> Birthday Bonanza > by darkmage1997 > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- > Chapter 1: Preparations > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- In Canterlot castle, on a beautiful day in Equestria, the parents of harmony were all meeting to discuss the plans for the upcoming birthday for all their children, save for the titans, who have a different birthday. "Alright, so the first part on our to-do list is to figure out what kind of cake to make for all of them," Twilight suggested. "Right, so, what should be do for that?" Discord asked. "Well, Joshua always loved chocolate lava cake, so there's a possibility," Eric commented. "Toby loves chocolate too," Ashley said. "I always remembered that Melody loved chocolate as well," Harold said. "So, all of the children like chocolate?" Twilight asked. Everyone nodded, "Ok, so a chocolate lava cake it is then," she confirmed. "Next, we need decorations. So Pinkie, I take it you can handle that?" Celestia asked. "Yes Princess, I can do that!" Pinkie excitedly said. "But we'll have to split it between flashy and attractive, and controlled and easy. Mavis still doesn't like attention, even after all you've done for her," Celina pointed out. "Ok, so a mix of bright colors and dark colors, got it!" Pinkie responded. "You sure know a lot about decorating for a party," Rainbow Dash commented. "Yeah, well, I had to take a really hard test at the party pony academy, so I know my stuff," Pinkie said. "Party pony academy?" Twilight asked. "Yeah, its where all party ponies, like myself and Cheese Sandwich, go to receive our party licenses. Without them, we aren't allowed to throw a party without consent from gold or platinum rank party pony. Thankfully, both Cheese and I are gold rank," Pinkie said proudly. "So, you learned all you needed to learn about parties from this academy?" Eric asked. "Yep! We were taught on how to properly mix punch, make refreshments for all kinds of ponies, hang streamers and banners, you know, that kind of stuff," Pinkie explained. "Well, I think the children will love the party, no matter what decorations we use," Twilight said. "That's where you're wrong Twilight. If we use the wrong kind of decoration or refreshment, then they'll feel discomfort, even before the party begins," Pinkie explained. "Are you sure?" Twilight asked. "Yeppie Deppie! Its all about feng sui," Pinkie replied. "Well, ok, as long as you know what you're doing," Celestia said. "Uh, Pinkie, when you're baking the cake for Josh, i know Josh would like it if you made it in this design," Eric said, pulling out a piece of paper, and sketching a picture of a pirate with the word "Raiders" on it. "What is it?" Pinkie asked. "Its the icon for the Oakland Raiders, Josh's favorite football team," Eric replied. "Alrighty then! I'll head back to Sugarcube Corner, and start the work on the cakes!" Pinkie said, bouncing away. "But I trust you'll be able to make it back up here to help with the decorating?" Celestia asked. "Don't worry Princess! I'll be back," Pinkie said, impersonating Arnold Schwarzenegger, and putting on a pair of sunglasses. "Well, that's Pinkie for ya," Rainbow Dash commented, with everyone nodding in agreement. > Chapter 2: Birthday expectations > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- School was going pretty smoothly for the children at Ponyville Elementary. The class was going over some of the famous authors of Equestria, "And that was the last of the plays written by Shakespony," Cheerilee said, as the bell rang, "Alright class, you can all go home now," she said, dismissing her class, who got up and left the schoolhouse. "Alright, the weekend's finally here!" Scootaloo said, as she and her friends exited the school building. "Yep, and remember, Toby's birthday is Saturday," Sweetie Belle said. "That's a coincidence! Bolt and Mikes birthdays are on Saturday too," Applebloom said. "No way, Josh, Kelly, and Crystal are turning eight Saturday too!" Nyx said. "Looks like they've all got the same Birthday," Silver Spoon theorized. "Not true," they all turned to Cindy, "My and Will's birthdays aren't on Saturday," she explained. "Nor is Cory or Chris' birthdays," Trinity said. "And my brother's have their birthday in September," Heaven said. "Heaven! Time to go!" they turned to see Brian standing by the gate. "Ok, be right there!" Heaven said, running to her fiery tempered brother, as they walked home. "C'mon Cindy, its time to go," Cindy looked up to see Will's Braviary swooping down to the ground. "Ok Braviary. See ya guys," Cindy said, as she climbed on the bird Pokémon's back, and took off for Will's ranch. "Well, lets get back home ourselves Serenity. We'll see you guys," Toby said, as he and his sister made their way back to their cottage with Silver Spoon. "Well, we should get back to the castle," Josh said, as he and his siblings made their way to their mothers castle, as the rest went their separate ways. After bidding farewell to her friends from Canterlot Castle, Pinkie Pie made her way to Party City, a town on the edge of Equestria where only the most serious of party planners go to plan ahead for a large party, similar to the birthday that was coming up, "Alright, time to get some decorations," she said, as she made her way to décor district. Here, Pinkie was looking around for the necessary decorations needed for the party. "Well, hello Pinkie, what brings you here?" one of the stall ponies asked in a Cajun accent. It was a Pegasus stallion with a yellow coat, red main and tail, and brown eyes, and a beard. "Oh, hey Rubber Chicken! I was wondering if any of you guys had some decorations for a huge birthday that's coming up. And not just regular huge, I mean MASSIVELY HUGE!" Pinkie said, extending her forehooves outwards to help express how big the party was going to be. "Well, what type o' birthday party are y'all planning?" Rubber asked, scratching his beard. "It a birthday party for some of the children in Ponyville. Mostly my daughters and my friends," Pinkie replied. "HOO Doggy, that's a tall order yeah. What're some the little munchkins like?" Rubber asked. After giving an explanation on the personalities of the children, Rubber Chicken scratched his beard again, "Well little lady, y'all came to the right place yeah!" Rubber Chicken said, as he retreated to the back of his stall and brought a large crate, "Dis here is the ultimate deluxe party kit. It has all the decorations you could want for any party yeah," he said, wiping some sweat off his brow. "Alright! How much do I owe you?" Pinkie said, reaching for her bit bag. "Hey now, its on the house! Jus my way of thanking y'all for all the help you gave me back at the academy," Rubber Chicken said, holding his hooves up. "Oh, thank you!" Pinkie said, putting the crate into her saddle bag, which surprisingly wasn't all that difficult, as the crate seemed to just disappear once in the bag. And with that, Pinkie bounced happily away back to Ponyville. > Chapter 3: Heading for Ponyville (Nathan and Mavis) > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- [World of Dreams] Nathan was sound asleep in his bedroom, dreaming about his fillyfriend Applebloom in her human form in a two piece bikini, hugging him, as he stood above a pile of beaten up outlaws, "Ya did it Nathan!" Applebloom said, pressing her body against her coltfriend. Nathan blushed at the feeling of Applebloom's large chest against his own, "And its even better with you," Nathan said, as he wrapped his arm around Applebloom's waist, and made out with the Anthro filly, "Applebloom, your tail's tickling me," Nathan said, before he saw the red tail was nowhere near him, as a flash of light engulfed him. [Real world] "Nathan sweetie, time to wake up," Cadence said, tickling Nathan's bare foot with her wing. Nathan moaned a little before he opened his eyes to his mother, "Good morning Mommy," Nathan said. "Good morning Cowboy, happy birthday," Cadence said with a smile. Looking over at the calendar, Nathan saw that it was his and Mavis' birthday today, "Thank you mommy!" Nathan said, wrapping his arms around Cadence. "You're very welcome sweetie, now go and get dressed. Your father and I would like for you and Mavis to design the cakes you want. We'll be sending them to Pinkie so she can bake them," Cadence said, as she left the room. Leaping off his bed, Nathan walked over to his dresser to pick out his outfit. He decided to put on a red t-shirt, and denim shorts. Putting his shoes on, he walked out of the room, only to be tackle hugged by a familiar alicorn filly, "Skyla, you know Ah hate it when ya do that!" Nathan scolded, as Skyla just stared at him, "Ah, no use staying mad at ya," Nathan said, as he picked up his little sister, who just babbled and giggled, "Ah bet you were just trying to tell me happy birthday, weren't ya?" Nathan asked, carrying the alicorn filly to Mavis' room, where she was scribbling something onto some paper, "Hey Mavis, what're you doing?" Mavis jumped when she heard her older brothers voice coming from behind her, "Oh, Mommy Cadence asked me to draw out what I want for my birthday cake, so Pinkie can make it for me," Mavis replied. "Mind if I make a design too?" Nathan asked. "Go right ahead," Mavis said, putting the finishing touches on her design. It was a cupcake design, with a pink puffball with really big blue eyes, with heart shaped antennas. Nathan went straight to work, grabbing a crayon, and drawing his design. It was a Texas shaped cake with the words "Happy Birthday Nathan" on it, "Alright, lets get these to Mommy," Nathan said picking Skyla up, and walking with Mavis to the dining room. Once in the dining room, Cadence, Shining, David and Alice looked up to see the children, "Ah good, are you two all done with your designs?" Cadence asked. "We did," Mavis replied, giving Cadence their designs. With a small amount of magic, she sent the designs to Pinkie Pie. "Mavis, your fathers, Cadence, and I are planning the party later tonight, so if you want, you and Nathan can head to Ponyville in advance so we can get some stuff done around here," Alice said to her daughter. "Ok Mommy," Mavis said, wrapping her arms around Alice's legs, which prompted Alice to hug Mavis back. "C'mon Mavis, lets get a move on," Nathan said, as he left Skyla with Cadence, and led Mavis out of the dining room. "Alright, so you guys have your presents to them all planned out?" Shining asked. "David and I got Mavis this," Alice said, pulling our a heart shaped gold locket. In it was a picture of Mavis with Alice and David the day they came back. "Ooh, Mavis is so going to love it!" Cadence said. "And you Cadence, what did you get her and Nathan?" David asked. "We got them lockets as well," Cadence said, pulling out two more gold lockets as well. Inside was a picture of each child with Cadence and Shining Armor the day they adopted them. "Man, the kids are so going to treasure these," David said, as he took a swig of his coffee. Making their way to the train station with an escort, Nathan and Mavis were walking up the platform, and approached the counter, "Two tickets to Ponyville, please," Nathan asked. "Look kid, you got to have an adult with ya to purchase a ticket," the pony at the counter said, not even looking up from his newspaper. "But we have..." Mavis was cut off with a slam on the counter. "Now look kid, obviously don't have an adult with you, so SCRAM!" the pony snapped, which made Mavis reel back in shock. "I am an adult," the guard said. "Good, well, now you can purchase the tickets. Where are you going?" the pony asked. "Ponyville," Nathan replied, annoyed at the pony's arrogance. "Alright, here," the pony said, giving Nathan the tickets, "That'll be twenty bits," he added. Reaching into his bit pouch, Nathan pulled out the requested bits, and took the tickets, "Alright Mavis, the train will be here in a few minutes," Nathan said to Mavis, as they took their seats on a bench. "I'll stay with you two until the train arrives," the guard said. Within a few minutes, the train pulled into the station, "Alright, stay in the train car, an only get off at Ponyville station," the guard said, as Nathan and Mavis walked into the train car, as other ponies either entered or exited the train. With a blow of the whistle, the train departed, and made its way to Ponyville. Once seated in the first class car, Nathan and Mavis were treated to brunch. Mavis was munching away at a mini muffin and drinking some orange juice, while Nathan was snacking on some mini muffins of his own, while drinking some cocoa. That's when trouble came around, "Well, well, well, what have we here?" Nathan groaned in annoyance at the familiar voice of one of the more snobbish Crystal foals, Emerald Forrest. Emerald was a green crystal unicorn colt with purple eyes. "Looks like the wannabe prince and princess sitting in the high class car," Emeralds friend, Goldie Dust said. Goldie was a yellow crystal earth filly with blue eyes. Both were staring at Nathan and Mavis with mean smirks. "Hate to break this to ya, not really, but the animal cars are in the back of the train," Emerald taunted, knocking away Mavis' muffin. "Back off, both of ya!" Nathan said, getting in Emerald's face. "A mere monkey threatens me?" Emerald asked, in fake shock. "We should get animal control!" Goldie taunted, as she pushed Nathan back against the table. Nathan only glared at the two, just as their parents came in, "Emerald! What are you doing?!" Emerald's mother demanded. "And Goldie, we saw what you did too, so don't think you can lie your way out of this!" Goldie's father said. "Back to the room, now!" Emerald's mother said, pointing in the direction of their rooms, "I apologize for my sons rude behavior Prince Nathan," Emerald's mother said, with a sympathetic look. "I don't know where I went wrong with Goldie," Goldie's father said. "Ah, don't worry about it. Also, Mavis and I don't really like being called prince or princess," Nathan said, as the two parents walked away. "Muffin," Mavis said sadly, looking at the muffin that Emerald knocked away. "Here, have another," Nathan said, giving Mavis another muffin, who munched away on it. Within the hour, the train pulled into Ponyville station, and the two siblings got off, and made their way to their auntie Twilight's castle. > Chapter 4: Pre birthday adventure > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Nathan was listening to Bluegrass music on his IPod, as he and Mavis made their way from the train station to Twilight's castle. Once they were off and the train left, Nathan and Mavis headed towards the castle, only to accidentally bump into Joshua, who was carrying birthday presents already wrapped for Nyx, Toby and the rest. Joshua gasped in surprise to see his cousins standing before him, "NATHAN! MAVIS!" Joshua exclaimed overjoyed at seeing his cousins, going to embrace them, as he set the presents down on the ground gently. "Hi there cuz," Nathan said, as the three made their way to the main square, "We're gonna go let Aunt Twilight we're here," Nathan said, before being stopped by Josh. "She's not there. She wanted me to come and greet you and bring you both to Sugarcube Corner," Joshua said. "Ok, Sugarcube it is!" Nathan said, as he turned around, and tuned his IPod to another song, and started singing along with it, which soon got Mavis and Josh to sing along too. They continued to sing, even when they entered Sugarcube Corner, where Twilight and friends are seen eating cupcakes, who looked over to see the three children entering the sweets shop, "My word, you kids were amazing," Rarity commented. "What song was that then?" Twilight asked. "Its called 'Reach the Goal' Aunt Twilight," Nathan said, as he and Mavis went to hug their aunt. "I came to drop off my presents to Nyx and the others," Joshua said, giving Twilight the presents. "Ok, Cadence sent us the designs for the cakes you two want, and I must say, you came up with really nice designs," Twilight commented, "We'll give them to Pinkie when she comes back. She says she has to go somewhere called 'Party City', or something," she said with a shrug. "Anyway, she says she'll be back later this afternoon, so the birthday itself is going to be a nightly party," Applejack added on. "And why don't you three go and play at Will's ranch with the others? Will says you can play with the Pokemon," Rarity suggested. "Alrighty then, lets go guys," Nathan said, as he led Mavis and Josh to Will's ranch. "And what are you all going to do for the party tonight?" Twilight asked, turning her attention to her friends. "Pinkie said that it was going to be held down by the swimming hole," Rainbow pointed out. "And no doubt Applebloom wants to wear that swimsuit that Nathan likes so much. She even asked Pinkie if she could bake Nathan's cake and serve it to him," Applejack said. "Nyx said she wanted to make Conner's cake too. And it may be possible that Dinky will be making Joshua's cake too. And I have to agree with you on the swim wear," Twilight said. "Ah young love," Rarity said with a blush. Just then, they saw Pinkie walking, looking rather exhausted. "Pinkie, are you alright?" Twilight asked, as she went over to her pink friend. "Yeah, but Yeesh, I've forgotten how far Party City is from Ponyville," Pinkie said, as she reached into her saddle bag, and pulled out cake molds, and strained as she tried to get the crate out of her bag. "I don't understand, what makes Party City different from regular party stores?" Twilight asked, before a hoof was forced into her mouth. "Don't ever say that! Party City is the ultimate city for party ponies to gather supplies for big parties like the one happening tonight! Regular shops don't carry the necessary supplies need for a humungous party like this!" Pinkie explained. "Are there any good prank shops?" Rainbow Dash asked. "There are, but only official party ponies, such as myself, can access the city itself. Even royalty needs special permission, which is really hard to get unless you're a party pony!" Pinkie said loudly. "Wait, so royalty isn't allowed to enter unless special permission is given?" Twilight asked. "That's right, Party City isn't just a city. Its an entire country, completely out of the jurisdiction of all royalty," Pinkie replied. "That sounds entirely farfetched, darling," Rarity commented. "It may sound strange to the rest of you, but its the truth. You can even ask Princess Celestia and Princess Luna when they get here," Pinkie said, as the crusaders, along with Silver Spoon and Diamond Tiara entered through the doorway, "Hey girls, ready to bake?" the pink pony asked. "We sure are Pinkie!" Applebloom replied. "Alright! Lets get in the kitchen, and start baking!" Pinkie said, as she and the fillies bounced happily into the kitchen. "One day, I hope to understand Pinkie," Twilight commented, with the others nodding in agreement. > Chapter 5: Party Decorating (editted) > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- High up, in the city of Canterlot, Celestia was enjoying breakfast with her sister, her son, and her two nephews, "Alright boys, after you finish eating, go get ready to head down to Ponyville," Luna said to her two sons. "Ok Mommy!" the two said. "Chris, I would like you to go with them, while Luna and I get things situated here," Celestia said to her son. "Ok Mom," Chris replied, as the three finished their breakfasts, and headed out the dining room, "We'll see you two at the party," Chris called, as the boys left. "You got your gifts?" Celestia asked her sister. "I do, and as for your gifts?" Luna asked. "They're in the chariots, ready to be taken when we go," Celestia replied, as she and Luna continued their breakfasts. "And now, for the tricky part, shaping the cakes," Pinkie said, as the chocolate lava cakes finished baking, as the fillies all surrounded the cakes. "Ok, so how do we start?" Diamond Tiara asked. "Well, first, we need to consult the designs the birthday kids made, and carve the cakes to fit the exact shapes. Mavis ordered hers as a cupcake, so that'll be an easy one," Pinkie replied, pulling out various cake designs. "Alright, time to start on Toby's design," Silver Spoon said, pulling out her coltfriends design, and frowned, seeing as how Toby only wanted a regular cake, "Well, this isn't any fun," she said, puffing up her cheeks. "Well, it is his birthday, so maybe he just wants to make the job a little easier?" Dinky suggested. "Yeah, but I wanted to make his cake extra special!" Silver Spoon whined, folding her ears down. "Well, why not help make another design?" Pinkie asked. "Yeah, I guess so," Silver Spoon said in defeat, and took another design, and started carving a cake. "Ok, Pinkie's giving me a list of instructions on what to do with decorating at Ponyville Beach," Twilight said, as she held a scroll, that rolled out every where; along the walls, across the ceiling, and for some reason, out of Applejack's Stetson, "I will never understand that mare," Twilight deadpanned, as she rolled the scroll back up, and put it in her bag. "Well, we'd best get a move on," Applejack said, putting her Stetson back on, as the others left Sugarcube Corner. "Ok guys, what'd you want to do now?" Will asked. "Can ya show us how ta make Poffins?" Nathan asked. "Sure, but you're going to have go pick the berries you want to use," Will said. "Ok, so where are the berries?" Kelly asked. "The orchards right over there," Will said, pointing towards an orchard filled with all kinds of berries. Walking over to the orchard, the children were amazed at the many berries growing from the trees, "Wow, there's so many!" Bolt commented. "Yeah, is there like a way of telling what each berry tastes like?" Trinity asked. "Yeah, you can tell the flavor from the color of the berries," Cindy replied, as she picked a Pecha Berry, "For example, pink berries, like this Pecha Berry are very sweet, so they make pink Poffins," she explained. "I see, so for red Poffins, we would need a red berry?" Mike asked, as he picked a Razz Berry. "Yep, those berries make spicy red Poffins," Cindy replied. "What other color combos can we use?" Conner asked. "Well, green berries make bitter Poffins, yellow berries make sour Poffins, and blue Poffins make dry Poffins," Cindy replied. "Well, I think I'll make some pink Poffins!" Kelly said, as she, Crystal, Clover, Melody, Mavis, Trinity, Serenity, and Charity picked pink berries. "Ah'll bet Hawlucha will love some sour Poffins," Nathan said, as he, Mike, Conner, and Vibrant picked some yellow berries. "I think I'll experiment with all kinds of berries," Joshua said, as he picked green and red berries. 'Hopefully this cooking class gives Twilight and the others enough time to set up,' Will thought to himself. Arriving at the train station, Twilight's group encountered the human parents, "Alright, is everyone here?" Twilight asked. "Yep, and I should suspect the train taking us to the Empire will be here shortly," Elijah said. "Alright, Pinkie gave me a list of instructions on what to do as far as decorating," Twilight said, pulling out the scroll, which rolled all over the platform. "Pinkie really knows what she's doing if the list is this long," Ashley commented, holding up part of the list. "Well, what's the big deal? We just throw some decorations around, get some snacks, make sure we have enough seats to go around, end of story!" Rainbow Dash said. "Actually, according to the bottom of this list, that's exactly what we're NOT supposed to do," Rebecca said. "Well, for now, lets just worry about what Pinkie asked us to do, and get this party set up," Twilight commented, as they set the crate Pinkie gave them down on the platform. "No doubt this'll take a while," Rarity commented. > Chapter 6: Royal arrivals > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Back with Cadence's group, "Ok, it shouldn't be too long now," Cadence said, as the Crystal family awaited the arrival of their Ponyville friends. "I think I see the train," David said, as the train appeared up along the tracks. Exiting the train was Twilight and friends, with Elijah and Eric carrying the crate given to them by Pinkie. "Goodness, you need all that luggage?" Cadence asked, pointing at the crate. "Luggage? These are the decorations Pinkie got for us from Party City," Ashley replied. "Seriously? That's all decorations?" Alice asked. "Yep," came a flat answer. "Well, at least we've got the decorations, so lets head to the gardens," Cadence said, leading the group to the Crystal Palace. However, a particular gang of nobles were watching from the sidelines. "So the princess is having a birthday party set up by those peasants from that dump town?" Emerald asked, sticking his nose up at the thought of the peaceful village. "From what I heard, the party has something to do with those ape children she adopted awhile back," Topaz commented. "Well, if that childish pink mare is setting up, that will never do. We'll have to set up a proper party, fit for royalty ourselves," Sapphire sneered, as they made their way to the party store. "Alright, now just pour the batter into the molds, and let it cool," Will instructed, as the children finished mixing their respective Poffin batter. "How long does it usually take for Poffins to cool?" Toby asked. "Usually five minutes," Will replied. "So, what do we do until then?" Kelly asked. "I know!" Will exclaimed, walking over to the counter, and bringing back a small blue box. "Hey, ain't that a Pokeblock blender?" Nathan asked. "It is, but this ones a portable one, and it can give you up to four Pokeblocks. I got it on my second trip through Hoenn," Will replied. "So, how does it work?" Melody asked. "Well, you just drop four berries into the machine," Will explained, as he dropped four red berries into the machine, "Then you put the lid on it," he then put the lid on the machine, and pressed a button, "And in a few short seconds, you've got four Pokeblocks," he said, as the machine beeped. Removing a small storage compartment, the children saw four red Pokeblocks, with what appeared to be candied pieces in it, "Oh, yeah, and a cool thing about this machine is that sometimes you can make Pokeblocks+, a more stronger treat that increases your Pokémon's contest stats more than regular ones," Will explained. "That's incredible!" Joshua commented. "Is it possible to use different colored berries, or is like Poffins where you can only use one berry?" Crystal asked. "No, it is possible to use different colored berries. Any combination of berries will make rainbow Pokeblocks," Will replied. The children were amazed at this, 'While they're making Pokeblocks, this should give Twilight's group more time to set up,' Will thought to himself. Back with Pinkie's group, "Ok, is that the last of the designs?" Scootaloo asked. "Yep, that's all of them!" Pinkie replied. "Ok, so when will we take these down to the Crystal Empire?" Nyx asked, looking at the many cakes there were. "Well, we'll need to pack them in boxes, then we can take them in our saddlebags," Sweetie Belle replied. "Only question is, will there be enough room in each of our saddlebags to carry them?" Diamond Tiara asked. "Well, if they're positioned right, then, yeah, there'll be enough," Silver Spoon said. "Ok, so, lets pack them carefully, then we'll go see if Twilight and the others are done," Pinkie said, as they started packing the cakes into their saddlebags. "Ok Eric, now just lower the streamer till I say so," Twilight said, as Eric slowly lowered the streamer, "Ok, that's right where it should be!" she called. "Oof, how Pinkie does this all by herself, I'll never know," Eric commented, wiping a bead of sweat from his head. "Ok, Pinkie said this balloons must be at the proper height to keep Mavis comfortable," Rarity said, as she lowered the balloons to the required height. "Is this really how Pinkie sets up for a birthday this big?" Rainbow asked. "Well, she said its how she learned, so we mustn't really judge Pinkie's um... judgment," Fluttershy said. "Well, I'll ask Celestia if what Pinkie said about Party City is true," Twilight said. "Ok Luna, do you have your gifts?" Celestia asked. "All of them are in my saddle bags," Luna replied. "And my gifts are in my saddle bags, so it looks like we're good to go," Celestia said, as the two sisters exited the castle and found two carriages, awaiting the two sisters. "Princesses, we are ready to take you to the Crystal Empire palace," one of the Pegasus guards said. "Thank you," Celestia said, as she and Luna boarded their respective carriages, and took off. "Ok, lets take a break," Eric suggested, as everyone sat down, exhausted from decorating. "Where Pinkie gets all the energy to decorate a normal party, I'll never know," Rarity commented. After wiping a bead of sweat from his head, David looks over the horizon, and saw two flying carriages, "Looks like we got company!" he called. The others looked over to see that it was Celestia and Luna. "Well, no doubt there's gonna be a lot of attendees," Alice commented. "Alright guys, I think its time we went to the Crystal Empire," Will announced. "Ok, we'll go grab our stuff," Joshua called back, as the children all left the house. "Going to the Crystal Empire for our birthday? Nice!" Echo commented. "Well, we did get a pool last month, so we can all go swimming," Mavis added, which the boys blushed at the thought of their fillyfriends, "Suddenly, I regret mentioning the pool," she bluntly stated. "And top of that, we can spend our birthday with our human parents!" Toby added. At the mention of human parents, Nathan had a stoic expression on his face. This was noticed by Crystal and Kelly. "Hey Nathan, is something wrong?" Kelly gently asked. This made Nathan glare angrily at his two cousins and the rest of his friends. "How would you feel if you never knew your human parents?!" Nathan snapped. This outburst made the other children reel back in surprise. Nathan was usually the most mellow of them, and for him to snap at his friends like that came as a surprise to the others. Nathan then spread his wings, and flew off in a huff. "Nathan..." Crystal said, worried about her cousin. "We can't leave without him," Cory commented. "I'll go and try to find him," Mavis said, running after her brother. Chasing Nathan through Whitetail Woods, Mavis eventually found him sulking over a pond. Feeling worried about her brother, Mavis quietly walked over to his side, "Nathan? Are you ok?" Mavis gently asked. "No, no Ah'm not," Nathan bitterly replied, "Ah feel so left out since Ah never had human parents, unlike you," he added, looking at his sister. "But Nathan, family is more than having the same species as your parents," Mavis stated, sitting next to him, "Whether or not your family is gone, or just far away, family is still family. That's one of the first things Mommy Cadence taught me when I first came here," she said, hugging her brother, "And you have me and my human Mommy and Daddy as a human family," she said, kissing Nathan on the cheek. Thinking about what his sister just said, Nathan realized that she was right. Even though he never had a human family, he had a family in Equestria, nevertheless, "Thanks sis," he said, letting Mavis onto his back, "Welp, lets get ourselves back to our friends," he said, flying off > Chapter 7: Heading back to the Crystal Empire > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Back at the ranch, the other children were awaiting the arrival of Nathan and Mavis, "I hope Mavis finds him," Clover commented. Just then, they saw something flying towards them. It didn't take too long to realize it was Nathan with Mavis on his back. "Hey guys, sorry Ah ran off like that, but I felt really frustrated that Ah never had human parents," Nathan explained. "Its ok Nathan, we understand," Crystal replied. "Well, for now, we'd better head to the train station. Its getting late," Silver said, as he and the others saw it was afternoon. And so, they made their way to the train station. "Ok, so we've got all the presents, and all the decorations are up, now all we need now are the cakes," Twilight commented. "Where is Pinkie Pie?" Celestia asked. "By now, she must be on the next train bound for the Crystal Empire," Ashley pointed out. "Same with our children," Alice stated. "Well, hopefully it shouldn't be too long," Cadence commented. Just then, Twilight remembered something she wanted to ask Celestia. "Celestia, I'd like to ask you about something," Twilight said to her old mentor. "And that would be?" Celestia asked. "Well, before we came here, Pinkie said something about a place called Party City," Twilight replied. "Ah yes, Party City. Well, if Pinkie told you that its a place where only party planners can enter as freely as they want, and royalty needing special permission to enter, then she was telling the truth. You see, sometime after Discord's first imprisonment, a pony by the name of Party Favor set up a party to celebrate the triumph. Afterwards, I asked him how he could set up such a magnificent party. He told me that setting up parties was a very serious matter," Celestia explained. "And if someone other than a party planner was to set up a party?" Twilight asked. "Well, then Party City officers would be notified immediately, and then those ponies would be arrested for setting up an unlicensed party, as well as tearing down the party itself," Celestia replied. "Wow, that's harsh," Sarah commented. "But true," Luna said. "And its been that way for centuries," Celestia added. Back with Pinkie, The train was coming along the tracks, just as Pinkie, the fillies, and the other children arrived on the platform, "Hey guys!" Pinkie called. "Hey Auntie Pinkie," Toby called back. "Ok, so is everyone ready to go to the Crystal Empire?" Cory asked. "We've got all our stuff," Nyx said. "As do we," Conner said, just as the train pulled into the station. "Next stop, the Crystal Empire!" the conductor called. "That's us," Pinkie said, as they all boarded the train. After about two and a half hours, the Crystal Empire appeared over the horizon, "Next stop the Crystal Empire Station!" the conductor called. "Ok guys, get ready to head to the palace," Pinkie said to the children, just as the train came to a stop. Pinkie then led the children off the train. "Ok, so now we just head to the palace gardens," Joshua said, as the group made their way to the palace. After a few minutes, the group had arrived at the palace gardens, where they saw the party was completely decked out in streamers and balloons. "Its perfect!" Pinkie said. "They really know how to go all out," Conner commented, as the other adults came over to where the children were. "You kids like the set up?" Twilight asked. "WE DO!" the kids all said in unison. "Well, we have some time, why not we all go to the pool?" Sarah asked. A round of nods was her answer, as they left for the pool. > Chapter 8: Let the party begin! > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- The pool party went off without a hitch. The kids were all swimming in the pool, while the adults watched over them. Toby was carefully wading through the water, when someone splashed water at him, "Whoops, sorry Sweetie Pie," Toby looked up to see Silver Spoon, and blushed heavily at her swimsuit, "Is something wrong Toby?" Silver Spoon asked, approaching him and pressing her body against his. "N-no, nothings wrong," Toby replied, blushing at the feel of her body against his. "Well, if you want, I would like for you to rub some sun tan oil on me back," Silver Spoon said. Toby blushed even heavier at the offer, but then he felt an ominous pressure. Turning, he saw that Kelly, Crystal, and the other human girls were giving off a horribly intimidating dark aura. Toby could have sworn that their skin was turning an X-Ray green to the point where their skeletons showed. Silver Spoon saw the frightened look on Toby's face, and turned his attention back to her, "Toby, don't worry about them. I want you to rub the oil on my back," Silver Spoon said, grabbing his arm, and dragging him back to her spot by the pool. Meanwhile, the titans had Silver blindfolded as he wielded a kendo stick, "Ok Silver, you're getting close to the melon!" Raiden said, as he and the others guided him towards the melon. "You're right on top of it dude!" Icezer called. With a mighty swing, Silver struck the melon, splitting it in two. "Did I get it?" Silver asked, taking off his blindfold to see that he had split the watermelon. "Can I try?" Heaven asked. "Well, I don't see the harm in letting you do so," Mark said, giving his daughter the blindfold, "And here's the stick," he gave Heaven the stick, as Stealth set out another watermelon. "Now we spin you around," Brian said, spinning Heaven around until she was dizzy, and clumsily walked as she was directed by her family. After a few minutes of walking, Heaven had successfully smashed the watermelon. Taking a piece of the smashed watermelon, Heaven started nibbling away at it. "What's all this?" Luna asked, as Eric and Sarah set up some speakers and a microphone, along with some instruments. "Well, back on Earth, we had this thing called karaoke," Eric replied. "And what pray tell is this 'karaoke' that you speak of?" Luna asked. "Well, you go on stage, choose a song to sing, and then you sing the lyrics as the song progresses," Sarah explained. "They figured some of us may want to try and sing, you know, for some entertainment," Elijah said. "Interesting," Luna commented, as she skimmed through the song book, looking at the various songs. She soon came across one by the name of "Ghostbusters Theme Song", "This 'Ghostbusters' song sounds interesting," she commented. "Well, I thought that should be a must in the list," Eric replied. "And there are other songs I think the kids will enjoy," Sarah added, as Luna and the other ponies scanned the song list. "We want to sing too," Pinkie commented. "Well, just choose the song you want, then submit your entry. Once you're called up, that'll be your chance to sing," Eric explained, giving them some scraps of paper. They each wrote their names and the song they wanted to sing. "Hey kids!" Twilight called, catching the attention of all the children, "We're setting up karaoke, would any of you like to sing?" the lavender alicorn asked, giving the book of songs to the children. And one by one, each child selected one song to sing, with the exception of Mavis and Serenity, since they didn't want a lot of unwanted attention. "Ok, so we'll begin karaoke in a little bit, but when you here your names being drawn, come on up," Eric said, as the children went back to what they were originally doing. > Announcement > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Hey guys, darkmage1997 here, coming to you with an update to the story. First, I would like to apologize for the long wait for the next chapter, but I've been having a real slump with ideas on how to progress. But then, I had an idea. instead of having the kids birthdays all on the same day, why not have chapters dedicated to each individual character? So, to help progress this story a bit more, I will be tackling how each kid will celebrate his or her birthday. Let me know what you guys think