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A Party Cat-Astrophe, Part 1

by Twinkletail

        "Spike! I'm super duper happy that you could make it here today!"

    Spike barely paid attention to a word of Pinkie Pie's greeting. The various confectionery delights strewn about the Cakes' place were far too distracting to the hungry little dragon.

    "Uh, yeah, no problem," he said, eyeing a stack of particularly scrumptious-looking cookies.

    "We have a whoooooole LOT to do today!" Pinkie said excitedly (as if she ever said anything in any other fashion). Not noticing Spike's distraction, she proceeded to grab the plate of cookies and scarf the entire thing down without a moment's thought. Spike's heart sank as he watched the delicious morsels disappear.

    "What ARE we doing today?" he asked, shaking off the disappointment. "You never told me, you just said that I had to come help you." Spike liked Pinkie and all, but she always seemed a bit strange to him.

    "My good friend Spike!" Pinkie exclaimed, her voice taking on a mock-regal tone. "You are cordially invited to assist me in the biggest, most important task ever to be undertaken!"

    "What is it, what is it?" Spike asked, his interest peaking. "Are we going to deliver important materials to Princess Celestia? Ooh, wait, no! Are we heading out to take on a big monster that's threatening Ponyville?" The baby dragon waited with bated breath for the answer.

    "No, silly!" Pinkie answered, patting Spike on the head.  "You...are going to help me plan this month's parties! Isn't that sooooooo awesome? Huh huh huh?" If it were at all possible for a dragon to physically deflate, Spike would have done exactly that.

    "Oh," he said. He was really hoping for something a bit more exciting than that. "Alright then...so what's happening this month that we need to have a party for?"

    "Glad you asked!" Pinkie said, bouncing over to a nearby table. She leaned over and picked a piece of paper up in her mouth, then bounded back to Spike. "I've got it all written down on this paper!" she slurred around the obstructing document.

    "Huh, that doesn't seem too bad," Spike mused, looking at the small sheet of paper and figuring that it shouldn't take very long at all.

    "Great!" Pinkie shouted. She whipped her head back, then thrust it forward, opening her mouth just enough to release the paper a bit. Spike stared in shock as the paper unfolded, sheets landing at his feet.

    "Now, of course there's the All Ponies Day Festival on the first," Pinkie said. "And then the next day is Colgate's birthday, and the day after that is part two of Colgate's birthday because she always likes big parties...ooh, but it's also the anniversary of the day that Cheerilee got her teaching job, so we HAVE to have a party for that!!" The paper kept unfolding, starting to reach Spike's waist level. "And then the next day isn't anything special, so of COURSE we have to have a Nothing Special Party! OOH, and then it WILL be a special day, so we'll have a 'First Time This Day Has Meant Anything Party' to celebrate! Oh, this is so great! And we're only four days into the month! Aren't you excited, Spike?"

    "Thrilled," mumbled Spike from under the mountain of paper.

~~~~~~~~~~

    My Little Pony, My Little Pony

    Ahhhhhh....

                                            (My Little Pony)

    I used to wonder what friendship could be

                                            (My Little Pony)

    Until you all shared its magic with me

    Big adventure

    Tons of fun

    A beautiful heart

    Faithful and strong

    Sharing kindness

    It's an easy feat

    And magic makes it all complete

    You have My Little Pony

    Do you know you are my very best friends

~~~~~~~~~~

    "Like this?"

    The prissy pony's voice sounded quizzical as she focused her eyes on the pink and white mottled vase across the room from her. A white aura began to radiate around her horn.

    "Kind of," said the purple unicorn, inspecting her friend's form carefully. "You have to sort of...oh, it's hard to explain..."

    "Darling, just try!" Rarity told her. "We don't have all day, you know."

    "Alright, alright..." Twilight answered. "See...you need to focus a bit more energy towards the tip of the horn, rather than the base..."

    "So more like this then?" Rarity asked. The magical aura began to glow brighter towards the tip of her horn.

    "Right," Twilight responded. "And then just think hard about the vase...usually I scrunch my eyes a bit..." The aura disappeared from Rarity's horn in an instant as she turned to face her friend.

    "My dear," Rarity said, "Scrunching one's eyes creates unnecessary wrinkles, and I simply cannot do that to myself." Twilight sighed a heavy sigh.

    "Look, do you want to learn this spell or not?" the purple unicorn asked, sounding a bit aggravated. Rarity rolled her eyes, then turned back to the vase. The white aura returned to her horn as she stared at it.

    "Ooh, face, forgive me for what I am about to do," Rarity lamented. "I will be sure to treat you to a lovely mud mask after this." Rarity scrunched her eyes, just like Twilight had told her to do. Across the room, the vase began to glow with an aura to match her horn's. The vase rose into the air, then began to shake a bit. Slowly, from the bottom up, the vase began to change composition, its texture becoming more grainy than its previous smooth appearance. As the final bit of vase changed textures, it began to unravel, becoming a long, pink and white mottled thread. Yard by yard, the thread wrapped itself around the empty spool that had been placed on the table next to where the vase had once stood. In moments, the entire thread had been spooled.

    "Wha-ha-HAAAA!" Rarity laughed with delight. "This will be just PERFECT for my next dress! Thank you so much, Twilight!" Twilight smiled and nodded.

    "Any time, Rarity," she said proudly. "It's the least I could do after you taught me that gem finding spell. We should exchange spells more often!"

    "Absolutely!" Rarity agreed. The two unicorns were interrupted by Twilight's front door flying open. Spike dragged his feet as he entered the house. The unicorns could tell that he was clearly exhausted, even though his face was obscured by a large stack of envelopes.

    "Spike, welcome home!" Twilight said happily. "How was your day with Pinkie Pie?"

    "Ugh," Spike replied, still trudging forward. "Soooo tiring...I feel like I'm about to pass out. I can barely even move."

    "I could imagine that an entire day alone with Pinkie Pie would do that," Rarity said. At the sound of Rarity's voice, Spike suddenly perked up.

    "R..Rarity!" he stammered. "I didn't know you would be here! I gotta fix my scales..." Spike tried his hardest to use one hand to fix the scales on top of his head. "Whoooooooaa!" he shouted as he lost his balance and fell, the envelopes falling all over him.

    "Oh, Spike," Twilight said, as she and Rarity chuckled. "You're too much."

    "Bah..." Spike muttered as he crawled his way out from under the envelopes. "It's a good thing I banded these together by recipient!"

    "What ARE these for, anyway?" Twilight asked, hunting down the stack with her name on it and floating it over to her as Rarity did the same.

    "Party invitations," Spike sighed. "Sooooo many party invitations..."

    "Oh, so are we supposed to hand out the stacks with our names on them?" Twilight asked, looking at how big the stack was.

    "No," said Spike. "Those are all for you."

    "What??" Twilight and Rarity exclaimed simultaneously. The two unicorns started opening envelopes and reading through them. The more envelopes they opened, the more confused they got.

    "You are invited to the 'Almost Middle Of The Month But Not Quite There But It's Close Enough' party?" Twilight said incredulously.

    "Why in the world do we need a Pocket Lint Appreciation Party?" Rarity asked, looking at the invitation she was reading with a mix of bemusement and annoyance. "Do any of us even wear pockets?"

    "Who is Twinkletail?" Twilight asked as she read another invitation.

    "I don't know," Spike answered, "But apparently we need to have a party to recognize the day that she told Pinkie not to plan any parties for her." The two unicorns groaned.

    "Spike, this is utterly ridiculous," Rarity said.

    "I agree," Twilight chimed in. "Now, I like parties just as much as the next pony..."

    "Not if the next pony is Pinkie Pie," Spike added.

    "...Well...yes," Twilight had to agree. "But you know what I mean. As much as I enjoy parties, this is a bit too much. Why didn't you try to stop her before this got out of hand?"

    "I did!" Spike protested. "But you know what they say; a Pinkie Pie in motion tends to stay in motion!"

    "Well," Rarity said, setting her envelopes down in a neat stack in front of her. "We'll have to talk some sense into the girl. We shall speak to her at the next party and try to convince her to calm things down a bit."

    "That sounds like the only logical idea," Twilight said. "When IS the next party anyway?" Twilight's doorbell suddenly rang.

    "That's odd," Twilight said as she trotted towards the door. "I don't remember inviting any company other than Rarity over..." Twilight opened the door to see Rainbow Dash, Applejack, and Fluttershy standing outside.

    "Oh, hey girls!" Twilight said cheerily. "What a pleasant surprise! What brings you all here today?"

    "PARTY TIME!" Rainbow Dash shouted as she flew into the house.

    "P...party time?" Twilight stuttered, looking at the others.

    "Pinkie didn't call you?" Fluttershy asked, a small look of concern crossing her face. "Oh dear..."

    "I can't say she did," Twilight answered. "What is the meaning of this?"

    "Pinkie told us to come by your place," Applejack told her. "She said that we were having a 'Passing Out Party Invitations' party. We just reckoned you knew, since it's at your house 'n all." Twilight didn't have to say a word. Her face said it all.

    "Well, you might as well come in since you're already here," Twilight said, closing the door after her friends had entered the house. "I guess it's not so bad as long as it's just us." As if it were responding to her, Twilight's doorbell rang again. She looked at the others, a look of worry crossing her face. The purple unicorn opened the door again to see nearly the entire town of Ponyville standing outside.

    "PARTY!!!" the mob of ponies yelled as they began pouring into Twilight's house before she could say a word.

    "...You OK, Twi?" Applejack asked after the crowd had finished entering the house. Twilight lay on the ground, having been trampled by the pony mob. She twitched a bit.

    "Pinkie...." she muttered angrily.

    "Yes, Twilight?" Pinkie responded cheerfully, appearing out of nowhere as she often had the tendency to do.

~~~~~~~~~~

    It was hours later, and the party was finally winding down. Pinkie Pie was standing guard at the door, making sure that each pony that left received their stack of invitations. Many ponies were visibly annoyed by the sheer amount of invitations this month, but they didn't let Pinkie know, so as to not hurt her feelings. They simply gave her a smile and a thanks, then waited until they were a few steps away for the grimace to appear on their faces. One by one, the guests left, until it was only Pinkie and her five closest friends remaining.

    "So did you girls have a good time?" Pinkie asked. "Twilight, I'm so sorry I didn't call you about the party, but I was so busy calling the others that I totally forgot that I didn't call you first!"

    "It's OK, Pinkie," Twilight said, even though it wasn't really all that OK. "But we need to talk to you about something."

    "Is it about the party favors?" the pink earth pony asked. "I figured we were already having lots of candy at tomorrow's party, and probably a lot the next two days as well, so we should balance it with something healthy today! That's why I filled the party bags with hay, because hay is healthy and it's yummy too, and..."

    "Pinkie, please!" Twilight shouted. "...I'm sorry for yelling, but please, let me speak. We just thought that maybe you've got too many parties planned."

    "I don't think that!" Rainbow Dash said, still giddy from the good times they'd just had.

    "...Well, OK," Twilight continued. "The REST of us think that this is just too many parties to handle." She paused for a second to gauge Pinkie's reaction. Pinkie still had her usual smile, so Twilight figured she should elaborate a bit more. "We all love parties, and we all know that your parties are the best, but there's a time for parties and a time for a break from parties. And honestly? I don't think we need a party to celebrate the day you found a banana in Applejack's orchard."

    "And I was personally hopin' we wouldn't talk about that secret shame ever again," Applejack said, as Fluttershy put a comforting hoof around her shoulder.

    "Is any of this getting through to you, Pinkie?" Rarity asked. "Do you understand where we're coming from?" Pinkie didn't respond at first. She seemed deep in thought.

    "...I think I get it," Pinkie finally said, much more calmly than anything she'd ever said before. The girls breathed a sigh of relief.

    "We'll just change the reason for that party!" Pinkie burst out. "I'm sure I can think of ANOTHER good reason to have a party that day!" Pinkie's five friends' heads collectively dropped.

    "Pinkie, it's not..." Applejack started to say, but Pinkie cut her off.

    "Oh, I know what you all mean, sillies," Pinkie told them, "But partying is what I do, and I LOOOOOOVE to share it with all of you!  I even wrote a song about it!" Before any of the ponies could stop her, she was bounding around Twilight's home, singing at the top of her lungs.

    "Party party every night! Party every day! Party left and party right and each and every way! If you want to party, I'll tell you what I'll do! I'll throw another party and then you can party too!"

    "Pinkie..." Twilight tried to interject, to no avail.

    "Party party every day, party all the time! We're gonna party so much I'll run out of words to rhyme! Party party all the time, party till the end! We'll say goodbye and then say hi and do it all again! OHHHH....party party every night..."

    Pinkie continued to sing as she bounced out of Twilight's house and back towards her own. The other ponies looked at each other, worried.

    "...I think we broke her," Fluttershy said.

    "So what do we do now?" Rarity asked. The others all looked at Twilight.

    "Well," Twilight started, "Maybe once we have three or four more parties in a row, she'll tire herself out and see where we're coming from."

    "And if she doesn't?" Fluttershy asked.

    "WHEN she doesn't," Applejack corrected her.

    "Then I guess we'll just stop going to them," Twilight said. "I don't want to hurt Pinkie's feelings, but I can personally only party so much. If she sees that we're getting exhausted with all the partying and we're not coming to the parties, then maybe she'll understand." The five of them nodded, although Rainbow didn't seem as keen on the idea as the rest.

    The next day's party was at Pinkie's place, and was just as rocking as the previous day's, although the attendance seemed to be the tiniest bit lower. This trend continued with the next two parties. Pinkie's five closest friends attended all three of these, but by the end of the third one, Twilight had had enough. She didn't come to the next party. By the party after that, Rarity had dropped out as well. Neither Fluttershy nor Applejack attended the next one. Rainbow tried her best to hang in, having bragged about being able to party just as hard as Pinkie, but by the time the eighth party in a row had finished, she too had run out of steam. Pinkie was a little sad about the others no-showing her parties, but Rainbow's disappearance stung the most. Still, she had plenty of other ponies to party with. By the tenth party in a row, though, she could no longer say that. The few ponies who still attended her parties didn't even stay very long. Before she knew it, she found herself alone in her house, waiting for party guests who were likely never to come.

    "Hmmm...." Pinkie sighed. "I can't believe no one came to my Sixth Bottle of Preciously Pink Mane Shampoo Memorial Party..." Pinkie began to feel a strange feeling that she couldn't remember ever feeling before. It was like....she was happy....but the opposite of that. Before she could dwell on this any further, she heard a knock at the door. Elated, she burst from her chair and practically fell over her own hooves on the way to the door. She wondered which pony it was at the door, but once it had opened, she was surprised to find that it wasn't a pony waiting for her. Rather, there was a small, white cat standing in her doorway. Pinkie was very confused. She had only seen one cat before, and she was sure this wasn't Rarity's cat Opal.

    "I hear you're having a party tonight," the cat said calmly.

    "You heard right!" PInkie said happily, always glad to make new friends.

    "Well, I do love to party," the cat said. "Mind if I come in?"

    "Of course not!" Pinkie bubbled. "Not too many ponies came tonight, and I've been itching for fun!" The cat smiled and entered the house. Pinkie thought she saw a weird look in the cat's eyes as he entered, but she paid it no mind. She was just happy to have a party guest.

~~~~~~~~~~

A Party Cat-Astrophe, Part 2

by Twinkletail

        "Are y'all sure this is the best way to go about this?" Applejack asked. "I feel awful bad about it." The other ponies didn't answer at first, not even Twilight, the one who'd come up with the idea in the first place. It had been about 4 days since Rainbow Dash, the last of the group to do so, had stopped going to Pinkie's parties, and none of them had heard from Pinkie since. They had tried getting in contact with her to invite her by Rarity's place today, but had no luck getting through to her.

    "This is what's best, AJ," Twilight finally responded. "Pinkie's got to understand that too much is too much, and if we keep enabling her by going to her parties, it'll never happen." Twilight sounded like she was saying this to convince her friends, but in truth was also saying it to convince herself.

    "Besides, I'm sure she's still got plenty of other ponies going to her parties," Fluttershy offered. She hoped to herself that she was the only one to notice the other ponies in town actively avoiding the party locations over the last few days.

    "She probably hasn't even noticed that we aren't there," Rainbow said, putting on a forced smile. It had hurt her so badly when Lyra told her about Pinkie looking all over for her at the first party she had skipped. It was the first time she'd cried in a good long time. Still, Twilight was right. If they kept going to her parties, she'd never even think about slowing them down.

    "I'm sure Pinkie will get the hint soon, ladies," Rarity said. Suddenly, she felt a tug at the fabric she had been stitching. She looked down to see Opal pulling on a string that had been dangling from it.

    "Opalescence!" Rarity yelled, startling the little white cat. "You know better than to pull at Mommy's threads while she's working!" Rarity deftly cut the offending thread from her garment, then tossed it into the next room, sending Opal charging after it.

    "That cat goes simply mad whenever she sees a dangling thread!" she muttered. "Anyway, Pinkie is brighter than she lets on sometimes. We shall most likely be hearing from her soon enough."

~~~~~~~~~~

    "So what's YOUR name?" Pinkie asked, looking at her new party guest inquisitively. "I've never met you before, and I know EVERYPONY in Ponyville, but you're probably from out of town, since you're obviously not a pony, and if you were from town, I'd know you, because like I said, I know EVERYPONY in Ponyville..."

    "When's the party starting?" the cat asked, changing the subject. He looked left and right, his small black eyes silently judging Pinkie's choice in decorations.

    "Well," Pinkie said, a little embarrassed, "It was supposed to start a while ago, but I dunno what happened to everypony I invited..."

    "Hm," the cat said. "Well, it's not a party without a bunch of party guests. Mind if I invite some friends?"

    "Of COURSE not!" Pinkie exclaimed. "I love meeting new friends!" The cat smiled and whipped a cell phone out of a previously-unseen pocket.

    "Ooh, pockets!" Pinkie swooned. "Have any lint? We're having an appreciation party for it in a few days and..." The cat held a paw up to Pinkie, doing the impossible and quieting her while he was on the phone.

    "...Right," the cat said into the phone. "Ponyville. Big pink building. Seeya soon." The cat hung the phone up, then turned to Pinkie. "You should answer your door," he said.

    "But I didn't even hear..." Pinkie started to say, when there was a sudden knock on the door. She rushed over and opened it. Outside her door stood a large group of cats of all sizes and colors.

    "Party?" they all asked simultaneously.

    "PARTY!!" Pinkie screamed happily, stepping aside to allow the felines entrance into her house.

    The resulting party was possibly the most exciting party that Pinkie had ever been to. While she wished her friends could have been there to enjoy it with her, it was still one of the greatest times she'd ever had. She was so overcome by the good time she was having that it didn't even faze her when the cats started to rearrange her place, setting up bunks for themselves to sleep in. As Pinkie slid into her bed, images of the party that had just finished danced in her head. She hoped that every party she had from then on could be as amazing as that one was.

    Pinkie woke up early the next day. She yawned and looked around her room, rubbing the sleep from her eyes. She was a bit shocked at the sight of so many cats in her room, before she realized that the party from yesterday wasn't a dream, but had actually happened. She almost broke into giggles right then and there at this realization. The cats all smiled as she climbed out of bed. Every one of them was already awake.

    "Good morning, kitties!" Pinkie bubbled. "Ohmygosh, that party last night was SOOOOO fun! And I can't believe I had so much fun with you kitties! Not that I don't think cats are fun, but it's just that I've never met so many cats before and I never knew they liked to party! It's kinda funny actually, I always thought Rarity would be the cat lady of our group, but here I am with a ton of cats in my house..."

    "When's the next party?" the white cat, the same one who had first arrived at Pinkie's place and apparently the leader of the group, asked.

    "Oh..." Pinkie replied, startled. She didn't expect them to be ready to party again. "Well, I was going to have a party later tonight..."

    "What about now?" the cat asked curtly.

    "Erm...well, I just woke up, and I kinda wanted to finish doing my wakey wakey routine first..." Pinkie said. She loved to party, but she was barely even awake yet.

    "You can do your wakey wakey routine during the party," the cat said, smiling. The other cats in the room all smiled and nodded in unison. Pinkie thought about this for a moment, then shrugged.

    "Well, I guess you're right..." she said. Before she knew what was going on, one of the cats had turned on the nearby stereo, and once again, the party was in full swing.

    The party lasted all day. This bothered Pinkie a little, because she had to completely alter her party schedule to make up for the impromptu party's overrun interfering with the Many Muffins Matinee Party she had planned for that evening. She got over it pretty quickly, though, since she was having a fantastic time. The next day went pretty much the same way. So did the day after that, and the day after that. Pinkie was used to partying, but had never partied quite this much in her entire life.

~~~~~~~~~~

    It had been over a week since the girls had heard from Pinkie. They had all begun to get worried days ago, but not a single one of them spoke about it. They each secretly had their own theories for why they hadn't heard from her. Fluttershy had a horrible feeling that something bad had happened to her. Applejack believed that she didn't even notice that her best friends weren't at her parties. Rarity was positive she'd lost contact with them due to all the partying she was doing. Rainbow took it the worst, assuming that Pinkie was upset with them and refusing to talk to them. As for Twilight, she wasn't sure what had happened. She'd gone through every possible scenario in her head, including the ones that she didn't know her friends had thought about, but not one of them made sense to her. Not a single one seemed very Pinkie-like.

    The whole time, none of the group would admit to the others that they were worried. Each of them wanted to attend the next party to see how Pinkie was doing, but none of them wanted to be the one to break their agreement to not go to them. Even as the five of them sat together in Twilight's house today, putting on their best happy faces, each of them hoped that another one would suggest checking out the party of the day. They had gotten together today for a taste testing, as Twilight had learned a new spell to prepare desserts and Applejack was more than happy to bring a basketload of apples to be the test subjects. The apples remained untouched, however, as the five friends sat around in a circle, each brooding over their urge to see how Pinkie was doing. Not a single one of them had said a word outside of basic greetings since they had entered Twilight's house, and not a single bit of magic food preparing had been started. It was a long while before Twilight said something.

    "...So I think we should..." Twilight started to say.

    "I'M WORRIED ABOUT PINKIE!!!" Rainbow suddenly screamed at the top of her lungs, unable to take it anymore. The others nearly fell out of their chairs at this outburst, but one by one, they agreed.

    "So let's go and see what's going on at her place!" Applejack said.

    "But we said we wouldn't go to her parties, or else she'd never stop having them..." Fluttershy reminded them.

    "Look, girls," Twilight said, standing up. "We agreed to that, but at this point, I think it's worth abandoning that idea. It's not like Pinkie to just not contact us at all, and it's safe to say we're all worried about her."

    "So let's go!" Rainbow yelled, bolting out of Twilight's house. The other ponies followed suit.

    As the group approached Pinkie's house, they noticed her lying down on the stoop by her front door. This wasn't the Pinkie they were used to. The Pinkie they were used to was always bubbly and bouncing around. This Pinkie seemed...drained.

    "Pinkie!" Rainbow shouted, zooming up to her. "What's wrong?"

    Pinkie weakly lifted her head up to look at Rainbow. Her reddened eyes were barely able to keep themselves open.

    "...Guys?" Pinkie said slowly. "I...I'm tired...I don't want to party anymore..." The others gasped. This was possibly the last thing they would ever have expected Pinkie to say.

    "Who did this to you??" Rainbow asked, her feathers flaring out in anger.

    "No one did anything to me," Pinkie responded. "It's just...they never want to stop..."

    "Who?" Twilight asked. Pinkie lifted a single hoof up and pointed to the window. The girls jockeyed for position, pressing themselves up against the window to see what was going on. They were all confused at the sight of the multitude of cats partying in Pinkie's house.

    "What the..." Twilight stammered. Fluttershy pulled away from the window, looking very worried.

    "Pinkie," Fluttershy said, "Did you invite those cats in there?" Pinkie nodded.

    "Oh my, this is bad," the yellow pegasus mused.

    "What's bad?" Twilight asked. "What are they?"

    "Those are Party Cats," Fluttershy said, blushing a bit at suddenly being thrust into the spotlight. "They're magical beings. They can’t enter your house uninvited. If you invite them into your home, they can only leave if it's by their own choice, and with how much they like to party, that's no easy feat."

    "Oh, please!" Rainbow said, puffing herself up. "They don't look so tough!"

    "I've rounded up critters far worse than those varmints," Applejack agreed. "Come on, Rainbow! Let's get these furballs outta there, pronto!" The two brash ponies burst into Pinkie's house, charging straight at the cats.

    "Alright, Dash!" Applejack shouted, as the cats turned their attention to them. "I wanna see an alpha formation! We're gonna press the threat in the center and ride 'em out in a tight I!"

    "What the heck does that mean?" Rainbow shouted back.

    "Go over there and get 'em!" Applejack yelled back.

    "Now you're making sense!" Rainbow bellowed.

    The others watched the scene from the doorway, and were more than disappointed with what they saw. Applejack and Rainbow did a decent job of rounding them up, but found themselves inexplicably unable to lead them out of Pinkie's house. After a good while of trying and being foiled, the two ponies had to admit defeat.

    "These critters sure are tough," Applejack gasped. Rainbow nodded, angry at her inability to solve the problem.

    "Fluttershy, why don't you try that stare thing on them?" Rainbow said. Fluttershy squeaked, but then puffed her chest out and entered the house. She walked straight up to the white cat and stared him dead in the eye. Her eyes widened, and she stared at the white cat angrily. The cat stared back for a few seconds, then started to back down a bit.

    "It's working!" Twilight said happily. However, she soon realized that she had spoken too soon, as the white cat turned his attention away from Fluttershy and went right back to dancing. Fluttershy walked back out, hanging her head in shame.

    "OK, girls," Twilight said, stepping up. "We tried getting them out by force. We tried the stare. Now I'm done fooling around. It's magic time."

    "Twilight, I wouldn't..." Fluttershy warned, but Twilight would have none of it. She confidently stepped into the room, and her horn began glowing. The cats each began glowing with an aura to match Twilight's horn, and they were all lifted off of the ground.

    "You cats have overstayed your welcome," Twilight said, and waved her head towards the doorway. The cats began to float towards the doorway. Just as the cats were about to levitate straight out of the door, though, the aura dissipated, and they landed back on the floor.

    "What?" Twilight said, confused. "How did they..."

    "Lady, you don't know what you're messing with," the white cat said. He raised his front paws, which began glowing a bright red. Twilight suddenly felt a strange feeling in her hooves. She found her left front hoof starting to tap along with the music that was blaring from the stereo. Before she knew what was going on, she had broken out into a full-out dance.

    "W-w-w-what's happening?" Twilight asked, unable to stop dancing.

    "Yeah, we're not big fans of people using magic on us," the white cat said calmly. "I figured you could stand to loosen up a bit." A look of fear entered Twilight's eyes, as she found that due to her magically-inspired dancing, she couldn't even concentrate enough to prepare a counterspell.

    "Have fun at the party!" the white cat said, smiling and going back to having a good time.

    Pinkie Pie couldn't believe her eyes. These cats had out-magicked Twilight, and now she was stuck partying against her will. Her eyes narrowed, and she pulled herself back to a standing position. She had seen enough.

    "That...is....IT!!" Pinkie screamed as she stomped into her house, closing her eyes tight as she yelled. "Now you listen here, you meanie-weenie cats! I like to party just as much as you do, but this is enough! You've taken over my house and held endless parties without my permission, but now, to make it worse, you're forcing my friend to party when she doesn't want to! Parties are meant to be used for fun, not as a weapon!"

    Pinkie went on like this, shocking her friends. The cats looked surprised too, but didn't seem to be convinced to leave. Just then, Rarity noticed a small vase sitting in the corner of Pinkie's living room. She looked at it, then back at the cats. She remembered her anger at Opal the other day...and something suddenly clicked. As the pink earth pony continued to shout, Rarity stared at the vase. Her horn glowed, mainly at the point, and she scrunched her eyes. The vase began to lift into the air, and gradually transformed into a long, thin thread. The white cat was the first to notice the thread, and his eyes suddenly became locked onto it. One by one, each other cat became entranced with the thread as well. Rarity levitated the thread back and forth, and the cats followed its every movement. She moved the thread carefully, guiding it around the still-dancing Twilight, who had noticed it and started to smile. The thread bobbed gracefully through the air, every single cat enthralled by it. The white unicorn used the thread to organize the cats into a line, marching them single-file out of Pinkie's house and closing the door the second the last one had left. Twilight sighed with relief as her involuntary dancing slowed, then stopped. She smiled and nodded at Rarity, who nodded back. Rainbow, Applejack, and Fluttershy breathed a sigh of relief.

    "...And I want EVERY ONE OF YOU to get out of my house...RIGHT....NOW!!!" Pinkie bellowed, ending her tirade. She opened her eyes, and noticed that not a single cat remained.

    "...Wow!" Pinkie said, smiling. "Looks like I told them! Yay Pinkie!!"

    "Actually, it was..." Rarity started, but Twilight shook her head.

    "Let her have this one," the purple unicorn whispered. Rarity began to protest, but then looked at how happy Pinkie was at her "victory."

    "...Yes!" Rarity said. "Yay Pinkie! ...Yay Pinkie indeed..."

~~~~~~~~~~

    "Dear Princess Celestia," Twilight started. It had been about an hour, and the ponies had reconvened at Twilight's house. "Today, my friend Pinkie Pie learned a very important lesson. Parties are always fun, and it's important to let yourself loose and have a good time every once in a while, but it's also important to know how to do it in moderation."

    "That's right!" Pinkie said, giving Twilight a hug. "And I also learned that Twilight is a great dancer!"

    "Oh, ha ha, very funny," Twilight said, giving her friend a grin.

    "So yeah," Pinkie said, "I think I'm gonna give parties a break for a little while. Is that OK with you girls?" Pinkie's friends were all too happy to nod in agreement.

    "Great!" Pinkie said, bouncing around, eyes closed in satisfaction. "What a great lesson I've learned! We have to have a party to celebrate it!" Pinkie opened her eyes, only to notice that all of her friends had left.

    "Girls?" she called. "I was just kidding!!"