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Chapter 1 - Doozy in the desert1,222 words
Chapter 2 - Ponyville ponders2,410 words
Chapter 3 - A party for two4,223 words
Chapter 4 - Pinkie's party4,927 words
Chapter 5 - Evening Ponyville2,721 words
Chapter 6 - The perfect present5,233 words

Chapter 5 - Evening Ponyville

The night was falling fast on the town of Ponyville. It was never quiet while the hours of partying went down. If it wasn’t the conversations going on and the cheering, then it was the music that could be heard from miles away. As it head into the evening though, the fillies disappeared from the streets, much to their disagreement and protests. The kids had to go to bed at some point after all. Auntie Pinkie Pie didn’t let any of them go without a hug first though. There were ultimately no complaints about that.

Cheese Sandwich easily deemed the party one of the best he’s been at. Part of that was that everything was epic, as he would say. The other part was Pinkie Pie. She never left his side, figuratively. They spent some time apart, but for the majority of the party, she clung onto him a lot.

And he didn’t have any problems with that.

She did seem to go way out of her way just to make him happy though. Whenever he wasn’t feeling grand about something, she would move pass it. He didn’t understand it that much. After all, this party was solely set up for her, so she should be the one celebrating. She shouldn’t go out of her way for him when it was her time to shine.

Rarity was acting odd throughout a lot of the afternoon too. He surmised that it was to do with their small conversation at the punch table, but he still didn’t know what she was hinting at back then. Pinkie Pie still hadn’t approached him regarding... whatever it was. Whenever the pair of them was near the white unicorn, they’d be given nervous glances from her. She’d try to hide and blend in with the crowd, attempting to camouflage. It never worked, since her natural beauty stood out.

He tried conversing with her at times, and she would usually oblige, but he could tell she wasn’t comfortable. Whatever it was she had accidentally revealed, she must have been going through a guilt trip.

Pinkie Pie never opened her presents. Why not, Cheese didn’t know. His initial conclusion was that she was so pumped up from partying that she would wait the following day. The sheer number of presents also backed up that claim, although knowing Pinkie Pie; she’d probably tear her way through them all within a matter of minutes.

Watching Pinkie Pie show off her stuff in the middle of the dance floor put a smile on his face. She was a crazy dancer, full of energy. She didn’t even care if others saw her as dangerous or an animal. She did take breaks though, a few minutes to talk with others, or most of the time, Cheese himself.

It seems Ponyville’s DJ was Vinyl Scratch, a unicorn he’d seen and been associated with before. She was stationed in Canterlot years ago, but it seems she took her move to Ponyville. He always appreciated her music, so there was some nice catching up conversation.

Pinkie Pie’s friends also joined in throughout the entire party. They were the ones mainly in charge with setting up specific parts of the party. Many times after Cheese Sandwich went through warp speed with Pinkie Pie, they’d come into contact with one of them. It seems it wasn’t just Rarity that was suspicious. Applejack nudged him at one point, as if he was meant to know what it was for. All the cowpony did was raise an eyebrow and point at Pinkie Pie while they watched her devour an entire apple. He couldn’t see what it was supposed to imply, although he did find the action cute.

The night had come from the endless fun, and it was evident. The lights set up by the dance floor shone in the darkness, two large white set lights pointing towards the sky. If it wasn’t obvious that Ponyville was having a party, it would have been at that point.

He always liked to party in the evening. Sometimes, the night life gave him open space to think alone. He always appreciated company, yes, but sometimes he would sit and watch from the distance. Usually, he would set off in the early evening from the party, but he felt inclined to stay a bit longer for a friend.

And she was a pretty friend too. He couldn’t stop gawking at her when she was showing her stuff on the floor. Could it have been her tremendous confidence? Or did he just admire her wacky dancing skills?

He didn’t know, and he didn’t care either. But he loved her dancing, incomprehensible as it was.

She winked at him a few times from the floor, asking him to join her from far away. He wasn’t the best dancer around, but he had joined in a bit, blasting his cheesiness all over the dance floor, most notably his rubber chicken dance. Boneless Two unfortunately wasn’t up to par as well as Boneless. In the end though, he couldn’t keep up with Pinkie Pie’s crazy tempo, and he found himself quitting soon before long. He preferred to watch the mare afterwards, and she would give him suspicious looks. But they weren’t the bad kind of suspicious, they were more hinting.

The kind that might have given the message; “I know you’re watching me, and I know you love it.”

He wandered down the road out of Ponyville a while later from the constant dancing. He wanted to get a good look at the beautiful town that welcomed him so much, and what it looked like in the moonlight. He didn’t know how far away he had walked from the town exactly, but he had a nice vantage point to sit and think alone.

The two huge spotlights pointed towards the sky, gyrating in different assortments, the white light beams shifting in movement. The thumping of the music could be heard even from his distance, and the coloured lights gave the town a basking glow in the distance. It was beautiful.

In some cases, he would be in his getup, ready to move as soon as he finished watching the town, ready to make way. Other times, he just went there to think, before grabbing his things and making a move anyway. Spotting the pony of the hour in their personal haven of a party really made him think about how lucky they were.

His own birthday didn’t matter as much as others, at least not to him, and not to his parents either. It was only part of the reason he ran away.

The constant bullying and ignoring him at school. His parents always arguing. He couldn’t take it. The only one who ever remembered or knew it was his birthday was himself. The candles of the cake he made himself never got blown out that day. He doesn’t even know what became of it. His parents were still too caught up with each other to notice him slipping away.

Leaving his home on his birthday was always a reminder to him, and that point was exceeded when he came across Ponyville for the first time the day after. Always make the birthday pony happy. Seeing them happy made him happy, and he’s stuck to that ever since. And he owed it all to Pinkie Pie, the mare whose birthday he’s celebrating all these years afterwards.

He looked behind him, all of Equestria there, spread around the lightened town. It was dark, night covered the land, and only the whistles of the wind could be heard. It was late enough as it was, and he needed to make a move soon.

He turned back to Ponyville. The activity didn’t halter in the slightest. He would have to go collect his gear back in Pinkie Pie’s bedroom, so he certainly couldn’t dawdle. Figures of ponies appeared to him from the distance.

It brought a smile to his face. His destiny was one he was proud to have.

He rose up from the ground, ready to re-join the town. He took one look back into the veiling darkness. “Mum. Dad. I love you.” He brought up his hoof and kissed it, before blowing on it, sending the message across the night, hoping to reach the parents he hadn’t seen since that fateful day.

He waited a few seconds, staring into the night, before taking his move towards Ponyville.

The town grew, his thoughts growing as well. What was he going to say? He certainly wouldn’t want to leave without a word, possibly giving the birthday mare a kiss on the cheek if she would allow him, but parting was usually one of the hardest parts.

And this time, he found himself struggling to think of something. He didn’t feel like he wanted to leave. He was happy here; Pinkie Pie was a great mare to be around.

He couldn’t come up with an answer. He had stepped foot in Ponyville again before he even had a chance to think of something. The best he could think of was to let somepony know, preferably Pinkie Pie, so he could collect his things.

He approached the dancing scene. It was populated, both on the floor and around it. Some ponies were conversing with one another outside of the scene. Others on the floor were shaking their stuff. He was looking for his prize, Pinkie Pie, but she wasn’t present in the scene. None of the six mares her knew were. Hmm, he thought to himself.

He wandered down further down the street, away from the overabundance activity of dance. Sugarcube Corner was down the line, his first stop. Whistling to himself, he entered the gingerbread house, ready to pack up. He had a sudden flash of the image of Pinkie Pie fast asleep in her bed, underneath her covers.

He paused in his progress, the whistling coming to a halt, just to think about that. He couldn’t bust his way in there if she was asleep, he’d be violating her privacy. But just the thought alone of the mare and her cute ways fast asleep, her ears flopping with a few mumbles, the everlasting smile even whilst comatose, it made him flush.

He looked left and right. What was left of the gigantic cake was plopped in one corner. He was kindly allowed to have a slice of it earlier, and whoever made it must have spent weeks just preparing it. It had contained some hints of strawberry, signifying Pinkie Pie herself. And it tasted lovely. Even though the entire town attended Pinkie Pie’s party, not even half of the cake was gone.

The other corner contained the large round table with all the presents. It hadn’t reduced in size, rather actually increasing from some late-comers. He smacked himself with his hoof. He had gotten so caught up in partying that he forgot about the present. He had come to her party, effectively taken things for free, and hadn’t had the common courtesy to give the birthday mare a present.

He hated that, but there wasn’t anything that came to mind to fix it.

The main room of Sugarcube Corner was a bit of a mess. Popped balloons lay on the floor, many streams had fallen and there were remnants of food everywhere. A major clean-up would have to be instigated. It was part of parties that he didn’t like; he preferred the actual partying.

He could hear hoofsteps behind him. Another pony had entered the house of treats. He didn’t turn his attention, rather still inspecting the effort that will be required to clean up the place. The clip clops of the hooves got louder though; the pony was walking up to him.

“Cheese Sandwich?” a voice asked, easily drowning over the thumping music in the distance. He knew the voice.

“Yes?” he joyfully answered, turning around to spot the princess herself.

“We’ve been looking for you” the alicorn stated.

He titled his head to the side. “Me?” He pointed to himself. “Why?”

“Pinkie’s been worried about you. After you disappeared, she panicked, searching everywhere. She got us to assist her.”

Cheese’s eyes bulged out. Pinkie Pie had been looking for him? He did tend to wander off, always being alone with his thoughts, but Pinkie? Given her breakneck speed for hyperactivity, why didn’t he see her whooshing past either? He let out a chuckle, a thought occurring to him that Pinkie Pie had scouted all of Equestria within a matter of seconds.

Twilight smiled. “She’ll be glad to know you’re here though.”

“Why is Pinkie so desperately looking for me?” Cheese asked.

The alicorn stumbled for a moment, thinking of how to reply. “Uh... I’d rather not go into it” she tried to pass off, rubbing her temple with her hoof.

Cheese raised an eyebrow at the suspicious action. It was certainly familiar what with Rarity’s acting. It likely had something to do with whatever Pinkie Pie wanted to ask him.

“Hold on, I’ll get her,” Twilight said, now more confident. She walked over towards the open entrance of Sugarcube Corner, before raising a hoof next to her mouth. “Pinkie! I found him!”

As if on cue, a pink figure appeared out of nowhere from the calling. She jumped straight into Sugarcube Corner, before spotting Cheese. Her worried look quickly turned to one of relief and bliss. She threw herself forward, catching the stallion off guard, drawing him in a hug. “Cheese!” she shouted, sounding very elated, as well as worried, “Where were you?”

Cheese wrapped his hoof around the pink mare. “I was on the road. Just doing some thinking.”

Pinkie Pie broke from the hug, her smile fully back, relieved she had found him again. “I’m so glad you’re back!”

“So am I...” he passed off, shamed about what he will have to go through. Pinkie Pie seemed to go to extreme measures just to find him again, and he was back to tell her he was leaving. It would likely break her just to hear it, but he had his mental schedule to keep.

Neither of the party ponies saw Twilight quietly backing away from the scene, an awkward smile upon her.

“Come on!” Pinkie Pie shouted, before grabbing Cheese’s hoof and transporting him to her bedroom within seconds, another blurry moment for him. He had travelled by that so much throughout the party that he was pretty much used to it.

Pinkie Pie’s bedroom looked almost the same as when he left it. All of the party games were lodged in the corner, the party cannon up against a wall, as well as his clothes on the ground. He smiled, but also sighed; knowing his time with Pinkie Pie was coming to an end.

She happily bounced around her own bedroom, even jumping on her bed, giggling from the small shockwave she created. He didn’t know what she was getting at, but he found it adorable regardless. Somehow, Pinkie Pie lying on top of her bed, fluttering her eyelashes at him with her warm smile made him blush.

However, he knew it was time to go. He walked over to his gear lying on the ground, picking up the poncho. “What are you doing?” he heard Pinkie Pie ask. He turned his head, Pinkie Pie looking confused. He smiled in response, wanting to make the parting as positive as he could.

He sighed again, before fully picking up the poncho. Pinkie Pie heard the metal pin clinking as it ruffled around. She tilted her head when she saw the small badge. Immediately, she launched herself towards the poncho, picking up the badge with her hooves. On it, the numbers presented on it made her eyebrows rise, before she flat out gasped for air.

“Cheese, what is this?” she asked him, clearly seeing the number twenty one on the badge.

Author's Note:

What's this? Has Cheese dun goofed? What will happen?

Well, there's one chapter left.

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scoots2

scoots2 #1 · Jun 8th, 2014 · · ·

Twenty-one? Hmm.

One reason I'm enjoying this is the way you're portraying Cheese as a bit of an introvert. Maybe more than a bit, and I've always thought that was spot on. It's one thing that makes him distinctly different from Pinkie, who wants to shut down the party and only then so she can get to the after-party.

And yes, I'm looking forward to see what happens next!

JDPrime22