> What Could Possibly Go Wrong?
>  by PurpleIsMyFavorite
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

> How Bad Could It Really Be?
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Hooway!" The little mauve filly hopped around the foyer like an energetic bunny. The stringy strands of her fuchsia mane bounced enthusiastically. "Party, party, party!" She chanted as she marched around Cheese, who was in the midst of donning his traveling attire. "Come on, Daddy! Wet's go!"

He laughed. “Alright, kiddo, I’m almost ready.”

Pinkie stood by the doorway, and patted the foal’s head as she passed by. “Okey-dokes, Streamers, make sure that you are on your bestest behavior. Remember, Daddy is taking you all the way to Fillydelphia, and I don't want you getting too loco.”

“Pinkie,” Cheese gently chided, waving his hoof. “She’s a born party pony; she’ll be fine.”

A little toddler colt latched onto Cheese’s leg. There were tears in his eyes. “I go! I go!” He wailed.

“Sorry there, Confetti,” the stallion caressed his mane affectionately. “It’s Streamers’ turn today. You’re still too young.”

But Confetti clutched harder onto Cheese’s leg, his sobs persisting. Streamers stopped her excited parade and marched deliberately towards her little brother. Without being prompted, she planted a gentle kiss on his head and said:

“If you be a good colt and behave yourself, I will bing you home a bawoon.”

The very mention of the word made his ears perk in attentiveness. “Boon?”

“Yeah,” Streamers replied enthusiastically. “A big one!”

His eyes widened. “Big?” And released his hold on his father.

“Yuppy!” The filly squeaked. “Daddy, we gonna give him a bawoon, wight?”

“Absolutely!” Cheese replied, relieved that Streamers managed to calm her brother down. He turned towards Pinkie. “See, I told you she was going to be fine.”

Pinkie frowned, and Cheese could see the concern on her face by the way she pursed his lips. “I don’t know, Cheesie. She hasn’t even left the house yet.”

“But she’s off to a great start.”

“Try watching her on your own while your spouse is out of town planning parties,” the mare answered in a tone that was uncharacteristic for Pinkie. Looking past Cheese, she said, “Streamers, come here please.”

The filly bounced towards her mother. Pinkie pulled out a brush and started brushing her mane. To Cheese, she said. “It’s easy to keep an eye on her with the two of us around, buuuuut… let’s just say she can a little, itty bitty-bitty bit distracted and sidetracked and wander off when you get too super focused on something else.” Streamers winced and yelped when Pinkie accidentally pulled too hard. “Whoopsie! Sorry there. Anyways, she has this nasty habit of getting herself into a lot of trouble.”

“I’m gonna behave,” Streamers whined, folding her arms. “Mommy, I wanna go now!”

“Hold on a sec, I just need to do something,” Pinkie pulled out a big, blue bow from out of nowhere – a very common phenomenon in the household – and clipped it tightly into her mane.

"Pinkie," Cheese chuckled. "We're going to a party, not one of Rarity's fashion shows. What's with the bow? And why is it so big?"

The pink mare folded her arms in satisfaction. "Good."

There were many things that most ponies would consider bizarre that Pinkie did that was perfectly clear to Cheese. However, this was one of those times where it was not the case. It had to be one of those female things, and the stallion didn't bother to ask any further. 

Streamers fussed with her mane, pulling at the bow irritably. But it didn't budge and it seemed like it wouldn’t anytime soon. The filly succumbed to that fate, but did not dwell on it for too long. Seconds later she was smiling and pulling her father’s hoof. “Come on, Daddy. Party!”

“Right behind you,” Cheese replied, and Streamers ran up to the door.

“Gonna say goodbye to Mommy?” Pinkie asked.

Streamers reluctantly turned around and sauntered towards the pink mare. “Bye bye, Mommy.”

Pinkie scooped her into an embrace and held her tightly. “Have a grand-old time, Streamies, ‘kay?”

“Uh huh,” the filly replied. Pinkie gave her a kiss on the nose and said another series of goodbyes, which included ‘hasta lavista’, ‘sayonara’, ‘see ya later’, and much more.

It was Cheese's turn to say goodbye.

“It’ll be fine, I Pinkie promise,” He insisted when Pinkie gave him that look. “Come on, what could possibly go wrong?”

Pinkie still eyed him dubiously. “Like I said, you haven’t been alone with her.”

“Psh,” Cheese gave her a gentle kiss on the cheek. “Pinkie, come on. She’s a party pony, and she needs to get some exposure. Everything will be alright.”

The skepticism did not leave Pinkie’s face, but she said, slowly and deliberately, “Okey… dokey… lokey….”





The train hadn't even started moving yet and Streamers was already shifting in her seat as if she had been sitting there for the past couple of hours. When the train finally whistled and started chugging forward, she jumped onto her hindquarters and peeked out the window, watching the scenery change. It wasn't long until Ponyvilled vanished from her field of vision and there was not much to look at but empty land.

Normally this would be a time for Cheese to catch a quick nap, and he gave one last look to make sure Streamers was next to him before he let his eyes drift shut. They opened shortly after when he felt a little body scuttle past his feet. Maybe a nap was not such a good idea, Cheese decided as he chased his daughter throughout the coach.

Once he finally managed to keep her seated, she asked him a barrage of questions. “When will we get dere?” “Can I help wif da party?” and “Daddy, why is dat pony eating so many hay burgers?”

A large, hefty pony with a huge bag full of food, eyed Cheese a little menacingly. The lanky stallion responded with an apologetic smile before embarrassingly turning back to his daughter.

“It’s not nice to comment on what other ponies are doing,” he said in a hushed tone.

“But,” Streamers replied in a loud voice.

“Shh!” Cheese said. “Sometimes it’s not nice to talk about others and what they are doing.”

“Why?”

That was his least favorite question. Every time he had to tell her something, it always ended with a ‘why’. Sometimes he had an explanation, but most of the time, he did not. This was one of those times.

Cheese glanced back at the other passenger, who continued to munch on his large supply of hay burgers. “Streamers, just… wait, look who I brought!"

Usually when he traveled, all Cheese would bring with him was some variation of Boneless. Sometimes it was Boneless 2, who had been a victim of being handled by a toddler, and now most the '2' had been wiped off, leaving the remaining bottom line that looked like a minus sign. Rainbow Dash called it Boneless Negative, but Cheese would never associate his rubber chicken with a negative trait, so he stuck with the original name. Over the past couple of years, he obtained more rubber chickens, much to his children's delight. Streamers named one of them Boneless Twenty-ten because that was the biggest number she knew of, so Cheese humorously marked down a twenty-dash-ten on the chicken's belly. And that was the Boneless that came with them today.

"Yay!" Streamers squealed when Cheese pulled the rubber chicken in plain sight. "Boneless Twenty-ten!"

Cheese sat Boneless Twenty-ten right between them. "Yup. He's coming with us."

"Can I hold him, Daddy?"

"What's the magic word?"

"Pease?"

One day she'd be able to pronounce her L's properly (as well as her R's), but she at least used that special word. Cheese gave her the toy, which she hugged tightly as if it was her own foal. That seemed to keep her happy and quiet for the rest of the ride.





The streets of Fillydelphia were very busy, but that wasn't anything new. Born in a city himself, Cheese knew the ways of traffic as ponies shuffled down the streets. Unlike Manehattan, where the ponies pushed and shoved and often cursed at one another, the citizens of Fillydelphia, though very aggressive, seemed a lot more organized and tame. Cops stood at street corners to direct traffic to lessen the chaos. Even still, it was very crowded, and ponies were standing shoulder to shoulder and almost flank to nose.

Streamers bolted ahead of Cheese, getting herself lost in the crowd. Had it not been for that big blue bow Pinkie put in her mane (now he understood why she did it), Cheese doubted he would have ever been able to find her. From then on, he held her tail with his; he lowered his head so he wouldn't have to shout over all the noise.

“You have to stay with me,” he chastised. “It’s very easy for you to get lost.”

Streamers said nothing, but kept staring around as she and her father waded through the crowd, scanning the many ponies with wide, curious eyes. To ensure that she would not leave his side, Cheese tightened his grip on her tail, occasionally giving her a gentle tug when she started to lag. 

As they walked, Cheese followed his Cheesy Sense. He had been to Fillydelphia a number of times, but he was not at all familiar with the streets. But he still walked as if he knew where he was going, which he did because his Cheesy Sense was telling him where to turn and how far to walk until they came across a fifty story building with a big, beautiful plaza. And that was when his Cheesy Sense stopped humming in his head; this was the place.

"Party?" Streamers asked.

Cheese surveyed the plaza, observing the piles of colorful table clothes and boxes of food being delivered by some ponies. "Party," he confirmed.

The filly squealed and broke free from his grasp. Cheese called after her, but she was already in the plaza, so he ran after her. Once he stepped onto the asphalt, he lost sight of her completely. Looking from table to table, pony to pony, he felt a sense of dread inside his stomach. He heard some yelps and 'oh my's, followed by a little cute 'uh oh'. 

Following the subtle commotion, he heard a gruff voice call, "Whose kid is this?"

A large framed brown stallion was standing over a frightened Streamers while his eyes searched the crowd.

Cheese gulped, shouted, "She's with me!" and he beckoned her to come to him.

Without hesitation, the filly scampered towards her father, hiding between his legs like a wounded puppy. She cowered as the larger pony approached him with a scowl on his face

"This is a private party," he huffed. "I suggest you take your ridiculous costume and your little bundle of joy and get outta here before she causes more trouble."

Though Cheese heard some unpleasant yelps, nothing seemed to be out of sorts. No tables were turned over nor were there any decorations or pastries strewn across the concrete. None of the ponies even appeared perturbed.

"What did she-"

"She was causing havoc!" The other interrupted. "Now, get outta here!"

His Cheesy Sense gnawed at his flank, as if to tell him that he was not meant to back down, but this pony would not be easy to persuade. It was going to take a lot to convince him, and proper cooperation from the filly cowering beneath him.

"May I ask what this party is for?"

"Why would it be any of your business?" The big pony retorted.

Clearing his throat, Cheese answered, "because I'm a party planner. I help set up parties."

"By dressing like a desperado?"

With an exasperated sigh, Cheese threw off his serape and hat, and stood on his hindquarters with his fore hooves out in the air as a 'ta da' position. However, his facial expression held a sarcastic grin, and he parted his lips to reveal his teeth, as if to say, 'watch and see.'

He ran right up to the large pony, wrapped a hoof around his withers, pulled him really close, and stuck a noisemaker in his mouth as he started singing his thematic Super Duper Party Pony song. Ever since he confessed to Pinkie the reality behind his party abilities, Cheese sang about his true past, about being a shy colt and how he discovered his passion for parties. By this point, he had most of the crowd's attention.

Of course he won some sighs and aahs when he quickly sang about the pony of his inspiration was none other than his lovely wife. He must have sang this a thousand times since he got married, but he always felt his heart flutter in his chest and an involuntary smile pulling his lips wide every time he thought about it. Throughout his performance, there was an accordion in his hooves, contracting and expanding as he released its musical voice.

Ponies around him clapped along, some even started dancing with him. There was confetti, sparkles, streamers, balloons, trombones, cymbals, etc. It was a party without it being an official one. The song hit a pause, and Cheese found himself face to face with his hard to please 'fan.' He crossed his arms in front of his chest and waited for the larger stallion to say something.

Big Boy blew into the noisemaker, which made an unenthusiastic toot, and said, "I see that you've got a knack for this kind of thing." Cheese smiled proudly, and the stallion went on. "But I don't see what business you have being here, even if you do have this 'Cheesy Sense' thing..."

"Oh come on!" One of the participants called. "Let him help!"

"He's so much fun!" Another interjected.

All the ponies looked at Big Boy expectantly, and he sighed and dropped the noisemaker to the ground. "Alright, alright," he sighed. "To answer your other question, this is a surprise party for our mayor. And you can help. That is if you can keep an eye on your little one."

Smile fading, Cheese realized that he had left his daughter unattended. He hadn't seen her since before he gave his dramatic intro. "Oh, right, sure... She's just in training to be a party pony like me. She's a natural."

Somehow, the big guy didn't appear so convinced. But all he said was, "Very nice, Sandwich - if that is your name. But I suggest you keep a good eye on her 'cause if her little hooves make any more trouble-" he grabbed Cheese by his shirt and pulled him uncomfortably close; the lanky stallion could smell his breath "-I'll personally throw the two of you out, got it?"

Cheese managed a feeble nod. "Absolutely."





"There you are!" Cheese pulled Streamers away from eating one of the packaged desserts. She had already mutilated the plastic covering to one of the doughnut boxes.

"I'm hungy!" She whined, reaching for the doughnuts.

"But this isn't our food to take," Cheese reprimanded.

"I'm hungy! I'm hungy!" She cried, rubbing her eyes. "Daddy, did you bing any snacks?"

Fortunately, being a party pony meant that Cheese had a way of carrying everything he needed without lugging a cumbersome bag or satchel of some sort. Among his selection was snacks; he always ate something on the road. And Pinkie had him pack with the little one in mind.

Cheese would have loved to give her something sweet, like a danish or a cookie, but the doctor advised against feeding their children foods with too much simple sugars. Instead, he gave her a healthy snack that was one of Streamers' favorites: blueberries. She loved them more than she loved candy corn or chocolate, and she munched on them happily.

"Dank you," Streamers said between a mouthful of blue fruit. Her face was becoming a mess. Cheese wiped her up when she finished.

Just as he threw away the blue stained napkin, there was an exasperated cry. "Who touched the doughnuts?"

"Why don't we go check and see how the party setup is going?" Cheese suggested as he quickly pulled Streamers far away from the doughnuts as possible.





Upon request, Cheese danced around the plaza on his gigantic cheese wheel. With permission from the baker, he was juggling a variety of pies: banana cream, custard, lemon meringue, apple, blueberry, and chocolate. They flipped through the air so easily that Cheese hardly needed to think about the task at hoof. Every so often he threw a deft glance around the audience and made sure he caught sight of a small, mauve pony with a big blue bow.

As Cheese continued rolling about, Streamers just watched with a heavy sigh. Daddy told her to stay put, but that was just way too boring. She leaned against a park table, and felt like she was going to fall asleep right there until something went boom and scared her.

She jolted up, and saw a big, important looking box right in front of her. As her eyes went up the box, she saw something glittery and shiny peeking over the edge. What could it be? Streamers wondered as she climbed onto the table. Like her daddy, she had to balance on her hindquarters to see what was inside. Little did she know that as she leaned into the box, she was inching it closer and closer to the edge.

Of course Cheese saw it because he had made it his business to check on her every time he felt it was necessary, which was once every minute. At that moment, all he could think about was the fear for her safety.

"Wait!" He called, reaching out his hoof towards her and forgetting for a brief moment that there were pies circling above his head. 

Splat, splat, splat, SPLAT!

Covered in banana cream, custard, and chocolate, Cheese was blinded. Though he did not know where he was going, he kept moving his feet to maintain balance until he felt the wheel bump against something. That was when he toppled forward right into something not so hard, but not so soft. His body twisted and he scraped his side as he slid against an abrasive surface. Then he suddenly fell to the ground, landing on his back with a thump on the concrete.

The entire plaza went topsy turvy as Cheese staggered to his feet. In the midst of the scenery going up and down and in and out, he saw the big box knocked over right where he landed, its contents spilled all over the pavement. Streamers was standing by his side, pursing her lips while her eyes bulged. Through his dizziness, Cheese couldn't tell if she was about to cry or laugh. She did neither.

"You okay, Daddy?"

Wiping both glitter and custard off his forehead, he replied, "Yeah."





Fortunately, the large pony was not present when that accident happened, but all the other participants came to help Cheese clean up and provide him with a first aid kit, which all he ended up needing was some ice for a bruise that appeared on his side. To save him from being thrown out, he didn't make any mention that his distraction was because of his daughter, although he did not fail to tell her that.

"You could've gotten hurt - the way you were leaning onto the box."

Streamers gazed at the ground sheepishly. "But I saw somefing shiny. I wanted to see it."

"It was just a box full of glitter," Cheese replied, noticing that his yellow shirt had a sparkling pink and blue stain streaked from one sleeve to the other. "And it looks like I'll be bringing some home for souvenirs," he muttered.

"Sandwich!"

Both Cheese and Streamers jumped, and upon recognizing the owner of that voice, the filly took shelter behind her father. The large pony, who Cheese learned his name was Gruff, rounded the corner, looking stern but not angry.

Cheese gave him a salute, though he wasn't exactly sure why.

"Quit the drama and act like you're living real life!" The big pony barked; he then looked at Cheese's shirt. "Been horsing around with the glitter?"

"Well... uh..."

"Your kid's got some on her bow, too."

All Cheese could manage was a nervous smile. "You see..."

"Just pay attention and don't go diving into a box and make a mess out of yourself," he huffed. "Now listen up. The mayor is going to be here in an hour, so I want you to make sure that everything's ready. And make sure that nothing ruins it." His eyes went down to the little pony that hugged her father's legs tightly.

When he left, Streamers spat in his direction. "Meanie!"

Cheese patted her shoulder. "Come on, Streamers, let's get the party ready."

Like Rainbow Dash's birthiversary, Cheese intended to make this party epic. However, Gruff brusquely rejected the idea, telling him that it was a birthday party, not a stupid carnival, so Cheese begrudgingly dropped the idea. He even offered to be the musician, but Gruff insisted that a phonograph played in his stead, leaving the party pony a little more than disgruntled.

"I don't he likes me very much," he murmured under his breath.

It didn't help much that Streamers kept demanding his attention, constantly complaining that she was bored and hungry, and Cheese had to take her to the bathroom twice within ten minutes. Finally, he brought her to a park table, where she was away from all the setup.

"Just sit down over here and play with Boneless Twenty-ten," Cheese handed her the rubber chicken. "Right now I have to help finish setting up."

"When are we gonna party?" Streamers whined, holding Boneless Twenty-ten on her lap.

"Soon, soon," Cheese caressed her mane, and kissed her forehead. "Just hang in there, okay?"

When Cheese resumed his party planning task, he overheard that Gruff had left to pick up the mayor. It would be at least another half hour until they'd come back. That was when Streamers came running to him with a non inflated balloon in her mouth.

"Where'd you get this?" Cheese asked, more annoyed than curious.

Streamers showed him a box filled with unopened packages of streamers, confetti, and balloons. The very sight of all this gave him an idea. He looked at Streamers, and she looked back as if she understood what he was thinking. His eyes quickly scanned the plaza, and he caught sight of a few helium tanks hidden under the shadow of the building.

"Perfect!"





A yellow mare came running into the plaza, breathy and excited.

"They're coming!" She panted, and cleared her throat to repeat herself.

"Come on, Daddy! Hurry up!" Streamers bounced anxiously as Cheese tied up the last balloon. He quickly slid it under some tarp he found lying around and pegged down the edges.

They all hid behind the shrubs that lined most of the plaza's perimeter. Streamers kept making sounds, and Cheese had to hush her a number of times.

"Party?" She whispered, her voice quivering with excitement.

"Yes. Party."

Gruff appeared on the scene, and behind him was a stout emerald green earth pony stallion, who Cheese presumed was the guest of honor. His appearance matched that of a mayor: neatly brushed mane; thick rimmed glasses; a vest that held a pen in its pocket; and a sonorous voice as he spoke.

"Alright, Gruff," he said, "Now what's all the-"

"SURPRISE! HAPPY BIRTHDAY!" The ponies, including Cheese and Streamers, shouted as they jumped out of  their hiding place.

The mayor clapped his hooves over his mouth as he uttered, "Oh my goodness!" And then he broke out into a huge smile when he stepped onto the concrete and noticed the decorations. His eyes widened with astonishment and delight when he gazed up at Cheese's surprise: a flock of balloons floating over the plaza. Confetti and streamers fell from their carriers gracefully like snowflakes.

With Streamers at his side, Cheese jumped before the mayor and bowed. "Happy birthday, my good sir!" He straightened. "My name is Cheese Sandwich, and this is my daughter and lovely assistant, Streamers."

"Hi!" Streamers waved vigorously. "We helped make da party!"

The mayor knelt before her. "Well, thank you very much!"

"Now you gonna have fun, wight?" She asked. "Because me and my daddy, we worked very hard, and-and we want it to be a sen-sa, sen-sen..."

"Sensation!" Cheese finished, and lifted Streamers into the air and held her there while she giggled. "We're going to give you the best party ever!"

After putting Streamers back on the ground, Cheese grabbed the mayor and beckoned the music to start playing. Together, the two ponies danced. Cheese was quite surprised that the mayor was not only not stunned by this, as other ponies would call, 'crazy' dancing, he was good at it, too. 





Streamers laughed so hard when her daddy threw a cupcake into the air and the green grown up jumped and caught it with his mouth. Auntie Rarity always said that it was in-a-por-priate and un-cooth, so it made Streamers find it even more funnier. Her mommy and daddy always did it, but all the other grown ups didn't. Now that another grown up did do it, it made her laugh even harder. So hard that she fell onto her tummy and couldn't get up.

Once she ran out of laughs, she decided that she was going to throw some cupcakes in the air, too! The dessert table was right there, so she went all by herself to get some cupcakes. Daddy said that it wasn't their food to take, but she wasn't going to eat it, she was going to give it to one of the grown up ponies like he did. She grabbed the plate of cupcakes and brought it closer so she could pick the best one. There was chocolate with rainbow sprinkles, vanilla with rainbow sprinkles, and pink with blue sprinkles... and she did not know which one to choose.

Maybe the yummiest one! So she took a little tiny bite so that she could taste it and there'd be enough left for another pony to finish it. She took one bite out of the pink one, and then out of the chocolate, then the vanilla... then all of them until she picked the pink one back up and ate it all. It was sooooo yummy in her tummy.

Then she saw a BIG square cake. It was chocolate with blue all around its sides. There were letters on the cake, but she could not read yet. She knew the letters: H-A-P-P-Y B-I-R-T-H-D-A-Y, but she did not what they meant. But right there, on each corner of the cake, were pretty flowers. They looked so tasty, so she reached her hoof towards the cake, but fell face flat into it. She didn't mind it too much because it tasted very good.

She climbed out of the cake, and her tummy and mouth were very dirty. Mommy was going to have to give her another bath, and Streamers did not like baths very much - except when it was a bubble bath. As Streamers climbed off the table, she slipped on something - maybe it was frosting - and she got very scared when she started to fall of the table. She wanted to cry, but it was so fast that she went boom on the ground before she could. But it didn't hurt much; she landed on something not so ouchy, and it kind of tickled her, too.

After she stood up, she looked back down and saw something sparkly and pretty, and she knew what that was. It was a special magical spell that Daddy used to hide something for a party so nopony could see it. But she, Mommy, and maybe even Confetti could see it. It hid something, and when Streamers saw a button with a picture she recognized on it, she knew that this was an 'uh oh' and she had to tell Daddy right away.





"Streamers!" Cheese gasped when he saw his cake covered daughter running towards him. "What happened to you?"

"Daddy!" She gasped. "I-I twipped and I fell."

"On the cake?" Cheese asked.

She shook her head. "No! I fell on da fireworks."

"Fireworks?" Cheese echoed; his ears dropped to the sides of his face as his pupils dilated. "Wait - you didn't press that butto-"

Weeeiiiiiii.

Cheese watched in horror as a rocket shot straight into the air. It exploded into a bright red, and then faded out as purple. Then came some more, filling the sky with colors. There was a series of loud pops from the balloons, and flaming confetti fell like an avalanche. Aghast, Cheese grabbed whatever wet object he could find - pitchers of water, a big bowl of punch, soda bottles, even wet cloths - and placed it beneath the falling fire. There came a low hiss as each mound of confetti splashed into some form of liquid, and it was followed by a thin white streak snaking towards the sky. The atmosphere smelled of smoke.

Once the fireworks stopped launching, silence blanketed the entire plaza. Everypony, including the mayor, gazed at both Cheese Sandwich and Streamers. Each face was wide eyed and had a mouth that hung slightly open. Cheese flashed Streamers such an angry look and opened his mouth to say something.

However, there wasn't much time to speak when somepony yanked Cheese off his feet and pulled him uncomfortably close to a hostile face. "Alright, Sandwich, that's the last straw!" He shouted. "Pack your pathetic costume and take your little brat outta here!"

"Gruff!"

That was the mayor's voice.

"What do you think you're doing?"

"Getting rid of this riffraff and his little brat," Gruff replied.

"Why?" the mayor asked. "You didn't like their act?"

"Act?" Both Cheese and Gruff asked in unison.

"Oh my goodness," The mayor breathed. "It was absolutely ASTOUNDING! And I just love the way you glared at your daughter right after. Made it look authentic." He wrapped a hoof around Cheese. "My, that was the most exciting thing I've ever seen!"

Gruff turned towards Cheese with eyes that could cut through his jugular vein if he wasn't careful. "An act, huh?"

Cheese gulped. "It must've worked, because you seemed to believe it was real." He forced a weak smile.

"It most certainly did!" A stallion shouted.

"Bravo!" Exclaimed another, and all the ponies applauded.

So Cheese and Streamers were asked to stay, much to Gruff's dismay. Whenever Cheese or Streamers passed him by, the brown stallion would either glare, or turn his head away in disdain. So the two decided it was best to keep their distance.

Yes, there was a mess by the dessert table, and some ponies were not too pleased to find out that Streamers had bitten into almost every cupcake. Pinkie had packed dozens of cupcakes for Cheese in case of an emergency, and he presented it to crowd. The ponies ooh'd and ahh'd when he settled the treats onto the table.

Somehow, the bakers must have known that Streamers was going to attack the cake, because they brought out another one.

The party stallion had no idea how hungry he was until he sat at the table. Streamers sauntered behind him, clutching at her stomach and moaning that she was not hungry and her tummy felt funny.

"That's what happens when you eat too many sweets," Cheese said as he hoisted her onto his lap. He tickled her belly and she giggled.

"Boneless Twenty-ten is hungwy," Streamers took the rubber chicken and thrust him into Cheese's slice of cake.

"Come on," Cheese complained. "That's Daddy's cake."

"Can Boneless Twenty-ten have his own cake?"

"He already had some of mine," Cheese sighed.

"Mr. Sandwich!"

Cheese saw the mayor - wearing one of those funky glasses Pinkie like to wear and a beanie cap on his head - run up to him with a big grin.

"I just want to thank you for making this party a sensation," he said happily.

"The pleasure's all mine," Cheese replied.

The mayor squatted so he was in level with Streamers. "And thank you, little miss, for that funny show."

"It was vewy funny," Streamers replied, and Cheese could hear her voice lower. She yawned. "It was da bestest party ever. No - my birfday was, is da bestest party. Mommy makes me cakes and Daddy gives me bawoons..." She looked up at Cheese. "Oh, Daddy, we have to get a bawoon for Confetti!"





When it came time to go, Cheese had no problem coaxing Streamers. She was so tired that she fell asleep on the train ride home, snuggling with Boneless Twenty-ten and Confetti's balloon.

"Streamers," Cheese whispered when the train pulled into Ponyville. "Come on, we have to get home."

But she was too sleepy to move, so Cheese carried her on his back. Pinkie was waiting in the foyer when the two walked in, and she held her arms out when Streamers was back on her feet.

"Mommy," The filly yawned, waddling towards the pink mare.

"You are dirty," Pinkie commented, catching her drifting daughter. "Did you have a good time?"

But Streamers had fallen asleep in her arms. Her little snores were muffled.

"She had a great time," Cheese replied, tying Confetti's balloon to the staircase's railing. "See, Pinkie, I told you there'd be no trouble in taking her with me."

"Oh really?" Pinkie arched a brow. "So then you never ran into a grumpy mean pony, who threatened to kick you out if Streamers misbehaved again, and while were planning the party, you had to make sure that Streamers didn't eat all the doughnuts, push a box of glitter off the table, and get covered in frosting from eating all those other desserts, and having the meanie pony throw you out because she accidentally set off the fireworks until the mayor thought it was an act and let you stay."

Cheese froze. "How did you...?"

"Pinkie sense," came the answer. "or maybe a mother's intuition. Not sure which one it is."

Cheese believed it was the former, but kept that thought to himself.

"'You look tired," Pinkie said abruptly. "It's been a long day for the two of you." She hoisted the sleeping filly onto her back, and paused to look at Cheese. "By the way, we're going to have hire some carpenters real soon."

"Why?"

"You know that extra torn up kid's bedroom upstairs?" Pinkie asked as she made her way towards the staircase. "Well, we're  going to need to make some renovations. Before next year." And she bounced up the steps.

Cheese, in the midst of disrobing, dropped his hat onto the ground. 

"Oh," he whispered.