him on the ropes now, go for the big end!”

Pinkie tucked and rolled for the third table nearby where a large cake with cookies on plates around it sat. She didn’t notice the other, non gray blobs run, frosting and cake covering their fur. Her target was sitting behind a turned over table, waving it’s hooves about and muttering threats.

“Don’t listen to him corporal! He’s trying to confuse your non-unicorn mind and win this battle without using any energy!”

The earth pony gasped, hoof going to her mouth. “The fiend!” Scowling furiously, she smacked the edge of the table, sending its burden into the air. She watched, smirking darkly, as it soared up and over to the stallion. When he shouted in surprise, Pinkie hoof-pumped, eyes closed in triumphant. Another shout caused her to open her gaze rapidly once more.

The muffin jumped in front of her line of sight, the oatmeal standing up in agitation. “Civilian casualties! There may be some retaliation! Take further pre-emptive measures!”

The pink baker grabbed the remaining cookies and cupcakes before throwing in a wide arc. More shouting reached the tense, twitching ears. Her pupils shrank as it took in the area. Shapes began to difference themselves from the scarlet hue of the world. Their colors tinted with red, it was the vibrant baked goods that truly identified the others from the background. Each pony took on a menacing grin. Hooves, wings and magic lifted a counter volley.

“Uh-oh… Hit the deck corporal!” General Raisin shouted, hopping into the air.

Pinkie Pie threw herself down to the ground. When she noticed the gray guard ducking towards a non-threatened area, the pink pony leaped back up with another hoofful of projectiles.

“Oh no you don’t!”

-NKP-

Across the area, the five friends were just starting to head for the last of their group when a shout froze them in their tracks.

“FOOD FIGHT!”

They shared a bewildered glance that was tinged with concern. They rushed forward, the pegasi arriving first and had to drop down to the ground. The sky was full of pastries zipping around, making it dangerous for any trying to be in the sky. Twilight produced a half-shield, catching the majority of the projectiles while the group tried to find the last member of their group. Pinkie Pie was standing on the wide table, limbs full even as she threw desperately with a manic face.

“There she is!” Applejack’s voice and the accompanied point made the rest of the group rush forward, calling for the pink baker’s attention.

“Pinkie Pie! What’s wrong!?!”

The sharp, loving tones slowly inched through the red haze and dispersing it into a cool blue. The earth mare stiffly looked to the group, the lavender unicorn standing out the most. Her pulse slowed while her breath evened out.

“I’ve got this kid, you go to yer mare.” General Raisin swung around to direct more cupcakes which flung into the air to the enemy.

The earth pony gave the general a last salute and pounded over to her marefriend. Twilight gave a surprised grunt at the impact and lifted a hoof to wrap around the head that tried to bury itself into the purple neck. Pinkie Pie felt her limbs shake as adrenaline continued to pump through her veins. Her fur was on end and her mane was extra poofed out, tangling wildly as her organs did the conga line. The unicorn felt the motion and frowned, peeking at her other friends before dipping closer to a twitching ear.

“Pinkie Pie? Sweetheart, what’s wrong?”

The baker took one last deep breath and resurfaced, oblivious to the chaos that continued behind the group of friends. Sky blue pinpricks unsettled the others though it was the overly hyper and excited voice that caused them to close ranks.

“Don’t worry! Everything is A-OK!” Pinkie stood up straighter, grabbing a hold of the hoof that rested against her neck. “Come on! We’ve got HOURS before the train leaves for home. Let’s hit the town!”

Rainbow Dash came closer and whispered into Twilight’s ear. She flinched when her movement attracted a suspicious glare from the pink earth pony. “We should get out of here. If the food fight was started by Pinkie, we may get the Cakes in trouble.”

Twilight started to nod, looking at the mess they were leaving behind.

“Sugarcube, why don’t we head someplace more quiet for ya?” Applejack’s words were directed to the other earth mare but her eyes were looking towards the lavender unicorn.

The cool blue atmosphere around the hyper mare started to take on a tinge of red as Pinkie noticed the glance and how close the two were standing near Twilight. In the middle of the war zone behind her, she heard a gruff voice yelling.

“Stay alert! Evasive measures soldier!”

The pink hoof squeezed purple. Curious lavender orbs searched until locking with tiny pinpricks lost in a sea of blue. A wide smile was waiting for the librarian.

“Let’s do that! OK? We’ll meet everyone there!” With a strength she didn’t normally show, Pinkie Pie pulled her marefriend along through the garden party.

The friends stared in shock while the rest of the guests dodged out of the way. Once Twilight collected herself from the sudden departure, she kept pace, wanting to be somewhere private to talk with her lover. The others shared confused and anxious glances.

“Y’all gonna follow them?” Everyone looked at Applejack in disbelief.

“You’re kidding right?” The group exchanged another look before departing in pairs.

In their haste, they didn’t notice the solar princess trot up. Conjuring a moveable shield, she found Honor Guard talking with other guards who snapped to attention when they noticed the royalty. Princess Celestia acknowledged the guards before focusing on the heavily splattered soldier, frosting and baked goods dripping down his uniform.

“Honor Guard, I presume?”

“Yes, your highness.”

“Could you report what happened here?” The Princess turned to watch as the other guards broke up the food battle. The gray stallion saluted and cleared his throat nervously.

“Well, it uh, started with Miss Pie.” When he mentioned the element holder, Celestia’s head whipped around to watch the unicorn.

“With Pinkie Pie?”

“Yes, your highness… I don’t think she likes me near her or Miss Twilight.” He went silent as soon as he saw the slim white hoof lift into the air.

“Let’s continue this inside, why don’t we?” Princess Celestia strode quickly into the castle. Her face was an impassive mask, but years of service showed the cracks. When the alicorn hoofed over a towel for the guard.

“Please, continue when you can. Frosting can be hard to clean out.” She gave him a tiny smile which he dutifully returned.

“When Twilight visited the Starswirl the Bearded archives was the first I encountered this reaction from Miss Pie; though she didn’t throw anything that time…” As Honor Guard spoke, the Sun Princess’ face grew ever serious. Once he was done, she thoughtfully tapped her chin.

“This needs to be looked into. Would you be willing to do something that isn’t normally asked of our guards?”

Honor Guard snapped a hoof to his forehead. “Whatever you need!”

---

The world around the couple swirled with colors, changing from reds to blues to purple. Blue orbs tried to sift through it only to flicker to the unicorn who had a firm grip on her hoof. Tiny voices tried to get the hyper mare’s attention except that it was the unicorn who held her entire focus.

The world itself was reduced to blobs of color; moving ones had a slightly sharper outline, with eyes and limbs that seemed to trace over Twilight. A pink eyelid twitched. The nose, enjoying the smell of books and strawberries, pushed into the lavender fur, hurrying the mare along. Eventually the sharp, threatening shapes dispersed, leaving only the sounds of running water and birds as the landscape drifted into an unfocused mess.

“Pinkie Pie…?” The soft voice floated from a distance, causing the earth pony to sluggishly tilt her head to the direction it came from. Lavender orbs filled her vision. “Pinkie…? What happened…? Are you alright?”

The baker smiled lopsidedly. “Sure am. So long as you’re here by my side!” Pinkie dipped forward, burying her face into the other’s barrel.

Twilight raised a hoof and placed it behind her marefriend’s head. Slowly, she sat down, bringing the party planner with her.

“Ok… Just take deep breaths…” The librarian’s command, coming from afar to the still tense pink ears, helped to sooth some of the hyper mare’s nerves. Purple hooves stroked down the puffed out fur while a soothing shushing sounds further helped to calm the stressed out earth mare.

“Ok… Ok… Everything will be fine…” Twilight used their closeness to check on Pinkie’s heart rate. She continued her ministrations until it was stable, slow and steady. “What happened to cause the food fight…?”

The earth pony shuddered in place, her breath and heart hitching into an unstable rhythm. Like an old time film, memories arose, blocking out and replacing the calm environment around herself. Scenes and moments jumped, missing the fluidness of coherent thought. Eyes shut tightly, Pinkie spoke her thoughts as she looked back.

“He was trying to be a Cheaty McMeaner pants. He wanted it all. But he won’t get it. Not while I’m on the watch! And with back up too! General Raisin had my back. He was amazing! Giving orders left and right! The very cupcakes obeyed his command!” Pinkie opened her eyes, showing the sparkles in their depths as she spoke. “Even the brownies, usually very happy to sit in one big group away from everything else, leaped up to defend the Star of our heart!”

Twilight leaned back with a smile as she watched her marefriend re-enact the ‘battle’. The words, picking up speed with each passing breath, started to blur in purple ears. The relatively calm hyperactivity reassured the magical mare. Pinkie’s fur had it’s usual luster and her gaze, while distant, was clear. The earth pony began to act out moments of the general’s past. To avoid being hit with a sharp point, the unicorn scooted back, smile growing.

I guess everything is ok now. Must have been some kind of game. I wonder who she was playing with at first before it involved everypony. Bit by bit the unicorn calmed down her worries at the sight of the warm, wide smile on her marefriend’s face. Hopefully it wasn’t a whole lot to clean up. Maybe it was just a little too much sugar towards the end… I better keep her close in any case. Twilight blushed deeply as she started to plan the evening. For observation, of course.

---

The group of friends gathered back up at the train station. Everypony felt sharp relief when they saw Pinkie was back to normal. Applejack and Rarity weren’t going to budge about discussing what they had done for the past few hours, while Rainbow Dash pretended to sleep. Twilight leaned back in her chair. Her gaze stayed on the pink mare beside her who was describing animately the party for the Cakes’ successful entry.

The talk about parties reminded the studious mare of her calendar. And a special occasion that is merely nine months and twenty-five days away. And it’s never too late to plan ahead. I better start making a nice list of supplies. And I better make sure Pinkie doesn’t find out or else it’s all ruined!

They waved farewell to the others as they all went their separate ways. Together, Twilight and Pinkie went to the tree library, enjoying the setting sun on their fur. Their smiles were just as warm. Spike, seeing the duo enter, pretended to gag as he walked by. They smirked in turn and tackled him to the ground in sync, hooves reaching out to tickle his sides.

“N-noooo!” The drake tried to scramble away, only to find the two mares holding on tight.

“Surrender to the tickle ponies of dooooooom!” Pinkie cried out dramatically while Twilight laughed maniacally.

The three rolled around on the floor, laughing. Before long, they were out of breath and smiling widely. The lavender unicorn stood up, beaming, and checked on the shelving.

“Ok, now that ‘doom’ has been dealt, let’s see how everything is.”

“Sure thing! Everything is A-OK and cleaned.” Spike also stood up and snapped a salute.

Pinkie rolled over and watched the two librarians double check everything on the shelves. The soft sounds of their talking lulled her into sleep. When they were done catching up, the unicorn glanced to the center of the room and paused. She let out a soft gasp that cut off as she put a hoof to her muzzle. Spike frowned curiously. He opened his mouth to comment when Twilight jerked her head to the upper levels.

Silently, they trotted upstairs. The unicorn magically shut the door behind them. She then teleported a scroll and quill into the air and floated them over to the lad.

“Alright Spike. We’re going to try and order special items for Pinkie’s birthday next year. I’m sure if we try again, we can succeed at a ‘surprise party’.” Twilight held up a hoof, determination written all over her face. Spike rolled his eyes but held up the supplies in either case. “Ok, so write this down. Honor Guard said he could try to help, so we’ll be sending it to him….”

-NKP-

Pinkie giggled in her sleep. The low hum of magic and books moving all around added to the serene sense she had. She instinctively turned towards where the heat of both the unicorn and young dragon was. Hooves curling around the blanket that was apparently covering her body, the earth pony was drifting back into deeper slumber when there was a loud belch and smell of smoke and brimstone.

Huh…?

“Spike! Shhhhhhhhhhh…..!” The gentle voice tugged at the pink ears. The stress and worry lacing the words drew the sleepy mare’s attention.

“Sorry Twilight… Is it…?” The lad’s voice was muffled.

“Yes…!”

Twilight’s confirmation was the final string that pulled Pinkie into bleary awakeness. Her hooves and barrel felt like lead however, making it so she could only just peek out of one eye towards the two. They were huddled by the desk in the corner, a piece of parchment in a mulberry hue. The font was too small to be read at a distance. Seconds later, Twilight poofed the paper away and peered over her shoulder, checking on the party mare laying near the far wall. When she noticed the spot of blue among all the pink, the librarian gave a start and flicked her eyes to the ceiling before smiling to the sleepy mare.

“O-oh, hello Pinkie Pie. Did you sleep ok?” The lavender mare trotted over. She offered a hoof to help her mare up, which was drowsily accepted.

“Y-yeah…” Pinkie’s response was interrupted by a yawn. One hoof being held by the lavender one, the other went to her eyes to clear it from sleep gunk. “What was the letter? From the princess…?”

“Hmm? Oh, uh, no no, just a notice for the…” Twilight’s sight swept the room. “... for the library. Would you like to head upstairs? I’m sure the bed is a lot more comfortable than the floor. Though I did try.” The unicorn leaned closer, trying to find anything out of place on her marefriend. “Did it work? Is there any soreness or stiff back or limbs…?”

The earth pony gave herself a hearty shake, loosening and moving every muscle she had. “Nopey nope nope! I’m totally good. Though I may need to find a more comfortable pillow. Do you have anything in purple…?” Pinkie smirked teasingly to the unicorn who blushed at the question. To help demonstrate her plight, the baker rubbed her muzzle along the other mare’s body, testing it out. “Hmmm, I think this one should do just fine…”

Twilight laughed and nuzzled back. “Alright, that sounds like a well constructed plan.”

In moments, they were in the lavender mare’s room and in the bed. Pink hooves wrapped around the slimmer barrel and drew the magical pony closer. Pinkie could feel her muscles start to shiver and instead pulled them taut to hide her anxiety. Hearing the light laughter, the earth mare smiled even as her heart started to beat unsteadily.

Wh-what was in the letter…? Was it from ‘him’? Or maybe somepony else wants- wait a second. Blue eyes shot open. Taking a deep breath, she shifted closer, settling every nerve that tried to dance anxiously. My little star taught me just earlier today not to jump to conclusions! I’m absolutely dabsolutely positively sure it was a normal letter for the library.

Pinkie snuggled against the warm lavender fur, taking in the soothing scent she found there. Twilight hadn’t noticed anything during this time, having been conked out from the long day. The pink baker relaxed further at the knowledge there was nothing wrong with the star of her world.

---

Far away, on the edge of a mountain, beyond tall walls and wide moats, up winding stairs in the tallest tower, a gray furred guard snapped at attention. He lacked his usual uniform as he was off the clock but his orders trumped a time limit. The solar princess, lounging on her couch by the fireplace, had requested to see anything that arrived from Ponyville for Honor Guard and he was going to do his duty no matter what. The princess held the letter in her magic, gaze quickly scanning over the contents.

“Thank you for bringing this to me Honor Guard.” Gentle orbs drifted up to meet the stallion’s stare. “This will present a good opportunity to test the situation unfolding…”

Author's Note:

Part 1 of a two chapter upload. Kind of short, I know, but there wasn't much to it this time. We just... get to meet a new friend of Pinkie's... in this one.

Thanks to my editors for looking these over and making it even better with proper grammar!

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