"WAKE UP!" Everen fell out of bed, hitting the floor with a loud thud.
"Geez, Kari. Did you have to yell?" Everen sat up, rubbing his head.
"Yes, actually. You wouldn't wake up when I tried to wake you gently." Karilyn gave the stallion a stern look.
"Oh, one of those nights then. Sorry about that." Everen smiled nervously, standing up.
"It's fine, just go apologize to our guests." the pegasus sighed, pointing at the door. Kane, Pine, and Candy were standing in the hall
"Hey guys, what's up?" Everen put on his vest and boots, putting Tsunami on his back and moving over to his friends.
"It's time to prepare your party Everen." Kane said, holding a clipboard.
"Right, that's today, nearly forgot." the unicorn replied, remembering that today is his birthday.
"Happy birthday Everen." Pine smiled cheerily.
"Thanks Piney." Everen hugged the bat pony,and she moved her wings forward to cover their faces as she kissed him.
"Consider that a bonus birthday present." the mare whispered in his ear.
Everen merely smiled in response, looking around to see if the others had guessed at Pine's intent. Candy and Karilyn seemed to know what Pine did, but Kane was oblivious.
"Shall we head downstairs then?" Everen turned to face the stairs, leading the way into the living room. Kane followed behind but the girls stayed back to have a private chat.
"Hello Everen, good to see you again." came that Trottingham accent that Everen knew all too well by now.
"Hello Layla, a pleasure, as always." he turned and bowed, then looked straight back up in alarm. Layla didn't come alone.
"Hey there handsome. I heard it was your birthday, so I got you a little something. You can open it now we can go right back upstairs to your room." giggled the vixen named Catalina, pressing herself against the stallion.
"Ahaha, I think I can wait to open it." Everen backed off, looking to Kane. "What's the plan?"
"Well Layla's on decorations, Candy's catering, Remix is the entertainment, and Note will perform when it's time to calm the party down." Kane began examining his clipboard. Meanwhile Catalina was moving closer to Everen. "Grey and Pine are on security detail, Raindrop is taking care of extra things, Umbra's on lookout, and Blaxe and Tia handed out invites."
"Wait, Blaxe? I met him yesterday." Everen tried to keep his distance from the earth pony, but the name of the pegasus from the jazz club froze Everen in his tracks. "I need to see him again. Will he be here?"
"I don't know, Blaxe kind of does his own thing, and goes where the wind takes him." Kane explained, scratching his head. "He's one of the only ponies on the defensive force that isn't bound to the city."
"I have to hope he shows up then, the sooner I see him the better." the unicorn responded, Catalina had caught up to him by now, and was nuzzling his neck.
"What, exactly, do you think you're doing?" came a voice from the stairs.
Cat froze, recognizing the voice. She turned to see Pine coming down the stairs, an angry expression painted on her face. Fear was clearly visible on the earth pony's face. Pine spread her wings and flew over to them.
"That stallion is currently dating me and Kari." she started, glaring down the mare. "So back, off."
"O-okay." Catalina slowly moved away from Everen, terrified of the bat pony.
Pine nodded firmly and then turned to the unicorn, kissing his cheek quickly.
"That was nice timing Piney." Everen sighed, brushing his a lock of his mane out of his eye. "Glad you're on security."
She smiled, happy to please Everen. Her red eyes glowed for a second and she looked to the front door, right as Wheat, Barley, and Sandy came in.
"Are they on the list?" Pine asked not recognizing the ponies.
"They're welcome here, they're blood related family." Everen cleared up, cantering over to greet them. "Hey there, glad you could make it."
"We had planned to bring more of the family, but since you've only met the three of us, I thought it'd be an unwelcome surprise if we brought more." Barley said, looking left and right. "Where do we set the gifts?"
"On the dining room table is fine I guess." Everen noticed the small pile of presents already on the table.
"Alright, we'll just set these down and be right back." and with that they moved to the table.
Remix and Note came through the door then, trotting up to Everen and giving him bro-hugs.
"Happy birthday Ev." Remix cantered off placing his present on the table.
"Happy birthday." Note said, following Remix.
Everen smelled something delicious coming from the kitchen, he trotted in to find Ice Mocha and Spearmint making a mug of coffee with a peppermint stick in it.
"Hey Everen, we made you a special peppermint mocha as our gift to you." Ice explained picking up the mug.
"Hope you like it." Spear piped in, grinning ear to ear.
Everen took the mug in his magic and sipped it. "This is delicious! Thank you."
"You're welcome." Ice swelled with pride, glad that he and Spear's beverage was appreciated.
"Now get out there, the guests are showing up." Spear pointed to the door.
Sure enough, there were ponies coming in, some of which Everen didn't recognize. Everen moved to greet the newcomers. There was a yellow and blue splotched pegasus stallion with a short-cut mane and tail of the same color named Sparky Shock, a pink earth pony mare with a carefully styled magenta mane and tail by the name of Rose Quartz, and a green unicorn mare with a light-green muzzle, green and light-green mane and tail, cut simply to be easily managed, her gray eyes shone with intelligence, her name was Glade Green, and lastly an orange pegasus stallion with a mane and tail of red-orange with yellow-orange in both of them, his red eyes gleamed like rubies, he went by the title Phox. Also in the crowd was Raindrop and Tia. Remix set up his turntable, hooking it up to a couple of speaker towers. He began paying dubstep music to get the party started. Everen was socializing and having a great time. After a lunch of carrot-dogs and hay-burgers, candy brought out the spectacular cake, an image of Everen's cutie mark on top of it. They didn't bother singing the birthday song, Everen having requested it, and he blew out the candles. Once the cake was finished they moved on to the dining room table so Everen come begin opening his presents. The first gift was immensely heavy, Everen opened it to find a specially crafted piece of armor, it was shaped exactly to fit his tail.
"This must be Grey's gift." Everen chuckled, deciding to try on the armor later.
Everen opened the next gift to find a bag of coffee beans. "Thanks Kane." Everen looked to Kane.
"That's my premium roast. It's the highest quality stuff I own." Kane grinned, proud of himself.
The next two presents were a can a gel and a leather jacket that had a fair number of pockets. Raindrop and Layla popped up then.
"The jacket's from me." said Layla. "I noticed you have you're own little style. So I thought I'd give you something to help you mix it up a little."
"And the gel's from me. I realize it's not easy to find in most towns, and it's obvious you need it." the pegasus commented.
"Thank you both, I'm sure to make use of these." the stallion nodded, grateful.
The next few items were from the new ponies Everen had gotten to meet today. A silver link bracelet with a shamrock embedded in it, some turquoise stones in a small pouch, a grey cloth tie. In the next large box was a modified scythe. Wheat stepped up, taking his credit for that gift.
"You'd be surprised how useful a scythe can be." Wheat smiled, satisfied.
"I know, I've seen a farmer use one to defend his fields. You'd be hard-pressed just to get close to him." Everen laughed, closing the box and setting it aside. He decided it would probably be best if he didn't swing it in a crowd of ponies.
Everen then tore the wrapping from a book, a candle with odd markings on it, a set of throwing stars, and a scroll.
Barley spoke first. "The scroll is from me, it's our family tree. I figured you deserve to know more of your family. And the book is from Sandy, he thought you'd find it interesting."
"The candle is from me, the fumes from it will guarantee pleasant dreams. And the throwing stars are from Umbra, hope you have use for them."
"I'll figure something out. Thank you all." Everen exchanged knowing looks with Karilyn, Remix, Note, and Pine.
Everen then got a fedora with a hole for his horn, a bag of bite-size fruit Everen had never seen before, and a longsword.
"The hat is my gift." Tia provided. "Hat shopping for you was murder cause of that horn of yours."
"The fruit is from my garden, it's completely unique. Plus it currently only grows in Coldurim." Pine added, draping a wing over Everen's back and hugging him with it.
"And the sword is, predictably, from me." Karilyn said on Everen's other side. "Obsidian handle, with a blade of smelted fell iron and angelic silver."
"How's it even possible to smelt those together?" Everen sounded astonished. Fell iron and angelic silver should never touch, let alone be melting and mixed together.
"Because of the obsidian, something about the handle allows the two metals to mix safely." Karilyn explained. "Imagine what that sword is capable of though."
"I am, and it kind of scares me to think about it." Everen looked at the sword in awe. "But at the same time, I'm exhilarated."
"It has that kind of effect on ponies." Kari stated, breathing into Everen's neck as she nuzzles it.
"Thank you." Everen turned and kissed the mare. "And thanks for the hat and the fruit Tia, Pine."
Next came a journal, a portable music player with built-in earbuds, a gossamer black cloak, Everen found that he had trouble keeping his eyes on the garb, and a yellow and orange egg.
"First off, why is it hard to keep my eyes on this cloak?" Everen began. "And second, is that a phoenix egg?"
"Yeah that's a phoenix egg, a couple days away from hatching too." Phox said, his melodious voice making sound as though he is singing. "I have a hatchery for them."
"The cloak is enchanted. It makes it so that ponies don't want to notice it." Milo elucidated, appearing in the crowd.
"And the journal is from me." Note gave Everen a look that says he knew just what to get Everen.
"And the music pod is from me. I downloaded some of my tracks on it, as well as some of Note's songs." Remix added.
"Thanks guys, I'll be sure to take good care of everything I got today." the stallion looked around at all of his friends.
"You still have to open my gift." Catalina shoved her present in his face.
"Oh, didn't see it, sorry." Everen lied, he had wanted to open that one in private, for fear it might make an awkward situation.
Everen ripped off the wrapping slowly, not too eager to see what was inside. He removed the contents, revealing it to be a dark green skintight jumpsuit. It looked like it was for Everen too.
"I took the measurements Layla took of you and made that myself." Catalina smiled mischievously. "Hope it somehow comes in handy."
"Thanks." the unicorn sounded unsure, having no idea what he could use it for. "And thank all of you for your gifts. I'm glad to have received such a warm reception to Coldurim."
Everen said his farewells as some of the ponies left, a few lingering to say more personal goodbyes. Note, Remix, Tia, and Pine stayed longer, wanting to spend more time with Everen. And Kane dropped off a couple of smaller presents for Tsui, just a fireproof blanket and a toy for her to play with. They helped Everen carry his gifts up to his room, setting them down at the foot of his bed.
"So, do you have any plans tomorrow?" Tia asked, curious.
"No, not tomorrow." Everen replied. "What did you have in mind?"
"I know a special spot in the caves where we can go swimming. I was wondering if you guys would like to go." she explained, looking around at the other ponies.
"Sounds like fun." Pine commented.
"Sure, cave water can be a bit cold though." Note added, thinking about the last time he went swimming in a cave river.
"Yeah, but with me being a weather pony, I can direct warm breezes into that cave." Tia countered, spreading her wings.
"Well in that case, I'm in." came Remix, examining the throwing stars Everen got.
"Count me in too." Karilyn took the throwing stars out of Remix's hooves, setting them on the desk.
"Alright, I'll be there. What time?" Everen said, putting on his new hat.
"Around noon, so we can go eat lunch together." Tia suggested, looking for ways to spend more time with Everen.
"Okay, where should we all meet up?" the unicorn inquired.
"Let's meet on main street south, it's the most convenient spot." she answered.
"So, what do you guys want to do now?" Everen asked, wanting to entertain his friends.
"Well I want to have another sparring match with you." Karilyn requested, throwing Everen his new sword.
"Get ready then, anypony else want to spar? We have two extra swords and a scythe." Everen offered, strapping on his new sword.
"I'm a musician not a swordsman." Note shook his head, not one for armed combat.
"I'll just watch, thanks." Remix chuckled nervously, sure he wouldn't be able to keep up with Everen and Karilyn.
"Not unless you have twin blades, it's my weapon of choice." Pine said, observing the phoenix egg on Everen's pillow.
"Well, I'm out then." Tia started. "It'd feel awkward if it were a three-way battle royale."
"Just me and Kari then, okay." Everen put on his armbands and headed up to the roof.
Karilyn went to her room to get suited up, and came up wearing her battle harness and shin guards. The two drew their swords together, crossing them and then bringing them back in close. Karilyn made the first move jumping in the air and swinging a downward slash at Everen. He blocked with his sword, and when the blades made contact a noise like cannon-fire sounded from Everen's sword, and Karilyn was thrown into the sky. She recovered and dove at the unicorn, sword-point first. Everen sidestepped and spun around, swinging his sword in a large arc. The mare moved a hoof up to block the blade with a shin guard. The force of the blow, combined with the special sword, sent her off the side of the roof. She fell for a second, before regaining her bearings and flying around the building coming up behind Everen, tackling him off the roof and falling with him to the street below. She flapped her wings just as they were about to hit the ground, softening the landing. Everen maneuvered his sword around and disarmed Karilyn, dropping his sword as well. He wrapped his hooves around the pegasus and fell to the ground. She put her hooves back around him and they rolled around for a moment before stopping and relaxing, letting go of the other.
"You wanna know something Kari?" Everen asking, looking at the enchanted ceiling.
"What's that?" the mare replied, following his gaze.
"You look really great in that battle harness." he turned his head to look Kari up and down.
"Heh, thanks." Karilyn giggled in response, moving her gaze back to the stallion.
The two stood up and grabbed their swords, Karilyn flying back up to the roof, while Everen teleported to the roof.
"It's getting pretty late, I should really get Tsui to bed." Everen said, sheathing his sword and going back to his room. He put the dragon in bed, said his goodbyes to his friends, and lit the candle he got from Candy, ready for bed.
Everen looked around the ethereal plane, trying to find the source of what had brought him here a second time. He saw a silhouette of a pony a short distance away, facing the unicorn.
"Are you the one who brought me here?" Everen asked, taking a step closer to the pony.
"Don't come any closer. I did bring you here, and I brought you here to tell you to come to town hall. There's something you need to know." the silhouette spoke with a shifting voice, so that it was unidentifiable.
"Who are you?" Everen questioned, eyes darting left and right, to see if Luna would appear.
"You will find out when you come to town hall." the pony answered.
"Alright, but it'll have to wait until Tuesday. I have plans of Sunday and Monday." Everen replied, squinting to see if he could tell what kind of pony the silhouette was.
"Fine, but be sure to come. I can't stress enough how important this is." the pony looked to the side suddenly. "I must go now, farewell." and with that the silhouette dissipated.
"I see you are back in the ethereal plane. Were thou talking to somepony?" Luna appeared through the veil then, landing in front of Everen.
"I was talking to a shadow that claimed to have been the one to have brought me here. I couldn't tell who it was though." Everen said honestly, looking to where the pony was standing.
"I will continue my search as best as I can manage." Luna began, looking about. "But first I shall return you to your body."
"Thank you princess Luna." Everen bowed gratefully. "I hope to see you soon."
"Goodbye Everen, I will let you know should I find anything about that silhouette." Luna's horn began to glow, and she sent Everen back to the material plane. And he slept pleasantly the rest of the night.