A PARTY FOR BURNING SUNRISE – OR –THE NEW CUTIE-MARK CRUSADERS

"So, this one day, about a year ago, Princess Celestia had this royal feast here in Ponyville," Burning Sunrise said as he followed the Cutie-Mark Crusaders. "That day, there was this mishap that her Phoenix had been taken from her. There were posters that day all over Ponyville about the Phoenix. When the guards had finally found the Phoenix, it was finally a Phoenix; from the tales that I heard that day, many ponies said something that before the Phoenix changed into a Phoenix, it was actually just a silly bird. With that said, I thought that Princess Celestia would punish her Phoenix because it caused all sorts of havoc as its pre-evolutionary stage – from pretending to die, to choking on stuff that most animals couldn't even swallow or wouldn't find edible, to disguising itself in a costume to stay hidden, and again pretending to die when his wings caught on fire." The Cutie-Mark Crusaders gasped.

"Why and how did the Phoenix burn its wings, I mean, before it evolved into a Phoenix, that is?" Sweetie Belle asked.

"Like I said before, that Phoenix was just an ordinary 'silly' bird," Burning Sunrise continued. "Do you see regular birds with flames coming out of them?" With a smile, his newest friends shook their heads.

"We're here, Burning Sunrise!" Scootaloo exclaimed, as she and the rest of the Cutie-Mark Crusaders walked into a building; Burning Sunrise followed suit. Sugar-Cube Corner, the building of sweets. "Pinkie Pie, could you make us an apple cake?"

"Sure thing, Scootaloo!" exclaimed the mysterious yet familiar voice to Burning Sunrise. Suddenly, a pink head came out from the counter and he now knew why her voice was familiar. It was that pink pony! Their eyes stared into each other's; ending when Pinkie Pie happily waving at him and Burning Sunrise giving her a small smile. "I'll be back in a few seconds!" Then, she ran into the kitchen of Sugar-Cube Corner. In half of a nanosecond, she came back, but was holding a three-foot cake on her head. She placed the cake in front of Burning Sunrise.

"Thanks Pinkie Pie was it?" he asked, to which Pinkie Pie nodded her head. "The cake is larger than you are, though… How could you carry that on-top your head without it falling off?" Pinkie Pie smirked and was going to touch Burning Sunrise's mane, but remembered that his mane was actually his pet Phoenix!

"Uh, I'm a majestic creature!" she exclaimed with much pause in the sentence, before her eyes got huge. "This reminds me! You three, distract him for a few hours! I need to do something!" She winked at the Cutie-Mark Crusaders before running out of the room.

"Distract me?" Burning Sunrise asked, and the Cutie-Mark Crusaders slowly turned their heads towards him. "Distract me from what?" The three young girls laughed nervously.

"Um, why don't we all just explore this town for a few hours?" Apple Bloom asked. "We could show you our clubhouse, if you want!" Burning Sunrise nodded hesitantly, and soon, had to gallop to catch up with his new friends as they ran across the entire town.

"We're here!" Apple Bloom exclaimed as she and the rest of the Cutie-Mark Crusaders trotted up the stairs to their tree. Burning Sunrise also entered the clubhouse through the already-opened-door. Greeting him as he collapsed on the wooden floor were not the expressions of the cute and innocent faces from his newest friends; these were deadpanned expressions.

"What took you so long?" Scootaloo asked. Burning Sunrise was going to talk, but considered better of it. "Anyway, this is the club of the one and only Cutie-Mark Crusaders! Pretty sweet, huh?" There was a mystified look on Burning Sunrise's face.

"Cutie-Mark Crusaders?" he asked. Scootaloo face-hoofed herself, while Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom simply chuckled.

"The Cutie-Mark Crusaders are going to be the best group in the history of Equestria!" Sweetie Belle exclaimed. "They're – I mean 'we' – a trio consisting of 'blank-flanks'…" With this, the Cutie-Mark Crusaders showed their flanks to Burning Sunrise. "One day, our history will be recorded and ponies will remember us of trying our best to find our special talents!" Burning Sunrise smiled and showed them his blank flank.

"We know," Apple Bloom said. "That's why we brought you here! Wait, look at the time, girls! We're late to show Burning Sunrise another famous place of ours!" The Cutie-Mark Crusaders didn't glance at the clock – they didn't have one nearby – but still dragged Burning Sunrise out of their treehouse with a blindfold covering his eyes.

They dragged him for over an hour or so. Burning Sunrise supposed that the four of them must have gotten strange glances, but he couldn't tell for sure. Then, they stopped. Burning Sunrise heard four faint knocks on an object, not knowing for sure either if it was from his surroundings or in his mind. A door opened slowly – this he heard!

"Come in, girls, come in!" a hushed voice exclaimed. Burning Sunrise was being dragged again. A few minutes later, his blindfold came off and he was in the Sugar-Cube Corners! He looked around and saw nothing but a lighted candle and a large box painted with bright colors.

"Look, they're throwing you a birthday surprise!" came a voice. Burning Sunrise nodded in agreement. Hidden from view, the Mane 6 and the Cutie-Mark Crusaders looked at each other, mystified. Who was their secret invitee? Slowly, the lid of the bright box popped up. They looked out but did not expect Burning Sunrise to already be staring at them, smirking. Twilight's horn glowed pink as she made the whole box disappear, in its place were the now-completely-visible Mane 6 and Cutie-Mark Crusaders.

"Burning Sunrise, is there someone else you invited?" Rarity asked, before Burning Sunrise nodded and pointed with his eyes at his pet Phoenix. The Mane 6 and the Cutie-Mark Crusaders pondered at the mysterious voice but shrugged it off. It was only when the ten ponies were eating when the mysterious person showed himself.

"Thanks, I'm starving!" Burning Sunrise's pet Phoenix exclaimed as it flew from his head to the cake with the message 'Happy Birthday, Burning Sunrise' on it. Most of the ponies in the room gaped or fainted and there was a smirking Burning Sunrise.