[Sweet Apple Acres, Open-PM, Invite, Friends, Family] Apple Bloom's Big Day!

[Davroth]

Slowly, very slowly, young Nursery Rhyme started to feel better. And she was thirsty, so very thirsty. Luckily, Miss Cheerilee was already on top of that, offering her a plus-sized glass of water. She gulped it down quickly, coughing up some because she couldn't actually swallow the clear liquid fast enough. The glass was still half full. She took another few gulps, more careful this time.

After a few minutes, her headache seemed to weaken. Now that she could formulate thoughts again that went beyond[colour=#dda0dd] 'Ouch, my h..head hurts'[/colour] and[colour=#dda0dd] 'I f...feel so t-tired'[/colour], she tried to make a mental list of the symptoms she had suffered from, and still was suffering from at the moment.

[colour=#dda0dd]"N...now, let's s..see"[/colour] She began quietly, talking mostly to herself. [colour=#dda0dd]"My m..mouth felt all d-dry and my h..head hurt. And it got b..better after d-drinking some water." [/colour]She nodded her head, coming to a conclusion. [colour=#dda0dd]"I am s-suffering from dehy... de-hy-dra-tion."[/colour] She proclaimed proudly.

What else? She shivered slightly, even though the sun was still shining brightly. Maybe this was another symptom? [colour=#dda0dd]"M..my body is all c...cold." She went on "Hy...po...hypo.... Low b..body temperature."[/colour] She conceded. She was almost sure what the correct word was, but she just couldn't recall it right now.

Where was she, anyway? She saw lots of green, but her eyes had trouble focusing. Thankfully, Miss Cheerilee was nearby.

[colour=#dda0dd]"Miss Ch..Cheerilee. Wh..where are we?"[/colour] Nursery started, trying to get her attention. [colour=#dda0dd]"I h...have lots of sym...symptoms."[/colour] She added, with a mixture of pride about being able to do self diagnosis and confusion over her current situation.

[SteelEagle]

Apple Bloom smiled wide and large despite the eviscerating headache, patented Apple fortitude playing its role as she imagined what Cheerilee said was true. It was her special day and by golly, she was going to make sure she enjoyed it! After all the crazy, zany stuff that had happened(even if only half remembered at best), she wanted it to all calm down.

[colour=#ff0000]"Y'know Miss Cheerilee, Ah might have a headache the size of Manehattan, but Ah'm sure Ah can help ya set up games and help ponies an' such," [/colour]She started, looking around and seeing messes, ponies in various stages of disuse, and even a fort of hay protecting a cake. Plus, there were still presents to be opened and Nursery Rhyme looked like she was prey in the Everfree, playing dead. Apple Bloom knew she could be of use!

[colour=#ff0000]"Ah'll jus-"[/colour] She tried to walk, but there was something on her leg. Somepony, to be exact. How the hay had Sweetie Belle become wrapped around her leg like she had been wrapped around Mister Snugglepuss as a filly? She was hugging her leg hard, and there was a bit of drool on her hoof too. It sort of made Apple Bloom what had happened but the memories were lost for now. She tried to move her leg, but either Sweetie Belle looked heavier than she was or her body was too weary from the excessive fun of earlier to respond. She couldn't shake the filly off or walk forward.

[colour=#ff0000]"Sweetie Belle? Sweetie Belle? Sweetie Belle!"[/colour] Apple Bloom yelled, then giggled, as she tried to kick the unicorn off to no avail. She snorted.

[colour=#ff0000]"It's worse than a leech, I tell ya."[/colour]

[Lux]

Guiding Light began to feel a little better from the cider. The world was no longer spinning but he still had a little headache and his balance was still off kilter. Looking around things were slowly starting to return to normal.

The colt then heard the mare that was with Miss Cheerilee ask about flattening out some hay.

[colour=#daa520]"Oh, I can help with that," [/colour]he responded trotting over to the nearby hay bales.

He was about to get to work when he saw that Sweetie Belle was still clinging to Apple Bloom. It kind of reminded him of when he saw a cat clinging to a tree branch.

[colour=#daa520]"I think Sweetie Belle's stuck on there tight, Apple Bloom. That's a funny way of hugging though. I don't think she wants to get off... unless."[/colour]

Lore's mind then thought of a plan and decided to set it into motion. He grabbed a piece of hay from the bale with his telekinesis, one that wasn't sharp but still has the soft grassy ends on it. He then floated the hay over to the earth pony.

[colour=#daa520]"Here Apple Bloom. You can try tickling her off with this. I'd do it myself, but it may not be ok... you know... me being a colt and all." [/colour]

[Bramble Rose]

[colour=#800080]Sweetie Belle[/colour]

Sweetie blinkblinked and shook her head, her eyes opening again. [colour=#800080]"Muh?"[/colour] she asked, clinging to the nice cuddly...

... leg?

She looked around muzzily, wondering why her room looked so odd ...

Oh. Right.

OH! Right!

She scrambled swiftly to her hooves, wiping quickly at her mouth, blinking quickly. [colour=#800080]"Oh! Hi, Apple Bloom!"[/colour]

How in Equestria did she end up asleep in the middle of the floor of the barn during Apple Bloom's party? That wasn't normal! She had a vague memory of some unicorn telling her she was sleepy ...

...

[colour=#800080]"Did we have a curse placed on us? OH NO! It's not a hundred years later, is it?!"[/colour]

​

[Rosewind]

[colour=#ED458B]"Huh! Isn't that something?" [/colour]Pinkie said as she glowered over Dashie's new outfit. [colour=#ED458B]"Once I tried to make my own outfit using sack of sugar, glitter, and a case of super glue! I glued myself to the floor and spent the night there...then the Cakes found me, and had to pry me off the floor with a huge bread paddle!" [/colour]Awkward pause. [colour=#ED458B]"Oooh, even her mane is all done up pretty! Sparkly~!" [/colour]

Pinkie's attention shifted back to baking the cake, of course! She noticed Carrot holding the bag of coffee, which she had nearly flattened everypony in the room to get. [colour=#ED458B]"Hey, you! Awkward stallion! Help me get this huge bag of flour into the cake mixer too! We have birthday cake to make, and it won't bake itself, unless it's in the oven or it has a brain!" [/colour]Pinkie sat back on her haunches, her mind slowly catching up to her speech. [colour=#ED458B]"...Teeheehee! Wouldn't be funny to have a thinking cake? What would a cake think?" [/colour]Pinkie lowered her voice to do a "cake" impression. [colour=#ED458B]"Hi, I'm cake and I'm chocolate fudge cream inside! I want to frost myself and roll in sprinkles! Teeheehee!" [/colour]The pink mare rolled around the floor in laughter, clearly amused with herself. [colour=#ED458B]"Wahahah! No really, put the flour in the mixer, pal! This will be the best java-chip buzz birthday cake EVER!"[/colour]

[RarityDash]

Rarity's eyes were still firmly closed as she waited with anticipation for the familiar burst of magic to hit her and wash away the horror of her dirty, disheveled visage. Oh, what sweet relief it would be when it came! She needed this desperately. She had experienced too many indignities that day. She needed repose. For once, the usually glamorous unicorn needed something to go her way. She was sure the day could yet be saved once it did...

​

[colour=#0000CD]"Hey, there. [/colour][colour=#0000CD]I'm sorry, I thought ... What are you-"[/colour]

Dash's voice reached her before the magic did. This was curious to Rarity, and caused a quick-developing concern to grow within her. She opened her eyes rapidly, but it was too late. Her magic would not be reaching her. It was already swirling around Rainbow Dash. Rarity gave a small cry of frustration as she stomped her hooves quickly. Why?! Why did this have to happen? This had to be the worst possible thing.

"No no no! That was for me! Why...." Rarity whined and whimpered tearfully, lowering her head. "Rainbow Da--"

​

[colour=#0000CD]"What... what the ... "[/colour]

Rarity cut herself off when she noticed what Dash apparently just had. The outfit she had envisioned... it looked just perfect on Dash. The way it matched her soft blue coat... the way it highlighted her colourful tresses... it was just incredible. It drew the attention of many of the ponies around, including AJ and Pinkie, the latter who went off on her usual insane tangents. For a moment, it took Rarity's attention off her plight.

[colour=#663399]"Oh my, you really do look just fabulous like that, Rainbow darling!"[/colour] she said with enthusiasm as she studied the dress on the other mare. [colour=#663399]"It's quite inspiring really..."[/colour]

She gave repeated nods and then added, [colour=#663399]"I really do need to have you model for me more often. Nice clothing really does become you."[/colour]

Rarity then gave a frustrated sigh, as she looked down and remembered her own far less than fabulous situation. [colour=#663399]"Well, I suppose at least some good did come of this... but I'm still a horrid wreck!"[/colour] she cried, stomping her front hooves some more.

Fashion thoughts had calmed her mind some though, so she was at least able to think things through rationally. She shook her head. [colour=#663399]"Well, I'd loathe to steal anymore of Applejack's curtains or tablecloths... and with my luck today it'd probably just end with Carrot wearing the next dress if I tried it again... So I suppose I'll just clean myself off the old fashioned way,"[/colour] she spoke to herself quietly, trying to think her situation through.

[colour=#663399]"You wouldn't happen to have any more towels around, would you, Applejack?"[/colour] she started in a tired voice.

​

[Bramble Rose]

[colour=#0000cd]Rainbow Dash[/colour]

Oh no... This was gonna be like one of those times she lost HOURS of naptime and training time standing there in Rarity's Boutique while the fashionista tried dress after dress and ridiculous outfit after even-more ridiculous outfit on her! And yet, it always seemed so *important* to Rarity, she just couldn't say 'no' to a friend who had that look on their face... Though, she had to admit, when it actually came to the outfits Rarity made for her in public, she did a good job of making them something Rainbow actually *liked* wearing. The Gala dress was perfect for her, and that one outfit with the great hat was pretty cool. She had more dresses in her closet now than she had at any time in her life except when she'd been a little filly. And this dress did look stunning on her.

First things first, though - Rarity looked terribly distressed. [colour=#0000cd]"Hey, Rare,"[/colour] Dash said, putting a hoof lightly on Rarity's shoulder. [colour=#0000cd] "You could never look 'a horrid wreck'. You could have a cart splash through a mud puddle in front of you, have Derpy drop an entire gross of eggs on you, and then get a summer breeze blowing an entire cloud of those sticky little dandelion puffs all over you ... and you'd still look like you were on the cutting edge of fashion, and everypony around you was simply 'dreadfully last week'."[/colour] She grinned at Rarity. [colour=#0000cd]"Still, let me help get you cleaned up, come on."[/colour]

She led Rarity outside, then flew off - slower than usual, cause the long hair really messed up her flight pattern ... but then she realized that if she flew into the wind just right, and tilted her head back a little, she could make the ridiculously long mane and tail stream behind her just like Princess Celestia's! She played with that for a couple seconds, then blushed and darted forward again. She was NOT a pretty princess! She was radical!

Swiftly, she fetched a dark cloud and brought it back to tuck above Rarity's head, then hopped up and down on it a few times to get a nice little brisk shower. She knew Rarity usually disapproved of this method ... but in the circumstances, she was pretty sure that it'd be all right. She kicked the cloud one last time to dissipate it, then landed down nearby, outside of the resultant puddle.

Her teeth started to give a tug at the fabric. [colour=#0000cd]"There. Now we'll just get you dried off, and you can put this dress on, and feel better!"[/colour]

​

[brianblackberry]

[colour=#800080]Cheerilee[/colour]

Working with foals meant that Cheerilee was used to fielding the strangest questions one could ever expect - or never expect - to hear from a pony's mouth. Foals are very imaginative, and Sweetie Belle was no exception, as she came up out of the dreamy stupor. [colour=#800080]"No worries, Sweetie Belle - you were only asleep for an hour or so, not for a century. Everypony is still the same; I hope you're feeling better? At least have some of the ice water and juice before doing anything else, OK?"[/colour]

It seemed some foals were faring more poorly than others, while Scootaloo, Applebloom, and Guiding Light were recovering well and Haywire avoiding the cider altogether, poor Nursery Rhyme didn't seem to be doing so well. Cheerilee picked up the blankets - they were old and a little musty, but would keep the little nurse filly warm as she wrapped them around Nursery Rhyme. [colour=#800080]"we're still at Applebloom's birthday party, in Sweet Apple Acres? Do you remember?"[/colour] Hopefully the loss of awareness was only for a few second while the filly got her bearings. [colour=#800080]"Be sure to drink plenty of the juice, and let me know if you feel too ill and I'll get you to the hospital, okay?"[/colour] Hopefully it wouldn't come to that, Cheerilee was determine to salvage this party!

Cheerilee stood proudly on all fours with a new air of confidence, [colour=#800080]"alrighty ponies, just need those hay bales pushed together to make a new table for the cake slices and unopened presents, oh and Applebloom did you have any games you wanted to play? Your birthday after all!"[/colour]

[colour=#ff8c00]Carrot Fields[/colour]

Carrot Fields watched as Rarity and Dash exited the room, not able to shake himself from how stunning the rainbow maned mare looked, that is until Pinkie started to yell his way, [colour=#ff8c00]"huh…? Och, th' flour, huh, awe rite, ah can help wi' th' flour." [/colour] As Carrot looked at the bag of flour, he slowly pushed the sack of coffee beans out of the way with his hind leg. No need for the hyper pink pony to get a whiff of java, who knows what would happen.

Carrot paused on moving over to the bag of flour, taking a moment to pick up the tumbled basket that he and Dash had just finished filling... most of them had shattered, but he picked up the half-dozen eggs that had managed to escape the eggpocalypse, tucking them away in the basket and setting them safely aside. Somewhere away from the pink pony.

After lifting the large bag of flour on his back and moving to the large mixture, Carrot figured Pinkie would simply pour it in, but what he found instead was the pink mare was too busy rolling around on the egg and flour covered floor laughing at her own odd insights. He was both annoyed and amused, he should be mad at her, but she was just so cute, even in her messy state. What could he do though? He knew nothing of making cake, [colour=#ff8c00]"umm.. Applejack, woods ye min' poorin' in' it in ah hae nae idea hoo much."[/colour]

[SteelEagle]

For a brief moment in time, Apple Bloom was totally on the same page with Sweetie Belle. Every second seemed to stretch an hour for the first minute or so after you woke up, and the realization of what happened hit you slowly in waves and you felt like hiding. Luckily for all involved, Sweetie Belle probably wasn't gonna do that, ad the fact her initial concern was so silly struck Apple Bloom in just the right way. She smiled and gave Sweetie a playful noogie as Cheerilee explained what had happened, nodding and keeping perky despite her tummy feeling like she was churning butter. The only thing that could make this day worse would be if Sweetie started crying or feeling sad, and Celestia knew that would start a tidal wave of sadness that would wash away her gifts. They were big fillies and they'd cry when they wanted to, but this day would be the exception. Cheerilee mentioned games- yes, games!

[colour=#ff0000]"Well, Ah think, uhh, pin tha tail on tha donkey sounds like a fine game ta me!"[/colour] She exclaimed, jumping up once with an excited twang. Of course, she didn't know where the materials would be.

[colour=#ff0000]"Ah'll go get it set right up, Miss Cheerilee!"[/colour] Apple Bloom followed this promise with action, dashing off towards the kitchen. She slowed her gallop to a nice trot as she breached the kitchen, eyes closed in excitement for a brief moment.

[colour=#ff0000]"Applejack, where-"[/colour] She opened her eyes, and immediately stopped.

[colour=#ff0000]"What the..." [/colour]Okay, so there was a mess. Everywhere. And considering what hazy memories she had of the evening's activities, she didn't know whether she was to blame.

[colour=#ff0000]"Uhh, Ah didn't do this, did Ah?...Darn, and all Ah came in're for was pin tha tail on tha donkey supplies..."[/colour]

[Bellosh]

With a recovering Apple Bloom offering to help Cheerilee set up a pin the tail game, Ingrid Marie decided to give the birthday filly the most attention. As Lil’ Abby drunk most of the bad cider, she would probably need more help than the other foals at this time of the evening. And so Ingrid wordlessly followed as Apple Bloom made her way towards the kitchen.

Just like Apple Bloom, Ms. Marie wasn’t prepared to find the kitchen area in shambles. Aside from the usual mess one could expect from a herd of mares with presumably a mostly amateurish-knowledge of the art of baking, that prickly white unicorn from before somehow found herself drenched in water. Just as equally mysterious, the rainbow-maned pegasus somehow found a fancy dress to put on only to now be in the middle of taking it off.

Before Apple Bloom got any further impression that she caused this mess, Auntie Marie stepped in. [colour=#008080]“It’s quite alright dear,”[/colour] Ingrid comforted the filly as she trotted to her side; [colour=#008080]“Apparently, your sister and uhhh... her friends seem busy making a cake.”[/colour] Clearing her throat, Ingrid raised her voice so that the other young adults could hear; [colour=#008080]“Pardon me everypony, but do one of you know where Apple Bloom can find the things for the... pin the tale on a donkey game?”[/colour]

[Rosewind]

Pinkie Pie pranced over to Carrot. Her pink coat was covered with patches of dusty white flour, with a few splatters of egg here and there. She shook her mane, and a cloud of flour poofed into the air. [colour=#ED458B]"Don't worry Applejack, I've got this! You don't need to measure, silly! Just dump it in! Cake is an art, not a science! With art, you have to get messy! We need sugar too!" [/colour]Pinkie pressed her hoof along the bottom of the sack that Carrot was shouldering, "helping" him dump it into the huge mixer. Pinkie put her hoof around his neck, drawing in closely to the stallion of questionable intent. [colour=#ED458B]"So Carrot, do you have a wife? Kids? Family? Hmm? Maybe a special somepony?! I'd like to meet her if you do!"[/colour]

Pinkie glanced over to Rainbow and Rarity with her large blue eyes, grinning. [colour=#ED458B]"Hay you two! What're you up to?! We need frosting made!"[/colour]

[Lux]

Light finally started feeling better. The barn, however, did not. How was there supposed to be a party for Apple Bloom when everything was a mess?

[colour=#daa520]"I hope I didn't mess things up," [/colour]the colt said as his ears flattened to his side.

He knew that Apple Bloom was his friend, a pony that gave him the time of day when others did not and helped him to overcome his shyness. And if there was one thing he knew about friendship, it was that friends helped other friends.

[colour=#daa520]"Time to get this party back to together, starting with a little clean up."[/colour]

With a flicker of his horn, he began to deconstruct the hay bale fortress and spread it out into a table.

[colour=#daa520]"Come on ponies," [/colour]he said standing on the hay bale table and firing off a blast of light to hopefully get some of the ponies' attention, [colour=#daa520]"Let's get this place back to normal so Apple Bloom can have an awesome party!" [/colour]

[Hippo]

[colour=#000000]Applejack rolled her eyes as Pinkie took the normal assertiveness she had towards baking a cake. She cupped her hoof over Carrot's ear and whispered, [/colour][colour=#ff0000]"She's an odd one, but when it comes to baking, she knows what she's doing. Somehow. Just keep the coffee to yourself until its time to add it."[/colour][colour=#000000] Applejack grabbed some towels in one of the cupboards, and threw them to Rarity. [/colour][colour=#ff0000]"Alright, gang, ah'm gonna go out to the barn and check on the kids."[/colour]

[colour=#000000]Before Applejack could even leave the kitchen, Apple Bloom trotted in not completely coherent, but awake enough to see that a disaster in the kitchen was a possibility. With a short burst of upset mumbles, Applejack scooped up Apple Bloom onto her haunches and walked her into the barn. [/colour][colour=#ff0000]"Heh, nothin' to see here Sis. Don't you fret, we're bakin' you a new cake and everything!"[/colour]

[colour=#000000]When Applejack walked into the barn, she saw the younger ponies recovering from their[/colour][colour=#000000] experience. [/colour][colour=#ff0000]"Hay, Cheerilee. The kids look like they are starting to come to. That's great! How about we go ahead and let Apple Bloom open the rest of her presents? Abby's going to love the gifts she got. It's gonna be so excitin'!" [/colour][colour=#000000]Applejack had gotten Apple Bloom three separate gifts. The first was a kicking bag, much like the one Applejack uses to warm up for kicking apples off trees, except this one was smaller in size. The second was a set of capes, all adorned with apple patched to them. And the last one was the largest. A large dollhouse farm, complete with a barn set, home-side and toy farming tools and instruments. She was sure that Apple Bloom would love to have a toy that reflected the consistencies and habits of the ponies of the Apple family. She couldn't think of why she wouldn't. [/colour][colour=#ff0000]"Whaduyousa, Sis?"[/colour]

​

[Mojo]

After being away from the barn for a while, Granny Smith, Haywire and a much more sober Uncle Apple Strudel returned. The bearded stallion was hauling a small cart behind him, filled with two pots of hot coffee, two large freshly baked coffee cakes (already sliced) as well as some fresh coffee 'strudel'.

[colour=#00ff00]"Alrighty folks!" [/colour]Granny Smith proclaimed. [colour=#00ff00]"I got plenty of stuff ta bring y'all back ta normal!"[/colour]

[colour=#006400]"Ja!" [/colour]added Apple Strudel, [colour=#006400]"Vee have lots of good coffee cake und strudel und coffee!"[/colour]

[colour=#b22222]"And if any of y'all can't amble on over here, I'll bring it to ya!" [/colour]Haywire volunteered, [colour=#b22222]"Jist shout out whatcha want and I'll come a runnin'!"[/colour]

[SteelEagle]

Apple Bloom would have understood had it been the fault of her and friends (and associated hanger ons) that the kitchen was a warzone of frosting and sweets, but she expected more from the assembled adults. After all, they were big ponies with their cutie marks and none of them had anything to do with destroying her kitchen! They were doing all manner of silliness she would have expected out of the Crusaders, who were on their best hangover behavior back in the main room. The sheer silliness forced a smile onto her face as she looked up at Ingrid. At least she wasn't a goofball!

[colour=#ff0000]"Thar is a whole lot of silliness out thar that Ah can't even begin to tell ya what ta make of!"[/colour] She laughed just long enough for Applejack to scoop her up, the duo off to see the gifts. Applejack told her of what excitement waited for her and the filly felt her bow gain five coats of bright red lister in the span of a haf-moment. Nothing was better when it came to a little filly than the promise of cake and presents, and not even the slightly overweight fillies and colts either. Tell a little one that cake and presents are around and their eyes would light up with enough brightness to lead a blind pegasus to land safely.

Apple Bloom jumped off and started hopping in place, ignoring the headache.

[colour=#ff0000]"Presents! Presents! Who else still has presents waitin' up thar? I count...err, my eyes hurt when they focus, so I seem ta have a few! Thanks everypony! And oooh, Ah'll have ta pass on that coffee, just tha thought of it makes my tummy hurt like a storm something fierce!"[/colour]

[Bellosh]

With Apple Bloom’s needs attended to, Ingrid Marie set her sights on the next young pony requiring attention. Thanks to a sudden use of a light beam spell, that foal wasn’t hard to find. Ingrid didn’t know who this yellow unicorn colt was, but she suspected that he was possibly expending a lot more magical energy than he could afford to. Well... the magic counselor didn’t know for sure, but it made sense to mind the spell-casting young lad anyway.

[colour=#008080]“Woah, not so fast kiddo!”[/colour] Ms. Marie shouted with concern to the colt as she cantered towards the hay bale table (which she could have sworn was just a mangled-up pile of bales a moment ago); [colour=#008080]“You’re going to burn yourself out blasting that light around. Just be patient... everypony is doing their best right now to get this party back on track.”[/colour]

[brianblackberry]

[colour=#800080]Cheerilee[/colour]

As Cheerilee pushed a couple of the hay bales together to form a makeshift table for the cake she was shocked to see how much back up food managed to be around. There was Purple Haze's carefully protected carrot cake of course, but then the elderly Germane Apple pony pulled out a cart of cake snacks seemingly out of nowhere; did Apples always bring large amounts of food with them? It looked like emergency cake being made in the kitchen wouldn't be needed after all. [colour=#800080]"Alright class, if you wouldn't mind, gather some of the food and place them on the hay bales, oh I suppose we need a table cloth first."[/colour]

Applejack reappeared from the kitchen with a change of plans- Presents first for the birthday filly. That worked for Cheerilee as it gave more time for food setup. The purple schoolmare trotted back and picked up her small gift for Applebloom and was about to present it when sudden a bright beam of light came out of nowhere and flashed right into her eyes!

Cheerilee was momentarily stunned, and stumbled backwards in blind shock as she tripped over her own hooves before she fell on her flank and banged the back of her head on the side of Strudel's cart, which knocked on the coffee cake slices right into her lap. [colour=#800080] "Whaaa...where, what happened"[/colour] Cheerilee rubbed her eyes, her blurred vision returning,[colour=#800080] "wait where is my gift? I dropped it somewhere!"[/colour]

[colour=#FF8C00]Carrot Fields[/colour]

Carrot listened in surprise to Applejack's discreet mention that somehow the pink earth mare was actually proficient in cake making. Based on what the gray stallion had seen so far, he just assumed the curly maned pony was some eccentric partier who never learned to grow up or have any sort of talent, other than making mischief. That wasn't a fair assessment though, he hadn't gotten to know her yet, maybe she really was a cook. She was darn cute though. Still Carrot at least trusted AJ and simply nodded.

Of course Pinkie Pie's answer to helping pour a measured amount of the flour into the giant mixer was to simply dump the entire bag! Knows what she is doing? A cook? Hard to believe at the moment, this was somepony Applejack was going to leave the kitchen in the hooves of?

Carrot looked around and quickly spotted the sugar that Pinkie mentioned, determined to keep full control over that and the coffee bad as well; the vision of Pinkie strung up on either substance was something he didn't even want to contemplate. It was bad enough with the mess she made covering him in flour dust and who knows what other bits; Purple surely would give him later an ear full about how he let his kilt get so dirty.

Pinkie though turned the awkward up to eleven when she drew up next to him and placed her forehoof around him and started asking questions. At first Carrot just thought about how this kooky, but really cute mare was being so close, she smelled like... Carrot quickly shook his head of those thoughts and refocused on her inquiries. [colour=#ff8c00] "Actually Ah am single, Ah jist hae mah farm, th' only other one thar is my wee sister Purple Haze, who Ah tak' caur of. Oh did ye know she is a cook tay!? She has a cake out in th' main room an' everythin'!" [/colour] Maybe he shouldn't revealed that part, but still less awkward than Pinkie's last question.[colour=#ff8c00] "An' nae.... Nae, Ah uh, Ah don't hae any special somepony... Wa dae ye ask?"[/colour]

Why did she ask?

[RarityDash]

[colour=#001ac6]

[colour=#222222] [/colour]"Hey, Rare, you could never look 'a horrid wreck'. You could have a cart splash through a mud puddle in front of you, have Derpy drop an entire gross of eggs on you, and then get a summer breeze blowing an entire cloud of those sticky little dandelion puffs all over you ... and you'd still look like you were on the cutting edge of fashion, and everypony around you was simply 'dreadfully last week'. Still, let me help get you cleaned up, come on."[/colour]

[colour=#222222]

Rarity's somber, resigned mood began to erode readily as she heard Dash speak. Maybe Dash was a little blunt in her obvious ploy to cheer her up--some of the messy imagery she evoked made her grimace too-- but there was a certain unforgeable sincerity to how Dash said it that made Rarity somehow sure that this mare, more confident, striking and bold in her dress than Rarity would ever have been, understood how she felt and wanted to offer her comfort. She silently nodded to Dash and smiled faintly as she followed her out, her steps feeling light. She was at least of enough focus to not be blindsided by the towel AJ tossed toward her, which she caught with her magic.[/colour]

[colour=#222222]

Unexpectedly, once outside, Dash took off into the sky. Rarity gazed at her, not quite sure what she was planning. She noticed Dash flying around for a number of seconds, her extended mane flowing elegantly behind her creating an alluring show of colour. Rarity was captivated by the show. Just watching Dash fly was something she was content to do. Even when she ended up crashing spectacularly, the way the rainbow maned mare looked in the sky could only be described as dazzling. The speed, the colours, it always brought her back to the Best Young Fliers competition, to those moments, to her fall and to her rescue and how when she had told Princess Celestia herself that Dash was the best in Equestria, she had meant every word. Dressed in her elegant gown, with her flowing mane, Dash looked even more inspiring and beautiful than ever.[/colour]

[colour=#222222]

Rarity was so focused on the mare, in fact, that she ceased to really notice as Dash found a dark cloud and placed it over head. It wasn't until Rarity's impromptu shower began that she realized what Dash's plan was. She didn't particularly care for being rained on like this... but in her state, who was she to complain? Dash was solving her problem and she was doing it, as she did most things, with flying colours. As the sudden shower came to an end, Rarity was still smiling. She found the towel Applejack had tossed her and began to use it to dry herself.

​[/colour][colour=#001ac6]

"There. Now we'll just get you dried off, and you can put this dress on, and feel better!"[/colour]

[colour=#222222]

Rarity shook her head quietly at these words. [/colour]

[colour=#5c3995]

"No, Rainbow dear, with my damp mane and bad luck I'd just ruin it. Besides, it really does suit you so well,"[colour=#222222] she said in a soft voice, stepping ahead as she finished drying herself with the towel.

​[/colour][/colour]

[colour=#cf508b]

"Hay you two! What're you up to?! We need frosting made!"[colour=#222222] [/colour][/colour]

[colour=#222222]

At Pinkie's call from back inside she gave a nod. [colour=#5c3995]"Come, Pinkie's calling us. We should really rejoin the others,"[/colour] she said, a smile still on her face.[/colour]

[colour=#222222]

The unicorn took a few steps forward before glancing back at her friends. Her voice becoming warmer and quieter, she spoke up once more, [colour=#5c3995]"And Dash... thank you. You really do excel at lifting me up when I need it."[/colour]

​[/colour]

[Rosewind]

Pinkie Pie flatlooked Carrot as she flipped the mixer on. The gigantic paddle whirred to life, sending a poof of flour into the air, which mingled for several moments and dissipated. [colour=#ED458B]"Heehe! You talk funny! Let me try!" [/colour]She cleared her throat, putting on her take of a deeper stallion's voice. [colour=#ED458B]"Well 'ow'dy there! Ow a've you noe that mah cakies are sum 'o dae best in Ponyville. Blah, that's hard! Who taught you how to speak, anyway?" [/colour]She whacked Carrot playfully across the back, shifting the subject to something more awkward. [colour=#ED458B]"Gee, you're still single? You look like you should be married with foals by now. I'm sure you'll find your special somepony! I happen to know three particular fillies that are excellent matchmakers. Oooh, or you can come to my gypsy tent later and I can divine your love fortune. I can see a dark cloud hovering over you already, so we have lots of work to do with that." [/colour]

The pink mare suddenly skipped away, doing a somersault in a flail of pink, curly mane. She ran outside to the chicken coop, where cries of several hens could be heard, loud and clear. [colour=#ED458B]"Calm down, ladies! I just need two of you for a little favour. Eggcellent!" [/colour]She trotted back into the kitchen, casually as anypony would please, with a chicken under each of her armpits. [colour=#ED458B]"We need eggs. You might want to move away from the mixer, Carrot!" [/colour]Before anyone could guess what Pinkie was up to, she tickled both hens. They bawked loudly, flailing. She shot eggs, fresh from the birds, into the bowl of the mixer like a rapid fire double machine gun. Pinkie giggled, squeezing the protesting hens gently. [colour=#ED458B]"Look at that, eggsactacally how many eggs we needed! Shells? Don't worry about those, the mixer will crush them real fine and give our guests extra calcium!"[/colour] The pink mare let go of the hens (which proceeded to flap around the kitchen), grinning at Carrot.

[colour=#ED458B]"Coffee, please!"[/colour]

[Bramble Rose]

[colour=#0000cd]Rainbow Dash[/colour]

Dash was ready to protest the insistence that she keep on the dress... she felt *silly* wearing it at a foal's birthday party! Not to mention her hair! She needed an appointment with a kitchen shears sometime soon. But Rarity's softly worded thanks made her grin bashfully - the suggestion of good work done, and praise, always doing a number on the sky-coloured pegasus' mood.

[colour=#0000cd]"Awwww, well,"[/colour] she said, lifting one hoof to give a little punch at Rarity's shoulder. [colour=#0000cd]"Y'know. Anything for my friends!"[/colour] She gave a nervous little laugh. She supposed she'd be stuck in the dress, then... if it made Rarity feel better, anyway! How could she say no to a friend?

She headed inside, and looked around the kitchen. Eggs splattered over the floor, flour everywhere ... yeah, it looked like all three times she'd tried to use a kitchen before! Looked like everything was under control! [colour=#0000cd] "Frosting, eh?"[/colour] she asked. [colour=#0000cd]"Sure thing!"[/colour] She fluttered her wings and flew over the mess to the far side. [colour=#0000cd] "Let's make some frosting! ... How do you make frosting?"[/colour] She hrmmmed... then reached for a cookbook, and started flipping through it. [colour=#0000cd] "Ah! Butter, powdered sugar ... that's silly, isn't all sugar a powder? And milk... that's a lotta sugar for only a little butter and milk! Huh. That's gotta be a typo..."[/colour] She rummaged through the cabinets, leaving them all open in her search for a mixing bowl... Ah-ha! And ingredients! [colour=#0000cd] "Ah, found the sugar! Hey, weird, their sugar is *brown*! does that mean it went bad?"[/colour]

​

[colour=#800080]Sweetie Belle[/colour]

Sweetie let out a soft *oh* and looked around again. Why had she been magiced to go to sleep, then? Was magiced even a word? Ah well. [colour=#800080]"I'll take the water, thank you, Miss Cheerilee! But I don't think I want any juice!"[/colour]

She glanced around, then leaned closer to Miss Cheerilee, and whispered in a loud, foal's whisper. [colour=#800080]"I took a sip of it earlier, and it tasted really bad! I don't wanna be rude, but the Apple Family usually has MUCH better juice!"[/colour]

She chased after Apple Bloom as the promise of presents struck, stopping just a moment to stare at the kitchen. [colour=#800080]"Wow, it looks like they're all doing a great job in here!"[/colour] she said brightly! And it did! Look at all the flour and eggs and stuff everywhere! What an amazing job they must be doing! With all that mess, she was sure that it'd taste great!

[colour=#800080]"I got you a present, too, Apple Bloom! It's back in the other room! Oooo, whose are you gonna open first?"[/colour] She bounced up and down eagerly, naptime having restored all her never-lost energy and then some!

​

[colour=#ff8c00]Purple Haze[/colour]

Purple squeaked a protest as the hay bale fortress she'd carefully made started to be dismantled. [colour=#ff8c00]"Oye!"[/colour] she cried at Guiding Light, [colour=#ff8c00]"Oi've a roit fiddle tae play here! Ye saw th' barmy raucus wot played havoc wi' th' nips, roit? Ye've nae a half-bit tae nip if'n ye're tae leave me cake all showin' bright!"[/colour]

She grumbled angrily. Were they *looking* to destroy her carrot cake? Still, doing nothing but standing guard for well onto an hour while everyone slept was BORING. And promises of a proper party instead of the chaos of earlier were awfully tempting.

She stalked out of her fortress and planted a hoof on Lux's chest, looking him close in the face. [colour=#ff8c00] "Roit, Oi'll let ye get 'way wi' it this time, but don't let me catch ye puttin' it on again, roit? Jes' don' get any straw on me cake or destroy it, an' Oi won't hie to!" [/colour] She looked around determinedly. [colour=#ff8c00] "now Oi fancy a bit of dancin', a party needs some music! Who's got th' music in hoof?"[/colour]

​

[AlisonRose]

Silver Spoon had just 'happened to be in the area' and decided she would stop by for Apple Bloom's part. Wearing a fancy dress and a sun hat attempting to hide from a certain other filly she slowly trots into the barn and finds her way over to Apple Bloom.

[colour=#a9a9a9]"Don't ask questions an like, take the box."[/colour] She started as she slid a box that was covered in wrapping paper and tied with a very pretty pink bow. Inside was a silver cup with a red apple in the design of a heart on the side. [colour=#a9a9a9]"And don't say I've like never done anything nice for you ever."[/colour] She begins to start to trot away and then sharply turns back around. [colour=#a9a9a9]"I mean that, don't tell anypony, I'll deny the whole thing ever happened."[/colour] Silver giggled and smiled quickly to Apple Bloom before she trotted off to find some free food to eat. One good thing about coming to this party was not only could she find some time away from Diamond Tiara, but she also found plenty of free food. That and maybe there was some way to find some good conversation. She found a table that had some cake and other things on it and decided to leave it be for now. Finding a nice spot she hung her hat up and jostled herself out of her dress before sitting down on to observe the interactions of those, less motivated ponies.

[Lux]

[colour=#ff8c00]Purple Haze[/colour]

Purple squeaked a protest as the hay bale fortress she'd carefully made started to be dismantled. [colour=#ff8c00]"Oye!"[/colour] she cried at Lux, [colour=#ff8c00]"Oi've a roit fiddle tae play here! Ye saw th' barmy raucus wot played havoc wi' th' nips, roit? Ye've nae a half-bit tae nip if'n ye're tae leave me cake all showin' bright!"[/colour]

She grumbled angrily. Were they *looking* to destroy her carrot cake? Still, doing nothing but standing guard for well onto an hour while everyone slept was BORING. And promises of a proper party instead of the chaos of earlier were awfully tempting.

She stalked out of her fortress and planted a hoof on Lux's chest, looking him close in the face. [colour=#ff8c00] "Roit, Oi'll let ye get 'way wi' it this time, but don't let me catch ye puttin' it on again, roit? Jes' don' get any straw on me cake or destroy it, an' Oi won't hie to!" [/colour] She looked around determinedly. [colour=#ff8c00] "now Oi fancy a bit of dancin', a party needs some music! Who's got th' music in hoof?"[/colour]

Guiding Light was surprised to hear a little squeak. He knew that somepony was in there protecting the cake but he thought that she left him. The filly started saying something to him, but he didn't know everything she said. Her accent was harder to understand than Apple Bloom's was. Yet from what he gathered and by the look on her face, she was angry that he took apart her fort. The fact that the filly put her hoof into his chest didn't help things.

[colour=#daa520]"Oh, sorry for taking apart your hay bale fort. I'm not trying to wreck the cake, honestly. It was nice that you tried to keep it saved. I'll try to keep the cake safe and hay free. Do you need help with it?"[/colour]

Guiding Light heard the other adult pony who was with Cheerilee asked the pony to descend from his hay bale platform. He then heard the words of his teacher tell everypony there to gather around for cake and presents. Turning in the direction of the voices Guiding Light accidentally let loose a beam of light which to his horror struck Cheerilee right in the eyes.

A wave of terror struck the colt as he looked at the stricken teacher. He wondered what the punishment was for blinding a teacher: banishment, imprisonment, or maybe both.

[colour=#daa520]"Miss Cheerilee, are you ok? I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to blind you with that magic like that. It was an accident I swear. [/colour][colour=#daa520]Please don't imprison or banish, or whatever punishment there is for blinding teachers." [/colour]

[Bellosh]

A loud commotion from the general direction of Strudel’s cart diverted Ingrid Marie’s attention just in time to see Cheerilee stumble. By the magic counselor’s reckoning, that stray light blast a second ago must have blinded the schoolteacher! Uggh... the beige unicorn really hoped the town of Ponyville provided generous pensions to ponies like Cheerilee.

Swiftly attending to the fallen earth pony, Ms. Marie got confused by Cherrilee’s mention of a lost gift; [colour=#008080]“Uhh, a gift? Can you tell us how it looked like, mmkay?”[/colour] Ingrid took a moment to glare at the foolish colt that caused this mess before giving her full attention again to the recovering mare.....

[Hippo]

[colour=#ff0000]"So which present do you want to open up next, AB?"[/colour][colour=#000000] Applejack was starting to really get excited for her younger sister. At this age, getting presents was always fun. And this year, despite a very interesting turnout in friends and family, the stockpile of presents was getting to be the biggest she's ever had. It had seemed that this little yellow filly had reached the peak age of her present-getting, old enough to be treated like a big pony in some instances, but still young enough to get all the little toys she could ask for. And fortunately for Applejack and family, she was not really the type of foal that had a lot of wants. Well, other than a cutie mark, of course.

And speaking of foals who get want they want, Silver Spoon walked in with a present, probably for Apple Bloom, and gave it to her. [/colour][colour=#ff0000]"Why, thanks, Silver Spoon! We're so glad you could make it. I'll just take this here present and put it with the rest."[/colour][colour=#000000] She shuffled the box onto her own haunches. She would later put it with the rest of the presents.[/colour]

[colour=#ff0000]"Ah, know, Apple Bloom. Why don't you open Sweetie Belle's present next? After all, she is one of your best friends. Speakin' o' which, where in tarnation is that Scootaloo? Wasn't she here?"[/colour]

​

If your character has a present for Apple Bloom, please make it known that there is a gift from your pony for her. And, if you want, you can spoiler what the gift is.

[brianblackberry]

[colour=#800080]Cheerilee[/colour]

Cheerilee stood back up on all four, dark spots floating in front of her eyes, but more or less able to make out what was around her. She was used to such accidents - there wasn't a year that went by where there wasn't a few magical accidents in class caused by young unicorns just coming into their powers. Cheerilee smiled to Guiding Light as she rubbed her eyes, [colour=#800080]“that's alright, Guiding, I know you were just trying to help. You just need a little more practice, is all!” [/colour]The schoolmare rubbed his mane to show there were no ill feelings. How could their be? She adored all her students.

Although there was still one concern, the present! Cheerilee looked at Ingrid with a worried expression,[colour=#800080] “oh, ummm ... it was a small rectangle, just big enough to fit a comp-, er um, a little bigger than an apple.”[/colour] Surely it was somewhere in the barn, she just had to look through the mess strewn about. It wasn't that bad ... Oh, who was she kidding? The barn looked like its own personal tornado had touched down.

[colour=#FF8C00]Carrot Fields[/colour]

Carrot Fields looked aghast as Pinkie mockingly attempted his Fet Loch accent. And badly, too! That wasn't very nice of her! [colour=#ff8c00]“Hey, now... Where Oi hie from, everypony talks loik -”[/colour] Carrot stopped short at the next statement,[colour=#ff8c00] “Oye! That's nae my fault! Oi just.. Just, well, Oi've nae connected wi' the roit mare yet! Oi'm sure Oi kin find... Did ye say dark cloud?”[/colour] Carrot shook his head, this is ridiculous, she was ridiculous! And cute, but that was beside the point.

As shocked as he was at Pinkie's insinuations, Carrot was horrified what she did next with the chickens! [colour=#ff8c00]“Are ye crazy! What are ye doin' tae those poor hens!?” [/colour] Who lets this nut anywhere near animals?! He didn't have a choice! Carrot pushed back the coffee bag as far away from her as he could and grabbed the poor poultry from Pinkie's forehooves, shooing the traumatized pair back outside to their hutch. At least his sister wasn't in there. Purple would have completely flipped out at the travesty of cake making.

He slammed the door and ran back. He needed a calm spot, something calming, something to distract him from the stressful stuff, just for a moment. Calm, relaxing, white dress, sleek mane, wow … Applejack's friends were so... Stunning! His eyes settled on Dash, trying to figure out what sugar was while in her beautiful dress. [colour=#ff8c00]“Wow, ye look gorgeous ...” Carrot Fields! You thinking about that now?! “Er, I mean... confused! Aye, th' sugar! Yeah, broon, it is actually supposed tae be broon. heh, its a special type ay sugar, it is fine, troost me! It will wark!”[/colour] Carrot stood there with a big, goofy grin, he certainly was no cook but he certainly didn't have much desire to leave the kitchen, he just wasn't really sure what to do next.