The Party Hasn't Ended Part 7

The Party Hasn't Ended Part 7 starring Twilight Sparkle, Pinkie Pie and all the inhabitants of Ponyville

Twilight was still lying on the floor of the library, but Dash and Pinkie were no longer beside her and Zecora and the others were nowhere to be seen. She stood up and as she did she noticed that sunlight was streaming in through the windows. She opened the door to the library and looked outside. It was a beautiful sunny day. A light breeze ruffled her mane, while above her fluffy white clouds floated serenely against the blue vault of a summer sky.

"Is... is this really a dream?" she wondered. But it all seemed so real! Twilight didn't know what she'd been expecting – gloomy forests, twisted buildings, labyrinthine streets filled with grotesque illusions maybe?

She was about to go outside when she stepped on something lying on the floor. It was an envelope! She floated it up for a closer look.

To Twilight Sparkle! From your bestest friend forever, Pinkie Pie!

Twilight quickly opened the envelope with the tip of her horn and slipped the invitation out. It was written in pink crayon.

"Dear Twilight, You are hereby invited to the most super secretest and most super surprisingest of all super secret surprise parties! Where? Sugarcube Corner silly! When? Well, right now! Why? Who needs a reason for a party? Well, OK. Rainbow Dash is the reason. But don't go being a big spoily-pants by blabbing it to her, will you?"

Twilight looked at her clock on the wall. The hands were pointing directly at RIGHT NOW! "Oh no!" she cried. "I'm already late!"

She raced through the door, slamming it behind her. If she galloped she could reach Sugarcube Corner in a few minutes! Pinkie would be so disappointed if she arrived late. And Big Mac would be there as well. She couldn't leave HIM waiting...

Twilight suddenly stopped dead in the middle of the street. She shook her head. Wait – that wasn't right at all! She had to find Pinkie to rescue her from this dream! What had she been thinking? Those thoughts – and even memories – had slipped into her mind without her noticing. The unicorn pony gulped when she at last realised how dangerous being in another pony's dream could be. Well, Zecora had tried to warn her.

"Remember Twilight – this is all a dream. Just a dream," she kept repeating. "The real Ponyville is being ravaged by a typhoon. Pinkie and Dash and everypony else is depending on you."

She resumed her gallop, and soon she heard the noise of laughter and applause rising up like a wave somewhere ahead of her. The party was obviously already well on its way.

Suddenly, a young stallion ran up alongside her. She turned and saw that it was Caramel from Sweet Apple Acres. He was puffing and panting.

"Oh... Twi-Twilight! Don't tell me you slept in as well!" His usually carefully-styled mane was dishevelled. "The party must've been going for ages already!"

Twilight looked at the earth pony as if she was seeing him for the first time. His wide blues eyes, his cream caramel coat, the triple horseshoe cutie mark. He looked exactly like the real Caramel! He even smelled the same – that soft scent of sandalwood. But the real Caramel was back in the real Ponyville, lying injured in the infirmary.

"Uh, ye...yes! I slept in too," she replied. You're asleep, Twilight. Don't forget you're asleep!

"We'd better hurry. Big McIntosh will be wondering where you are!" Caramel winked at her, and edged ahead.

"Big... Big McIntosh?" she repeated.

They were outside Sugarcube Corner now – and the noise coming from inside was incredible. Music blared, ponies laughed and chatted, glassed clinked, party poppers exploded and whistles blew – and above it all could be heard a singularly chirpy and cheerful voice. "And so I said 'Oatmeal? Are you crazy?'" There was an immediate burst of laughter.

"Aww... we missed Pinkie's oatmeal joke!" Caramel sighed. He stepped up and clopped on the front door with a hoof, and it flew open – and before they had time to react, they were both drawn into the middle of the party.

It was like being in the centre of an exploding rainbow. The streamers, tablecloths, balloons, ribbons – everything was red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo and violet as far as the eye could see.  And every pony in Ponyville seemed to be there!

Twilight quickly became separated from Caramel as she pushed her way through the endless sea of drinking, eating and laughing ponies, and it seemed that everypony she passed wanted to greet her.

"Hello Twilight!" Rose the Ponyville florist touched her shoulder with a hoof as she went by. "Glad you could make it!"

"Twi, you're here at last!" said a yellow-maned earth pony mare with a neon pink coat and a cutie mark of a pair of cherries.

"So good to see you!" said Carrot Top, through a mouthful of carrot cake.

"Well, this is certainly a surprise!" said a black-maned mare with pale green eyes.

"Hey Twilight – Pinkie's been waiting for you!" a young stallion with a chocolate-brown coat and a straw-yellow mane told her.

"Muffins!"

"Oh hi Derpy," replied Twilight, smiling at the mail-pony who was eating a muffin slathered with hot-sauce.

"Oh, there you ARE, darling!" Suddenly Rarity was there, helping her through the crush of partying ponies. "Wherever have you BEEN? Poor Pinkie has been BESIDE herself with worry that you'd forgotten about Rainbow Dash's surprise party!"

Don't forget, Twilight. She might look and sound like the real Rarity, but she's just a part of Pinkie's dream. But her hoof! It feels so soft and smooth, exactly like the real Rarity's...

And then they squeezed through a final wall of ponies, and there were Pinkie and Dash. Twilight almost burst into tears. The last time she had seen her two friends they had been lying unconscious on her floor, wet and dirty – and now here they were, laughing and smiling and full of life just as she remembered them.

"TWILIGHT!!!" Pinkie suddenly caught sight of her and launched herself across the distance between them, bowling the unicorn pony over in a rocket-propelled hug. Twilight felt the little pink pony's forelegs around her neck and her pink hair tickling her face, and all around her there was Pinkie's unmistakeable scent – of popcorn and cotton candy and cookie dough and hot-sauce.

Twilight! Don't forget! Don't forget!

But Twilight couldn't help but hug her back, and tears filled her eyes. "Pinkie Pie!" she sobbed. "Thank Celestia I found you! You're in great...."

"A great mood?" Pinkie laughed. "Of COURSE I am!" She slipped a forefoot from around Twilight's neck, swung around and when she turned back she'd dragged Rainbow Dash into the hug, her forefoot around the Pegasus pony's waist. "Why wouldn't I be when I have my favouritest ponies in the whole wide world partying with me?"

"Aww Pinkie," Dash blushed. "C'mon! Y'know how I feel about all that lame lovey-dovey stuff! " She looked at Twilight and smiled. "Hey. We were starting to get kinda concerned that a bunch of books had collapsed on you or something."

"Uh... no. No, I was... I..." Twilight knew she was forgetting something... Oh Celestia! Any longer in this party and she was going to lose her mind! She grabbed Pinkie by the hoof and tried to pull her away. "Pinkie, you've got to come with me! You and Dash are really sick..."

Pinkie blinked at her in confusion. "What do you mean Twilight? What kind of sick?"

"Whatever ARE you talking about, darling?" Rarity interrupted. "Pinkie and Dash are standing right in front of you, the absolute PICTURE of health!" She looked at Pinkie and cocked her head to one side. "Although, Pinkie my dear, those cream cakes DO appear to be going straight to your hips!"

"Oh Rarity!" Pinkie giggled.

Dash slipped a hoof down and patted Pinkie's bottom. "Just more Twinkie-Pie to love, Rarity!" she laughed.

Twilight dropped Pinkie's hoof. "No, wait... this is all wrong," she said. "Pinkie, you have to wake up! This is all a dream!"

"A dream?" repeated Pinkie. She looked around. "Well, it IS a dream come true!" she said, a huge smile on her face. "ALL of my super-special friends are here, there's just... just MOUNTAINS of delicious treats and awesome decorations and DJ Scratch has been laying down some TOTALLY wicked beats and...  and Dash just said she'd agreed to go steady with me!" Her smile beamed even wider still.

Dash shrugged. "So there's going to be a lot of totally disappointed fillies and stallions out there – but why keep looking once you've found the best?" She hugged Pinkie closer to her.

Twilight looked about her. Everything seemed so real! She had to do something before the dream drew her in completely – and fast. So she leapt forward and bit Pinkie on the tail.

"OOooowww!!!" The little pink pony leapt out of Dash's embrace and flew into the air. When she landed she was rubbing her bottom.

Applejack's mouth was wide open in shock. "Twi! Why the hay didya go an' do THAT for?"

Dash was frowning. "If that's your idea of a joke, Twilight, you better leave the pranking to experts like me and Pinkie!"

Rarity sniffed. "What APPALLING taste! I'm SO disappointed in you, my dear!"

Twilight stepped back. Everypony had stopped talking and was looking straight at her. "I...I'm sorry. But I had to do it!" she said, stepping back.  "I thought it'd break you out of the dream..."

Everypony was looking at how Pinkie would react. But the littlepink pony just burst out laughing and hugged Twilight again.

"Oh Twilight! Thank you!" she gushed. "Now I KNOW this all can't be a dream!" She wiped the sweat from her forehead with a hoof. "Phew! I was worried there for a second. I mean, everything is just so posilutely absotively perfectly PERFECT that it COULD have been all a dream!"

Twilight suddenly noticed Fluttershy was at her side with a tray of drinks in her mouth. "Here, Twilight. Take one. I'm sure you'll feel so much better after a nice bottle of sarsaparilla."

"Hey Twilight!" Spike had appeared at her other side. He had a half-eaten muffin in his hand which he brought up to her face. "Want a bite? It's delicious!" A live worm suddenly squirmed out of the treat's centre and Twilight squealed and shied away.

"Keep away from me!" she cried in a panic. "All of you!"

"Whatever is it NOW, darling?" asked Rarity, coming forward with a look of concern on her face. "Do you feel sick?"

"Oh Twilight!" laughed Pinkie. She was once again hoof in hoof with Dash. "Have you been eating too many baked bads again?"

Twilight panicked and stumbled back against a wall. "Pinkie, snap out of it!" she pleaded. "This is all a dream! A false dream created by Nightmare!"

"Who...mare?" asked Pinkie.

"Nightmare! And you and Dash – the real ones, I mean – are lying on the floor of my library, seriously ill!"

Dash looked at her through narrowed eyes. "We're not sick, Twilight. Aren't YOU the one who's sick?"

"Me? Sick?" Twilight did feel dizzy and confused. The music that had started up again and the noise of all the ponies talking and laughing was starting to overwhelm her.

But then she heard a deep, affectionate voice from right behind her. "Hey, are you OK Twi'?" She turned and saw that she had backed into Big McIntosh – what she had taken for a wall had in fact been the stallion's barrel-like chest. Twilight blushed deep red and she started to move away, but McIntosh slipped a forefoot around her neck and brought her back up against him. "Maybe ya should go an' have a nice lil' lie down for a while. Or if ya feelin' too sick Ah kin always walk ya back t' the li-brary if need be..."

"Ah, ah... no, thank you Big McIntosh," Twilight stuttered. "I... I don't feel quite so sick anymore." And she didn't. With her head pressed up against the red-coated stallion's warm chest she felt safe and... happy? No, not just happy – blissfully happy. "I feel fine now."

Big Mac chuckled. "You sure 'bout that? Why so formal alla sudden, Twi'? He nuzzled his muzzle against the back of her neck. "You ain't called me 'Big McIntosh' for a long time – why, way back before we got together!"

"We... got together?" Twilight asked. Why couldn't she remember that happening? But no... maybe, maybe she DID remember. She'd been telling herself to remember something, to keep remembering. Maybe that had been what she'd meant!

Oh, what did it matter anyway! She sighed and rubbed her face against Big Mac's coat. His scent was of perspiration and apples and it smelled so good. "No, I'm fine Mac... really," she muttered into his chest. "I... I just got confused is all."

McIntosh laughed. "Ah love it when ya start talkin' like me, Twi."

Twilight closed her eyes. She knew that she loved it too.