How To Melt Cheese
The sweetest smell anypony ever experienced wafted into the dining room, where Nova sat expectantly in his high chair, drumming on the surface with his hooves and bobbing his head back and forth. Aunty Pinkie Pie and the silly yellow-shirted grown-up she was always with were looking after him today, and they were talking about planning something. Whatever that something was, it involved cake, and it involved him having a lot of it. The grown-up with the brown mane sat in the room with him, making funny faces that sent him into fits of laughter as the smell got stronger and stronger.
“Who wants cupcakes?” Pinkie called from the kitchen. Nova let out a babble of joy, eleciting a laugh from beyond the door.
“I think that’s a ‘yes’!” Cheese replied. He sped over to the door, opening it to reveal a cart full of differently-colored cupcakes with frosting that bore just as much variety. It wheeled its way in, pushed by Pinkie Pie covered in splotches of flour and frosting. “Are all of those different cake recipes?”
“Every last one!” She affirmed, pulling the cart up next to the high chair and bending down next to the little pony. “Now, Nova, you need to eat these one at a time, and not too fast! I want you to taste them, not give yourself a tummy ache. Okay?” Nova nodded enthusiastically, clapping his hooves together. “Okay! Here’s the first one!” She flipped one of the cupcakes into the air with her nose, catching it on her prehensile forelock and placing it on a tiny plate in front of the foal. An almost squealing noise of pure excitement escaped Nova’s mouth as he bent down, taking most of the cupcake in a single bite. He joyfully chewed on the treat, bringing his hooves up to his frosting-covered face with an expression of pure delight.
Cheese sat back in his chair, smiling at the little pony. “Does he even know what all of this is for?”
“I dunno!” She answered, bringing forth another cupcake. “It's not like he hasn't been to parties before.”
Cheese leaned toward the baby, putting a hoof on his smiling muzzle. “That’s true… But has he been to a Cheese party before?”
Another cupcake was presented to the tiny Prince as Pinkie turned to her party planning partner, a sly smile replacing her usual grin. “Are you thinking what I think you’re thinking?”
He tilted his head, giving her a similar look. “I think. What do you think I’m thinking?”
“Do you want to be the one to plan Nova’s first birthday party?” She pondered, getting closer to him.
Cheese’s smile widened to show his teeth. “Maybe.”
The distance closed further, the ponies’ noses making contact. “Have you ever thrown a baby's first birthday party?”
The stallion’s smile became a beam. “Nope! It's my first first birthday!”
The pair of party ponies turned their attention to Nova, who had since covered his face in six different kinds of frosting from the cupcakes he floated over. He let out a giggle at them, floating yet another cupcake over and taking a bite. “Oh, really…?” She put her hoof around the brunette, bringing her other hoof to tousle the foal’s mane. “Well, there’s a first time for everything!”
One delicious hour later, Nova's face was covered with lime green and pink frosting, crumbs of chocolate on the table beneath him. Pinkie looked down at the mess with her hoof on her chin. “Green and pink, huh? Okay!” She produced a notebook and pencil from her mane, jotting down some information before stowing it all away again and turning to Cheese. “Well, you’re the party planner! How’re you gonna plan the party?”
Cheese rose from his chair, presenting the Prince and the Pinkie with a wide grin. “First thing any party needs…” He reached over to Nova, tickling his belly to the point where his horn lit up and flashing them all into a clearing between the castle and the school. From beyond the horizon, a large red and blue cannon rolled into view. Behind it came an enormous wagon that was practically bursting with streamers and balloons, pinatas pulled behind like they were little animals. “EVERYTHING!!!” He ran over to a plunger that sat on a small hill, making ready to press down on it.
As the hooves touched the handle, a pink blur tackled Cheese. “WAIT!!!” They tumbled together for several feet, the pink pony pinning her companion down by his shoulders. “NO PARTY CANNONS!”
Cheese’s eyes went wide. “No…” He moved her hooves off of his shoulders to sit up slightly. “... party cannons?!” He brought his hooves to her shoulders, shaking her rapidly. “What do you mean, ‘no party cannons’?!”
Pinkie planted her hooves, stopping the shaking as she tilted her head in Nova's direction. She brought herself closer, putting her muzzle by the stallion's ear. “He's not good with explosions!” She whispered.
Cheese looked at the foal, who was hovering next to the barrel of the enormous cannon, taking a peek inside. “What about your party cannon? He didn't seem to mind that!”
Pinkie moved back onto her rump. “My party cannon isn't the Cheese Supreme Cannonball surprise!” She zipped over to a nearby bush, pulling her party cannon from within. “Besides…” She brought her cannon close to the flying colt, pulling the string and setting it off with an enormous boom. The sound rang through Nova's ears, widening his eyes and binding his wings to his side. He huddled into a ball, covering his eyes with his hooves as his horn flared up to surround hin in protective magic. As he drifted towards the floor, Pinkie held out her foreleg, bringing him close and pressing her face against the barrier. “Oh, it's okay, Nova! It's just Aunty Pinkie Pie teaching Cheesy-weezy something! You're okay…” the shuddering Alicorn opened his eyes, spotting his Aunty Pinkie making funny faces against his barrier. He let out a giggle, dousing his horn and the barrier with it. “There you go! Have a cookie!” She flicked her head to the side, sending her forelock into her mane to pull out a single donut-shaped cookie that was immediately snatched by a hungry mouth. He took the cookie in his hooves, munching happily as Pinkie turned to look at Cheese. “You see? Even my little party cannon spooks him when he's not ready for it!”
Cheese tilted his head at the little Prince, stepping up and poking his cheek. “Just like his papa, huh?”
Pinkie and Nova gave a simultaneous giggle. “Oh, you have no idea! The first day I even met Bolt and we brought him to Ponyville, I set everything up for a ‘welcome to Ponyville’ party and had the cannons and the guests and everything!” She rose to her hind legs, putting Nova on the ground and beginning to pantomime along with her story. “I set off the party cannons when he came into the castle, and he was all ‘AAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!’ AND He shot into the air and sent this huge gust of wind through the whole foyer that sent everypony flying into the wall! Except for Rainbow Dash, she powered right through it and started laughing. But then he just sat there on the floor, screamng about how sorry he was over and over and over!” She hugged Nova tightly, laughing to herself.
“Now that sounds like the Boltsinger I used to know!” Cheese noted, turning to his party equipment. “So I guess I should put some of this stuff away, huh?” He breathed a smiling sigh, pulling a button from his shirt and pressing it. After a loud buzz came the sound of an opening door, the large objects slowly rolling into openings in the ground. With another slam, he turned back to Pinkie with a weak smile. “So… Mind if I borrow some of your stuff?”
The bubbly mare lauged, lifting Nova with her tail and nestling him onto her back. “Of course you can!” She wrapped her foreleg around his neck, pulling him along. “Come on, Cheese! Let’s plan ourselves a party!”
“So, when exactly does this special birthday take place, anyway?” Cheese inquired. He bounced a smiling Nova on his rump while he hunched over in a vast cave full of balloons, bags of confetti, rolled-up streamers, and, of all things, file cabinets.
One of the file cabinet drawers opened up, Pinkie Pie popping out while looking over a folder. “Let’s see… Nova was born… The first year is always the most difficult to figure out! I think it was…” She hoofed her way through the folder, pulling out a calendar and landing on a date. “Aha! It’s in another sixty-eight days!”
Cheese's bouncing ceased, twitching his tail for the baby to land safely. “Isn't that more than two months?”
“Yeah!” She answered, jumping out of the closing drawer. “I haven't done a rush job like this in forever!”
Cheese rolled his eyes, hopping with his hind legs to send Nova airborne. He spread his wings, floating down to land on Pinkie's mane while the cheddar-coated stallion walked up to her. “Doesn't sound like much of a rush job to me!” He looked around the enormous underground expanse, an inquisitive smile forming on his muzzle. “How in the Ellington do you get all of this done, anyway? It’s almost like you’ve got enough party files here for all of Ponyville!”
Pinkie dove into an open drawer, prompting it to close as another opened, letting her pop out with another file. “And every member of my family…” She repeated the process, appearing from another drawer. “...and the Princesses…” Another note, another drawer housing the pink pony. … All my friends’ families…” Finally, another drawer opened, Pinkie popping out like a freshly popped kernel of corn. She landed on her hind legs with her forelegs spread, confetti flying out from behind her. “And some really special plans waaaaaaaaaaaaay down the line!”
“Wow!” He exclaimed, not even attempting to hide his surprise. “And I thought Twilight was organized!” He walked over to one of the open drawers, hoofing his way through the papers inside. “I never even thought to plan ahead like this. All I’ve ever done was just show up to a town and wing it!”
“Wing it?” She repeated. “How can you wing it when you don’t have wings?” She gave off a giggle that Nova soon joined in on. “Wouldn’t you have to ‘hoof it’ instead?”
A slew of silence seemed to overwhelm the party stallion, making him blink a few times in contemplation. After a moment, he let out a laugh of his own, slapping his knee as he fell to his rump. “I guess you're right!” After a minute, the laughter came to an end, letting Cheese wipe a joyful tear from his face. “Maybe trying it your way will be a good change of pace!” He made a beckoning motion with his hoof, bringing a babble from the baby as he flew over. “So, what do you wanna do next, little guy?” He brought his ear next to the foal's face, acting like he was listening intently. With a cheesy grin, he perked up some more. “Music and games, huh? Well, you are the birthday boy! Music and games it is!” He sprang to his hooves, tussling the young pony's mane as he disappeared into the depths of the cave.
Seconds later, the sounds of construction echoed through. The banging of hammers, the scraping of saws, the whirring of machinery, and some kind of crashing noise, sending inquisitive expressions onto Pinkie and Nova's faces as they looked at one another. Pinkie walked over to the colt, who began walking beside her in the direction Cheese had gone. “He sure is a wacky one, huh?” She asked, getting a swift nod from the diapered foal. She put her hoof on his back, pushing him ahead. “Well, all of this is for you! Go ahead and see what he's got!”
Nova reared up with a flail of his hooves and an excited whinny, going into a gallop as accordion music began to play. The deeper he went, the more intricate the song became, adding a bass drum and various wind and brass instruments to accentuate the main instrument. It was turning into a complex polka that started to influence how he stepped. He came to a clearing filled with numerous games. Pin the Tail on the Pony, Pinatas of all sorts of colors and shapes, a huge tub filled with apples to bob for, and an assortment of other games that Nova didn’t even recognize. In the middle of the room, the accordion in his hooves with an apparatus all around him that held instruments in place. He marched towards the foal, the music growing louder with every step as the young eyes scanned the room. There certainly were a lot of things there. Shapes and colors… and loud, complicated music… And bright streamers, balloons… and loud music. Nova slowed down as the older pony stood over him, the music continuing on almost incessantly. His ears began to ring louder than the music could manage, bringing a kind of pain to his head. So much stuff to take in. Too much stuff… He closed his eyes, barreling under the stallion’s legs and sending him into a pratfall that scattered his instruments all over.
As the party stallion made his landing, the party mare caught up. “What the…? Cheese, what are you doing on the floor?” Cheese lifted his head to reply, but found himself cut off by the sound of crying. Pinkie looked over her friend at the bawling baby, her face nearly going white at the sight of his now-glowing horn. “Oh no… What happened?”
“I don’t know!” Cheese stated, working his way to his hooves and following her gaze. “He just got in here and started fussing!”
“Oh… This is bad!” She declared, trotting in place. Nova’s crying grew louder as he clutched his head with his hooves, creating a barrier around himself. “The last time he got this bad he blacked out the sun!”
“He WHAT?!” He rushed over to the colt, pressing his face against the barrier. “Hey, little guy! It’s okay! Nothing scary here!”
The crying continued as the barrier began to expand. Pinkie looked into the barrier, seeing her honorary nephew curled up on the cave floor, eyes shut tight and crying with a force that carried from the barrier, popping the balloons in the room, one by one, to create more of a sound that she knew would only worsen the situation. She pulled Cheese from his position, turning him so as to look her in the eye. “Quick! Go get some flour from the kitchen!”
“Flour?” Cheese repeated, looking between the Prince and the Pinkie. “How the Halloumi is flour gonna help?”
Pinkie put her hooves on his shoulders, bringing her muzzle less than an inch from his while the barrier began to push against them. “Just trust me on this!”
Cheese lingered for a moment, seeing a maternal ferocity in her eyes that hadn't come out so clearly before. His body stiffened up, his hoof moving into a rigid salute. “Yes ma'am!” And with that, he rocketed off towards the cave entrance.
A moment later, the dairy-colored stallion returned, an enormous bag of flour hoisted over his back. Pinkie beamed, taking the bag and pressing herself against the barrier. “Nooooovaaaa~!” She started in a singsong voice. The colt sniffed in response, bringing his eyes to a squint. “Oh Nooooooooooovaaaaaaa~! Aunty Pinkie and Uncle Cheese have something to shoooooow yooooou!”
Cheese sent her a confused look. “We do?”
Pinkie glared back at him, reaching over and pulling him next to her. She brought her attention back to the baby, holding the flour high above her head. “Do you wanna see something funny?” Nova's cries began to quiet, replaced with soft hiccups as his eyes opened more. She sent him a wide grin, taking a step back with Cheese in tow. When they were in position, she tilted the bag, creating a cloud of white that covered the two of them in flour.
“Ta-da!!!” The Earth Ponies simultaneously exclaimed, striking a pose.
After a moment of silence, the corners of the littlest mouth in the room began to turn upward. Cracks formed in the barrier, giving way to the most joyful laughter Cheese had ever heard. The barrier shattered completely as Nova began to gallop towards his funniest aunt, diving headlong into her. With a swift catch, she fell onto the floor, holding the cracking-up colt tight and laughing alongside him while the third pony in the room fell to his rump in awe. “How did you know that would work?”
Pinkie Pie sat up, stroking Nova's mane and looking up at her fellow party planner. “It's simple! Babies love the flour gag!”
The end of the day had come, and Pinkie sat with Cheese in Sugar Cube Corner. The foal they had been caring for was on his way home, and Cheese sat hunched over a table full of scribbles and plans. He took the parchment in front of him, crumpling it up between his hooves. “This is caboc!” He ripped the paper in half, crushing the pieces and ripping them again. “Cabrales!” He repeated the process, throwing his hooves, and the scraps, up in defeat. “Caciobarricato, I tell ya!”
Pinkie's attention faltered from the exiting friends, finding its way to the frustrated stallion. “What's going on?”
“I give up!” He declared, pounding on the table. “I just can’t come up with anything good!”
“And why’s that?” She wondered, taking a seat next to him. “You always throw the bestest, wildest, most funeriffic parties ever! What changed?”
The stallion shrugged. “I don’t know! I haven’t planned a party in months, and when I finally do, the pony I’m planning the party for throws a fit!!! I haven’t gotten a darn thing right ever since--”
“WAIT!” Pinkie interjected, putting her hoof over his mouth. “Ever since Fillydelphia, right?” The muffled pony gave her a nod. “Then I know just what you need!” She bounced up from her spot, zipping upstairs. After some crashing noises followed by the splashing of some liquid, the poofy-maned mare made a return, holding something behind her back. “I was wondering when to give this to you ever since I got it from somepony in Manehattan when we were there because I wanted to do something nice for you since I just love doong party stuff with you and you've made everything so much FUN that I really really really really REALLY want you to stick around so we can keep going like we are! And now I know when to give it to you, and that time is now!!!” She brought her hoof forward, revealing a rubber chicken that had a hastily-painted pink number 3 on its belly. It flopped over, threatening to fall off of the extended hoof, but not quite making good on it. “Cheese Sandwich, meet Boneless 3!”
Cheese recoiled, slowly getting to his hooves. “You got this in Manehattan? When?”
“On my way to the rock pouch store!”
“How much did it cost?!”
“Twenty bits!”
“Twenty bits?” He echoed, stepping toward her. “But wasn't that all the money we had left? What about Maud's rock pouch?”
Pinkie's smile softened, slightly lowering her hoof. “If I know Maud, she would've wanted me to do something special for my friend before giving her a gift. So, I got my friend a friend!” She took a step forward, holding her hoof out again.
In that moment, the warmth in the cheesy pony's chest was so intense he swore he would melt. “Pinkie… I… I don't know what to say!” He put his hoof on her foreleg, lingering for half a second before pulling the chicken toy close. Looking into its beady little eyes, he felt a rush of nostalgia run through him. Ideas for ways to make that foal's birthday the most amazing, most stupendous, most fondue-riffic party ever, while still not causing the kind of meltdown he'd been witness to that day, overwhelming his mind.
“How about ‘LET'S PARTY!!!’” Pinkie suggested, jumping into the air and raising her hoof.
“All right!” He cheered back, jumping up and giving her a high five. “LET'S DO THIS THING!!!”
The two ponies returned to the floor, the inspired stallion rushing back to the table and furiously drawing up new plans. Pinkie looked at him with a warm smile, shrugging her shoulders. “Eh. I guess that works, too!”
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I certainly enjoyed this chapter.
Great interaction between Nova and the two Party Ponies.
So... what is the order of stories? Does this story go before or after 'One bolt A world Displaced' or they are not connected?
9330428
"One Bolt, A World Displaced" chronologically takes place during the season 8 premiere, so it comes before this one. However, I'm doing the same thing with it that the show does with Equestria Girls. It's connected, it's easily part of the canon, but it's not required reading for those who don't mind skipping it in favor of the "main series".
9332449
Thanks for catching that. 'Tis fixed.