Mona the Vampire: Time Warped

[Race's Girl]

Chapter 1

Scattered pages and dusty old books filled the study in a cluttered mess as 18 year old Mona Parker slept among the debris of her own handiwork. Unconscious after a long night of history homework, her mind only left dreamland when the amber beams of the rising sun shone on her face. With a groan, she slowly rose to her feet, heavy eyelids still drooping. Various loose documents clung to her face as she stood, unnoticed by her until their delicate forms slipped from her lavender cheeks and fluttered towards the blanket of weathered volumes that lay on the floor around her. Once the blur of sleep had finally faded, she turned to see the silhouette of her mom standing against the wall across the room, following a disarrayed chain of manuscripts as if casually searching for survivors.

Her widowed mother Veronica hadn't turned the corner yet, but once she did, the older woman wouldn't be able to recognize the room. Mona's expression burned from embarrassment at the thought but cooled gently with the sound of her mother's humming. Veronica's melodic tune flowed through the house like a gentle breeze and illuminated the room as vividly as the sunshine outside. Caught in its trance, Andromeda nearly forgot what was happening and suddenly shook herself awake while her eyes scoured the floor around her in worry.

“She’s going to kill me if she sees this!” she whispered aloud.

While Twilight’s shadow was temporarily distracted with gathering up the breadcrumb trail of books and placing them into a neat stack, Andromeda began to frantically tidy up the war zone around her and prayed she would be able to clear the catastrophic remains of her private study in time. With a push of her amethyst-colored bangs out of her tired eyes, Andromeda charged her horn with a yellow glow and began cleaning up as quickly as possible. While she was normally not the disorganized type, she was nowhere near as orderly as her mother. Then again, she had never met anypony as obsessed with order as her mom. Hearing the sound of Twilight’s hooves growing closer, Andromeda panicked and shoved a large number of the leftover books inside a nearby chest and nervously faked a large smile just in time to see her turn the corner.

As Twilight walked in, the glow of the morning sun sparkled in her silky hair with a serene radiance, painting the nearby bookcase in its violet sheen. Andromeda gazed as even the very world that surrounded the famous mare seemed to become magical by her presence. Her mother had a look of confidence and responsibility that one would expect from an Equestrian hero, but all that mattered to her children was her loving compassion, which Andromeda could always see in her eyes. Regardless, Andromeda put on her best poker face and hoped her mother wouldn’t see past her façade.

"Morning, mom," she said happily as her hind hoof subtly pushed the last book on the floor behind the chest. “Did you have a nice rest?”

Twilight raised an eyebrow with a lighthearted smirk. Her daughter’s fatigued eyes did not match the bouncy greeting.

“Yes, I did. How about you, Andromeda? You look like you’ve had a long night. Did you sleep okay? I see you made a mess again.”

“I slept like a baby. And what mess?” Andromeda bluffed. “Sure, I dropped a few books, but it’s not that bad, right?”

“Uh huh. Take a look at your desk. See anything out of the ordinary?”

Andromeda spun to look at her workstation and winced. She had spent too much time organizing the books and not enough time clearing the desk, and the mistake in priority showed. Empty vials lay strewn around and several books were still open. Wrinkled note papers were scattered so thoroughly that one couldn’t even see the wood surface anymore. Andromeda shrugged innocently.

“Organized chaos?”

“Is that so?” Twilight replied, toying with her daughter. “Then I’m assuming the black hair is organized chaos too?”

Andromeda’s eyes grew wide.

“Black hair?”

Scurrying to the nearest hoof-held mirror, she pointed its reflective surface towards her to see a large section of the top of her mane blackened. The dark hue spread through her hair in long gnarled streaks like angled branches of a barren tree. Touching the mysterious color, it felt oily and wet.

“Aw man!” she groaned. “Ink? Are you kidding me?”

Twilight grinned with amusement.

“I warned you about falling asleep in the middle of writing new magic formulas. Nothing tires the mind more than scientific research at four in the morning.”

Andromeda picked up a rag with her magic and began to wipe the black liquid out of her hair with a sigh.

“Alright, fine. You caught me. I dozed off in the middle of my work and the room was a wreck when I woke up. I did sleep like a baby, though!”

“Obviously,” Twilight said with a smile as she took the rag and wiped the last bit of ink from the back of her daughter’s mane.
Andromeda looked at her mom sheepishly.

"Sorry about the mess. I’ll clean it up."

"It's okay. I understand you've been busy and sometimes research can get messy. You may think I’m a neat freak but,” Twilight said, stopping in mid-sentence to straighten a nearby book on the shelf, “I’ve had plenty of disorganized nights of study as well.”

“Uncle Spike always did say you had a tendency to throw books around when you were in a panic.”

“Which was all the time,” Twilight joked.

The two giggled lightly and began to clean up. As they worked, Twilight found the chest that was hastily crammed with books and shook her head.

‘What am I going to do with her?’ she thought to herself while shifting through the piles of encyclopedias and textbooks.
As she started organizing them, a feeling of nostalgia came over her when she began to take notice of what Andromeda had been reading. At closer inspection, she recognized most of the books and documents that lay before her. Though many of the covers were old and worn, their contents remained in her mind like a fresh memory, piquing her curiosity once again. As she scanned them with purple eyes twinkling, warm sentiments of the many hours she spent reading while under the tutelage of Princess Celestia returned to her. She could tell that they had come from Canterlot.

"I see you’ve been scoping the palace’s library,” she said without looking away, “and quite fervently too. I recognize all of these books except for the ones with the jeweled hearts on their covers. Did you actually travel all the way to the Crystal Empire to get these?”

“Sure did!” Andromeda replied.

“Wow, even I have rarely used so many books for one project! What is it that you've been working on that has you in such a reading frenzy anyway?”

Andromeda immediately dropped what she was doing and grinned widely.

"Oh yeah, I almost forgot!” she said. “I wanted to show you something!”

With a sudden bolt of speed, she began searching in the heaps with bright eagerness until she finally came across an old book and lifted it with her magic horn. Its leather exterior was rough and its paper had been yellowed from age as well as torn loose in several places. Bringing it to Twilight, she laid it down on the table with glee.

“I was working on improvements to the teleportation spell, when I ran into this in the Starswirl Wing of the Royal Canterlot Library.”

When she lifted the thick cover, a slight musk of old pages filled Twilight’s nostrils in a familiar scent. Many a time had she smelled that musty old aroma from the hidden reaches of the library. Andromeda wasted no time and immediately pulled one of the loose papers out and displayed it while she pointed at its contents.

"Take a look! There's a spell in here that will allow the user to time travel to any moment in the past! Did you know about this?"

Twilight’s eyes glided from one side of the page to the other, quickly scanning it as if copying its print in her mind for later use. When she finished, she looked back at her daughter and smiled.

"Of course I know about this,” she replied. “I’ve time traveled myself.”

Andromeda's sunset eyes glistened with vivid excitement as if a whole new world had opened before her. The world of science and magic was one of her greatest loves and it showed in every fiber of her being as a million questions ran through her head.

"Really?” she cried. “You actually time travelled? What was it like? Where did you go? Who did you meet? How far back did you time jump? Why..."

"Whoa there, filly!” Twilight laughed. “One question at a time! Yes, I've traveled before. I’ve done it several times, in fact. Did I never tell you about this?”
Andromeda shook her head.

"Well," Twilight continued, "the first time I tried to go back in time was to warn myself of a danger that ended up happening anyway. It's a long story that I promise to tell you and your brother another day. The next few time jumps were made when I was testing out my improved spell.”

"Improved spell?"

Twilight lifted the book and spun the pages quickly until a page filled to the brim with notes and formulas appeared. Turning the book towards her daughter, she beamed with pride at her work.

"See the initials?"

Andromeda leaned closer to better focus on the tiny lettering. At first glance it seemed like there wasn’t an empty spot left, but at the bottom of the ink-filled page stood out two letters in bright red ink--T.S.

"T.S.," she read aloud. "Twilight Sparkle! You wrote all this?"

"Of course! Remember who you're talking to," Twilight replied with a wink. "When I first used the spell, it only allowed the traveler to go back in time once and just for a few moments at most. At some point I secretly spent months working on ways to improve and lengthen the period of time the user could stay in the past. I knew it could be done and after countless hours of work, my intuition paid off. The last time I cast it, I was able to extend the trip from mere seconds to as long as thirty days or possibly even more!"

Twilight stopped talking when she began to see the wheels in her daughter's head spinning. She could tell when Andromeda was concocting a breakthrough in her busy mind. It was in her body language. Whenever a big idea sprang into her head, Andromeda's horn would momentarily spark with a dim pink glow, a unique trait that Twilight had never seen before, especially considering the fact that Andromeda's eyes were sunset-yellow.

“Thirty days, huh?” Andromeda asked softly, not really speaking to anypony in particular.

Andromeda was brilliant and, to the shock of most ponies, was actually more so than her mother when she was her age. Princess Celestia herself said that where Twilight proved to have a special talent in magic, Andromeda showed the same potential through her intelligence and scientific analysis. Like her mother, she was made a pupil of the Princess and even managed to impress Luna, who often spent time with her when work carried on into the night. Twilight knew Andromeda was inventing some kind of idea in her mind from the way she continued to decipher every word, note, and formula written in the book with eagerness.

“I know that look,” Twilight said, catching the rapid flash of the pink spark. “You’re on to something, aren’t you?”

The young mare said nothing, consumed in the new revelation that had just been shown to her. While magic was not her special talent, she nonetheless had a keen curiosity for its wonders. She was nowhere near as powerful as Twilight in that department, but with a lucky bit of heredity, she had gotten some above-average magical ability. This often proved useful for her experimentation with old spells. Seeing that she was checked out for the moment, Twilight began to pensively return to cleaning until Andromeda spoke up again.

"Wait," Andromeda said with a tinge of confusion, "these notes are incomplete. It seems you were on the brink of a breakthrough. Why did you stop?"

Twilight paused in rumination and the once shimmering glow of her hair seemed to dull before her daughter’s eyes. Twilight remained quiet for a moment as if carefully weighing her next words.

"The spell was too unstable to continue working on,” she said plainly.
Andromeda waited for a continuation, but received none when Twilight began organizing the sheets again. Impatience nudged her to keep asking questions.

“What do you mean? What happened?”

Twilight sighed.

“The more I 'improved' it, the less control I had over it. Sometimes I would end up several hundred paces away from my intended target, even going as far as aiming for my house and ending up in Froggy Bottom Bog. At some point I realized that casting the spell was taking its toll on my body. Each time I cast it, I grew sicker and sicker. Even returning home started to become more difficult. I kept trying to mend the problem, but every time I fixed one issue, another would take its place. After six or seven time jumps, I finally quit. I haven’t used it since.”

Seeing Andromeda’s perplexed expression, Twilight lightened the mood with a smile.

"Besides," she said sweetly, "after I met your father, I stopped obsessing over spells I couldn’t control and eventually I focused on having a family. Ponies think my becoming an alicorn princess was my proudest moment, but really, the greatest accomplishment I ever achieved was having you and Orion. Even if I had fixed the time travel spell for good, I wouldn’t change a thing in my life.”

Andromeda felt warm from the sentiment, but the fact of near-scientific breakthrough still proved too much to let go.

"But you were so close!" she exclaimed. "You could have perfected it and still had a family! Why didn’t you just fix the spell over time?”

Twilight sighed and picked up the book and notes again, examining it gently like a mare who had just found her old fillyhood doll. For too many years, she traded friendship for knowledge and even though she had raised her own family along with her friends and their children, she could see the same unquenchable drive in Andromeda. With the combination of her close relationship with Celestia and her brother’s marriage to princess Cadence, Twilight knew she could have remained in Canterlot and lived a life of royalty. She could have had the world if she wanted, but she knew that deep down, the life she chose was far greater than any kind she may have had before coming to Ponyville. Looking at Andromeda waiting patiently for an answer, Twilight shook herself out of her internal daydreaming.

"You may not understand it now,” she said, giving her inquisitor a hug, “but I learned long ago that relationships are more important than these things. You can't spend all of your time alone in a lab or a library. It took me years to figure this out, even after I moved to Ponyville. I know you have true friends here, but please don't let them fade away or lose contact with you. Make sure you keep them. Promise me?"

Andromeda felt confused from the “dear princess Celestia” response, but went along with it and hugged back.

"I promise."

Giving her daughter another squeeze, Twilight let go and continued her cleaning.

"Good. Now go get ready. I need you to run some errands for your father while he’s out. I'll take care of this mess for you."

“Are you sure?”

“Positive. And don’t forget to wash your hair!”

"Okay mom,” Andromeda replied.

As she made her way to her bedroom, her mind continued to spin. The idea of a perfected time-travel spell seemed too much to ignore, especially considering the way her mom acted when asked about it. Andromeda had grown up listening to her mother’s many stories, but why Twilight would not tell them about this one was odd. The more she thought about what she said, the more curious she became of her mother’s decision to put aside months and months of work permanently. There was a piece of the puzzle missing and she had no intention of letting the mystery slide.

“Mom never leaves anything unfinished," she said softly. “There has to be more to what she said than stopping to raise a family.”

Glancing back at Twilight, she grinned with a newfound sense of purpose.

“And I'm going to find out!”

[Race's Girl]

Chapter 2

From the moment the first rays of sunshine flowed through his bedroom window, Orion Sparkle woke up without a single ounce of hesitation, threw off the warm covers that enveloped him, and jumped out of bed. The room was cold and the world outside looked even more frigid, but instead of returning to the toasty embrace of his dreams, he only felt more awake than ever. His sister Andromeda often joked that it would usually take nothing short of magic to pull him out of the peaceful comatose he called sleep, but this was no ordinary day.

Life and enthusiasm rushed through his body in great vigor this morning because today was his birthday. Even more important, though, was its significance. All night long, he dreamed of finally getting his cutie mark and showing it to his friends. The “oohs” and “aahs” still reverberated in his mind as he rushed to a mirror, unable to contain his excitement any longer. With a quick turn, he spun his flank towards it to see what he got.

When he saw his reflection, a feeling of unforgiving disappointment rushed through the blue-violet colored unicorn’s body like icy water. There was no cutie mark to welcome him this morning. Instead, all he could see was the cruel nickname of the merciless teasing from other colts and fillies; "blank flank." Orion blinked a few times to be absolutely sure, but upon seeing that his mirrory doppelganger was telling the truth, the wondrous joys of last night’s dreams began to come crumbling down to the rocky earth of “reality.” His heart broke in devastation at the sight. Everything in him wanted to just look away and move on, but his eyes remained fixated on the empty patch where the invisible tombstone of his hopes now lay. It was as if he was physically unable to move on from the depression.

"It's not fair," he grumbled to himself. "Another year and still nothing! Why don’t I have my mark yet?”

A light creak of his bedroom door interrupted him and saved him from the hypnotic trance of the mirror when he turned to find the source of the sound. At the doorway stood his mother, whose deep purple eyes watched his enthusiasm with love and affection.

"Good morning, Orion," Twilight said sweetly. "Happy Birthday."

Orion made his way to her and gave her a hug. Part of it was out of habit, but this time, he really needed it.

"Thanks mom," he sighed as she held him in her arms.

Twilight could sense his unhappiness and saw the shattered look on his face. She knew what it was because she once shared the same feeling of failure. It was the same despair she felt when she nearly flunked her magic entrance exam on the day she applied for Princess Celestia’s School of Gifted Unicorns. What he needed was somepony to console his anxious impatience.

"It’s okay if you still don’t have your cutie mark,” she said soothingly. “A lot of colts and fillies don’t find out their special talents until they’re your age or older. It took me a long time before I discovered mine.”

Orion pouted pitifully. He heard, but didn’t listen, and Twilight hated seeing him like this. She remembered her obsession over getting a mark, but despite her own experiences, there was no way she could train him to get one of his own. They were entirely dependant on the host pony, so all she could do now was encourage him.

"But it’s just not fair!” he cried. “All of my classmates keep calling me ‘blank flank!’ It's embarrassing! I got mad last week and I told everypony at school that I’d get my cutie mark on my birthday, but since I didn’t get my mark, now all the other kids will laugh at me when they see! I feel like I’m the only one left.”

Twilight twirled his navy blue hair with her magic while she listened, just as she used to do when he was just a foal. It was a motherly tendency of hers, but he didn't mind as long as it was in private. Ever since he was little, the feeling calmed him, but only when she did it. As he began to relax, Twilight smiled.

"What about Applejack's boy?” she asked. "Bucky doesn’t have his cutie mark yet.”

Orion thought for a moment and did feel relieved that he at least still had his oldest friend to understand what it was like. Just as Applejack and Twilight had been remarkably congruent in their own friendship, it was clear from foalhood that Orion and Bucky would be best buds forever. They had stuck with each other through thick and thin all of their lives and there wasn’t anypony in the world who could change that. Both were born with a love for fun and adventuring and, together, they were an inseparable duo.

“Yeah,” Orion reluctantly admitted, “I guess he doesn’t have one either.”

“And don’t forget Peach Cobbler,” Twilight added. “She’s just as impatient as you are to get hers, if not more.”

Peach was Orion’s other best friend. Despite being the daughter of Fluttershy, her tomboy personality hid any connection to her mother’s timidness. After months of bugging Orion and Bucky to be a part of their team, she finally got in. Taking it a step further, she proved to them that she could run with the colts by being “one of the colts” and had a fire in her unlike any filly they knew. Bucky joked that it was because she didn’t act like one in the first place, a statement that would often warrant a patented Peach Cobbler “love tap” on the shoulder. Being some of the last ponies their age to get their marks, the three had become a close-knit group and eventually formed the newest Cutie Mark Crusader club, just like Bucky's aunt Apple Bloom had done years ago.

“Besides,” Twilight continued as she walked towards his closet, “if you had your cutie mark by now, you wouldn’t need to go out and get yourself in trouble time and time again anymore, would you?”

Pulling out a red cloth with her magic horn, she lifted it towards him. Though somewhat worn, the sapphire blue and gold CMC emblem of Sweetie Belle’s old cape still glimmered like pure gold upon a sea of ruby-colored cloak. Twilight kneeled down to his eye level and tied it lightly around his neck.

“You may not have discovered your special talent yet, but you do have two of the best friends a colt could ever ask for and a mother who loves you no matter what.”

Orion looked down at the red cape and began to feel a bit better. If nothing else, at least he had his family and the Cutie Mark Crusaders.

"I guess you're right," he said, giving her another hug. “Thanks mom.”

"Any time," Twilight winked lovingly as she let go and stood back up.

While Orion started to get ready, Twilight picked up the updated “to do” list that she would post on her children’s’ walls each morning.

“Now then,” she said, characteristically switching back to business mode, “we’re going to have to prepare for your party tonight. We need to hand out the invitations, check on the birthday cake, make sure the snacks are ready, and ready the house for the guests.”

Orion jumped up and down excitedly like Pinkie Pie on a sugar rush.

“Oh! Oh! Can I do it? I can go into town and do all that stuff!”

“You’re going to do all the errands by yourself?” Twilight asked with a lighthearted smirk.

“Yeah! I’m old enough. I can do it!”

“Without getting distracted or forgetting?”

“Well,” Orion said, pondering on it another moment, “maybe could you decorate for me? I’m not very good at it. I can do the other stuff, though! Can I go by myself this time? Please?”

Ever since he was a baby, Orion was always a do-it-yourself kind of colt, even when he had no idea what he was doing. If his older sister Andromeda was Twilight made over, then Orion was a smaller version of his uncle Shining Armor, minus the foresight. He had an endless supply of spirit and courage, but tended to get in more trouble than he bargained for, which unfairly labeled him by some ponies as a troublemaker.

Whether it was the romantic stories of Canterlot knights of old that had intrigued the young colt from an early age or the immense admiration and awe he had for his uncle, a fire for adventure burned within him like nothing else Twilight had ever seen. Worse for her, when he had his mind set on something, he was not so easily deterred. Still, it was his birthday and running errands for her hardly seemed like asking for much.

“Oh alright,” Twilight answered softly. “You can do it by yourself, but not before breakfast.”

"But I’m not really hungry,” Orion whined. “Can’t I just get some cookies at Sugar Cube Corner?”

Before Twilight could say no, Orion widened his red eyes to the size of saucers, hoping to catch a moment of pity. Even she had to admit that it was hard to resist.

“Pleeeeeeeeaaaaase?” he begged, adding a small lip quiver for the final effect.

Twilight merely pretended to ignore him and turned towards the door.

"Nice try,” she chuckled, “but birthday or not, you’re not going to guilt-trip me into giving you cookies this early in the morning. You’re not leaving without eating first, either. I’ll get you a bowl of cereal since you’re not very hungry.”

The will of the mother was absolute and Orion knew this battle could not be won, birthday or not. Instead, he sighed and followed after her, mumbling something inaudibly. Not long after Twilight had left, the sound of hooves pattered from the hallway, followed by a loud thud and the fluttering sound of flying papers. Orion ran towards the source of the crash to find his big sister picking herself up slowly. Seeing that her amethyst hair was a chaotically tangled wreck of unbrushed confusion, he tried his hardest to hold back a big grin, but failed as he giggled at the cluttered sight. Andromeda was not amused.

“Yeah, yeah, I know,” she said as she began picking up the spilled sheets off of the floor with her magic. “My hair looks absolutely ridiculous.”

“Oh no, not at all,” Orion replied, his eyes struggling not to give away his true opinion on the matter. “Your hair doesn’t look that bad. It’s very…”

Andromeda raised a sarcastic eyebrow and waited for his “compliment,” but words escaped Orion as he tried to pull one out of thin air. With a shrug, he gave up.

“I’ve got nothin’,” he said in a very Spike-like manner. “Sorry.”

“Well, that was pathetic,” Andromeda teased before returning to cleaning up. “Now would you mind helping be out here? These are important documents that I’ll be bringing to the Canterlot Academy later today and I don’t need them disorganized.”

Orion nodded and began gathering up some of the sheets. Watching Andromeda levitate the numerous documents while she scanned them for correct organization, he decided to follow her lead and use his magic instead. While some young unicorns were indeed capable of very basic magic, full telekinesis was uncommon for his age group, a limitation that frustrated Orion to no end. Planting his legs firmly at his sides like Twilight taught him, he focused all of his energy into his horn and grimaced at the recoil magic created. Andromeda stopped what she was doing to watch as red sparks flickered at the end of his horn. With a mighty push of strength, Orion was finally able to lift a single piece of paper off of the ground for a few seconds.

“You did it!” Andromeda exclaimed, impressed by his determination. “That’s pretty good for somepony your age. Perhaps magic will be your special talent.”

The words “special talent” echoed through Orion’s ears, leaving him in a thrilled state once again.

“Really?” he asked excitedly. “Do you really think so?”

“Why not? Mom got hers in magic and I’m not too shabby at it either. You very well could get a cutie mark in magic.”

Orion’s crimson eyes grew larger and larger with every word.

“That would be awesome!” he nearly shouted. “Maybe it is my special talent! I have to tell Peach and Bucky!”

While her brother bounced up and down once more, Andromeda spotted one last sheet and went to pick it up.

“By the way, happy…”

Turning back towards where Orion was standing, she realized that he had taken off without another word.

“Birthday,” she finished.

Seeing that he was gone, she returned her attention to the final draft of her time travel spell and sighed.

“Why do I feel like I just made a mistake?”

In the kitchen below, Orion’s breakfast was a messy blur. Milk and cereal flew to the sides of the clinking bowl as he hastily ate and ran out the kitchen with a quick "love you mom, gotta' go, bye!" Before Twilight could protest, he was gone like a flash, bowl still spinning from the force of his exit.

Twilight's teeth ground together in mother’s aggravation softly as she looked upon the disaster of a table before picking up a rag and cleaning the mess. With a deep breath, she exhaled and decided to remain calm for his sake.

'He's just a colt,' she thought to herself. 'He gets a free pass today because of his birthday, but that's it.'

Despite her frustration, Twilight felt more forgiving today because she knew exactly why he was behaving this way. Her boy was approaching the age to get his mark and he was determined to get it, now more than ever before. Looking out the window, she could see Orion happily running in the distance with a book bag full of invitations around his neck.

The morning was still young and the deep blue sky seemed extra azure on this particular day, with only a few cottony clouds covering some of the early sunlight of dawn. Long trails of warmth and light spilled through their cracks and bathed the earth in a warm glow. Applejack often said how Ponyville could never change and would remain as beautiful as it had years earlier. Even Orion, who preferred the excitement of Canterlot to the monotony of his hometown, had to admit that there was always something about the small town that was...magical.

Reaching his destination, a light ring-a-ling of the doorbell chimed when he entered Sugar Cube Corner. Right away, the smell of cakes and pastries hovered in the air, each scent tantalizing him with their savory aromas. If Pinkie Pie hadn’t already represented the Element of Laughter, Orion would have thought that she was the first example of the Element of Baking. He always loved dropping by to visit and rang the counter’s bell in happy anticipation.

"Hello?” he said loudly. “Is anypony here?”

"Just a minute!" a bouncy voice that was unmistakably Pinkie Pie called out from another room. "Berry, can you get that for me? I've got my hooves full right now. And I need some help with this cake, too! Can you help me, Cherry?"

"Okie dokie lokie!" two simultaneous voices rang out somewhere in the house, bringing a smile to Orion's face.

Though Pinkie Pie no longer lived with the Cake family since she had gotten married, the crazy pink mare still worked the shop just as she had for years. Business was very good thanks to her twin children, Berry and Cherry, who helped in their mother's work. Along with the Cakes, the two families’ combined efforts proved to make quite the pastry and desert delicacy team. Though they had become regular caterers to the Canterlot palace, they still held that small-town hospitality that made visiting a delight to colts and fillies everywhere.

A few moments after Orion had rung the bell, Pinkie's son Berry arrived and made his way to the other end of the counter. If anyone knew anything about Pinkie Pie or her reputation, they would spot the family resemblance in her children immediately. In the most ironic of coincidences, where Pinkie once babysat the twin son and daughter of the Cake’s, she herself would have fraternal twins of her own. Both looked like slightly darker versions of their mother, complete with pink coats, wavy magenta hair, and sky blue eyes.

"Hi-ya Orion! How are you doing?" Berry exclaimed in his characteristic happy attitude. "Happy birthday!"

"Thanks, Berry. I’ve been good. And you?”

“I’m pretty good, though some weird things have been happening.”

‘Weird’ was always a relative term when speaking about Pinkie Pie’s family, but the sound of Berry’s tone intrigued Orion.

“Really? What is it? What happened?”

Berry grinned.

“There’s been a strange new trend of naming the things we’ve been baking here. Today I had a big chocolate cake called ‘Orion.’ The name was funny, but the cake was delicious!”

“Nooo,” Orion laughed, “that was my cake!”

Berry placed his hooves onto his pink cheeks in playful shock.

“Wha? It was yours? Oh, I’m so so sorry! I’ll give it back, I promise.”

“You can’t give it back because you already ate it!”

“Sure I can. You may have to wait for, oh…”

Berry looked at his invisible watch.

“A few hours or so. It’ll be ready in time for your birthday!”

Orion let out a long “eww” and giggled at the pink stallion’s over-the-top goofiness. Berry always was a jokester from the day he was born and there was nothing in the world he loved more than making others laugh. Whether it be his impeccable wit, endless supply of jokes, or his ability to turn any situation into a more pleasant one, he truly was the physical embodiment of the Element of Laughter.

“We haven’t made your cake yet because we have a big order that needs to be taken care of first,” Berry explained, “but it’ll be ready in plenty of time before your party.”

“Okay, that works. Thanks,” Orion replied. “By the way, where’s your dad today? I don't hear him singing."

"Mr. and Mrs. Cake are making a big delivery to the palace today, so he’s helping them out. That’s the tall order I was just talking about. There's some kind of big event happening soon, so the princess asked for our help with the events! Since they’re gone and will be busy until late, they asked me to say happy birthday for them."

As the last words left his lips, Berry's face suddenly lit up.

"Oh!" he said. "I almost forgot! I thought I'd give you your present early, if you don't mind opening it now."

Orion bounced with excitement. Berry and Cherry always had fun and creative ways of giving their gifts, which Orion loved regardless of the gift itself.

"What is it this time?" he asked, wide-eyed. "Where is it?"

"It's already in your satchel," Berry replied with a playful smirk, referring to Orion’s book bag.

“Satchel? What’s a satchel? Isn’t that a purse?” Orion asked, embarrassed at the thought of him being in public with a mare’s hoofbag.

Berry shook his head leaned back towards the kitchen.

“No, no, no,” he laughed, speaking loudly for his sister to hear. “A satchel is not a purse at all! It’s kind of like a book bag for anypony to use!”

“Daring Do wears one!” Cherry shouted from the backroom.

Berry chuckled at his sister’s ability to catch the pop culture references he loved so much and beamed with a look of pride. The twins’ randomness often confused Orion, but he had learned not to question things when it came to the Pie family, so he instead rummaged through the bag with his hoof.

“I don’t see anything in here. All I have in here is a bunch of invita…”

He stopped for a moment when he began to feel something underneath the letters and spun his head back up at Berry.

"How?” he exclaimed in surprise. “How did you do that?”

"Shhhhhh," Berry hushed with a wink, pretending that somepony was listening at that very moment. "Trade secret. I am very very sneaky!”

Orion hastily opened the bag, pushing though the invitations to find a small, tightly wrapped present. Ripping the outer layer apart, he came across another layer of paper. Ripping through the second layer, there lay a small wooden box. In the box was stuffing and finally, after digging through the stuffing, a small note with two words scribbled on it was found.

"Look up," Orion read aloud.

Hanging above his head, a big bag of various hard candies, chocolates, jawbreakers, gummies, and other sugary items dazzled brightly before Orion’s eyes.

"I didn't see that there when I got here!” he exclaimed with mouth agape. “How did you...?"

"Trade secret!" Cherry yelled from a back room.

"I do believe he underestimates our sneakiness, sis!" Berry shouted back.

"I'd say so," Cherry replied, suddenly standing next to Orion.

The shocked colt jumped so high in the air, he ended up clinging onto the brass chandelier that hung from the ceiling above and looked down at the two twins below with a baffled expression.

“Okay, now you guys are just showing off!”

“It’s what we do,” Berry said, acting like it was no big deal.

Cherry stood below him, ready to catch him.

“I’ve got you, Orion. Just let go.”

Orion plucked the candy bag that was hanging from the lights and let go, falling onto her back with a surprisingly soft landing. The young mare turned her head towards him and smiled brightly. There were few ponies in the world that Orion knew of that were as joyful and caring as she was and he had a particular affinity for her because she was once his foalsitter. Even now, the two remained just as close as ever, partially because there was something about her aura that just brought joy to things.

"Happy Birthday,” she said in a voice as sweet as the frosting that caked her nose and ears.

Orion lowered himself from her back and placed the candy into his bag.

"Thanks, Cherry,” he replied. “And thank you for the candy. You guys know me too well.”

“So what are you doing here by yourself?” Cherry asked. “Are you preparing for your party all by yourself?”

“Mostly. Mom is getting the house all ready, but I’m doing everything else. By the way,” Orion added, reaching into his bag, “I was going to give you guys these.”

Pulling out two hoof-drawn invitations, he gave them to his friends with glee.

“You’re both invited, of course. I hope you guys aren’t too busy to make it tonight.”

The twins looked at each other for a moment and then back to Orion and smiled.

“We’ll definitively make it,” they said simultaneously as Pinkie Pie walked in, covered in flour.

"Happy birthday, you crazy colt!" she said with a hearty exclamation. "Don’t worry about us. We won’t be baking for much longer, so Berry and Cherry will have plenty of time to enjoy your party. Sorry about the delay. I’ll let Twilight know when your cake is finished, okay?”

"Thanks Pinkie Pie," Orion said, giving her a big hug. "You're the best!"

The grown-up nature of Pinkie’s words wouldn’t seem out-of-the-ordinary for a young colt or filly in Ponyville, but anypony who had known her for a lot longer would immediately see the maturity she had acquired over the years. While still the happy, party-loving, random earth pony that she always was, having children of her own brought out a responsibility in her that few ponies knew existed.

"You’re very welcome!” Pinkie giggled. "So then, are you headed over to Sweet Apple Acres now?"

"That’s exactly where I was going next,” Orion responded. “How did you…” The bluish colt stopped in mid-sentence when he remembered who he was talking to. Sometimes he wondered if Pinkie senses also included mind-reading. "Never mind. Yeah, I'm just about to leave to pick up some food for the party and give Bismarck and Bucky my invitations!"

“Perfect. Give me just a second.”

Pinkie Pie disappeared behind the counter for a moment before returning with a small bag of bits.

"I borrowed a little money from Applejack last week, but she’s been sick in bed recently and I've been way too busy to drop by. Could you bring this to her for me?”

Orion's eyes widened as if Princess Celestia herself had asked him to do the task.

"You really mean it?" he asked in excitement.

"Of course. You're old enough and I trust you. You think you can do this for me?"

Orion stood at attention and saluted with a loud “yes ma’am.” Placing the money in his bag, he felt like a heroic explorer, ready to set sail for the great unknown. With his final goodbyes, he trotted out the door with a sense of grown-up pride and took off towards the green acres of the Apple family farm.

So far, everything was beginning to look up for him and now the possibility of discovering his mark seemed closer than it had ever been before. Maybe this would be his big day after all.