Half an hour later…
Reef, Star Gazer, and Sun Streak finally had the Mane Gang, including Lightning Dust, at Sugar Cube Corner in a room planned for the party. They had already unfolded and set up the tables and chairs and placed their presents for Melody on a lone table decorated with an aqua cloth, each representing their mane and coat colors. The six friends, most along with their siblings, were about to arrange the room for the party when Reef piped in, "Wait, where are the decorations?"
Lightning immediately panicked, "There are no decorations? There are no decorations?! How are we supposed to have a party if there are no stinking party decorations?!"
"Calm down, L.F.!" a light yellow female Earth pony interjected. She had dark pink hair with pinkish-red highlights, artic blue eyes, and a cutie mark of a white cake topped with berries. Her name was Berry Treat, daughter of Pinkie Pie and Blissful Beat, current workers of the Sugar Cube Corner. "I brought the big guns for this already!" she continued.
"Oh, yeah, right. Just wanted to make sure," Lightning said nervously, scratching the back of his forehead and cursing himself for that embarrassing moment in front of his friends.
To his dismay, Leafly, a Pegasus mare with long flowing hair in two different shades of green, a teal-green coat, chocolate brown eyes, and a cutie mark of a pink flower with two leaves behind it, giggled and teased in a soft voice similar to her mother Fluttershy, "Looks like you care about Melody, huh, Lightning?"
Lightning Flash blushed and immediately defended himself, saying, "Well, I… err…we would not want to disappoint her!"
"Uh, huh. Most likely story there, Lightning," an Earth pony colt with a Southern drawl kidded. He had caramel-yellow skin, white freckles, green eyes, chocolate-brown hair, a light brown Stetson hat on top of his head, and a cutie mark of a mug of apple cider. His name was Apple Cider, son of Applejack and Caramel, current owners of Sweet Apple Acres, home of the most delicious apples of Equestria.
"Well, you wouldn't want to disappoint Jewel on her birthday!" Lightning argued, the blushing on his cheeks growing brighter than cherries as he referred to Jewel, daughter of Rarity and Fancy Pants, former being the owner of the Carousel Boutique and latter a high society unicorn.
Apple Cider's mouth turned into an embarrassed frown while his younger twin siblings, Apple Jam and Apple Buck, guffawed at the look on their brother's face. The two both had pale orange coats, blue eyes, deep caramel hair, and, like Sun Streak, no cutie marks. The only difference was that Apple Jam's hair was braided with a green bow on the end while Apple Buck's was short and slightly unkempt.
"Now ya'll stop that laughing!" Cider snapped at them strictly, immediately shutting the young foals up at his tone.
"Cider, darling, show some manners to those two," Jewel said, her wavy light blue mane bouncing with her graceful trots towards him. She had a white coat, indigo eyes, and a cutie mark of a glimmering amethyst surrounded by a silver frame. Apple Cider had to admit; she was a radiant beauty.
"Now stop this petty little argument and let's let Berry decorate, shall we, gents?" the unicorn mare asked with two innocent blinks.
Apple Cider and Lightning sighed and replied, "Yes, Jewel," before giving each other an apologetic bro-hoof.
The cow-pony immediately whispered when Jewel was out of earshot, "You gotta admit, though; Melody is quite a catch." Lightning gave him a narrowed eye glare, causing Cider to smirk.
An azure cannon with two pink wheels with a purple middle with flowers in the center suddenly rolled in, being pushed in by Berry. It was her mother's party cannon, used for immediate party decorating.
Apple Cider whispered to Lightning Flash, being as shocked as he was at the cannon, "She wasn't lying when she said she was bringing the big guns." Everyone else looked uneasily at the party cannon, dreading their last encounter with it.
"Um, Berry," Jewel's little sister Paucity (who looked like a filly version of Rarity with no cutie mark and round eyes) said, backing behind her sister, "don't you remember the last time you used the cannon at Neon's party?"
Berry looked like she was off in a daze as she remembered that notable, embarrassing day…
*Flashback*
"Berry, what's with the cannon?" a light green colt with neon green and aqua hair (hence his name, Neon) and a cutie mark of a music player with ear buds asked, studying the girly-looking weapon along with the gang. "It's my mom's party cannon! It'll be super-duper faster to decorate this room!" Berry exclaimed proudly as she patted the side of it.
"Okay," he said with a shrug. "Give it your best shot."
Berry prepared the cannon quickly, stuffing it with the decorations. However, when she finished, it looked overstuffed; bits of streamers and party hats stuck out of its opening.
"Let's light this candle!" the light yellow pony asked, backing behind the cannon and cueing it. However, the cannon only started rumbling along with an ominous tune.
"Uh, Berry, is it supposed to do that?" Lightning, who offered to help with the party, asked nervously. Even though he knew nothing about the cannon, he had a feeling there was something wrong with it.
Berry's eyes widened suddenly, realizing what she did wrong. "Take cover!" she squealed, pulling Neon and the entire gang under a table with great ease. The cannon's rumbling increased while bouncing around insanely with smoke starting to emit from it. It grew larger and larger, and finally…
KABOOM!
*End of flashback*
"Okay, maybe I shouldn't have overstuffed the cannon," Berry Treat admitted, scratching the back of her neck, "but I was able to fix Neon's party by hoof. Also, I made sure the cannon's stuffed correctly." She gestured to her party tool; sure enough, it did not look overstuffed one bit. However, the gang still carried the nervous look on their faces.
Glancing at each other and knowing they could never upset their friend, they nodded at Berry, who squealed with sheer delight at their permission. She was so joyful about it that she did not notice her friends placing on helmets and hiding under tables to shield themselves from any unexpected explosion.
The party-loving mare like her mother bounced behind the cannon and, with an unknown switch or button pressed, said, "Party in the hole!"
BOOM!
The five friends all forced their eyes open as they emerged from under the table, and what they saw caused them to gape in wonder.
No evidence of a fiery explosion showed in the entire room, but music-themed party decorations (considering Melody's love for music) adorned it completely. The streamers, table cloths, confetti, and balloons placed themselves in boring parts of the area, popping it with colorful displays of aqua, magenta, and purple, each glamorized with sparkling music notes. A white cake landed on one empty table along with other food and punch, having a black treble clef on the side while the rest of the space said, "HAVE A TUNEFUL BIRTHDAY, MELODY!" in turquoise writing.
After ten seconds of staring at the scene, Jewel breathed out, "It's so… so…"
"AWESOME!" Sun Streak finished without hesitation. "Melody is going to love it!"
"Huh, never doubted you for a second, Berry," Lightning said overly relieved and a bit prideful. Apple Cider gave him a glare that said 'Quit being a liar', making him recant, "Okay, maybe I did, but I sure underestimated you. It really speaks Melody."
"Aw, thanks, Lightning," Berry said with a small blush, being flattered by the compliment.
"Wait!" Reef exclaimed suddenly, remembering something important. "How do we know if Melody's coming?"
The gang immediately went into thought on how to know if Melody was coming so they could prepare to surprise her.
"I know!" Paucity squeaked. "One of us should go to the front window and look for Melody. Once he or she sees her, they have to yell, 'Soprano!' and wait for her to come. Then, they will take her in and… moment of surprise."
Apple Cider wore a confused face as he did not know anything about music terms. "Soprano?" he said.
"A singer that can sing from a pitch of approximately middle C to high A," Star Gazer replied. Apple Cider just blinked, not understanding half of what he said.
Leafly sighed and explained, "Someone who can sing in a very high voice."
"Oh, okay," Apple Cider said, finally understanding. He then muttered something under his breath about fancy words being in music.
"Ooh! Can I watch for Melody?" Berry Treat volunteered, raising her hoof.
"Actually, Berry, I think Lightning here would be more than happy to do the job," Apple Cider said with a smirk. Lightning's eyes dilated as he knew why his friend brought up the suggestion.
He began quickly, "Uh, actually, Apple Cider―"
"Okie-dokie-lokie!" Berry immediately piped in, pushing a dismayed Lightning to the entrance. She left him there to join her friends to get ready.
"A.C., I swear…" Lightning said through clenched teeth as he turned to the window…
... Only to see Melody hopping off the crystal carriage. She was an alicorn with an aqua coat, vivid purple eyes, a wavy mane of light blue, purple, and magenta tied in a pony tail (excuse the pun if it seems there is one), and a cutie mark of an upside treble clef and a reflected bass clef close enough to make it look like a heart.
"AAAAAAAAGGGGGGHHHHHH! SOPRANO! SOPRANO!" Lightning yelled in a very panicked voice. He then heard a quick shuffling from the room, letting him know that his friends heard him and prepared for the moment.
Lightning gulped and sweated so much, it could fill twenty barrels. He thought anxiously to himself, oblivious to the door creaking open, Okay, don't panic, dude; you got this! Just act cool and all, and it'll be just…
"Hi, Lightning!"
Lightning screamed literally like a girl hearing Melody's voice. He turned and saw the princess behind him closing the door. "Melody! I, er, didn't see ya there!" the Pegasus exclaimed, anxiety pumping in his rapid heart.
"Sorry, I didn't mean to scare you. So, what's the deal about Berry Treat sending this letter telling me to come here today?" she asked, using her magic to levitate a half-unrolled letter in front of him that said the following words in cursive penmanship.
Princess Melodina,
Please come to the Sugar Cube Corner this Saturday at 10:00 a.m. Do not ask why, and do not take this as a threat.
Lightning was surprised that she knew it was Berry, but he knew better than to reveal, so he said, "It doesn't look like it was from Berry Treat."
Melody, however, narrowed her eyes at the comment and made the letter completely unroll, revealing sparkling pink writing in the following words:
P.S. Please make sure your stomach is empty and ready for sugary sweetness!
Lightning thought to himself angrily, I thought I told her not to use that pink gel pen! He then said, trying not to give way the surprise, "Well, uh, maybe Berry wanted to show you something! Come on, I'll help you find her." He motioned for her to follow him, and she did so, wondering what Berry would possibly want to show her.
Outside, the same cloaked Pegasus from earlier spotted the two from a side window, and he said to seemingly no one, "The princess is in the building now, Master." In his mind, the listener replied in a gruff, ominous voice, "Excellent. Summon the troops." The Pegasus replied, "Yes, Master."
A male sales-pony nearby heard the Pegasus' low voice, thankfully not making out what he said. He yelled rudely, "Hey, you keep talking to yourself like that, people are gonna think you're crazy!"
The cloaked colt let out an annoyed sigh and slinked away, preparing for an ambush on what were to be the future heroes of Equestria.
A.N.: Sorry about the late update. School called my name way too early.